India Breakdown and Travel Tips

We’ve come to the end of my travels for 2012! I went to a lot of places this year, in part due to having saved up vacation time in 2010 after I bought my house (and couldn’t afford to leave it, let alone travel) and partly because of two weeks of “sabbatical” given by my…

Read More

The Red Fort and Chandni Chowk

This is it. We’re at the end of my India story. I’m kind of sad, but also excited to move on to the next trip. But first, Meike and I have one more day in Delhi before flying home. After our tiger safari, we spent the following day driving several hours back to Delhi. Throughout…

Read More

Tiger Safari in Ranthambhore NP

Our last stop on our Rajasthan tour was a tiger safari in Ranthambhore National Park. The park is located about equal distance between Jaipur and Agra, south of New Delhi and is one of the best places in India to see tigers in their natural habitat. The best months to see them are May and…

Read More

Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar

Confession time – I’m not a big fan of guided tours. Day trips are usually fine, but trips that last longer than that can be frustrating for me. I don’t like not being in control of where I’m going and what I’m doing, and usually I feel like I can do it cheaper on my own,…

Read More

Innovation in the Amer Fort

Our first stop in Jaipur was the Amer (pronounced Amber) Fort just outside the city in the small town of Amer. The fort (or palace, as it really is) is located high up on a hill which offered protection from invading armies. A lot of people choose to ride elephants up the hill, much like…

Read More

The Holy City of Pushkar

Day 2 of our Rajasthan tour was spent almost entirely in the car. We had to make the long drive from Udaipur to Jaipur with a stop in Pushkar on the way. It took us 5 and a half hours to get to Pushkar, so we had to get an early start on the day….

Read More

Frolicking in the Courtyard of the Maidens

This is my third post on one day in Udaipur! It’s the day that never ends. But to be honest, this is how I prefer it. I love to see as much as I can when I travel because who knows when you’ll get to come back again? Our last stop of our first day…

Read More

The City Palace in Udaipur

After walking around the Jagdish Temple and getting blessed, we wandered over to the City Palace. This place is kind of crazy looking and seems to go on forever. It was built over 400 years, constantly being added on to by each new king. As such, it’s the largest palace in Rajasthan and a mixture of different…

Read More

Getting Blessed in Jagdish Temple

I had to dig deep into my emails and the diary I keep on my travels to find the information for this part of the trip. Interestingly, it’s the part I remember the least, though I’m not sure why. It all kind of seems to blend together in a blur of temples, palaces and riding…

Read More

The Final Reception

After our fun day of site seeing and shopping, it was time to get ready for the final ceremony, which was actually more of a reception. We got dressed in our sari’s again, this time on our own. It was much harder than I thought! There is so much draping and folding of this massive piece…

Read More

Humayan’s Tomb

All too soon, our mini vacation in Kerala came to an end and we flew back to Delhi for the last wedding ceremony. In the morning, Maggie and I wanted to check out another Delhi site, Humayan’s Tomb, and everyone wanted to go shopping before the reception that night, so we got a really early…

Read More

Floating on the Backwaters of Kerala

Whew! Are you as exhausted from all those ceremonies as I am? It was definitely some late nights and a lot of dancing, but it was so much fun to be a part of. Next we have a couple days to relax before heading back to Delhi for the final ceremony. Meike headed to Goa…

Read More