First, let me reassure anyone reading this that despite the recent headlines of scary events in Mumbai, we are fine here. Fortunately, we were home that evening, which was where we remained for about 36 hours...uneasily watching the news. It so happened that we already had a trip to Goa scheduled for that weekend. It made for a great retreat from a city in distress and from repetitive and gloomy news coverage - more on that later. The city has more or less returned to "normal".
Portland to Mumbai - An Unlikely Itinerary
Our first brave visitors have now come and gone. Tom and Sarah flew from Portland to Atlanta (about 5 hours), and then onto Mumbai (16 more hours on a plane) - an itinerary I would guess has been booked just a few times this year. We were a bit afraid how they would feel after such a journey, arriving in a place as overwhelming as Mumbai, but they handled it well and we had a great visit. Despite an interruption from Pakistani terrorists, we completed all travel plans and got to experience some of what India has to offer together with them in the 2.5 weeks they were here. 
Although much of our time together was spent in Mumbai, where we live, most of this post is dedicated to the weekend trips we took, as they were more fun and offered the best pictures. To give a little flavor for Mumbai, I have included one photo of the Bombay Laundry (the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat). This is a 136-year-old area public washing area (Mumbai's oldest and largest) where hundreds of people wash, beat and hang their clothes each day. It is an interesting photo and concept, which hopefully gives a better sense for the variety of new sights Tom and Sarah encountered on their trip.
Although much of our time together was spent in Mumbai, where we live, most of this post is dedicated to the weekend trips we took, as they were more fun and offered the best pictures. To give a little flavor for Mumbai, I have included one photo of the Bombay Laundry (the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat). This is a 136-year-old area public washing area (Mumbai's oldest and largest) where hundreds of people wash, beat and hang their clothes each day. It is an interesting photo and concept, which hopefully gives a better sense for the variety of new sights Tom and Sarah encountered on their trip.
A simple map is provided to highlight their trip and the locations where the events and pictures in this post took place. First, Mumbai is in central-West India along the coast [green box on map]. Our first weekend rendezvous was to "NCR" (Northern Capital Region), where we zipped between the cities in the "Golden Triangle" of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur [red box on map]. The following weekend, we headed for the beach state of Goa [blue box on map].Cruising NCR
In order to hit the top tourist places around Delhi, we rented a car (and driver...Ramesh). We flew to Delhi, drove to Agra and then Jaipur, and flew home from Jaipur to Mumbai. It worked well and we were able to see a lot over just a long weekend. Delhi feels more or less like Mumbai, but it is cleaner and more organized. 
While Mumbai is the commercial capital, Delhi is the seat of the government and has more history. It was a nice couple days - Red Fort, the zoo, and various markets. The driver Ramesh was nice enough to take us into a Sikh (the people of the religion that wear the tight turbans) temple and show us what to do. 
While we were at the zoo, this sign seemed a little strange. However, as the trip progressed, we had more and more exposure to monkeys. Essentially, monkeys are in most places and are considered a nuisance. As the cities here grow and natural habitat is destroyed, they adapt and learn how to live with and off of humans. 
There is another picture here of a family of monkeys running around on a building on the side of the road. To be honest, the monkeys are scary (they actually have big teeth) and are pretty aggressive. We've seen them in several places now; no one here seems very fond of them. One tried to steal our breakfast on a rooftop deck at our hotel in Jaipur.
In order to hit the top tourist places around Delhi, we rented a car (and driver...Ramesh). We flew to Delhi, drove to Agra and then Jaipur, and flew home from Jaipur to Mumbai. It worked well and we were able to see a lot over just a long weekend. Delhi feels more or less like Mumbai, but it is cleaner and more organized. 
While Mumbai is the commercial capital, Delhi is the seat of the government and has more history. It was a nice couple days - Red Fort, the zoo, and various markets. The driver Ramesh was nice enough to take us into a Sikh (the people of the religion that wear the tight turbans) temple and show us what to do. 
While we were at the zoo, this sign seemed a little strange. However, as the trip progressed, we had more and more exposure to monkeys. Essentially, monkeys are in most places and are considered a nuisance. As the cities here grow and natural habitat is destroyed, they adapt and learn how to live with and off of humans. 
There is another picture here of a family of monkeys running around on a building on the side of the road. To be honest, the monkeys are scary (they actually have big teeth) and are pretty aggressive. We've seen them in several places now; no one here seems very fond of them. One tried to steal our breakfast on a rooftop deck at our hotel in Jaipur.Agra (home of the Taj Mahal)
Probably the main reason we headed north for the first excursion out of Mumbai was the draw of the Taj Mahal. It is in a city called Agra, which didn't seem to have much to offer other than the Taj and a few other tourist highlights. Karen and I have been to many architectural wonders and I must say that the Taj Mahal really is spectacular. We went in at sunrise, which was really great. The skies were blue and there was a morning haze that made the place look that much better. It is huge. If you don't know, the Taj Mahal was built in about 1650 as a mausoleum by one of the Mughal Emperors as a memorial for his second wife (although there seems to be some controversy over that). 
Of course, it is a very picturesque campus and we came away from there with tons of pictures, but my favorites are here. Tom did a great job with the obligatory reflection picture, which is actually difficult to do given the droves of people all trying to get into position for that perfect shot without reflection obstructions. You may be able to get some scale from the first picture as there is a crowd just past the pond and before the building itself. 
By the way, in the group photo that black thing on my neck is a T-shirt (makeshift scarf) with the dorky tag sticking out. It was chilly that morning. The last two are more for impact and entertainment. The one with the Taj Mahal in the distance and trees in the foreground is noteworthy only in that it was the view from our hotel room (actually even from the toilet inside the hotel room). The other picture makes it entirely clear how large this structure really is. 
There is a red circle with two people in it - Sarah and Karen waving (blown up at top left for convenience). The last photo is from a chamber inside the Agra Fort that we happened upon and were able to get some half-cheesey, half-cool pictures with the light beam.
Probably the main reason we headed north for the first excursion out of Mumbai was the draw of the Taj Mahal. It is in a city called Agra, which didn't seem to have much to offer other than the Taj and a few other tourist highlights. Karen and I have been to many architectural wonders and I must say that the Taj Mahal really is spectacular. We went in at sunrise, which was really great. The skies were blue and there was a morning haze that made the place look that much better. It is huge. If you don't know, the Taj Mahal was built in about 1650 as a mausoleum by one of the Mughal Emperors as a memorial for his second wife (although there seems to be some controversy over that). 
Of course, it is a very picturesque campus and we came away from there with tons of pictures, but my favorites are here. Tom did a great job with the obligatory reflection picture, which is actually difficult to do given the droves of people all trying to get into position for that perfect shot without reflection obstructions. You may be able to get some scale from the first picture as there is a crowd just past the pond and before the building itself. 
By the way, in the group photo that black thing on my neck is a T-shirt (makeshift scarf) with the dorky tag sticking out. It was chilly that morning. The last two are more for impact and entertainment. The one with the Taj Mahal in the distance and trees in the foreground is noteworthy only in that it was the view from our hotel room (actually even from the toilet inside the hotel room). The other picture makes it entirely clear how large this structure really is. 
There is a red circle with two people in it - Sarah and Karen waving (blown up at top left for convenience). The last photo is from a chamber inside the Agra Fort that we happened upon and were able to get some half-cheesey, half-cool pictures with the light beam.Jaipur
We had high hopes from reading the guidebooks for fascinating bazaars (markets) in Jaipur, but were quite disappointed on that front. However, it was a good part of the trip as we crossed into yet another state (Rajastan) where the landscape and culture starts to change. Local people wear brightly colored loosly piled turbans and light white garments. It was about a six hour drive from Agra to Jaipur, which seemed an awful prospect, but which turned out to be a nice experience.
The scenery was pretty and there was plenty to look at. Also, Ramesh's cross-country driving style - FAST - added something to the day as we bounded across the country side with various parts of the highway closed (meaning we drove down the wrong side of the highway...along with everyone else), blocked with people, carts, animals, etc. 
Traffic here has an amazing flow, which would never work in the US or many other places. It is accomplished with a lot of blind faith that others think the way you do and no one will overreact to any situation. You get used to it. Nonetheless, we made it safely after having seen camel caravans galore. See the picture above. Camels are widely used (on the highway) to pull HUGE loads long distances. The other picture is from the fort-palace outside of Jaipur and shows what local women (who were the construction laborers in this place) wear. You see a lot of stuff carried on heads in India. In this case, it would have been pans full of dirt that was being moved.
We had high hopes from reading the guidebooks for fascinating bazaars (markets) in Jaipur, but were quite disappointed on that front. However, it was a good part of the trip as we crossed into yet another state (Rajastan) where the landscape and culture starts to change. Local people wear brightly colored loosly piled turbans and light white garments. It was about a six hour drive from Agra to Jaipur, which seemed an awful prospect, but which turned out to be a nice experience.
The scenery was pretty and there was plenty to look at. Also, Ramesh's cross-country driving style - FAST - added something to the day as we bounded across the country side with various parts of the highway closed (meaning we drove down the wrong side of the highway...along with everyone else), blocked with people, carts, animals, etc. 
Traffic here has an amazing flow, which would never work in the US or many other places. It is accomplished with a lot of blind faith that others think the way you do and no one will overreact to any situation. You get used to it. Nonetheless, we made it safely after having seen camel caravans galore. See the picture above. Camels are widely used (on the highway) to pull HUGE loads long distances. The other picture is from the fort-palace outside of Jaipur and shows what local women (who were the construction laborers in this place) wear. You see a lot of stuff carried on heads in India. In this case, it would have been pans full of dirt that was being moved.
In addition to camels, Jaipur is also home to lots of semi-domesticated elephants. They are used for tourist activities, which is kind of sad, but at the same time, elephants (and camels for that matter) are somehow mesmerizing. 
I think it is that they are so foreign to anything we'd see at home, and they are just a part of life and history here. Check out the elephant strolling through town with the 'owner' sleeping in the basket up top. Our plan was to ride elephants up the hill to get to the fort-palace, but Ramesh - listening to my frustrated words - took us all the way up to the entrance itself. I made it clear he was to use his local knowledge to help us have an easy trip, not line his pockets on the side (a pretty typical enterprise for drivers), after which he whizzed us by the tourist bottleneck with the elephants and up to the top. 
So we found some elephant guys walking down the side of the road, stopped and paid them ($2 per elephant) to hang out with the elephants for a few minutes. The elephant on the left actually took the money from my hand with its trunk and handed it up to the owner. In Rajastan, they paint the elephants and camels decoratively. The elephants were: huge, hairy, rough, warm and cute. I suppose we already could have guessed those things, but it was pretty neat to stand right next to them and touch them. I think this was the highlight of Karen's trip.Goa - The Hippy Beach Town
Everyone's second choice destination (after NCR) was to go to Goa. When you live here, other expats talk about Goa like it is some kind of haven. And after going there, we can understand why. It is not that it is overly nice, clean or organized - just that it isn't busy, there is water that looks somewhat clean, and you can just go and relax. It has a more diverse feel. We saw lots of hippies from all over the world, local people, Russians, and who knows who else. 
I think it is a place you would go to hide away in anonymity if you were a criminal on the run in a developed country. As you can see in the beach picture, cows don't have it too bad there either. This picture is of the sunset from the hill our hotel sat on (nice shot Tom). The other nice thing about going to Goa was that it pulled us out of Mumbai during the second half of the terror attack period. We were a little weary of going out and getting on a plane, but it turned out to be a great retreat from the uncomfortable situation back in Mumbai. We splurged for a nicer hotel, rented mopeds and had a few relaxed days. 
After probably 5 years off the horse, Tom jumped on and re-learned how to ride a scooter (with a passenger who had never been on a two-wheeled motorized vehicle before) on the wrong side of the road with terrible street conditions and animals wandering about. Good job...no crashes!On Sunday night, we headed back to Mumbai for their final few days in India. The terror attacks changed the mood for sure. It was too bad it happened during their visit, 
but we came out fine and having seen (not even first hand) what kind of bad things are out there in the world. Being in India really makes you think. We have it great in the US for so many reasons. Our system works, our government is basically fair, we have opportunities (and food) and we can essentially do what we want. Tom and Sarah's last few days (before their marathon 36-hour journey back to Oregon), were spent hanging out, eating a few more cheese naan, and playing Nintendo Wii (check out our Matrix moves during a hot Wii Sports boxing match). Plus, it was Tom's birthday! 
We're glad we could have you guys here and that the trip was a success. We'll see you and/or talk to you soon. Thanks for visiting!!!
but we came out fine and having seen (not even first hand) what kind of bad things are out there in the world. Being in India really makes you think. We have it great in the US for so many reasons. Our system works, our government is basically fair, we have opportunities (and food) and we can essentially do what we want. Tom and Sarah's last few days (before their marathon 36-hour journey back to Oregon), were spent hanging out, eating a few more cheese naan, and playing Nintendo Wii (check out our Matrix moves during a hot Wii Sports boxing match). Plus, it was Tom's birthday! 
We're glad we could have you guys here and that the trip was a success. We'll see you and/or talk to you soon. Thanks for visiting!!!
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Kudos for getting friends out there!
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