North India Tour

We saved our North India Tour until Alli's folks came to India for a visit, and the five of us left B'lore Sep 19 returning Oct 4.  The whole trip was an astonishing set of contrasts as we started in Darjiling, and ended in Jaisalmer - from the Himalaya to the desert, from the land of the Buddha to the heartland of Hinduism then to the edge of Islam, also contrasting the North with our South India experiences.  The trip is just too much to handle in a single entry, so the NIT will be composed of multiple blog entries and we are working on the photo album - it will be attached when it's ready.  However, there are over 2,000 pictures to sort through, and Larrie shot 2+ hours of video; so, the visual aids may take a while to sort out.  In the meantime, please enjoy.

We have searched the thematic elements to help us "name" the NIT; some of the entries in the short list are:

• Alli's Massage Tour
  
• The Great Pigeon Poop Pool Tour
  
• How many ways can a chicken order turn out wrong Tour
  
• No, I do not want to look at 200 (bedspreads, shawls, necklaces, etc.) before you show me want I asked you to show me Tour
• Oh no, not another fort Tour
• Alli of the Thar! (you must see the video of Alli on her noble one humped steed!)

You might remember our Kerala Tour last December, and you might remember that tour was arranged and choreographed by Oriana Travel Shop.  Well, Nirmal did it again!  His team put together a first class tour that is the best of Northern India.  All of the guides, greeters, drivers, and other support folks were handled by Oriana, and our tour went off without a hitch.  We left on time, arrived home (pretty much) on time (with luggage, even), and we owe our thanks to Nirmal Iype and Oriana.  Thanks, Oriana!

Day 01: 19 Sep '09

Our first day started early as we were up at 02:30 for the drive to the B'lore airport.  Our plan called for traveling to Darjeeling via Kolkata and Bagdogra.  At Bagdogra we met our guide, Mr. Dawa, and proceeded to Darjeeling by vehicle over the most amazing road ever traversed by any of the members of the troupe.  Our next tour stop was Kolkata, followed by a bounce through Delhi airport en route to Varanasi.  Then back to Delhi, Agra (you cannot miss the Taj Mahal when visiting India), ending up in Rajasthan cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Jailsalmer.  Eight cities, 15 nights, 16 days, uncountable km on highways and byways.  What a tour!

A quick note about domestic travelling in India.  If you change airlines, you have to get your baggage and move it to the next airline as there are no inter-airline baggage transfers.  Also, for those accustomed to US airports, going through security to get to the gate is not standardised, with the exception of getting frisked.  For example in Kolkata we endured a long transfer wait in the airport, had to do the inter airline baggage shift (get baggage, go to ticketing, check in baggage), but had to wait in a queue in ticketing until it was our time to check in, then wait again in a queue for our flight to show up on security board [also tells which gate you’re departing from], and then go through security, again. Unbelievable!

Day 16: 04 Oct '09

On the last day of the trip we had to travel from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur as the Jaisalmer airport is no longer in use.  Upon entering Jodhpur, we took a different route to avoid the core of the city that took us through a heavy stone processing area.  Camel carts are used in the area to move stone around, and we discovered how a camel cart brake works.  Each cart has an old tire on a chain, and when the animal is going down an incline, the tire is put out behind the cart, piled with stone for weight, and the 2nd mate is detailed to ride the brake (on top of the stones) down the incline.

Our departure from Jodhpur was an hour late due to inclimate weather in Mumbai.  We arrived in Mumbai 20 minutes late for transferring to the Bangalore flight.  However, serendipity was on our shoulders as we discovered that the Bangalore flight had likewise been held, and the group and our baggage made the flight home arriving only an hour late to a big smile from Imtiaz who was there to pick us up.

"It was raining hard in Mumbai, We needed one more flight to make our night.

The agent up ahead flagged us aside, We took off into the lights."

My appologies to Harry Chapin.  Also, we returned to two very happy to have humans in the house again cats.  

So back to the task at hand, the rest of the tour breaks down as follows in separate entries:

Darjeeling - Mountains in the mist

Kolkata and Varanasi - Life and Death

Delhi and Agra - Moguls and Wonders

Jaipur and Jodhpur - Maharajahs, Palaces, and Forts

Jaisalmer - Living fort and ships in the desert

Post note:  After returning from the trip we viewed an Indian movie "Jodhaa Akbar", which is a fictional account of love during the time of Emperor Akbar who lived in the Agra Red Fort.  The movie has many scenes that were shot at the Agra fort and the Jaipur fort, and it is quite interesting to see these places for real, and then to see them envisioned in the movie as they were being used.  While the movie is fictional, it does provide a glimpse of life into 15th century mogul and maharajah life, and it is worth a view.  It is in Hindi with English subtitles.