OFF TO INDIA
It is just about time for another
adventure. On March 3, after two more sleeps, we will embark on a
whirlwind, three and a half week tour of India with our friends Jinder, Kal,
Stan, and Doreen. I think “adventure” is the most appropriate word
to describe our expected travels. Various advisories use the adjectives;
colourful, fragrant, noisy, spiritual, bedlam, delicious (spicy), exotic, and
friendly when describing India. Jinder
and Kal have been to India before and have done there very best to prepare us
for the trip. The key phrases have been “You must be flexible, this
is India", “You must be prepared to be amazed in one breath and have your
senses shocked the next!”, “Plans will go much better than you had
ever imagined but they could also go astray.”, “Don’t flash your
money around or you will be surrounded by large portions of the 400 million+ folks living in poverty.”
We began
our preparation meetings last June, drinking wine and dinning
together. Large amounts of India’s Kingfisher beer were also
consumed to acclimate our palates. There were usually three or
four computers on the go each meeting as we researched potential areas of
interest. Doreen, Kal, and Deborah preferred to suss out the “best
palaces” to call home for the night in each local. We all watched
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” to learn the need for patience and acceptance,
and dined at the Ashoka Indian Cuisine restaurant in Langley to enjoy authentic
Indian food (and the spices involved).
In
addition, we arranged a group visit to a travel doctor. He poked us
with Hep B, Polio, and Typhoid shots, prescribed malaria pills and gave us
Dukoral treatments for our stomachs. Finally he suggested we spray
our clothing with Permethrin while traveling in Goa and Kerala to ward off the
bugs. Admittingly he used the “suspenders and a belt” approach but
told us that none of his patients that followed his advice, had ever become
ill.
Deborah
and I also read Shantaram by Gregory Roberts and Secret
Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, to expand our cultural
awareness. Both books are great reads to prepare one for the
conditions we may be witness to. We also watched a complete season
of Outsourced to learn the intricacies of the “head waggle”
and other curious Indian customs as well as to simply have a good old belly
laugh. I hope to meet Gupta along the way.
Jinder
and Kal’s experiences dissuaded us from using a travel agent and for the most
part this is a self-planned trip. As a result we may be biting off
more than we can chew but so be it. The final itinerary includes:
New Delhi, Jaipur (Pink City), Agra (Taj Mahal), Jullunder (Punjab), Mumbai (Bombay),
Goa (beahes), Kochi (tea plantations) and Bangalore (shopping). Hopefully we will ride elephants, camels, and see tigers between witnessing some of the wonders of the world.
I will
try to keep the blog up-to-date but the itinerary will keep us on the move.
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Team India - George, Deborah, Doreen, Stan, Kal & Jinder |
