What we did in India, in a nutshell.

Mumbai, MAHARASTHRA (December 27-30)

Mumbai a big and fairly developed city. Here we visited the Gateway of India, a port which was used by the British to import goods during colonization. There were a couple of other neat sights here, like a big statue of Gandhi and a bunch of Bollywood theatres. We also visited a great market in the Collaba area of town which spans about eight blocks.


Gateway of India

Crazy Train Ride

After Mumbai, we headed northbound to Delhi to visit a friend from Toronto named Mitra Joshi who happened to be visiting his family in India at the time. The train ride from Mumbai to Delhi was 30 hours long! It was our first overnight train trip in India and was certainly very interesting. The train was packed! There weren't enough sleeper beds for everyone, so many people were sleeping on the floor. We were the only foreigners in our car and, of course, everyone wanted to talk to us. People even gave us their home addresses so that we could keep in touch via mail. We certainly felt welcome, but also overwhelmed. Needless to say, it was a long but exciting journey to have in India for the first time.

Delhi/Noida (December 30- January 4)

When we arrived in Delhi, we took a rickshaw to meet Mitra. We were swarmed by a gazillion rickshaw drivers, but finally organized with one to take us to his address. As it turned out, Mitra's family lives in Noida which is a nicer and quieter suburb of Delhi (kind of like the Mississauga of Toronto, but Indian style). When we arrived, Mitra's family embraced us with open arms and immediately adopted us as family members. We enjoyed so many wonderful moments with Ama, Papa, Maneesha (sis) and Aditya (bro) and are ever so grateful for their kindness.


Papa and Ama


Maneesha, Val and Ama

The night we arrived in Noida was New Year's Eve, so Mitra, Maneesha and the two of us went to a nearby club to ring in the New Year, Indian style. The place was pretty classy, the hors d'ouvres were delicious and the Indian dance beats (desi) were awesome. Mitra pulled out some serious dance moves and we all tried desperately to keep up with him...but we couldn't.


Val, Mitra and Mark

At home with Mitra's family, we spent most of our days playing card games, eating delicious meals, drinking the best chai of all time and chatting for hours. Ama and Maneesha even let us help in the kitchen, where they taught how to make chapatti, paratha and chai. It was so nice to be part of a family for a while, after being away from ours for so long.

Agra, UDHAR PRADESH (January 2)

During our stay with the Joshi family, we took a day trip to Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal. Although it costs about 40 times more for foreigners to get in, it was worth every cent. The greatness of this gorgeous structure cannot be put into words. It's unlike anything we have ever seen and it is beautiful! After exploring the inside of the building, we basically sat, enjoyed the view and people-watched all day. It was absolutely wonderful!


The beautiful Taj Mahal


The Army dudes who wanted a picture with Mark (on the Taj Mahal grounds)


The most hilarious outfit we discovered while people-watching at the Taj Mahal...is it just us, or does he have a striking resemblance to Carlton from Fresh Prince of Belair? It's not unusual to be loved by anyone...


A view of the Taj Mahal from a rooftop restaurant...check out the monkeys.

Udaipur, RAJASTHAN (January 5-9)

After sadly saying goodbye to our new Indian family in Noida, we headed to the magical city of Udaipur. This artistic town is famous for its role in the 007 movie, Octopussy. Every restaurant and guesthouse plays the movie every evening at 7pm.

In the middle of the city is a beautiful lake which reflects the surrounding buildings, docks, bridges and the famous Lake Palace. Most of the restaurants have rooftop patios so that you can enjoy the lovely lake view while you dine. It is common to see children swimming and bathing, women doing laundry and animals drinking at the steps leading into the water. Udaipur, filled with it windy streets, stained glass windows and marble, is the perfect place to get lost for a few days.


View of Udaipur from a rooftop patio


Women bathing and washing clothes near the Lake Palace

Among many walks in Udaipur, we hiked to Monsoon Palace which sits at the top of Bansdara Mountain. The palace, built over 100 years ago is 1100 ft above the rest of the city gives a panoamic view of the city, lakes and surrounding countrysides. Really breathtaking...


Lookout point from Monsoon Palace

Mark and a cow hang out on a bridge in Udaipar

2 WEEK TRIP WITH MAMA AND DANIEL PASCALE BEGINS!! (January 10-24)

Matheran - Pune - Goa (Mapsa, Arambol, Anjuna, Panaji) - Pune - Lonavla - Mumbai

After Udaipur, we headed back to Mumbai to meet Val's mom and little brother who came to spend 2 weeks with us! They were quite shocked as we were swarmed by begging children almost immediately after they stepped out of the airport. Then, as our taxi started off at crazy speeds and we passed by shanty towns and shacks, palm trees and rickshaws, we realized that
the wonderfully chaotic world of India was already introducing itself to our new guests.

The trip according to Mama Pascale:

"Daniel and I arrived in Mumbai on Wed. Jan. 10 and I couldn't believe we're actually there - India! We met up with Val and Mark. Val looked beautiful in her blue Indian top and shawl. With her tan, she could actually pass for an Indian woman. Mark, on the other hand, looked like a very smart and handsome tourist with his blonde hair and bandana.

The whole gang, at a hotel in Mumbai

In Mumbai we walked through the streets and visited the market. I couldn't get over how different it was from Toronto. There were so many people everywhere. The men generally worked in the stores (or booths), the women wore the most beautiful, colourful saris and generally were the customers (no doubt spending their husband's money since they mostly work in the home) and the children, well lets just say that they're very street smart and, except for the very young (3 yrs. and under) are rarely accompanied by an adult.

There is just so much I could talk about. Like the traffic. The traffic in Mumbai is definitely not for the faint of heart. You walk and drive at your own risk as the lights are either non-existent or not working. Even if they are, nobody pays heed, they just go when they can. No one drives in the lanes either and to cross the street, you just weave in and out of the traffic - it' a lot of fun once you get the hang of it!

After Mumbai, we went to a lovely hilltop village called Matheran. It was absolutely breathtaking and so, so clean because they don't allow cars up there. The people were very friendly and so obliging, it is almost overwhelming. But the monkeys - well they're another story. They think it's great fun to hunt down the tourists and steal their loot. Daniel and I were both victimized by the monkeys as we were chased down and robbed of our freshly made corn-on-the-cobs.

Mark 'pondering deeply' at a viewpoint in Matheran

Mark and Daniel...enjoying the view

Daniel, Val and Mom at Matheran lookout spot

We proceded to Goa, where we lived in a cozy little bamboo hut on Arambol beach for about 4 days. It was so beautiful there in January. The weather was perfect. Hot, but not muggy, and sunny every day, all day. I haven't been on an ocean beach for years and I'd forgotten how fantastic it really is. One day we took a bus to a market on another beach, called Anjuna. There were rows and rows of merchants selling their colourful clothes, bags, lanterns, scarves and syrongs, items carved out of wood and ivory, jewellery, sandals, spices, food and so much more. It is such a treat for all the senses and it's great fun trying to barter with the vendors. Mark and Val have become real pros at it.

Val and Mom at a lantern shop, Anjuna Beach Market

Other places we visited in India were Panaji, Old Goa, Pune, the caves at Lonavla, a spice plantation and the Basilica of Bom Jesu where we saw the remains of St. Francis Xavier. We travelled by local and overnight bus, commuter train, boat, rickshaw and taxi. Each was an adventure in itself! I wish I could go into details but I think I've said enough - for now."

Mom and Daniel at Temple in Panaji

Mom and Mark on a sleeper bus to Goa (so comfortable! Hahaha...not)

Passed by friendly local fisherman, Goan boat cruise

Daniel, boat cruise master of the universe...clearly

Our tour guide pours water down mom's back at a spice plantation in Goa!

300 stairs later...we reached the Lonavla Caves

Daniel and Val, Bhaja Caves in Lonavla

Tomb Raiders Extraordinaire...look out Lara Croft!

SADLY, THE END OF OUR 2 WEEK FAMILY ADVENTURE...

Palolem, GOA (January 25 - February 9)

After Mary and Daniel left, we decided to stay in one place for a while. We found a little beach-facing hut up in the coconut trees which was so relaxing. From our balcony, we could see dolphins jumping in the distance and watch the sunset every evening. While in Palolem, we did some job searching, meditating and exercise. We also went out on a small fisherman's boat to watch the dolphins swimming close up. They are such magnificent creatures. One day, we even saw a sea serpent! (which is actually a big, huge water snake that swims with its head above the water...scary!)

Beautiful Palolem Beachm, Goa

Sunset view from our hut's balcony

Local restaurant owner, proud of his fish collection

Ready to go see some dolphins!!!!

Dolphin spotting adventure

Fort Cochin, KERALA (February 10-12)

Fort Cochin is gorgeous little fishing city in the south of India. From the boardwalk we sat and watched as fishermen lower their huge nets into the water and then pulled them back out with tons of different types of fish all caught in them.

Fishing nets

The boardwalk, can you spot Val?

In Cochin, there are little restaurants set up along pier that allow you to choose and purchase your own fish fresh from the fishermen and then the restaurant just cooks it for you in a style of your choosing. We bought a plate of prawns (which turned out to be about 2 lbs of prawns!) and had them stir fried with veggies and rice. Mmmmm...

Mark (with freshly cut hair) and 2 lbs of prawns

Fish Market

Just before sun down, hundreds of men, women and children gather on the waterfront to swim, socialize and eat ice cream. The entire beach becomes speckled with colours!

Colours, nets and beaches at dusk...what a treat

Allepey, KERALA (February 12-13)

In Allepey we arranged to go on a backwaters tour, which is the big thing to do in the province of Kerala. The Keralan Backwaters (water in the 'back' of the ocean) are a chain of rivers, lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast, formed by the action of waves and shore currents. We took a 24 hour cruise of the backwaters on a houseboat, fully equipped with a captain, a cook, 2 maintenance crew members, a double bedroom, a kitchen, a small dining area and top deck.

Backwaters Houseboat

El Capitan!

Mark taste-testing in the Kitchen

As we travelled around the backwaters all day, we saw lovely rivers and canals, farms and countryside, beautiful birds and flowers, many small fishing boats, fishermen diving for shell fish, women washing clothes and dishes in the backwater and children swimming, amongst others interesting sights.

A backwaters canal

Houseboats on a backwaters lagoon

There are so many small communities living throughout the Keralan backwaters that the rivers and canals operate like streets and people use them to get from one place to another. Villagers own boats instead of bikes or cars. We saw a school boat service (instead of a school bus) picking up a bunch of kids from their homes along the various canals to drop them off at school! We even saw a women on a small boat with her goats! I guess she was taking them somewhere...?

School Boat Service

I would not could not with a goat, I would not could not on a boat!

In the afternoon, 3 of our crew members jumped off the boat to fish for clams for our dinner. It was so funny! Mmmmm...the food on the whole trip was so delicious! At night they docked the boat and we all slept out on the water in the boat. It was all so lovely really. We definitely recommend it!

Our dedicated kitchen staff, fishing for clams

Sunset on our backwaters water journey

Kottayam, KERALA (February 14)

Kottayam was a friendly little city, but not much there (we were in transit). We stayed in a really dodgey place called Happy Lodge which really wasn't as 'happy' as it sounds. During the day we visited an NGO called the Gandhi Peace Foundation and had an afternoon chai and chat with the Director of the organization. We also did a bit of shopping here...we found some cool spoons made out of coconuts!

Thrissur, KERALA (February 15)

Thrissur was a bigger and greyer city than we had expected, and it wasn't very tourist-friendly. But it turned out to be a great day overall. We went for a walk to discover the city and came across 3 men bathing an elephant in a park. We then realized that there were tons of elephants around the park! Although they were each chained to separate trees, they seemed well fed and content.

Bath Time!

The huge Hindi temple in the middle of the city happened to be having a festival on its park grounds that evening and we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of some traditional Keralan theatre. There was an outdoor Kathakali performance, which is essentially an Indian dance drama with crazy costumes and singing and impressively technical movements.

Kathakali Performance

Coimbature, TAMIL NADU (February 16)

We just spent the night here so that we could catch a VERY early train to Ooty the next morning. It turned out to be a nice little city with some cute little shops and restaurants and really cheap accommodations. Nice and helpful people too! By far, the city with the most power outages per hour on our trip!

Ooty, TAMIL NADU (February 17 - 19)

Ooty is a scenic hilltop city in the southern province of Tamil Nadu. We took a 5 hour, narrow gauge toy train ride up to the city. The ride was amazing! We had such fantastic views of the forests, valleys and hills. We passed through tunnels, over streams and by gorgeous tea plantations. There were so many plants all around us that people could reach out and pick flowers from window of the train while it was moving!

Toy train ride to Ooty

View from the train on the way up the mountain

Inside the train

Ooty itself was quite a big city, but surrounded by beautiful rolling hills and farms. We found a cute little room overlooking Ooty lake and spent a few says here enjoying the scenery and the relaxing vibe. Because Ooty is such a hit with local Indian tourists, the city has an amusement park and some water rides. The rides all look like they were pulled right out of the 70's and the paddle boats were, well, not in great shape. Let's just say that we could only get ours to turn in one direction (to the right), which made getting our boat back to the dock very...interesting!

Broken paddle boat fun!

Amusement park workers...such tacky costumes!

We visited the Centenary Rose Park, which has hundreds of varieties of roses and will be so beautiful when the roses grow in! Despite having few flowers, the park was still lovely so we sat under a gazebo and read for a while. We also went to the Thread Garden, which is a small garden of flowers and grass made entirely out of thread. It sounds lame, but the flowers look so real and they are all entirely hand made (they didn't even use needles). It took 50 artists more than 12 years to complete...it's pretty impressive. We also hiked around Ooty lake, visited some plant nurseries, and shuffled through Ooty's marketplace...which was surprisingly large.

Centenary Rose Garden...sans the roses

Thread Garden...these flowers may look real, but they're actually made out of thread! Yippee!

Wyanad Wildlife Sanctuary, KERALA (February 21)

In order to go on a tour of the wildlife center, we stayed in a nearby town called Sultan Batheri. The town is nothing to rave about, but the Wyanad Wildlife Sanctuary which is home to tigers, elephants, deer, bison, bears, monkeys, giant squirrels and more, was one of the highlights of our Indian adventures.

Front gate of the Wyanad Wildlife Sanctuary

The two of us, along with our Indian guide named Ismayal (pronounced: a smile), embarked on a 3 hour walking tour of the sanctuary. Although I knew in my brain that the animals roamed free in this 345 square km conservatory, it wasn't until Mark enthusiastically pointed down at the fresh tiger prints on our trekking trail that I fully realized what we had gotten into.

Fresh tiger print on our trail...yikess!!!!!

Ismayal, thrilled by this paw print dicovery, put a finger in front of his lips. "Sssshhhhh" he said, if we are not quiet, we will not see the tiger. Then he proceeded to draw four lines around the print, explaining that if they formed a square then the tiger was male and if they formed a rectangle then the tiger was female. As interesting and educational as this lesson was, I didn't really care to know the sex of the creature, I just wanted to know that it WASN'T GOING TO EAT ME. Ismayal assured me that usually the animals don't attack the tourists and we continued on. "Usually" was not exactly the reassuring word I was hoping for.

We later discovered a heard of wild elephants, which is supposedly quite rare. Ismayal quickly told us to take off our shirts (because apparently the red shirt Mark was wearing and the white shirt I was wearing were "highly attractive colours to the elephants"...don't worry, I had another shirt on underneath), to hide behind the trees, not to step on any big, crunchy leaves, and to stay at least 50 meters away. These were all safety precuations, so that the elephants wouldn't "detect our presence and charge at us". Luckily, we went fairly unnoticed by the creatures and were able to spy on them in awe as they ate and took care of their young.

Herd of wild elephants, from a spyers view of course

Once we were far from our elephant-watching hiding grounds, I asked Ismayal (out of curiosity) what we would have done if the elephants had discovered our expidition and decided to charge at us.

He simply smiled at us and said "Well, then we run."

I didn't bother asking if there was a Plan B.

Us and Ismayal...what a guy! (Wyand Wildlife Sanctuary)

As we continued through the sanctuary, we also saw a giant squirrel, wild monkeys and some spotted deer. No tiger though. When we left the sanctuary, I felt both dissapointed and relieved not seeing a tiger, becuase the thought of almost encountering one was so thrilling! Overall I was especially glad to be alive.

Can you spot the giant squirel?

Mysore, KARNATAKA (February 21-23)

This bustling city, with its silks and sari-shops gallore, was more developed than many of the others we had been to in India, thus far. We visited the famous Mysore City Palace and a peculiar, but interesting art museum. In Mysore, we succumbed to a western-food craving and visited the Pizza Corner (which is like the Pizza Hut of India)...although the pizza ended up tasting like curry anyway! Gotta love India!

Mysore Palace

Colourful Tikka Powders, Mysore market

Camel!

Hampi, KARNATAKA (February 24-27)

The sights at Hampi were simply breathtaking. This small city, surrouded by hundreds of thousands of boulders lying on top of one another, has acient ruins hidden everywhere. Here we adventured through banana plantations, searched for waterfalls and spent hours climbing and jumping from boulder to boulder.

Boulder hopping

Baby Nikkita...so cute! (Lived at our guesthouse)

Big, friendly green bug

Boulders everwhere!

We rented bikes and rode them through the ruins of the ancient kingdom that once existed there. The remains of forts, temples, pillars and bathing pools, elephant stables, royal buildings, statues and intricate rock carvings cover the land. We even saw some prehistoric writings on various large stones.

Remains of an Ancient Temple

Ancient Stone Carvings

Luckily Val is so strong...this huge rock would've killed everyone!

Rice Fields of Hampi

Washing clothes and swimming in the river

The magic of the boulder-strewn landscape of Hampi, combined with the beautiful Tungabhadra River running along side, made it one of our favourite places to visit. It is a must see of India!

Bangalore, KARNATAKA (February 28-March 1)

We flew out of Bangalore on March 1, headed for Bangkok to meet Mama and Papa Richard. We we sad about leaving India, but we were so very excited to go adventuring with our family in Thailand! Before we left, we did some last minute shopping in Bangalore and visited the city aquarium. Bangalore is by far the most modern and progressive city that we visited in India. People, especially women, are generally quite liberal and educated and also fluent in English. The downtown core could easily be mistaken for Yonge and Dundas and there are martini bars and pubs everywhere! It was a nice place to end our Indian journey...for now.

Flower market, Bangalore