Last 24 hours

We are back in Bombay and have internet connection. Out time in south India was a lot of fun. A little less eventful then the rest of the trip, but very relaxing. I was happy because we got to see elephants! Dad got a little sick one of the nights but has since recovered. We also had a lot of time to watch Indian TV. The Shoaib Malik saga has been everywhere!

Tomorrow night we will be on a plane back to DC. I must say, I do miss home- especially my beautiful wife (and dog). See you soon!

From South India

Here is a slide show of our latest photos:

A blog post from Jamshed

Hi all:

We found a free wi-fi hotspot at the Delhi airport so we’re taking advantage of the connection. We had a good time in Delhi, although the whole city is being dug up because they are preparing for the Commonwealth Games in October. India is more of a mess than I ever imagined. The crowds, traffic and pollution are pretty unbelieveable. But the rich have certainly gotten richer and everyone (including the guy selling stuff on the sidewalk) has a cell phone. But there is “progress” in the sense that people who rode bicycles before now ride mopeds, those who rode mopeds drive cars, and those who had card now have fancier cars. Our guides were pretty knowlegeable and gave us some good lessons in Indian history. I hope we retain some of the information.

We’re on our way to Cochin (Kochi) now. This is the start of our self-planned trip.

(I’m wearing Emily’s Red Sox championship t-shirt and some American tourist just walked by and shouted “Go Sox!!”)

This morning Robert and I went out to do some last-minute shopping in the streets of Delhi. The prices, as usual, started out high and quickly dropped to ½ to ¼ when I started bargaining in my broken Hindi. Some of the guys were even a it pissed at me because they wanted to get the “foreigner” all to themselves without my interference.

More later.

-Jamshed

To the backwaters we go!

Today we leave on a plane for Kochi (formerly Cochin). During our time their we will visit the famous backwaters.

This is what we have to look forward to:



and hopefully this:

Delhi

We've spent the last two days touring new and old Delhi. Delhi has a lot of historical sites as well as all the current government buildings (since it is the Capital of India). Delhi is considerably less cramped than Bombay. We toured the Red Fort, and saw the memorial to Ghandi, and Jama Masjid- the largest Mosque in India.

What I've enjoyed the most about Dehli is the delicious food! Over the past few days I've had some of the best meals of my life.

Here are some pictures from our stay. You can click on them to view the full web album.

From Dehli

The Red Fort

From Delhi

They use marbles to hold the pressure of their carbonated drinks

From Delhi

From Delhi

From Delhi

The Indian version of Chipotle. It was soooo good!

From Dehli

From Dehli

From Dehli

Agra Day 2

Some highlights from our stay in Agra:

- Blowing out the fuse in the bathroom while standing in water
- Monkeys growling at us
- Being asked to take a picture with a young boy because he wants to 'grow up to be strong like me'
- Feeding a cow who was just 'chillin' by the street
- Talking with children playing marbles on the street corner
- Having a tour guide who loved using phrases like "would you believe?" and "It is my joy to inform you" at the beginning of his sentences.

All in all we really enjoyed Agra. The Taj was amazing.

Today we take on Delhi.

Pictures from Day 2:

From Agara Day 2

Some of the artwork in the forts were literally defaced by the Muslims

From Agara Day 2

These guys loved talking about the USA

From Agara Day 2

Dad made a close friend

From Agara Day 2

The power distribution in India is very confusing

From Agara Day 2

From Agara Day 2

From Agara Day 2

From Agara Day 2

From Agara Day 2

From Agara Day 2

From Agara Day 2

This kid really wanted to take a picture with me

From Agara Day 2

See the rest of the photos here:

Agara Day 2

Agra!

We spent the last few days in the ancient city of Agra- home of the Taj Mahal. During our stay we visited a few forts, took a tour of the city, and of course saw the Taj .

Here are are a few of our pictures from our first day:

Gholvad and Train Ride pictures

After a long night of vomiting (for Robert)- We made our trip out the Gholvad, the place where Jamshed used to spend his summers as a kid. Rohiti and Ruby hosted us for our relaxing stay in the country.

We took the train for a portion of our trip back to Mumbai. Here are pictures:

Rohiti and Ruby's bungalow

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One of the dogs

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The well that dad used to get yelled at if he got too close to

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Dad was really excited about this fruit

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This cow didn't like me much

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Jamshed and Ruby

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Some school kids

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Rohiti and Rob

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Crazy looking tree

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These kids were really excited about having their picture taken

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Train station

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Dad on the train

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Rob on the train

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Day one pictures

From Jamshed and Rob's India Trip

The apartment where Dad grew up

From Jamshed and Rob's India Trip

From Jamshed and Rob's India Trip

From Jamshed and Rob's India Trip

These kids were begging for money. We told them we would buy them food- but they said they would rather have toys. So we bought them these toys.

From Jamshed and Rob's India Trip

From Jamshed and Rob's India Trip

Lunch!

From Jamshed and Rob's India Trip

We've arrived.

After 14 hours in the air, and 2 hours going through customs and driving to the WIAA Club- We are finally here! Right now it is 1:30am (4pm EST). We are going to try and get some sleep so that we can quickly switch over to Indian time.

One thing I've already noticed about India- traffic lights are just suggestions.

Rob and Jamshed before driving to the airportChillin on Air India. Lots of empty seats.