India Dec- Jan 2008/2009

Below is what I wrote half way through our trip and I added on to it. It is a very detailed recount of what we did for our trip. I am including it as is for our sake, not yours, by no means do we expect you to read it!
We enjoyed our trip so much! We loved spending so much time with each other, sxploring this amazing place. Steve and I loved soaking up so much time with Madison. We loved that everything was organized, we never had to decide on anything major or wrestle with taxi drivers. We loved shopping and sight seeing, meeting interesting people and seeing what a country looks like when it has over 1 billion people in it!
The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, it was all just great!
We can not say enough about our driver or the company we went with, they were so wonderful.
Okay…here goes…

On December 26th we had a nice relaxing day of packing and tidying up. We left the house at about 8:45 in the evening. We caught a taxi right outside our door, which was great, as we had three bags, two carry ons and a stroller and it was raining!27th~We got to the airport in lots of time and got checked in. We walked around the airport and got our India Ruppee for the trip...90,000 Rupee is about 3000 Sing, we thought that it would be enough, apparently not!Our flight was good, Jet airways, our first time with them. We had good Indian food to start our trip off right. Madi slept the whole way!When we arrived at Delhi airport we got through customs no problem and then went to collect our bags, our bags took ages. When we had everything we went out and looked for our tour guide. We walked through the isle and he wasn't there, I walked though again, by this point it was 3:00 in the morning in Delhi and 5:30 am in Singapore. I was a bit worried, but then, Amit, our guide showed up…he said he fell asleep in the car...I thought, oh great, what a good start. But as it turns out we love him, he is wonderful, so helpful and kind and loves Madi. Our Drive to Pushkar was 8+ hours, we stopped for a half hour due to fog. It was freezing...about 10 degrees and our car had no heat. Our car looks like an old car, but is only three years old…The Ambassador, made in India, but seems to be in good condition, it has lots of room for all of us in the back. On our way to Pushkar we stopped for our first cup of Chai Masala tea and Indian breakfast. When we arrived in Pushkar it was about 12:30 I the afternoon, so we went to explore the city. Pushkar is a small city, about 15,000 in population, no major streets, and yet we felt a bit over whelmed right away., There were cows and camels all over the street, people were very curious about Madi and we felt like all 15000 of them were on the street with us!We walked for awhile and then stopped for lunch..I had pasta, Steve had pizza...we thought, uh oh, not a great start, but it was just what we needed to feel settled. After awhile we went to the lake and looked around. According to the Hindu mythology, the holy Pushkar Lake was created by the lotus petals, which fell from the hands of Lord Brahma. The lake is considered as one of the most sacred spots. It is called the Tirtharaj, the king of all Tirthas. It is believed that no pilgrimage is complete without a holy dip in the sacred lake at Pushkar. People say that one dip in the Lake on Kartik Purnima corresponds to performing yagnas for several hundred years.The tranquil and beautiful lake amidst the hills has fifty-two bathing Ghats, built around the lake. The Lake is semi-circular in shape. The water around each Ghat is supposed to have special powers. The Naga Kund is belived to give fertility, Roop Tirth gives beauty and charm, Kapil Vyapi Kund helps in curing leprosy and a dip in the Mrikand Muni Kund people were a bit daunting because men kept offering us flowers, and Amit told us NOT to take one, no matter what, so I was a bit nervous about that. Anyway, we got our pictures and did not take a flower so it was okay. After a while we went back to the hotel, Hotel Master Paradise.We had a bite to eat in the courtyard, which was nice and then went out to run around in the lawn with Madi. We were in bed and asleep by 9:00! We were all tired from a day of traveling. 28th~ We woke up around 7 and began to get ready, the weather was freezing over night and in the early morning, but heated up during the day. So we had a shower and got sorted. Had a really nice breakfast in the hotel, all of our hotels include breakfast. which is really nice, a great way to start the day. And so we set out to the town of Pushkar..our hotel was a bit far from town, maybe a 1.5 km. But because we go there so early the town was just getting started so we felt much better about being there, it wasn't so full on! And so we walked for ages, checking things out and doing a bit of shopping. We bought a Christmas ornament, a mortar and pestle and a blanket, that I think I will use as a table cloth for our new table. We tried a sweet treat from a small street vendor, it was just deep fried and too hot to eat so we thought that it was safe, it was safe and it was delicious! The guy who we bought our table cloth from bought it for us,..very sweet
We had lunch again at the same place as yesterday, moon dance it was called. Nice place, quiet. Good food.We then kept walking, lots of people wanted pictures of Madi, she was such a good girl, it was great. We took a ton of pictures, and it was only day 2! We also felt like we were already short on cash... we always spend so much money and don't worry about it until later, Oh well, we will never be in India again.Anyway, we then met our guide Amit and he set us up with a few camels for a sunset camel ride. It was 400 ruppees each, which we thought was a lot, even though it works out to 12 dollars each, but we were feeling the crunch for the cash...anyway, Steve rode a camel and I rode in a camel cart with a cover, it was great, Madi rode with Steve on the camel for awhile and then with me for the rest of the way, We went a little while out of the town and then walked up a hill and watched the sun set, it was nice.
We went back to the hotel and it was dark by this time , so we had a quick bite to eat at the restaurant, thankful for a restaurant in the hotel because we don't think that we should be out in the dark in India with Madi, which is fine with us.29th~ The next morning we got up and packed and left by 9am for our journey off to Jodhpur. It took us 4 hours, which wasn't bad at all. Once we arrived we drove straight to our hotel to get settled and by the time we got there we realized that we went from a 15000 person town to a 900 000 person town! It was a bit nuts! Amit knew that we were feeling a bit apprehensive so he offered to walk with us to town, which was so great! We walked around and had a chai Masala tea at a famous Omelet place, in the lonely planet. Then we walked to the clock tower and saw some sights. We got stopped by the local paper for a photo with Madi and the clock tower, he says he will e-mail us the pictures,. we'll see about that!We went to a spice shop and got a whole demonstration on teas and spices and stuff, then proceeded to spend 1300 ruppees on tea and spices! I hope you all want to come over for tea and Indian food when we get back! Then we walked through the town again, it was nice, full on, but nice. We walked back to the hotel and Steve and Madi and I went to our room. I had a reflexology guy come up and give me a half hour massage. Then we went up for dinner at our hotel. Our hotel has a wonderful view of the old fort and they have a tandori oven so we had a fabulous dinner and by the end Madi was exhausted so I took her down and she fell asleep. A great day30th~ We woke up and met Amit for 9am. He was great and took us straight to the fort, which was nice, we got the audio tour, which was helpful. it was not busy at all when we got there, which was so nice, but by the time we left it was very busy. I think Madi had her picture taken about 100 times! We got some bangles from a place at the fort, a lady made Madi one, right before our eyes, which was cool!After that we went to the mausoleum around the corner and after that we went to a furniture/textile place, we bought a blanket for Madi, it is purple. We think she will like it in her new room in Canada.After that we went for lunch at a place called On the Rocks, it was really good, so expensive (30 dollars) but really good and it had a playground for Madi, which she loved., Then we went back to our hotel and watched some Dora with Madi and here I am typing.tomorrow we are off to Udaipur, it will take 7-9 hours...oh my!We are loving our trip, loving Amit, and love Madi every second of the day, she is too cute and the best traveler ever!
On New Years Eve Day we drove to Udaipur. We don’t mind the drives, Madi is always a really good girl, we sing songs and read books, take naps and look at the beautiful countryside or small towns that we pass through.

On our way to Udiapur we stopped for lunch in a town called Ranekpur , to see the Jain Temple. This temple was built in 1439 and has almost 1500 pillars, all unique. The whole thing is made out of solid marble, it was pretty neat and a good way to break up the drive.
Udiapur was wonderful, we really enjoyed this stop. Udaipur is a city of palaces surrounding an artificial lake, Udaipur captures the imagination like few other places in the world. It's perhaps most famous for its Lake Palace, built as an island in Lake Pichola by Maharana Jagat Singh II in the mid 18th century. Today the palace is a luxury hotel.

It was New Year’s Eve when we arrived so we stayed at the hotel for dinner…well, we tried…we went and had a drink and we were entertaining Madi when she suddenly threw up…not sure why, it only happened the once, but we took her to the room and ordered room service. She perked up right after and was totally fine.
The next day we hired a guide and went to the Jagdish temple and then to the Udiapur Palace. Miniature paintings were all over the palace so we ended up buying one, there are pictures for the man painting the one that we bought.
Later we went to the 'Saheliyon-ki-Bari or the Garden of the Maids of Honour'. This was a garden built specifically for the women of the palace to go and enjoy the outdoors with out anyone looking, specifically men.
After this we went back to the hotel, had a late lunch and a bit of a nap and then headed out to look around the town.
We ended up in a little shop, meeting the nicest man who sold pashminas, his name was Shabir. We spent over an hour in his shop, we had tea and learned all about the different qualities of pashminas. We ended up buying a few things, including pashminas and a small rug and a few pillow covers…oh my! We also have an open invitation to stay with his family in Kashmir India whenever we return!Then it was dinner time, we found the best little Italian place! We have had so much Indian food, which we love, but it was time for a change! You should have seen Madi’s face when she heard we were going to have pasta for dinner! Steve ordered two entrees!
The next day we traveled to Jaipur., known as the Pink City. We went to the Amber Fort and took a tour of that. Then we headed to a furniture warehouse…we had told Amit that we were looking for furniture, so he had a contact and set up a meeting. When we arrived the owner was not there yet, he was on his way. We took a look around, it was a very basic place, the guys were on the lawn building the furniture and the warehouse had furniture stacked up on itself. We noticed a few things, but when we asked the price, we thought, oh forget it, it will be a hassle and we really don’t have to have anything. By the time the owner came we were ready to go, we apologized for wasting his time and told him we just didn’t find anything we loved and it was a bit too expensive. Well, he talked to us for a while, a very nice man, and showed us a few things, we spoke with the workers and noticed the beautiful chairs they were making and a few tables then the man insisted we see his other warehouse. So off we went on a bit of an adventure. We see his other shop, again nothing we saw was spectacular, so we were about to explain again when he suggested he would make it worth our while. He gets out the calculator and goes through the pricing for chairs and the table that we liked, he would have his guys hand make them for us. He does the total and we tell him it is too much…then he says he will ship it all for $300.00…well, that sealed the deal.. shipping is ridiculous so this was quite an offer. An hour later we had purchased 12 chairs, a coffee table and two end tables as well as a small chest of drawers…oh my!
Madi had a great time being entertained by Amit on a huge swing with her dolly!After this huge purchase we went to the Jantar Mantar, this is an observatory built in 1728, it is huge! It is right beside the City Palace, so we went there next. We looked around and got the audio tour, but we did not do the whole thing as we were a bit ‘Palaced out’. We then went by the Hawa Mahal (the palace of Winds), this one of the Jaipur's major Landmarks. But it us only a wall, made to look like a building. It was built so that the women of the palace could watch the city below without being seen by any one else.
For dinner we went to a fantastic place called Pinti, where Amit finally joined us for dinner, the food was amazing! The family has another one in Delhi where we went two more times!Finally on January 4th we drove to Agra! As soon as we got there Amit had a guide waiting for us to go to the Taj Mahal! It was a bit smoggy, but we thought we should try it today and then if we want to go back tomorrow we can. So off we went!
The Taj Mahal is extremely expensive to get in, 750 Rupees, which is a lot Indian standards (about 20 bucks each). When you walk in you are greeted with huge grounds and a wall and huge gate that deosn’t allow you to see the Taj mahal, so you have to walk through the gate to see it….what an experience! We walked through together and our jaws dropped! People have said it is big, but it is huge! They began building in 1631 and it took 22 years, it is the largest and the most expensive mausoleum built by any man on earth. It was built by Shahjehan, the 5th emperor of Mughal empire for his favourite wife who died giving birth to their 14th child. It is made out of pure white marble. When it was finished he wanted to build an identical one in black marble for his own tomb, but his sons put him in jail for spending so much money!
It was really and truly amazing to be there and see it and have our pictures in front of it. Going inside it was secondary as it is just her tomb. But being there was really incredible.
We were there for ages and took so many pictures!
Madi had a blast because you don’t wear your shoes and she loved running on the marble in her bare feet!
This was one of the main reasons I wanted to come to India and I was not disappointed!
Then, to finish off our truly Indian experience we went to Pizza Hut for dinner!...oh my, well, Agra is a very dirty city, with nothing else going for it but the Taj Mahal, you would think that the gov’t would put money into the city to make it nice so people don’t just look at the Taj and leave…however.
The next morning we woke up and it was so foggy that you couldn’t see a thing, we were so thankful that we decided to go the day before!So we headed straight to Delhi. We got settled in our hotel and went sight seeing. We went to old Delhi and went to the Jama Masjid, is the largest and best known mosque in India, built by the same man who built the Taj mahal. This was built in 1656. it can hold of to 25000 worshipers. After that we took a tuk tuk ride through the streets of Old Delhi. We were so thankful we took a tuk tuk and did not decide to walk! It is so busy and full of so many things, it was a sensory overload, but so neat!
We then went to the Gandhi Memorial. We then had another fantastic Indian Dinner at Pindi.
The next day we went to Humyun’s Tomb, built in the 16th century, it is huge! Then to the lotus temple. We then went to an Indian mall, just to check things out. We had McDonalad’s for lunch, which only had chicken on the menu…when the population doesn’t eat beef, it takes a lot off the McDonald’s menu! It was nice to be in a more familiar place for an hour just to look around.
After that we did more shopping at the Dilli Haat, this is a food and craft bazaar . It was quite nice to walk around, it was spacious and not too busy and there was lots to look at. Unfortunately we did not really buy anything.
We walked around Delhi’s city centre for a while too, just to look around. We went to a few shops and almost bought a carpet, but thankfully did not!
Our last night in Delhi we went again to Pindi for Dinner with Amit. We had an early night in as our flight was quite early.

We LOVED our trip to India! We saw so much, we experienced so much, and even as I recounted in so much detail, I have forgotten many things,(like when I bought my ring, which is now a necklace. We went to see a numerology man, India is very much into numerology and then you wear the stone that helps you deal with the things you need to deal with. So I was interested and this man was very kind and sat us down and did our numbers. He did mine first. He determined that I was emotional and lacked confidence inc some things, he suggested a five karat star ruby (purple in colour) would help me with this. He then did Steve’s numbers, he looks up at Steve and says…well…you don’t need anything…I nearly choked…while the man explained that Steve is perfect…well..in perfect balance with himself! I spent the rest of the day calling him Mr. Perfect! After comparing both of our numbers separately he looked at them together and says we are a perfect match, he said when I am upset, Steve is calm and vice versa, which is true. He says we will be happily married for a long time.
So I bought the ring, then a few weeks later it broke, so he made me another one but not a ring, a pendant, I love it!)

It was a fantastic experience and even though I see the hundreds of pictures (maybe even thousands) I still feel like it is surreal.


27th dec arrival at 2:20 & drive directly to pushkar(7-8 hr drive)
28th pushkar city tour
29th pushkar - jodhpur(4-5 hr drive)
30th jodhpur city tour
31st jodhpur - udaipur(6-7 hr drive)
01st jan udaipur city tour
02nd udaipur - jaipur(6-7 hr drive)
03rd jaipur city tour
04th jaipur - agra via fatehpur sikri(5-6 hrs drive)
05th agra - delhi(4-5 hrs drive)
06th delhi city tour
07th delhi city tour
08th drop off to airport for flight at 8:55 am
The safest place for Madi!

We bought a mortar adn pestel and this little boy was the man's son

Daddy and Madi Yes, that guy is resting is head on my shoulder...

Madi drew a lot of attention, we had to have been in a few hundred pictures!

Our transportation

watching the sun set

Our camel ride

The clock tower in Johdpur

Their security measure...so no one jumps over...oh my!

Samosas

At our hotel, we sat on the rooftop for dinner, with the fort right behind us, so beautiful and the food was fantastic!

The blue city

So much garbage!

Bangles!

This lady made a bangle for Madi right in front of us!

the audio guide

At the fort in Jodpur

Madi making her funny face for everyone

Playing at the park while we have lunch!

Madi joins this boy for a bit!

SO CUTE!

New Year's Eve

Jain Temple, 1500 pillars, all unique, made of solid marble

The only way to make Indian architecture better...add Madi!

So many pictures of madi!

This is Madi right after she was sick, clearly she is okay!

You could take an elephant ride up and down, it was like an elephant highway!

The amber Fort

Having fun with Mommy's hat

The man we met in udaipur

The jantar mantar where the ladies could view the city without being seen, just a wall, not a building

Amit and Madi playing

The nice man who sold us the furniture...let's hope he actually ships it all to us!

Madi playing while we are paying for our new furniture!

Amber Fort in Jaipur

There she is...soo big, look at the size of the people!

The gate before seeing the Taj Mahal

our favourite part at the end of the meal, anis and rock sugar, as a mouth cleanser

First dinner at Pindi in Jodpur She looks superimposed! But very cute!

So Fun!

Here we are!!

A great day!

The whole family touches the Taj Mahal!

Look we are touching the Taj Mahal!!

As the sun was setting

Daddy and Madi

Huge Gates!

Our Guide at the Taj Mahal

On our way out of the Taj Mahal

Running around the Taj Mahal

Steve and I

Madi and I

Madi loving the no shoes part!

The largest mosque in India, in Delhi

Ghandi's memorial

Our car, Amit got a kick out of me being behind the wheel, even though he didn't let me drive it!

The streets in Old Delhi

Heavy load

Makes our wires in Canada seem so safe!

More indian food, yummm

No honking! It was so loud, it rivaled Vietnam!

Amit

Our view of Amit while he was driving

At Ghandi's memorial, by the end of our trip Madi would walk around like this because so many people would oinch her cheeks...

Delli Haat

Asleep again

After shopping in the mall in Delhi

Lotus Temple in delhi

Naan...forget rice when you can this!

Dinner number 3 at Pindi! YUM!

India Gate

in The Delli Haat market in Delhi

More soda water!

Madi loves her Soda Water!

Madi sleeping on our way to Pushkar

When we first arrived in India, this was breakfast. We also had our first Chai Masala, it was a great way to begin our trip!

Steve and Madi at the lake

The Lake

Street food

Temple in Pushkar

On the streets

All part of the ritual at the lake

Obvioulsy many people have used this lake...

Pushkar lake

Can you spot Steve and Madi? This is where we bought our tapestry in Delhi, we really enjoyed shopping in Delhi

The markets were always interesting!

Our first hotel, Pushkar

Walking from our hotel to town