March 2002 Archives

We arrive in Amsterdam for our 8 hour layover. So we decided to venture out into the city to grab some food or something. We are so exhausted from that long flight from Delhi. I don't feel well at all.

We were sitting down at some restaurant having some drinks (ok, I was just having tea)...but anyways...and from a distance, I can't believe who I saw. Mr. Kapil Kedar. Of all the people and all the places...Kapil was there visiting from his contract job in Switzerland. He and his Russian friend joined us for a few drinks...(At this point, I'm in the bathroom throwing up...but enough of that).

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Damn this flight. It is so long. KLM sucks. I'm feeling like crap....

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Finally, arrival in Toronto. This trip is finally over.

Last day in Delhi, or in India, for that matter. It's about time. At this point, we are anxious to go home.

We went off to Kroll Bagh to do some shopping and to pick up the suits that we had made for us. The suit fit pretty good. There was a place near by where we had some chole bhature. Finally! We also had some gul cupa while we were in Kroll Bagh. Since it was our last day we took the risk.

We then went to Gopinath Bazaar to meet with Davinder uncle which Gulshan uncle did some business. Then Gulshan and I went to meet with the Colonel at his army club. It was a bit stuff and it was just a bunch of older army people just sitting around drinking and smoking.

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We eventually finish packing and go out to dinner to some restaurant in Connaught place. I'm starting to feel a little sick. It could be that gul cupa or the dip in the Ganga.

Indians are chaotic. At the airport, we were trying to find the line to get into the airport. Ok, there is no such thing as a line. It's just a mob of people just pushing their way through. I don't understand how it all works. All I know is that I followed uncle, even when I was getting yelled at by some sardar.

Today, we took the Shitabdi Express train to Haridwar. When we got there, we hired a guy to take us around in his auto-rickshaw. He was actually pretty good. He didn't try to get us to go to any special stores or anything.

Our first stop was the Gurdwara near to where my grandfather's ashes were scattered. While we were there, a guru did a prayer for us.

One thing about Haridwar is that there are people who keep records of names. So, we looked around to find the guy who kept the information of my dad's family. Deepak uncle wanted to update the records with some newer information and I wanted to get the records for my genealogy tree. Well, we ran around from place to place to find the pundit who kept the records. Unfortunately, we ran into a dead end. We needed to know the name of the village from which our family comes, and we did not. I am disappointed.

The next stop was the dip in the Gunga River. Harikapori was the area where we went to take the dip. I stripped down to my underwear and went down the steps into the water. I had to hold on to the chains because the stairs were slippery and the water was rushing fast. I went all the way down into the water. That water was cold. I guess that's because the water is coming from the Himalayans.

We got dressed and made our way back. As we were doing this, we got harrassed by some guy who wanted a handout. Of course, we weren't gonna give it to him. So this guy followed us. And we walked a little faster, and he kept up. He was giving us a look to guilt us to giving him some money. Somewhat amusing and somewhat psychotic. We got into our auto-rickshaw and the guy was not there. We had to do a loop around to get to the main road. Amazingly, we passed by the guy right there. He knew exactly where he needed go to find us. We just drove by, and I gave a little wave.

We ate at a little dhaba near by. The food was really good. And not bad for $2.75.

The driver took us to Temple Row where there are a bunch of mandirs. Alot of them are replicas of famous mandirs in India. Some had animatronics. Some had mazes (just like the original mandirs) to walk through. One mandir was a replica of the one at Vasudevi. We were walking around in water, crawling through cave like structures. Strange.

Then we went to two temples which are on top of these two hills overlooking the river. It used to be that pilgrims would have to walk up the hills. But now, there are cable cars that will take you up.

Today, we just did a little shopping in Karol Bagh before we met up with Paran uncle for lunch in Cannaught Place. We ate at a place called Zen's, which is apparently a popular Chinese restaurant. Pretty good paneer pakora. Afterwards, we went and bought some of CDs for about $2 each. Then we went to the Hanuman mandir where the uncles went when they grew up.

I met up with Rajan mama in Chandni Chowk. He took me on his scooter to his house. That was interesting being on the back of that scooter. I wasn't that scared of all, just fascinated how much manuverability the scooter had in the traffic. So after manuvering through the narrow corridors in Kashmiri Gate and Chote Bazaar, we got to the flat. I got to meet my cousin Shalu finally for the first time. I basically hung out there for the evening, eating some really good dinner. I tried my best to communicate with them, but it was just a bunch of broken Hindi. But I had a good time staying with them.

After about 4 hours of sleep, Gulshan uncle, Anil uncle (a good friend of Gulshan uncle), and I took the Shitabdi Express train from Delhi to Agra. Not a bad ride. We paid for the air conditioned car which was pretty empty. They served us breakfast, gave us a newspaper, bottled water. Not bad. It was a long ride though, but we finally made it there. We hired a car to take us around.

Our first stop was the Red Fort. We went around and took some pictures. There wasn't as much stuff to look at as I thought there would be. But the design is interesting. From one of the windows, you can see the Taj Mahal, even if it is a little hazy. Unfortunately, the military has taken over a majority of the fort and has closed it off to tourists.

Our next stop was the mausoleum for Shah Jahan's treasurer or something like that.

We went to some stores to look around for stuff. Our driver wasn't happy because he wasn't getting any kickback. We did buy a few things, but we really haggled for some good prices. We even walked out at one point because the dealer wasn't giving us the price we wanted.

We went to eat at a place where the driver took us to eat. I wasn't that impressed with the food there. It was interesting though to try the dal makhani. Basically, they brought out some dal, with a stick of butter right in the middle. It was a fun time because I got to hear about some of the things Anil uncle and Gulshan uncle did when they were in school.

At this point, the driver's boss decides to tag along. I guess he needs to make sure the driver takes us to the right shops. Of course, we would get there, look around and then leave without buying anything. There was one place that we actually bought stuff. It was actually a marble shop that had some quality items. I bought a little Taj Mahal.

Finally, we made it to the Taj Mahal. We had to go through a little hassle. See, there's two entry rates. One for citizens and one for non-citizens. We tried to get citizen rates, but then we got caught. So we had to spend the money for the non-citizen rate. The Taj is as beautiful in person as it is in pictures. It is a smaller than you would think, but it is still awesome sight. I took alot of pictures. We hung out there for two hours to soak in the whole area.

We took the Taj Express on the way back. It doesn't have dinner, but it leaves a little earlier so we get back at 9 instead of 11.

Today, we spent time with family. We went to the Delhi Cantonnement to see the old stomping grounds. We walked around and checked out the old flat where my dad and uncles grew up. Something strangely familiar about the whole place. Unfortunately, there was a lock on the door so I couldn't see the inside. We checked out the building where my grandfather had his store. Now, there's an army surplus store.

We then went to Sudhir uncle's mom place. This is the house where my uncles lived after the partition forced them to move from Quetta (now in Pakistan). We saw Sudhir's mom, Kiran auntie, Mitu and her eldest sister Minnie. We had a nice lunch there.

In the evening, we went to Sushma auntie's house in Delhi. This house was so big. Much bigger than the house in Gotan. Three floors. Marble floors. Huge bathrooms. A nice big green lawn in the back. We ate so much. We met shushma auntie's brother Davinder and his wife and their son Shobit and daughter Shivani. We went to some chicken shack to pick up some chicken...so good. I ate so much food.

We went to Soniput to see my grandmother's eldest brother. He runs the Malvia Sish Bhavan, which is a school he built up with the community. On the campus is the Malik Chand Auditorium, which is named after my grandfather.

Not much else today except seeing family.

We are staying at Manju Bua's place. Gulshan uncle finally met up with us. Today, we went into the city to check it out and do some shopping. We went to Karol Bagh where I bought some kurtas and ordered a Nehru jacket suit. Not too bad. It is a custom job so it should take a few days.

We then went to Chandni Chowk where Gulshan uncle did some of this business. I was just hanging out. We found Rajan-mama jewelry shop, but it was closed for some odd reason.

We then made our way to Rajan-mama's house, which is where my mom grew up. That was quite an adventure since uncle had no idea how to get there. And it's pretty much a maze there in Choti Bazaar. Corridors are so narrow and there are so many people. We walked around for a while until we finally asked someone how to get there. This person was actually nice enough to lead us there. But then we ran into Sonny who took us to they place.

Instant memory flashback. This place looked so familiar. I know it has been about 22 years since I had been there, but still.

We went out to see the sights in Jaipur. We went to Amber to check out the fort and the palace there. Got some pictures of the fort. Then we went to the palace. We took an elephant ride from the bottom to the top of the fort. This is exactly the same elephant ride I took when I was 4...the last time I was in India. The ride is slow and bumpy. But it was fun.

After a while, all of these forts and palaces look the same. They aren't as well kept as what you would see in England or other European countries. It's a shame. Someday, hopefully, there will be more effort at upkeeping these places to make them more appealing to tourists.

Apparently, on our way up to the fort, some guy took two pictures...one of uncle and one of me. We didn't know about it until the guy came up to us as we were about to get on the elephant down. He asked for Rps. 50. Of course, we tried to bargain to Rps. 20. He refused. So we get on the elephant. Eventually, the guy had no choice but to accept. Some money is better than no money.

Our next stop was the City palace. Our guide here was way too fast. All he seems to be wanting us to do is take us to the shops. He must be getting a commission. Of course, we aren't buying anything.

We drive by the Hawa Mahal. We stop by so I can get a picture. Then we made our way to the Central Museum. There were some odd collections and stuff. Nothing big.

We then went to the Birla Mandir. This was by far the best the nicest mandir we have seen. It is a beautiful marble temple and very well kept. There stained glass windows with Hindu figures. In the middle are two giant marble statues of Lord Vishnu and Gayatri. Behind the statues is a giant Om symbol. Definitely a nice temple to go to.

We are on our way to Jaipur. We were planning to take a train, but we decided that we wanted to go see some temples on the way.

The first was the Mirabai Mandir in Merta City. It was an interesting one. As I was giving my offering, the preist started to talk to me in Hindi. He knew that I was not local. He asked me where I was from. Of course, I didn't quite understand and I tried to say in Hindi that I didn't speak Hindi. Then he spoke to me in English...and it was good English.

Then we went to the Pushkar where there's a temple on the water for Brahma. This is the only temple in all of India for Brahma. One thing I learned here was that even in the holiest of places, the priests can be thieves. So, first wierd thing was that they separated uncle and I so that we could have individual special pujas. But I didn't know what they were doing so I went along. This puja is already wierd, but then this priest (or whatever this guy was) tells me about how people donate and so on. He first starts with Rps. 100 and then keeps increasing the amount. Being naive, I said I would donate $20, which is sooooo much. I should have said 20 rupees instead. Luckily, uncle saved the day and pulled me out of that one. We just left at that point. It's amazing how much they harass you, even at a holy place.

We then went to a mosque in (I forget the name). We thought we would check it out. We got there and they told us uncle couldn't get in with shorts on. They conveniently had someone near by who could sell leggings. We just turned around and went back to the car. On our way back, we kept getting harrassed by these beggars. We kept walking, and they kept walking next to us. We didn't give them anything, but at some point I wanted to so they would stop annoying us. Of course, I didn't because then other people would come. At some point, we had a police officer come to shoo them away. Of course, there was one who was sneaky enough to avoid the cop and catch up us later.

Anyways...we finally made it to Jaipur. It was night time so we didn't do much. We are staying in the Rajputana Palace Sheraton hotel. Uncle and I hung out in the bar and had a few drinks. There were some cheesy band singing some bhangra and hindi film songs.

We are in Gotan. There's absolutely nothing to do here. Gotan is in the middle of nowhere. B.K. has a house here near the J.K. Cement plant. The house is so well kept. The backyard has green grass. Kinda of funny in the middle of the desert.

We went the L.K.S. Education Center which is a school near by. Auntie is the Vice Principal of the school. It's not like our schools back in the States. But it works. We met with some of the big wigs there.

Kinda a boring day. Did nothing but watch cricket and really strange Indian soap operas.

We are way to B.K.'s house in Gotan. To get there, we are driving. Driving in India is an adventure. The roads are not very well kept. There are so many people in the road. Cows are everywhere, crossing the road at will. And we are driving very fast (100kph is fast for India). It is quite scary sometimes. The way I keep from thinking about it is to listen to my music and write in this journal. At one point in our drive, we hit a patch where it was so bumpy. We could only get by zig-zagging around the pot holes and driving only like 5 kph. I hit my head a few times on the top of this car.

After a nice breakfast, we went around the palace and took some pictures. There was a museum that had various artifacts. We went to the back of the palace where we ate breakfast. Nice reception area. This palace is huge. We took pictures, but they won't do it justice.

We are going to B.K.'s guest house somewhere in the city. We have two cars. I am alone in one car. Talk about riding in style. We got to the guest house. As soon as I got out of the car, there was a bull coming after me. I moved and it kept coming after me. Scared the shit out of me. Damn, didn't get a picture.

Uncle and I decided to take a tour of Jodhpur while the rest of them rested. We went to the fort which was on top of this hill overlooking all of Jodhpur. We went and took a tour of the fort and the temple. We went to a temple within the fort.

Afterwards, we went to a temple where the royals are cremated. As we walked in, there were these two cute little kids who were waiting for visitors so they could dance for them. We got a video of it. It was so cute.

We landed in Jodhpur and met up with B.K. and Shushma Auntie. Shushma Auntie grew up with our dads and her dad had a store next to my grandfather's store in Delhi.

We are staying in the Umaid Bhavan Palace hotel. This place is so nice. Beautifully lit up at night. I need to get a picture of this place. Our room is huge. Our bathroom is so nice. Uncle and I are so excited.

We met up with B.K. and Sushma in the game room to have a few drinks before dinner. This room is kinda creepy with the heads of various hunted animals on the walls. I had a lot of Black Label. I haven't had this much alcohol in a long time. The dinner was fabulous. Some authentic rajastani food.

Today, we've been driven around Udaipur after checking out the hotel. We first checked out the city palace. We had a tour guide give us a tour of the two parts of the palace that is open to the public.

We then drove down through the Chirva Gaat (hills) to see this park for the Maharana.

We went to this set deserted temples known as the Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law temples. They were built in 600 A.D., but the Moguls destroyed parts of it during their reign. Both temples are very beautiful template have many initricate designs. We met a man there who gave us a very good tour of the temple and made out all of the figures that were carved on the temple.

We then made our way to the Ek Lingji temple. It was pretty neat to finally see a ceremony. Somewhat inspiring. Unfortunately, I don't know enought about the rituals. We had a guide there who gave us a tour of the temple.

The driver took us to the the vintage car museum that had different vehicles that various maharajas used over the years. But the good thing was that the place was next to a thali restaurant. This was so good and so cheap (Rp 50). I couldn't stop eating.

We went back to the city palace where we saw a crystal exhibit. What a waste of money! It was just a large amount of crystal bought by the maharana in the late 1800's. The maharana died before it was delivered from England.

Apparently, our driver has disappeared. We waited around for 20 minutes. Finally, he came. But it was kinda scary since our stuff was in the car. Since we had some time before we had to get to the airport, our driver took us to a bizarre to try to get us to buy some stuff. Go into a store, you are instantly harrassed. If you say you are just looking, they'll still bother you and show you everything.

On to the airport...

One week down, two more to go.

After two days in the sun, we are off to Udaipur. Before we got to the plane, I finally got to meet my cousin Rohit's wife Anu and her daughter. Rohit is away on some carriership somewhere, so he wasn't there, obviously. It was good to finally see family. Unfortunately, we only got to talk for about 20 minutes before we had to leave for the airplane.

We got to the Udaipur airport. This is very small airport. We had a driver pick us up and take us to our hotel. We are staying at the Lake Palace Hotel. This is such a nice place. It is completely surrounded by water (although during the summers the river can be completely dry). For those who are James Bond fans, they filmed parts of Octopussy here.

Across the water is another palace. The driver tells us that the palace is still inhabited by the king but half is a hotel. On the other side is another palace.

At the hotel, they are treating us well. When we got here, two girls dressed in traditional dress put some tika on our foreheads and put a garland of flowers around us (picture). Then we saw some traditional folk dances (video). In one dance, the lady was dancing while balancing some heavy pots on her head.

This place is expensive. We had a whiskey and a beer and it cost 18 USD. Tax is about 43% on alcohol.

After 6pm, there's not much to do. We walked around and found different places we can sit and view the water. Tomorrow, we're gonna get up early to view the sights around here.

Boy, it is hot here. It's supposed to be hotter tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll be the car most of the time travelling from sight to sight. I'm getting used to the heat though. I don't mind the sweat and the fact that I stink now.

There's nothing like sitting on the beach, drinking some beer, eating some seafood. We're hanging out at a shack near the hotel. It's called Pacific Blue Shack...I'm sure they are all called that. We had preordered some food the day before and now we're ready to eat.

First on the menu was some king crabs, Goan style. It took about 30 minutes to finish. Next on the menu was some jumbo prawns. This was so good. I loved it for sure.

Unfortunately, our good time was spoiled by the owner of this shack. He had promised us a deal on the food. But, then he decided to charge us more for it. We were pissed. Remember kids, always get it in writing.

Goa is a beautiful. It is sunny...a little hot and humid, but so awesome. We are in North Goa, about 1 hour north by car from the Goa Airport in South Goa. We are staying at the Fort Aguada Beach Resort. This is definitely one of the nicest hotels in the area.

All along the beach are shacks where you can just sit, have some Kingfisher, eat some seafood. Goan seafood is awesome. We preordered some seafood for tomorrow. We're pretty excited about it.

We went into one of the local towns Calanguate to check out a place called Souza Lobo that Leon recommended. It wasn't that great. Maybe we just got the wrong stuff.

Sleeping is tough in this heat. I definitely need water near the bed because I'd wake up dehydrated.

Today, Cecil, uncle, and I took a boat ride to Elephanta Island, about 11km from Mumbai. Elephanta Island island is the home of the Elephanta Caves, which are three temples for Lord Shiva that were carved out of solid rock some time between 2nd century B.C. and 12th century A.D. (According to this sign). These caves are spectacular. (Check out this picture). It's unfortunate because the Portugese used it as a firing range and many of the sculptures have been desecrated.

Leon (Cecil's son) and Gia (Leon's cousin) took me out on the town in Mumbai. Ok, I wouldn't call it out on the town because it is a Wednesday and there's not much going on. They took me to a place called the Gym...I don't know if that's the name of the place or a generic name. Well, it was one of their friend's birthday. Afterwards, we went out to search for a club. Apparently, five star hotels have the clubs. We went to one five star hotel (can't remember the name) and Gia went in to check it out for us. Too many guys. Hmm...seems like nothing is different here in India. We left and were driving to a place called Fluid. On the way there though, we passed by Shah Rukh Khan's house (Monica will be so excited!). From what we saw, it wasn't that impressive. Anyways...we went to a place called Fluid. It was kinda dead. Not many people. There were some cute girls though. To be honest, I didn't see much difference to an Indian party back in the states. The difference was that the music was very American and people weren't dressed up in black pants. To be cool, jeans are the way to go. Even though things are generally cheaper in India, alcohol isn't.

After a good night's sleep, I finally begun my first day in India. We are staying with some of uncle's friends Cecil and Ansilla in Bandra. They have been so nice to us...they are really cool.

It is humid here, like Michigan in late July. The weather is just hot, but I can't even see the sun. There's definitely alot of pollution in the air. I can feel it in my eyes. I need some visine. My lungs are doing ok so far.

Our first stop on the site seeing tour was the Hanging Gardens. Pretty nice, somewhat tropical. Must be a little different during the cooler season. In one part of the garden, I got a picture with a monkey on my shoulder.

The next stop was Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya. Mani Bhavan was the place that Gandhi-ji did most of his work during the movement for independence. We took quite some pictures there.

Our next stop was the Hajialim Mosque. This muslim mosque is located right on the water. There's a path to get to the mosque which is only useable during the low tide. We tried to make our way to the mosque. But we didn't feel very comfortable there. We got alot of strange looks. And with the whole Muslim-Hindu thing going on, I wasn't sure if we were gonna be in trouble. So we turned around before we even got to the mosque.

Our next stop was the Gateway of India. It is a big arch right on the edge of the bay. We stopped by an had a beer at Leopolds Cafe which is in the middle of this shopping area. Pretty cool place. We had lunch at the Britannia Cafe. Again, I'm amazed at how this place is kept up. The front of this place is totally torn up. Food was good though.

Today was really an eye-opener. There are so many people. People are everywhere. It is so sad. There are so many poor people...beggars everywhere. Every 10 feet, some woman with a malnourished baby. Really sad.

Shopping is quite an experience. There is always someone selling something. Of course, they come to you can annoy you...and they will follow you. But things are certainly cheap here...well, relative to the states. 50 Rps. to 1 USD. Uncle bought 2 shirts for 160 Rps...that's basically $3. Barganing is definitely the thing to do. You can bargain for that extra $0.25...seems silly, but that's the way it must be done...otherwise these guys will take advantange of the next tourist.

Our night is capped with a dinner at a place called Mahesh. This place is apparently popular. I had some really good fish.

Indian TV is also quite interesting. I was watching a Punjabi channel. Ok, I don't understand any of it, but there are some really good looking women. There's also alot of religious stuff on TV...but like in the states, so many channels, nothing on.

Finally left Amsterdam and now are on our way to Mumbai. The plane was pretty empty, I got one row to myself and uncle was able to find a row that was pretty much empty for himself.

This flight was certainly much better than our Amsterdam flight. KLM sucks compared to Northwest in my opinion. Leave it up to uncle to smooth talk Mary Ellen. She was pretty cool. She kept stopping by and dropping off some of those mini wine bottles. I can't remember how many I had. Then, Mary Ellen came and gave us a bottle of wine from first class. We decided to save that and give that to someone. She also gave us a goodie bad of different alcohols. I guess that's what happens when you treat people well...good things happen to you.

Woke up early today. 6:15am. That's just too early. Well, we had some breakfast in the hotel. Not the best, but it was good enough.

We took a canal tour around the city. It was pretty cool. We saw some of the older buildings of the city and some of the more famous buildings in the city. I got a picture of the famous 6 bridges. Afterwards, we walked around and found Rembrandt's house. Not that impressive. It was closed so we couldn't see the inside. We walked all the way back to the south west side of the city center. It seems that there are alot more bars and such around this area. Alot more modern, it seems like.

We then made it to the Van Gogh museum where they were having a Van Gogh/Ganguin exhibit. I'm not an art expert, but it was pretty interesting. We took a taped tour of the exhibit.

We are in Amsterdam. I didn't sleep much on the plan, maybe an hour here and there. We are so tired. While we wait for the hotel to check us in, we went to look for food. There are quite a bit of marijuana shops around here.

We walked around the city today. It was pretty cool outside. We hung around some of the side streets and went to one restaurant to grab a drink. We kept walking around the streets and then to some promenage. We ended up at a pretty cool restaurant. Deepak uncle loved those mussels. We just hung around, smoked a cigar, drank some beers, watching the Newcastle/Arsenal futball match. A pretty chill night.

The trip has begun. I'm sitting on this crowded plane on our way to Amsterdam. The seats are pretty cramped. Maybe we should have gotten business class, but that's quite a bit of cash. I'm so tired. I only slept a few minutes on my flight from San Francisco to Pittsburgh, and I didn't sleep much on the flight from Pittsburgh to Toronto.
We are flying out of Toronto because it was cheaper and it was easy for both uncle and me to meet there. The other good thing is that I was able to see my parents who came up from Detroit.
I'm pretty excited about the trip. At the same time, it hasn't hit me that I'll be on vacation for 3 weeks. Well, on to Amsterdam.