Picture of my home growing up...
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Originally uploaded by Roland de LaonSo I have finally uploaded all of the pics, and here is the full India travel blog in one shot.....
Day 1
So I left the house with the wife and baby girl to drop off Lexi at daycare and then head to the airport. Didn’t get very far before I realized I had forgotten itinerary info and headed back to the house. At that point we were running a little behind and I realized that I didn’t budget enough time to do everything on the way so we headed straight for the airport. Got there around 7:20am, suggested time of arrival was 3.5 hrs before for a flight to New Delhi. Hugged and kissed the wife and the baby girl goodbye, started realizing I will miss them a lot while I am gone. Checked in, went thru security, and got to the gate in 20 min. Lets just say WTF??? Why say that far in advance when I got thru in 20 min. I will say that flying First/Business class definitely helped in that I didn’t wait in line to check in, and I went to the head of the line for the security checkpoint. I also went to the head of the line for boarding. Worth the money in that aspect, but still way too expensive if work hadn’t been paying for it.
Right now I am somewhere over Kansas on the way to O’Hare. Breakfast was ok, at least I got breakfast on the plane, the poor people in coach had to pay if they wanted something. I still don’t agree with the whole pay for food on the plane thang.
Note to all the larger people out there like myself: Even first class is snug. Flying is definitely made for the thin people, which by itself is a darn good reason to lose some weight if you want to travel comfortably. We will see how the international seats in Business class is like but domestic is better somewhat.
That’s all for now, I will add more when I get on the 15 hr flight from O’Hare to New Delhi.
Part 2
Love the airport clubs and also hate the airport clubs. Got into the AA one free cause of business class ticket, and after the company paying $8k for the ticket, they still wanted fracking $10 for Wifi access. What a rip-off. You would think $8k would cover their negligible cost. Oh well, at least I was able to sit in the quiet for awhile and actually think while I enjoyed my free drink. Next up, the real long fucking ass flight.
Part 3
The plane ride to India was long, ever going Business class in a seat that has any setting you want including flat. The food was somewhat of a bizarre Indian and Italian fusion that I wasn’t particularly enamored of. I did get to see three movies that I hadn’t seen including Hancock (not bad), Speed Racer (better than I expected), and Swing Vote (ok).
I have landed and it’s a bit cooler but much more humidity than AZ. The smells are different and everything anyone ever told you about bad drivers in the US can’t touch a lick on the drivers in India. No lanes, no signals, honking non-stop, its an experience by itself. The room is awesome and I will post a link to my flickr account so you all can see it.
I miss my wife and baby girl already, but will adjust.
That’s all for today….its now 11pm on Friday and I am 12.5 hrs ahead of you all.
Jirill/Roland
Day 2
First full day in India (Gurgaon). Spent most of the day dozing off and on while recouping from 20 hrs of jet lag build up. The smell in the air appears to be caused by heavy pollution and is a bit odd. You do get used to it after awhile. Took a walk down to the neighborhood supermarket for some drinks. Never actually got any groceries because the market didn’t appear to be open. The hardest thing to get used to is the extreme changes in buildings. One second the building is a brand new state-of-the-art (SOTA) construction. The building adjacent will be a hovel that for lack of a better term, looks like a bombed wreck of a building. It is apparent that India is going thru a very awkward time of urban renewal. Spent most of the day and evening messing around in the hotel room and on the computer.
Day 3
The difference in rates for visiting historical monuments is very interesting. Natives and tourists from the surrounding countries pay $10 rupees while true foreigners pay $250 rupees. Right now the exchange rate is 45 rupees per dollar. If you look closely you can see the impact being a part of the British Empire for so long had. Uniforms worn by police, military, even the bellhops are all reminiscent of British Military attire. The first set of pictures are from a originally Hindu temple area that was then taken over and redone by several emperors that followed the Muslim religion. Looking at some of the pillars you can see the Hindi influence on the lower sections and the Muslim impact on the higher sections. Most of the pictures of buildings that you will see are in between the first temple and the tomb are Hindu with an occasional temple with Persian influence. Humayun’s Tomb is the earliest known tomb that has a Persian bent to the architecture. I found it very interesting to see 6 pointed stars very regularly throughout the buildings. The pictures from a distance make the buildings out to be very pretty, but when you get up close you can see the ton of decay they have been thru. I can’t wait to visit the Red Fort in Old Delhi and of course the Taj Mahal which are the most well known examples of the Mughol Empire dating from Humayun’s time. In all of my pictures you will see the plaques following a series of pictures relating to the plaque.
Monday Oct 6th thru Wednesday Oct 8th
Started working with my fellow employees at the AESC-I Service Center. They are all very polite and generous. I was even the bravest of my fellow travelers in that I tried the Indian non-veg chicken and rice with a mint chutney and curd sauce. It was pretty good, the chicken tastes a little different here because of the way they are raised but overall I was satisfied. I didn’t eat even half because at the hotel I tend to eat a large breakfast which tides me over most of the day.
Tomorrow is a holiday for most of India and so we have been warned to stay away from the open air market type of areas. We will be working however so that should not be much of an issue.
Thursday and Friday we worked thru the holiday. Things appear to have quieted down a bit in term of the bombings and rioting. The Indians like a large variety of cuisines but always put their own take on each so a Indian/Mexican dish is very different from the original Mexican, the same holds true for Italian. You do not find much American cuisine because we are very heavy meat eaters and the nation of India as a whole are not. Saturday the 11th I spent the day relaxing and updating my pictures on flickr.
Sunday the 12th.
It has been just a little over a week here and while I like the country I do miss my family. I am spending the day by the pool and will be taking some pictures so that everyone can see what it looks like. So far I appear to have lost 5lbs just doing a very light workout and the changes in my eating habits. I am eating to my comfort level and not eating as much as the American restaurants consider a proper portion. I still have the occasional soft drink but even that appears to not be slowing my weight loss down. If I keep this up, I might just reach my goal of losing 20 or more lbs before I get back. It appears that the weather is starting to cool down. This past week it was around 95 degrees and 100% humidity, today it feels like it is around 85
degrees and probably 90% humidity. Luckily, having grown up in St. Louis I am still accustomed to the heat and humidity at the same time. This evening I may be going out to the most decorated Hindu temple in the area. I will try and put in my notes if I do because they do not allow any electronics, leather, or bags in the temple grounds. I am also going to try and remember to ask Anamica (one of the Amex Indian AELN) for info on any historical museums in the area that I could take pictures of relics and clothing items.
Saturday the 18th
Another week has passed. I did not do any site seeing this week, however I did start exploring the shops and markets today. The hotel has a large book festival on its grounds that I will be exploring tomorrow. Last night I went out drinking with some of the locals. We hit a local restaurant called the Chinese and Thai Pub. It had some of the best spicy Thai food I have ever had. This was the kind that just starts a slow burn under your tongue and takes forever to reach the back of your mouth. The local lager here Kingfisher is quite good. After the appetizers and beer, we went and got what they call fast food here. In other words, we found a local hole in the wall, pulled up to the sidewalk, honked the horn, and ordered 4 different dishes. You don’t bother with tables at places like this, so we all stood around the back hood of the car and talked while trying the dishes. The sheikh kebab was excellent, it’s a mutton based appetizer. The chicken gravy with bread was probably the spiciest food I have ever had. I would definitely do it again, guess this proves that I have an iron stomach.
I found several shops selling the scarves that I am interested in. I also found a couple of shops selling the shoes, I will be picking up several pairs including some for myself. I am looking at Sarees as well, however because they are more personal in nature I will probably only pick up one or two even though they are one size fits all for the women.
Week 3
Another week has passed relatively uneventfully. The locals that I am friends with and I have decided to make Friday night a regular occasion. We get together and have a few beers, hang out, talk, and try spicy foods. This week we dragged another guy that is over here along with another local and we all just had a blast.
Saturday Oct 25th
I never did make it to the book festival. The center folks over here decided that since I am over training their people they would give me a present celebrating Diwali. I have not opened the large box yet, but I believe it’s an assortment of dried fruits and nuts along with a nice serving type tray. The gift is the same as what they were giving their employees over here and they made sure to have a couple of extras to make some of us feel at home. Either tomorrow (which is Sunday) or Wednesday (the day after Diwali) a few of us are going to go shopping at the fabric markets and such as well as hang out.
All in all, I am having a good time and I have enjoyed making some new friends in India. I do still miss my wife and daughter, but I need to make the best of the situation right? :P
The lights that have been put up so far are very cool, it reminds me a good bit of X-Mas lights and I can’t wait to see what everything looks like Tuesday, the actual night of Diwali. It looks like I am going to pick up a few extra pairs of shoes if anyone is interested.
I have been scoping out several nice jewelry type gifts for the wife and I can’t wait to see her face when she opens the box and sees them. Yes, she might actually read this blog, but I don’t think she will so nobody say anything :P
One thing I must say, the people I have met so far from India, regardless of whether they are coworkers, hotel help, drivers, or the like, are all some of the most polite people I have ever met. As long as you show them politeness and respect, you will always be treated well. Unfortunately, not every takes that to heart
over here. I have definitely been collecting some very nice memories of my time here, and I have yet to even make it to Jaipur or the Taj Majal yet! That’s it for the day…..
Sunday October 26th
I went and was able to work out for about 40 min yesterday. That is the most I have done in one day so far. The knee has been holding up well and I have been doing leg curls and extensions to maximize the workout towards rebuilding its strength and mobility. Today I don’t even hurt so I think I will hit the gym even harder tonight after we get back from shopping and dinner. I really want to make some significant strides towards losing some excess weight while improving my cardio and stamina for when I get back. At this point, unless something drastic happens, I plan on fighting at Estrella War and will start practicing as soon as I get back home. I am behind the curve compared to some of my squire brothers and sisters, and it is time to rectify that.
I will let you all know how shopping and the gym went when I get back to the hotel room.
Gym workout went well. I spent about 30 min this time. The shopping was uneventful and actually quite boring. I did unfortunately get to experience my first time with racial profiling. Needless to say I definitely understand now what Black people go thru in some parts of America. I did manage to pickup a toy for the baby girl so that she has something from India.
Monday October 27th
Today went well until this evening rolled around. There was a couple eating dinner in the Café with their two kids. I have to say I really miss my wife and daughter so much it is very hard to explain. Sometimes you just focus on the moment and have fun with what is going on. At other times, you just wish that they could be here to spend time with and see everything you are seeing.
Tuesday October 28th Diwali
Picture taking Christmas Eve and combining it with the 4th of July. It was a quiet morning and afternoon. The evening was relaxing as we ate a special buffet prepared by the hotel to celebrate Diwali. I tried several different Indian deserts which were all tasty but are definitely different than what we are used to in the USA. Most of them are very different textures and either much sweeter than we are used to, or not very sweet at all. The rest of the evening you could see and here fireworks after fireworks, along with a lot of firecrackers. It was quite enjoyable an evening. The team is taking the next day off so I get to enjoy a relaxing day at the hotel and will be doing some shopping in the evening.
Wednesday October 29th
I decided to just relax the day after and pretty much just catch up on rest and relaxation. I might go out tomorrow night and do some shopping. If not then I will spend all day this Saturday getting a good idea of prices on fabric and scarves.
I decided to stay in on Wednesday and just relax all evening as well.
Went out on Friday night as usual. Had some Gilafi Sheikh kebabs, which were good as usual. The prices over here on liquor are also rather low.
Saturday November 1st
Slept in, updated the blog to today. I will be going out this afternoon to look at more scarves, knickknacks, and some jewelry. I may also check out the fabric bazaars to see what we have available.
Sunday November 2nd
Several of the guys and I went out and about. We visited around 5 malls and just goofed off for a bit. I checked out the stuff I wanted to see. Posted some pics of fabrics for the wife and friends to look at.
Wednesday November 5th
You don’t really understand the USA’s impact on other countries until you are abroad during a US Presidential Election. The people over here seem to be following the election much more closely than I ever have.
At this point I am pretty much completely acclimated to India in terms of surroundings, sights, sounds, and smells. India is quite the charming place if you know how to handle it. They have some very good restaurants in places you wouldn’t expect. I had lunch the past two days in the middle of very small business strip malls as we would call them.
This evening I went with a friend to a couple of wholesale fabric sellers. I found some very nice prices on silk, raw silk, and brocades. I will be posting them in the morning.
Saturday November 8th
Some coworkers and I went to the Delhi Red Fort and then to a market. The Red Fort had some awesome views and you should go check out the photos from that trip. The shopping was ok, it reminded me of shopping at merchant’s row at Estrella War. Lots of fabric, wood working, and the like. We then decided to hit a nice Italian restaurant in the Hyatt which was awesome.
Monday November 9th thru Friday November 14th
The new team started OJT this week. My schedule has switched to 12-9. I don’t get a chance to do much in the morning before work, but I am trying to work out before work and then eat breakfast. In the evening after work I have just been eating a very light dinner after work and then going to bed around 1am. We did go buy a Cottage Industries Emporium and I picked up a couple of things that I wanted for myself. I still need to buy a couple more things for the wife and then the remaining purchases will be gifts. Tomorrow we are going to the Taj Majal which should be quite exciting. We are going to visit a couple of different forts along the way. I will let you all know how it goes. I should find several nice marble items there.
As a side note, they have some rather bizarre commercials over here. There is two that are for cell phones, one is a guy repeatedly saying “I miss you so much it hurts” for a voice SMS, the other is a phone that does Karaoke.
Saturday November 15th
Went to the Taj Mahal. Its about a 3.5 hr ride from Gurgaon to Agra. The pollution is some of the worst I have ever seen. It was so bad that you could look at the sun at 8am and it was the same orange color it normally shows when its setting at dusk. We finally arrived about 11am. We went to the Taj first, words can’t describe quite how pretty the Taj Mahal is. I took a ton of pics. The closer you get to the Taj, the more impressive it gets. All of the colors that you see were added to the white marble by hand using tools to carve the marble, grind the stones, and then hand fit them to the marble. We then went to lunch and had butter chicken with garlic nan. We finished the day off by going to Sikendra. Humayun’s Tomb is the tomb of Humayun, the son of Babar. Akbar is the son of Humayun and Sikendra is his tomb. The Taj Mahal was built by Akbar’s son Shah Jahan and houses his wife, daughter, daughter’s kids, and him. You would not believe the number of people that were at the Taj Mahal. Sikendra was the first fort that the symbology on the sides of the fort were not a combination of Indian and Muslim. All in all it was a great day, and its not every day that you can say you saw one of the wonders of the world. I picked up a couple of marble elephants for pretty much pennies. Tomorrow I go shopping.
Sunday November 16th
So we went shopping at 2 markets and a place called Dilli Haat. The two markets were ok, but I didn’t find anything interesting. The last place had better merchandise this time. I managed to pick up some shawls, marble coasters, and some miscellaneous things. I still need to purchase some shoes and some silk. I also have a line on Saffron. I hopefully will be coming home with around a pound of saffron.
Monday Nov 17th thru Friday Nov 21st
I spent the week working as normal. We went to Chinese Thai Café on Wednesday. It was quite a bit of fun as usual. The guys and I went all together and took along Renae. We had a few beers and had a good time. I have been enjoying myself quite a bit here, and while I am looking forward to finally going home, I will definitely miss the friends I have made over here.
Saturday Nov 22nd
We went to the Amber Fort and Jaipur. The Amber Fort was freaking awesome. We wandered around the fort for better than 3 hours. I took a ton of pictures. This is probably the biggest fort complex I have ever been in and the immensity of it was just breathtaking. The workmanship in terms of beauty and planning was quite stunning. The walls were made of carved, inlaid, and painted marble. The fort had running hot and cold water. It had a giant well system located beneath it to collect, purify, and store rainwater. They created a water wheel and pottery system to allow the water to be moved from the bottom of the fort to the top very quickly. I took around 160 pictures of the fort complex and its view of the surrounding territory. I quite enjoyed myself exploring all of the various areas of the fort and taking pictures of whatever I could.
We then went to Jaipur proper. We explored a couple of the bazaars and I was able to find a few jewelry items for the wife. I do think she will like what I got. Luckily, at least one of them should fit. We decided not to explore the City Palace and because we had spent so much time exploring the Amber fort, my knee started hurting so we decided it was time to call it a day. I must say the ride home was quite the event as always. They do not stay within the lines over here, much less always stay on the road. It’s a good thing we have a driver for the ride home because I think we all fell asleep during the ride back which took about 4 hours to go 220km. Tomorrow we are going out to do some more shopping. Hopefully I will be able to pick up almost everything I am still needing.
Sunday Nov 23rd
We went shopping at a real life bazaar in Lajpat. It was a very crowded and interesting mix of western goods and Indian items ranging from shawls to jeans and everything in between. I picked up a couple of things I was looking for and then we headed over to Dilli Haat. The market there was a new and special mix of hand crafted textile items. I picked up a very nice hand woven rug and a warm Himalayan wool shawl for my mother-in-law. I still needed a few things but it was getting late so we planned on heading to Delhi Red Fort and Dilli Haat again next weekend.
Wednesday Nov 26th
The attack on Mumbai occurred. None of us here from work were aware what was happening until we got home from work around 10pm. I very quickly called to make sure everyone here from my department was ok and contacted work. I knew that my wife doesn’t watch or listen to the news so I went to sleep and called her in the morning which was right around the time she was getting off of work and had heard about the attacks on NPR. I let her know everything was allright and then sent out emails and posts to let everyone know I was ok. Everyone was handling it ok and decided to finish out the last week of being here. The hotel has tripled the security measures and has multiple people outside the gates with armed rifles. It was a very depressing sight and the media here is calling it India’s 9/11. We were asked to stay away from New Delhi over the weekend since it was polling on Saturday.
Friday Nov 27th
A few friends and I went into the South Extension part of Delhi to pick up some silk fabric from a store called Nalli. The price per yard for 50 gram silk is 180 rupees which equals roughly 3.5 dollars a yard. I picked up 40 yards, had some real street vendor food (had to try it once) and enjoyed myself before calling it a night.
Saturday Nov 28th
We were asked to not go into New Delhi due to the incidents in Mumbai and the fact that Delhi was polling so we went to a mall in Gurgaon where I picked up the wallet I was looking for. We then made a run to the Cottage Industries Emporium located in the Galaxy hotel since we were not sure if we were going to be able to go to Delhi or Dilli Haat again before we left. I picked up another box of Saffron for my personal use so that we could donate the smaller box for an auction. I picked up most of my remaining gifts and souvenirs there. I was still wanting to pick up some jewelry from the wife but was worried I would not get to.
Sunday Nov 29th
I was lucky and they decided to allow us into Delhi as long as we kept in regular contact. I was able to get the jewelry I was wanting at Delhi Red Fort. I really hope the wife likes everything I picked up for her. There was only one thing I was not able to find that I liked.
Monday Nov 30th thru Friday Dec 5th
I am finishing up the remaining training and work that I need to do so that I can head home. India finally brought up the idea of extending either myself or Renae and I doubt that it will happen. At this point even if I am asked by Phoenix I will probably say no because I am ready to come home and see my wife and daughter. I have enjoyed my time over here and made some new friends that I will miss, but its time to come home and see my family. I will be stopping over in St. Louis for a few days on the way home to see some friends and family that I haven’t seen in several years.
Friday Dec 5th
So leaving Friday night was a bit difficult. Renae and I worked a 5hr shift and then we started saying our goodbyes. The India teams had a celebration for us including a cake. Everyone thanked us for our contributions and then had a couple of us cut the cake. In India, they celebrate birthdays by having the birthday person cut their cake and then someone takes the piece and feeds it to them. Most of the time in the process of feeding it to the birthday celebrator, they also smear some of the cake on their face. it’s a show of respect and happiness when they do so. So of course, they had to do that to us. Afterwards, my team gave me a very nice Indian outfit that unfortunately didn’t quite fit. They also gave me a shawl of my own to keep from Kasmiri. Its not quite as soft as Peshmina is, but it is pretty nice. It took us about an hour and a half to leave with all the pictures, hugs, good byes, speeches, and the like. It was a bit difficult to leave, but it meant that I was going to see my wife and daughter very soon.
After we left, we headed back to the hotel to check out, eat dinner, and head to the airport. We got to the airport around 8:30pm. My plane wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1am. I hung out with my coworkers until their plane took off. A couple of hours later my plane finally got here. Earlier in the week there were a couple of threats against the Indian airports. Early in the day there were also reports of shots being fired at the airport. Since I was flying out on American Airlines, of course they had to have even more security. My luggage was searched twice. I was frisked twice, and the 2nd time I had to turn on all of my electronics to show that they were actually working items. The plane finally took off at 2:30am. The layover in Chicago was supposed to be 3 hrs, but between the plane getting in late, going thru immigration, clearing customs, rechecking my bags, and then checking into the domestic terminal from the international terminal, the layover was down to just an hour.
I got in to St. Louis an hour later and then proceeded to head over to the AA ticket counter and had my time in town shortened to 5 days from a week. I will get back home soon and will surprise several friends this weekend.
So a few observations while in India: The people are for the most part very respectful except when driving. You absolutely do not want to drive over there. The food is very good and as long as you stay away from the water you should be fine. I managed to never get sick and I did eat at a couple of street vendors. Where you stay has a large impact on how much enjoyment you will get out of the trip. I would recommend it as a place to visit.