Travel Plans

As some of you know, my brother is off in Delhi clerking for the Supreme Court Justice there. Of course this just begs one to come visit and my whole family is making a pilgrimage east. My Dad and Barbro are heading over in late Jan/early Feb, and mom and I are visiting the last three weeks of February. We bought the plane tickets awhile back and have been reading up, but just this week in a flurry of emails we have finally started nailing down our travel plans. I thought I'd share (even though they are not completely booked), as it's a fun distraction from the daily grind (and I definitely am needing a break from work).



So, here is a map of India, Delhi is up there in the north (in the pink state). Three weeks seems like a long time, but you factor in jetlag (this is the other side of the world), travel time (India is a big country) and general down time, and there isn't much time left. The basic idea is the first week will be spent in and around Delhi - catching up with Nick, and seeing the touristy sites. This will most likely include a day trip to see the Taj Mahal, and possibly a day trip to Jaipur. (Delhi, Taj and Jaipur form the tourist circuit that most people do).



Next, we are hoping to fly to Mumbai (formally Bombay), which seemed to have moved last time I looked at a map. I could have sworn it was further south, but it's in the purple state there, on the west coast. Nick lived there one summer so will show us around. Than hop onto another plane down to Kerala which is the green state at the southern tip. It's gorgeous country downthere, known for their backwaters. We are looking into a state run package which basically provides hotels, travel and some food.



The hotels are wonderful and range from an old Dutch palace, to thatched cottages on stilts. It's a 6 day/5 night package and we have our own driver who can take us around on designated tours (I think). The first two nights are at a tea plantation (must start drinking more tea now, still wish I enjoyed it more than I do). A night in the heart of a game reserve, another at a bird sanctuary set in some mangrove woods (note, look up what mangrove means), and our last night just outside of Kochi (the big urban center of the area), where we get to our hotel via boat.



The last leg of the trip will just be to fly back to Delhi, have a few days more to see the sites and hang out with Nick and than back to the U.S. Doesn't that sound wonderful! It's definately been fun planning and now that the date is getting closer I am engaging in it more. An interesting factor has been my brother. He's been wonderful in keeping us moving along in figuring out exactly what we want to do and making plans. He's even taken on the role of travel agent and booking most of the things for us. It is easier for him to handle the arrangements for us since he is over there, and also, he needs to book farther in advance as he isn't there on a tourist visa so has to go through different chanels for reservations.



Oh, I almost forgot the other part of our trip. So, it's a long flight to India. When we were booking flights, it was a choice between an hour layover somewhere in europe or a 10 hour layover. Frankly, mom and I felt the one hour was cutting it too close, so we chose a flight that via red eye, gets us into London in the early morning and leaves after dinner. Perfect arrangements for a day trip and am hoping we will go visit the new Tate Modern. Last time I was in town, it hadn't been completed and have been dying to visit it for years now.



So that's the plan for now. Nothing booked yet, but working on it. Did get the Visa, so am good to go. Although I still haven't gotten my shots yet. I'm really hoping we don't need malaria pills - I hear they really do job on you, plus I have the whole don't swallow pills thing.



Between travel plans to India, running around for Christmas stuff - think I'll get the tree this weekend, and work being super stressful, I've been fairly busy. The whole dating thing did get put on hold a bit, although there is a new one on the radar who I will wait to write about at another time. That my friends, is my weekly update (ok, not so much an update, but more like installment).