On Sunday afternoon, we attended our first cricket match in which the Deccan Chargers (the Hyderabad Indian Premier League team) defeated the Bangalore Royal Challengers.
Cricket is the national sport of India – it is really the only sport in India – and attending a live cricket match has been on our “to do” list once we moved to Hyderabad. Thus, we were very excited to go to our first match, but at the same time a little nervous about the crowds and unsure of what to expect. While it was extremely crowed, no parking, somewhat confusing, hotter than hell and no water . . . we still ended up having a lot of fun – and the local team won (even if it was their last game of the season and they missed the finals of the IPL.)
No Parking Lot
The Deccan Chargers play in the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal east of Hyderabad. Since we live in the western part of the city it took us an hour to get to the stadium. As we got close, we noticed cars parked all along the road leading to the stadium. Then our driver says that the road the stadium is located on is closed and he would have to drop us off at the intersection. The scene was crazy with barriers, police and military surrounded by swarms of people making their way to the stadium. At this point we were a little shell shocked and questioning how much we really wanted to go to the match. Then I realized the amazing fact that there is no parking lot. The stadium is fairly new having been built in 2005 and seats over 55,000 people (the match was completely sold out as are most matches.) Yet no parking! This is insane, but we should have expected it. We decided that we were here already so we might as well try and get into the stadium.
The scenic path around the Stadium
After walking about 100 yards down the closed road we were standing in front of the stadium trying to figure out how to get in. There are 11 gates around the stadium in which you enter based on your ticket. Our gate was number 11 and we saw directions to gates 1 – 4 and 5 – 9, but no gate 11. I asked a police officer and he pointed us past him. We ended up walking around the entire stadium which was quite a task and workout. While the stadium is fairly new and relatively modern, it is old Hyderabad right up to the gates and walls of the stadium, replete with dirt, wire fences, stray dogs, stray people asking for tickets and all sorts of hawkers selling T-shirts, hats, face painting (yes there are tons of guys walking up to us with paint asking if we want our face painted) and food. My favorite were the vendors selling bottle water through the walls of the stadium. Apparently, there is no bottled water or bottles of any kind sold inside the stadium as people will throw them on the field or pitch as it is called. To get around this there are vendors selling bottles of water through the walls.
Saying the path to our gate was a hike is an understatement, we had to make our way through waves of people, vendors, rock and sandy paths, up and under wire fences, and more. We arrived though and made it through security. The security people were surprisingly nice and let the bag the kids had with water (bottled no less!) and chips through.
There are no assigned seats at the stadium, just an assigned section. Luckily, our friends had arrived before us and held five seats for us. I was concerned that it would be mayhem inside the stadium and we would need to hold onto our kids for fear of them being swept away in a raucous crowd of spectators. However, once we were seated (we had to go through one more security and metal detector to get into the section) it was very civilized with comfortable seats.
A Baseball game and a Nightclub had a Baby
I have never understood the game of cricket. However, watching it live I was able to pick up the basic flow and rules of the game. Cricket is the forefather to baseball and the similarities were apparent. The match consists of one inning in which each team bats once. Some cricket matches can last for days, but the IPL matches are only 20 overs (an over is a set of six balls thrown by the bowlers) and lasts about 3-4 hours. I will not go into all the rules but this Wikipedia article is a good overview. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket
The match was fairly exciting as there is a lot of scoring and even more cheering. It seemed like every minute hip-hop music would be blaring and the entire stadium was jumping up and down, yelling and dancing. It was as if a baseball game and a nightclub had a baby. Someone told me that the cricket matches are just an excuse to party and dance in the stands. It certainly was a festive environment (even though I did not see any alcohol sales.)
Here is the Deccan Charger theme song. There chorus of “Go Chargers! Go Chargers! Go Chargers! Go! Go! Go!” was played incessantly throughout the match.
Deccan Charger Theme Song
Cheerleaders!
The most surprising thing about the cricket match were the cheerleaders. Young, blond, Caucasian women in skimpy short-shorts. We could not believe we were in India. Yet, here were these cheerleaders jumping and prancing around.
It was extremely hot during the match. The temperature was over 110 degree Fahrenheit – the hottest day of the year so far. The breeze felt like hot dragon breath and made it even worse. We could not even buy water or soda as the concession stands ran out. Incredibly, we must be becoming acclimated because we sweated out about 10 pounds of water weight and just enjoyed the match. When I got up to leave, I noticed a huge sweat mark formed by my butt cheeks. It almost looked liked Baby Jesus . . . but I could have been delirious from dehydration at that point.
The cricket match was a success – even with all of the challenges – and a nice way to spend a late Sunday afternoon. We are looking forward to next season. Go Chargers! Go! Go! Go!
Hyderabad is not the most exciting place in the world. I am sorry, but it is a sad fact. There is not a lot of things to do beyond shopping, eating at restaurants (which are still small but expanding) and going to Sunday brunches at the international hotels. Thus, the weekends can get pretty dull at times if you do not find ways to entertain yourself. Luckily, there are many parties and events to keep us amused on most weekends.
There is a very active expat group here called the Twin Cities Expatriates Association of Hyderabad and Secunderabad or TEA, through which we have made some great friendships. The TEA group hosts a few parties throughout the year such as a White Christmas Dinner Party or more recently a Cowboys and Indians Party (The men dressed up as cowboys and the women wore traditional Indian sarees.) These parties always feature good food, drinking and dancing.
The dancing can be quite entertaining. It is typically an eclectic mix of American, European and Indian music and dancing (while it is not surprising that Indian dancing is very different than than American dancing, European dancing is also much different – being more smooth, refined . . . and just cooler, than the prototypical American bump and grind method.) While we are on the topic Indian dancing is a something that has to be experienced. It is a complicated mix of different genres including line, Broadway, hip-hop and traditional Indian ethnic dance – it makes the Macarena look like the Hokey-Pokey. What is really amazing is that it seems all Indians are amazing dancers (Bollywood dance lessons are very popular) and have memorized all the moves to the most popular songs. Indulge me for a slight diversion to explain a little bit about Indian music. The business model for music in India is very different than the rest of the world. Music is usually given away for free in order to promote and sell movies. Bollywood and Indian movies almost always included a dance number (regardless if it is an action flick or rom-com.) Many of these dance numbers are considered an Item Number which means it has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the movie and is there only for entertainment value featuring the current Indian “IT” girl. These songs and dance numbers are put on You Tube and the Internet prior to the movie launching to generate buzz and sell the movie.
To give you an understanding of what I am talking about and experience Indian music and dance, here is a popular song and video from the 2010 Bollywood movie Tees Maar Khan. I find the lyrics hilarious (the chorus is in English.) Be warned, though, the song is catchy and grows on you.
“Sheila Ki Jawani” with Lyrics
Paparazzi
An interesting part of the Hyderabad party scene is the paparazzi. Yes, at most parties – particularly the big expat parties or an event hosted by one of the hotels – there are usually photographers snapping pictures that find their way to Facebook pages, the entertainment section of the newspaper, or magazines. We feel like celebrities having our picture taken as we walk into a party . . . it is also can be annoying having your picture taken while you are eating and spilling pizza on your shirt. I was not exaggerating when I said there is not a lot to do – if people find reading about our social life exciting . . . please help us all. Maybe we should start a reality show. Laura could become the Kim Kardashian of India. I guarantee the highest rated episodes would be the ones when the in-laws visit. Now there is a million dollar idea!
Park Hyatt Grand Opening
On Sunday, we attended our fanciest shindig yet, the grand opening of the new Park Hyatt hotel. This was a high class affair with formal attire, security and a who’s who guest list.
A galaxy of top politicians, film stars, industrialists, business tycoons and others graced the grand opening here on Sunday of Park Hyatt, the only luxury brand hotel in India from global hospitality major, the Hyatt Group. Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, and several other Union and state ministers led the inaugural ceremony. – Deccan Chronicle, April 30th 2012
The kids and I were trying to decide if Laura and I were considered the business tycoons or the others.
The hotel is fabulous with great food and the best wine cellar we have seen in India. Suffice to say we ate and drank to excess during the evening. My hands were filled the entire night with plates and glasses – thankfully others took some good pictures that I stole for the blog.
Today we celebrated the Hindu holiday of Holi which is also know as the festival of colors. Holi celebrates the end of winter and beginning of spring. The holiday is famous for streets filled with mobs of people throwing colored powders and shooting colored waters at each other. It is the craziest water fight you have every seen – except with colorful dyes instead of just water. It is like Halloween for Indian kids in terms of excitement and fun. The movie Oustourced featured a classic scene during Holi (the original 2006 movie is much better than the more recent TV series.) Our neighborhood hosted a Holi party this morning. We did not know what to expect – other than wear old clothes that we did not care about. It turned out that everyone had a blast – even Nana and Nani.
Laura getting soaked
Nana enjoying Holi
Nana and Nani on Holi
Nani shakes it
Most of the colors wore off after a shower . . . but not all. If you did not know any better you might think that we were all in a fight as we were left with faded yellow, red and purple blotches all over our bodies. The kids are already talking about how the are ygoing to prepare for Holi next year.
On our 5th day we were very excited to head to Ranthambore National Park and the Aman-i-Khas – a luxury camp located on edge of the park. We have wanted to come here to go on a Tiger Safari since friends of ours visited it years ago and raved it. Laura and I had high expectations – we expected that this was going to be the highlight of our trip and one of our most precious memories from India – and we were not disappointed.
On the way there we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri which was an ancient city from the 1500’s. In 1571, after capturing the city, Akbar the Great relocated his capital here from Agra. Akbar spent over 10 years building and expanding the city but ultimately abandoned it in 1585, shortly after its completion, due to a lack of water. The architectural and carving details that still exist at Fatehpur Sikri are quite impressive.
Late that afternoon we finally arrived at Aman-i-Khas. The best way to describe the resort is a luxury adult sleeping camp. There are only 13 tents on the property. There is a dining room tent, a library tent, a spa tent and 10 guest tents. “Tent” is a loose term as they are absolutely enormous with soaring ceilings, comfy king beds, full bathrooms with concrete bathtubs in a modern khaki and teak safari décor. Katy Perry and Russell Brand were married at the camp – or as we were excitedly told by Nani when she found this out, “Katy Perry and Russell Hantz were married here!” Huh? The guy from Survivor?
As a professional product marketer, I am very familiar with the concept of Delighting theCustomer. Yet, I have never seen it executed to perfection as it was at the Aman-i-Khas. Forget about daily housekeeping and turndown service. Every time we left the tent the staff came in to clean and refresh it. Better still, most times we returned to a surprise present. When we first arrived at the camp, we each had a khaki Aman-i-Khas hat placed on the beds. Later in the day, we found personalized leather luggage tags affixed to our bags. After dinner we found Aman-i-Khas safari polo shirts. The next morning after breakfast, there was a box with a stone elephant carving wrapped inside. On the final morning, the kids each had a locally made kurta (traditional Indian shirt.) Laura loves presents (who does not) and now wishes all hotel would follow suit.
My mother-in-law also thoroughly enjoyed the pampering. She claimed to initially be “uncomfortable” but seemed to quickly overcome that feeling as she ate up all the attention. I have resigned myself that our kids have become spoiled travellers, but now I have spoiled in-laws. I spent over a quarter of last year in a hotel room which provided the benefit of platinum status. I used my status during this trip to get perks such as suite upgrades, free wi-fi, lounge access, and breakfast. It turns out this may not have been a good thing. It is bad enough to have your kids ask “are we flying business class?” or “are we staying at a 5-star hotel?” or “can we order room service?” Now, however, I have to deal with my in-laws asking “did we get a room upgrade?” or “do we get free cocktails?” . . . or simply “what do we get for free?” Let this be a warning to all about the perils of taking your in-laws on holiday.
We did have some fun though with Laura’s parents. Laura and I were able to control her parents – almost as if they were truly children. We accomplished this by controlling all their cash. Since we have Indian bank account and local currency it made no sense for my in-laws to incur fees converting dollars to rupees. Instead they bought rupees from us. However, we held the money and judiciously doled out the cash as we saw fit. Now, Nani had to ask us for money if she wanted to buy something – such as the crappy postcard books that are hawked by street vendors in front of any of the sites. This allowed Laura and I to refuse to give her the cash if we did not deem the purchase worthy – even if Nani whined and sulked about it (which she did, especially over the postcards.) That provided some amusement during the week. While this may sound cruel, it really was needed. Nani is by her own admission quite naïve and easily can get suckered by any street vendor. Without Laura’s intervention her mom would be the one who does not argue when a vendor asks Twenty for a cheap soapstone elephant – and pays 20 dollars instead of the 20 rupees it is actually worth. By the way, Laura did eventually buy her mom the postcards – for a fraction of the price her Mom originally was going to pay. They are the worst postcards too. Abigail and Aidan take much better photos. There are random people in all the shots. They are crooked etc. I will try to scan one in, but I have not been able to get Nani to give up the book.
Day 6 – Ranthambore National Park
After a relaxing morning at the camp, we went on our first safari into Ranthambore National Park. The park was established as a game sanctuary in 1955 and was became a protected tiger reserve in 1973. There are about 30 tigers living in Ranthambore as well as plenty of other of animals such as crocodiles, deer, jackals, monkeys and many varieties of birds including peacocks – the official bird of India.
Access to the park is tightly controlled by the Indian government. Only government vehicles and guides are allowed to enter the parking during two 3 1/2 hour windows: one at 6:30am and another at 2:30pm. Moreover, the vehicle are restricted to staying on the rocky (very rocky) trails. In addition, each vehicle is limited to a specific sector of the park covering about 10 or 20 square miles. As such, it is difficult to see a tiger. The joke is that the guides always say “we saw a tiger . . . yesterday.” Knowing this we still headed into the park excited about going on our first safari.
We had a 10 person open air canter truck for the safari ride. It was the bumpiest, bone jarring ride we had ever experienced. The “roads” through the park were nothing more than dust and rock trails. It makes the rest of the roads in India seem as smooth as a race track. Our guide was excellent and our meandering tour through the park was like an amusement park ride through a wildlife adventure TV show. We half expected Jack Hannah to pop out of the forest. We saw lots of crocodiles, deer, boar, monkeys, birds and more . . . but alas no tigers. Even so, it was a wonderful ride.
In the evening, we relaxed by the fire pit before heading to a jungle dinner behind the lake at the camp. A full outdoor kitchen with a tandoori oven setup there. We arrived early at dinner and got a chance to make our favorite Indian bread – naan – and then eat it as soon as it came out of the oven. Absolutely delicious.
Day 7 – Tiger Hunting
Our second safari trip into Ranthambore was first thing in the morning. We were up at 5:30am (even Nani who usually is not a morning person) and headed to the park by 6:00am. We were hopefully that at that time of day we would have a chance of catching a tiger as it awoke.
If our first safari was a leisurely Disney World-like jungle ride, our second safari was a white knuckled, heart pumping, adrenaline inducing roller coaster ride. We decided to take two jeeps into the park rather than the canter trucks as we thought they would deliver a more comfortable ride – which they did. It meant that we had to split up into two jeeps with my in-laws taking a jeep with a Russian couple from another resort. My mother-in-law was thrilled to have an international couple to talk to for over 3 hours; the Russian couple probably not so much.
In addition, to being more comfortable, the Jeeps were much more maneuverable and faster, enabling our wild tiger chase through the jungle.
Each vehicle entering the park is assigned a sector ahead of time. We were assigned sector 5. However, our guide said that there were only a few tiger cubs in sector 5 and they were not yet acclimated to motor vehicles and would hide when the tours came through. Our guide had seen a tiger in sector 4 yesterday and assured us we would see one there today. Sector 4 and 5 shared the same entrance so all we had to do is to give the guard a few hundred rupees to allow us into sector 4. This was our last chance to see a tiger so we agreed, but said we would pay the guard at the end of our, hopefully, a successful tiger hunt in sector 4.
Thus, began our roller coaster ride. Our driver and guide, motivated by the prospects of a big tip if we saw a tiger, hauled ass to get to the spot in which they spotted a tiger the previous day. There was no stopping to point out the various locales and wildlife within the park and sector 4. We were on a mission. When we finally arrived at the spot, there were at least a half a dozen other jeeps and trucks sitting there. The other guides believed that there was a female tiger sleeping behind the trees and when she awoke she would walk past us to the small watering hole on the other side of the trail. Thus, we picked a spot to wait and watch. Hunting tigers is a little like hunting the elusive Bigfoot. Our guide was whispering, pointing out marks on the trees, patterns of the birds flying overheard and footprints to prove we where in the tiger’s den. Yet after waiting patiently for over 15 minutes – no tiger. Then all of a sudden our driver throws the jeep into reverse, spins the wheels and takes off down the trail in an attempt to come up behind were the tiger is thought to be sleeping. Our driver thinks the tiger could move out this way. As we slow to a crawl we hear shouts that a tiger may have been sighted. The guide starts shouting at the driver “Go! Go! Go!” The jeep lurches forward as we all hold on to the roll bars. We bounce up and over rocky hills. The jeep splashes through jungle streams, sending water spraying across the landscape. We duck under low branches. Finally, the driver slams on the breaks, stopping an inch short of a parked canter truck with 20 people standing up staring, pointing and snapping pictures towards the tree line. We all jump up. I fumble for my camera. I look up and 100 meters into the jungle I see a majestic, huge (appears to be at least 6 feet long) male tiger lumbering along – then it disappears into the foliage. Our hearts are pounding. Beads of sweat are dripping down our brows . . . but we have spotted our tiger! We check to see if we captured the royal beast on camera. Alas, the only footage was a panicked, jumbled video reminiscent of one of those goofy Bigfoot videos. Still we are elated to have found our tiger.
We had to leave the Aman-i-Khas and the Ranthambore National Park and make our way to Jaipur after our morning safari. We did so satisfied that we had seen our tiger.
Day 8 – Jaipur
With only one day in Jaipur we packed in all the key tourist attractions that we visited during our December trip to Rajasthan – now with Nana and Nani in tow: Amber Fort and the elephant ride, City Palace and the Conservatory.
After sightseeing, our guide took us to see how block printed textiles were made. It was the same linen and rug shop that our driver took us to in December (the salesman actually remembered us.) Apparently, the shop is a) very famous for selling the finest quality tablecloths, shawls and rugs or b) they treat the drivers and guides very well. During this visit, I noticed ours were sitting in plastic chairs outside the shop with big smiles while they were served tea and snacks. Thus, my vote is for b.
The shop still has the same gimmick from our December visit of luring in tourist with demonstrations of how block printing and woven rugs are made by hand. The tactic worked like a charm with Nana and Nani who were mesmerized watching the men hand tie each knot to make a rug. This time, though, the snake charmer wielded its power over us with each of us – Laura & I and Nana & Nani – purchasing a 5’ x 7’ rug which they packed into a 6”x”6” burlap bag that they called The Flying Carpet. We are happy with both of the rugs purchased but a word of warning. The snake charmers can be very sneaky. I thought I was being a very sophisticated shopper when I used my iPhone to make sure the best rate was used to convert the price from dollars (we negotiated the price in dollars – in retrospect we should have done the negotiations directly in rupees) to rupees. I was even more smug when I successfully argued with the clerk when he tried to add in the credit card transaction fee. The last laugh was on me though. When we returned home, we realized that our credit card was charged for a separate 3% transaction fee. How could this be? The shop ran the charge as a cash advance – and as such we bore the transaction fee (which was not on the bill) and, to make matters worse, started accruing interest immediately (which Laura worked hard to have the credit card company remove.) This is some very tricky dicky behavior. I never knew that this was even possible. Hence, be very careful when using your credit card and read the receipt closely – later we noticed that the paperwork mentioned cash received (which of course I actually never received but the shop certainly did.) Let our rug be a martyr to this deceptive practice.
Day 9 – Home to Hyderabad
9 days. Hundreds of kilometers trapped in a minibus. 6 UNESCO World Heritage sites. 3 cities. 2 tents. 2 safari ride. 1 Tiger. The Taj Mahal. . . and millions of times hearing “India is an experience” from Nani.
I am ready to return home to Hyderabad.
Yet, even this simple task has to be an adventure. . . or “an experience.” Laura and her mom spent the morning prior to our departure doing some last minute shopping at a complex in which they actually manufacturer many of the tablecloths, blankets and shawls we had seen. Surprisingly, the prices they found were some of the highest as well. When we got to the airport for our flight it was a mess. Masses of people, tons of trollies overflowing with luggage, thick lines trying to squeeze into just a few check-in counters – and as we try to make our way through this sea of confusion we hear the loudspeaker “Final boarding on SG 913.” Our flight is boarding and we still have not checked in. Usually, Laura and I chastise her father for being rude and pushy. On this day, we encouraged it and put him in charge of getting all ten of our bags through the security scanner (Jaipur has an added step of requiring all checked bags to be scanned – and as expected there was only one scanner operating for the entire airport.)
The airline staff kept contradicting themselves with some of them telling us to just go right to the front of the line, only to have the desk clerk tell us to wait in the queue the plane will not leave with out us. Thankfully, having the in-laws with us proved beneficial. We tried to use the “old and decrepit” card to speed our way to the front of the queues, but that proved unsuccessful. Dividing and conquering did work though. After Nana got the luggage scanned we sent him, Nani and the kids to get into the security line which worked out well. As soon as we finally were checked-in and had our tickets, Laura and I raced over to security where the rest of the crew was already at the front of the line. We finally made it onto the plane and after much undo stress flew home to Hyderabad . . . and 2 more weeks with Nana and Nani.
After spending over a week touring the Golden Triangle of India with my in-laws (Nana is the Hindi word for maternal grandfather and Nani is the Hindi word for maternal grandmother), I was more than ready to get to the office first thing on Monday morning. I love my in-laws dearly, but 9 days on a minibus through Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan was (as my mother in-law says . . . all the time) “an experience.” For the most part we avoided any international incidents (at least major ones) and all in all had an excellent trip.
Day 1 – Delhi
Laura, the kids and I met Nana and Nani in Delhi. Nana and Nani had arrived in Delhi from the U.S. at 2:00am in the morning, while we did not arrive from Hyderabad until noon the same day. Laura and I were pleasantly shocked that Nana and Nani were able to make it from the airport to the hotel without issue. We had arrange the driver and minibus to be there waiting for them to make it as easy as possible and thankfully it worked.
The kids were extremely excited to see their grandparents when we arrived at the hotel. After a quick lunch we headed out on our first sightseeing adventure to the Qutub Complex. The complex was a short drive from our hotel. The complex, an UNESCO World Heritage site, is a collection of monuments including the Qutub Minar which was built as a Victory Tower by the Rajput king, Prithviraj Chauhan in 1192 AD. The Qutub is actually the most visited site in India even ahead of the Taj Mahal.
On our first day, at our first tourist attraction, we had our first incident. If you have been following this blog, you will know that one of my pet peeves is that there are two prices at any Indian historical monument – there is a local price and a Foreigner price (the use of the word Foreigner is even a little insulting to me. As I have said before in this blog, the Indian government’s behaviors many times make me feel unwelcome. The term Foreigner reinforces that notion. Would not International Visitors make a better term?) As an Indian resident and taxpayer, I feel that I am entitled to pay the local entrance fees. Thus, at the Qutub I purchased local tickets using my PAN card (which proves that I am taxpayer) and copies of our official residential documents (FRROs for Foreign Regional Registration Office). After I purchased the tickets, I noticed a sign saying no bags are allowed into the site. To comply with this edict (a mistake as it turns I out. I should know better to follow the rules), I crossed the busy street to the parking lot to put my backpack in the minibus. However, when we entered the complex the ticket takers (I guess you could call them security guards but their only responsibility and authority is to take tickets) argued with me that I needed to have purchased the Foreigner tickets – even after I showed them my PAN card. I did not have the FRROs because they were back in my backpack in the minibus. There was no way I was back and forth across the street to fetch them. The ticket takers said I needed to talk to their boss. This further infuriated me because their boss was just going to ask for more money and then put it in his pocket. At this point, there was only one way to prove to them that I am a local Indian. I shouted at the ticket takers “No!” Turned around to my family – including Nana and Nani – and calmly instructed them just to start walking. We then proceeded to march past the ticket takers into the complex to the amazement of my in-laws. What were the ticket takers going to do? Run after us? My mother in-laws response was “India is an experience,” which was the first of many (and many and many) times this phrase would be repeated over the next week.
Day 2 – Delhi
We started our second day at the Swaminarayan Akshardham which is a massive Hindu temple complex built in 2005. It gives you a glimpse into what the historical temples and ruins might have looked like when they were originally built. While interesting the complex is almost too perfect (there is even a proper large parking lot!) The complex feels a little bit like a DisneyWorld version of India.
After leaving the Swaminarayan Akshardham, we visit the Raj Gaht, the memorial to Gandhi. The memorial is nice, but there is not much there. Gandhi was cremated so it is not like he is buried there. There is no museum honoring his life (as there is at the house he was assassinated at where we visited later in the day.) There is just a square stone monument. Hence, we paid our respects and then left after a few minutes to go the Red Fort.
We were not sure if we were going to get into the Red Fort as it was the middle of the day and we had heard you needed to be there early in the morning to avoid a long queue. Sure enough there was a huge line – at least a half a kilometer long – when we arrived. We were about to turn around and leave when Laura went to the front of the line to ask the ticket taker if there were any other shorter options. He came out of his post and told us for 50 rupees we would get the VIP treatment and skip the queue. He then showed us to the ticket counter to buy our tickets (at the local rate of course) and when I returned I placed a 50 rupee note on top of the tickets and he happily whisked us past the queue and into the fort. Sometimes, India is really cool or as my mother in-law says “an experience.”
Our last tourist stop of the day was the best one. The Birla House is the house where Gandhi spend the last 144 days of his life. It has been turned into a free museum and, in my opinion, is the highlight of any trip to Delhi. There is a treasure trove of information on Gandhi’s life and last days. You can follow his steps on his last walk to his daily prayer spot in front of which he was gunned down. There are tons of historical photos and a series of dioramas depicting Gandhi’s life. There was even a brand new interactive exhibit that we had to pull the kids out of after spending over an hour there – a real turnabout given that most places we visit the kids are complaining to us that they are bored after only 15 minutes. We learned a lot more about Gandhi than our prior education provided from a couple paragraphs in a history book. Now I want to watch the Gandhi movie from 80’s.
My mother-in-law had been in India for 48 hours and had not done any shopping yet. As such she was s,tarting to have panic attacks. Thus, we headed to a huge Indian handicrafts and cottage industry store. It was recommended by a friend for its fixed and fair prices. It turned out to be a great store. Laura and Nani were disappointed to only have an hour to spend here (even so they spent plenty) as they could have shopped for many more hours here. The good news was that there was plenty more shopping to come.
At this point, we were starving as we had been sightseeing and shopping all day. Luckily, we were close to one of Delhi’s great restaurants, The Lodi, which is set within a lush outdoor garden and serves tasty Mediterranean food. A great way to end our day in Delhi.
Day 3 – Agra and the Taj Mahal
We woke up early on the 3rd day of our trip to head to Agra and the Taj Mahal – the focal point of our vacation and the place we have been looking forward to visiting most since we decided to move to India. The roads from Delhi to Agra were better than we expected, and since we left by 8:00am we were able to arrive in Agra by 1:30pm – enough time to have lunch and then head to the Taj!
We finished lunch and head to the Taj Mahal at 3:00pm which should have given us plenty of time to see the Taj before it closed – the sunset at the Taj Mahal is supposed to be spectacular and we were anxious to see it.
While the Taj Mahal is without a doubt the most famous structure in India many Americans, including my in-laws, do not know or understand its history or purpose. Having lived abroad for so many years, I realize now how self centered the U.S. can be. The strength of our county – its sheer size and scale – can also be a weakness as it is hard to see and understand what lies beyond our borders. Thus, while most Americans could probably recognize the Taj Mahal as one of the ancient wonders of the world, they probably could not tell you why or what the building was built for. The Taj Mahal is basically the world’s biggest and most beautiful tombstone. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan over a period of 20 years finally being completed in 1653. The emperor built the tomb in memory of his third wife, Mumtz Mahal. The story is that Mumtz Mahal died during childbirth of their 14th child. On her deathbed she made her husband promise not to remarry (not that big of a deal given he had two other wives already) and build the richest mausoleum over her grave.
The Taj Mahal is certainly amazing. It is an incredible example of Muslim architecture combining Persian, Turkish and Indian design elements. The complex as well as all of the structures are perfectly symmetrical. The mausoleum is entirely constructed of white marble with intricate carvings and inlays. It is really spectacular. However as a big tombstone, most of the beauty lies in the external design, decorations and surrounding gardens. The inside of the Taj Mahal is quite small with just a few rooms containing the graves of the emperor and his bride.
Of course our visit to the Taj could not happen without any drama. When we got into our minibus we told our driver that we want to see the Taj Mahal during sunset. In retrospect, our driver was probably trying to be very helpful. He knew the history and background of the Taj. He thought the best place to view the Taj Mahal during sunset was across the river from the Taj Mahal. This location was originally intended to be the site of a second version of the Taj Mahal in black marble as the grave site for the emperor. However, he died before construction started and had to be buried next to his wife. There is now a small garden here with a great view of the backside of the Taj Mahal. Our driver was trying to please us by taking us here as it is a good location to view the Taj at sunset; it is much cheaper to get into (100 rupees vs. 700 rupees a person); and the Taj Mahal complex typically closes around 7:00pm – right at sunset anyway. The problem was that our driver did not speak as much English as we had initially believed resulting in a misunderstanding on where we wanted to go. This became evident when entered the park expecting to walk into the Taj Mahal and saw a river standing between us and it. We became very upset and frantic as we had to get to the Taj before it closed. It was now after 5pm and we were concerned if we would have enough time to see the Taj. On the way, our driver (who was very apologetic and felt horrible) picked up our guide who promised us that we would have enough time to see the entire Taj Mahal – which we did by the skin of our teeth as the guards were blowing their whistles and kicking us out.
Laura and I pride ourselves on being expert travellers. As such, we tend to look down on large tour groups (though there a few occasions in which we saw a group of elderly tourists that we want to dump the in-laws into) and gimmicky, tourist photos – such as the one where the person looks like they are holding the Taj Mahal. Well as soon as we walked into the Taj Mahal we were approached by a man with a professional-looking Canon digital camera around his neck offering to be our personal photographer during our tour of the Taj Mahal – only 100 rupees a photo. ‘What the heck?” we thought. We ended up taking every goofy Taj Mahal photo and loved every minute of it. We also pride ourselves on being savvy international shoppers with Laura capable of obtaining local prices through her cutthroat negotiating tactics. Here again we ended up like every other tourist. We liked the pictures so much that we purchased 4”x6” prints of all 35 that were taken. In addition, we received a CD with all the digital images and 5 stock photos of the Taj Mahal. For all this we paid 3,500 rupees (about $70.) Far from our best negotiation since the price was always 100 rupees a photo (which is why the photographer took so many photos.) The only thing we were able to negotiate was that we were only paying for 35 photos as the other 5 were just stock photos. It is ok though as the photos are a lot of fun and once in a lifetime. So it the end is was worth it.
In attempt to surprise my in-laws and make our visit to Agra even more special, I had informed the hotel ahead of time that it was their anniversary so that the hotel would do something special for them. Technically it is not their wedding anniversary, but I was not specific and just said it was an “anniversary” which it probably was an anniversary of something (hence forward it will be the anniversary of their visit to the Taj Mahal.) I should have anticipated that my in-laws would be able to turn this into a debacle. When we arrived at the hotel, the manager congratulated Nani on her anniversary. Instead of just saying thank you, Nani said “Oh. It is not our anniversary!” Luckily, the manager did not follow along. The hotel still had a cake in the room for Nana and Nani and surprised them with a bouquet of flowers that evening as we had drinks in the lounge. Nani still believes that she received the gift of flowers because she bonded with the manager – not because the hotel believed it was her anniversary.
Day 4 – Agra. ATVs, Fort, Baby Taj and Marble shopping
The next day we had a leisurely morning at the hotel. The resort features a few recreational activities including an ATV track. We had all been looking forward to this and spent an hour in the morning cruising around the ATV course. It was not a large course, maybe a couple hundred meters at best snaking through the back corner of the hotel property. The ATVs were a lot of fun, although we could probably have the same amount of thrills riding my brother-in-law’s John Deere at full speed over the hills in his backyard.
When we were finished tooling around on the ATVs we headed out for some sightseeing and shopping. Our first destination was the Agra Fort. The walled city dates back to the 1500’s. Akbar the Great made it his capital in 1558. At that time, Akbar rebuilt the fort with red sandstone from Rajasthan. When Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal, became emperor he added the white marble buildings that are still stand there today. In later years, Shah Jahan was imprisoned at the fort by his son, Aurangzeb. There are rumors that Shah Jahan died in a tower with a view of the Taj Mahal.
Next we visited the the mausoleum of Mirza Ghiyas Beg which is often referred to as the “Baby Taj.” It was built between 1622 and 1628 and was the model for the design of the Taj Mahal. Beg was the grandfather of Mumtz Mahal, the wife of emperor Shah Jahan and who the Taj Mahal was built as a memorial to.
After seeing so much beautiful marble work at the Taj, Agra Fort and Baby Taj we had to go shopping at the local Agra marble shops. Laura and I have always wanted a stone top kitchen table (they look good and are easy to maintain with the kids) and quickly fell in love with the gorgeous marble inlaid table tops we saw at all the shops. Unfortunately, the prices were such that we could not justify such an extravagant purchase. Finally, at the last shop of the day we found our table. Laura then pulled off a masterful negotiation, getting it down to one quarter of the prices we had seen at all the other shops. The deal was so good that the shop owner did not want our driver to find out the price as the rumor of our deal would quickly spread and the shop owner will be forced to give everyone similar pricing. Thus, he asked us to not mention to our driver that we purchased a table and even had us do a little acting out in front of the shop in which I asked the shop owner if he could lower his price anymore with the shop owner declining. I did not mind a little performance and we are super excited to have our new table.
Not to be left out, Nani bought a pretty marble frame to hold her picture from the Taj Mahal. This way she will always become vaklempt every time she looks as her picture at the Taj in her marble frame from Agra.
Day 5 – Aman-i-Khas
To be continued . . .
Stay tuned for Part 2 . . . including Tiger Hunting, Elephant rides and more mother-in-law mayhem.
Apparently, my father-in-law feels left out of my last post. Thus, here are some answers to a few of the questions I am sure he will be asking during his visit to India.
No. You can not have ice in your Diet Coke – unless you want to spend all night on the throne.
You can ask our cook to make that recipe. I am just not sure if she will be able to get all the proper ingredients. She will probably make you fried plantains if you ask nicely. Whether or not your wife will let you eat them is another story.
Yes. You have to get out of the car and come into the store.
You can not use the street as a public bathroom. While many people do, you can wait until we get home.
Yes, I know we have a maid, however, she should not be subjected to picking your dirty underwear off the floor. If we were Apple, there would be protesters outside our door over the treatment of our employees.
What is that smell. It is India. It is a mixture of coal from the power plants, burning refuse, BO and manure. Get used to it.
I understand that you just gave the waiter detailed instructions on how to prepare your meal. Yup, he may have looked like he shook his head yes – but it was actually a head bobble. You are not getting what you asked for, just eat what you get and be happy.
Those are shards of glass embedded in that concrete wall. It is much cheaper and more effective than barbed wire.
Please stop asking why? It just is. There is no logic.
My in-laws are coming to India this week which should be quite interesting. Avoiding an international incident will be considered a successful visit. I will be taking bets on the date they will deported by. I apologize to all the Indians that they will offend now. They really do not know any better and can not help it.
This is all in jest of course (at least most of it.) However, I do know as a certain truth that my mother-in-law is in for quite a culture shock that will set off a litany of questions throughout her visit (they have already started.) As such, I thought I would try to answer most of those questions proactively. Here we go:
Yes, most India women you see on the streets wear Saris everyday – particularly the lower economic stratosphere – the maids, street sweepers, etc. Yes, they are always in a wide range of colors . . . and always immaculately clean. Do not ask me how. It is a miracle of modern India. I know, while the women all wear beautiful saris, the men wear western styled slacks and shirts from the Bee Gee’s surplus store.
The Skoda “Laura” is a real car model name. It is very cute that it bears the same name as your daughter. I think it would be sweet if you bought her one to bring back to the states.
No. Sony does not run a line of buses in Hyderabad. Yes that restaurant is called Olive Garden but it is in no way resembles the place you are thinking of. In fact, they probably do not even have any olives in the entire eatery. Foreign brands and names carry a certain cache’ in India. Thus many shops and businesses use or “borrow” foreign brands. Since my father-in-law is a lawyer maybe he could start a practice going after the likes Ikea furniture and the Olive Garden in India. In addition, there are also foreign brand names that are applied randomly across a wide favorite of goods and services. My favorite is Atari Aluminum. Then there are the names that are just western sounding – such as Indiana Hills Restaurant – which is an odd choice as Indiana is as flat as a pancake (which I suspect they do not serve in this establishment.)
Yes, the landscapers cut all the lawns with hand shears.
Those buildings of concrete and rebar that you see throughout the city have been “under construction” for ever. How do I know? Notice the trees growing through the building.
Oh yes, everyone is staring at you. They have probably never seen a Caucasian women . . . especially such a mature one with her “natural” red hair still in tact. Uh huh. They would like to take a picture with you. I have no idea what they will do with the picture. I guess they will show it to their friends as you would show pictures of the giraffe you saw at the zoo.
Calm down. Why are you screaming? That guy on the side of the street is just urinating. Oh. You saw his junk. You will develop the super power of augmented reality in a few weeks giving you the ability to block this out of your field of vision.
The amazing chalk patterns on the driveways in front of the houses. That is called rangoli. Sometimes the designs are filled in with colored salts or flowers. It is all drawn freehand by the maids typically. It is incredible.
Those two guys are are throwing that wire onto the power lines to scrounge a little juice for their TV. You can see the satellite dishes on the roofs of the makeshift tin homes.
The horns are constantly used. They are just signals to tell the other drivers that they are here.
Yes. We get the same singing spam call everyday. I wish I knew what the song said and how to program the iPhone to block a number.
Family of four on a motorcycle. That is nothing. We have seen over 6 including a baby carriage.
The motorcycle rickshaws are the most common form of transportation after the buses. They are called 3 Wheelers or Autos. I have no idea why they are called Autos. They are clearly a different specie that an automobile. I also do not know how they can hold more people than an Chevy Suburban.
Our driver speaks 6 of languages. He speaks English, Hindi, Telegu, Tamil, Urdu and even another I can not remember. As someone who struggles with foreign languages, I am thoroughly impressed. I am equally impressed that are non-English speaking housekeeper has picked up a fair amount of English in just two months with us.
I know the picture in the paper looks beautiful. I know it says the “Best” xyz in India. However, apparently there are no laws on truth in advertising as the reality is typically much different than the pictures.
The cows have full freedom to roam of the entire city and country. Yes, those cows are eating the refuse on the side of the road. I did not know cows would eat litter either. I agree. There is no reason to go to another zoo again as we can see cows, steer, sheep, dogs, cats, wild boar, peacocks and camels by just walking outside the neighborhood.
We do not have a mailbox. Yes, none of the houses have a mailbox. I have actually never seen a mailbox in India. I do not even know where a post office is. We do not receive any mail. All of our bills (Satellite TV, Internet, Phones) are prepaid. We can top them up at almost any little shop. Our utilities come from the neighborhood association and that bill is hand delivered to the front door once a month. Party and wedding invitations are usually hand delivered as well. Anything important, such as my bank statements, are sent to the office.
I know you told the waiter not too make it spicy. There is no such thing. It is not possible to make Indian food – particularly Hyderabadi and South Indian food – not spicy. Your food will be spicy . . . and not the kind of spicy that makes your mouth feel hot for a few minutes. This spicy will make your stomach feel physically hot (raising the temperature down there at least a few degrees if not more) for hours. And then there is tomorrow morning. Enjoy.
Oh that is not dust. It is a fine coating of dirt/sand. Even with all the windows and doors closed this “dust” covers everything as there are no proper seals. This is why a maid is not a luxury. If we did not have someone to dust and mop the floors everyday our living room would be a beach.
Those carts with vegetables and fruits are on almost every street corner. Yes, the vegetables are always stacked in perfect pyramids and are always clean and shiny. The merchants take great pride in their product. This is one aspect in which India bests the U.S. The fruits and vegetables are very inexpensive here and much cheaper than processed and packaged foods like chips and crackers – the exact opposite of the U.S. and we wonder why we have so many health problems.
Sorry to hear that you were woken up so early this morning. Those chants you heard were the calls to prayer from the mosque’s in the area. Luckily they are actually pretty far away or it would have been much louder.
The Chai tea is a milk based tea using masala tea. It is good, but a little sweet. You should try it – even Laura has.
Service is important. Even though we are just at Pizza Hut let them serve you each slice of pizza. This is just like how are driver runs around to open your door and take your bags in and out of their car. It is their job and they take great pride in doing it.
Yup. That exclusive Sari and diamond shop is right next to an empty lot that is being used as a local landfill. All the shops are this way. High end stores such as Tommy Hilfiger and Armani are next to building that appear that they may fall down at any moment. You are right there is no parking as well. I guess if you are wealthy enough to shop at these stores you have enough money to have a driver who can circle the area and find a place to wait. That is a real Mercedes and Porsche dealership. There are many luxury cars on the roads such as BMWs, Land Rover, Mercedes, Jaguar and Porsche. I do not know how one gets insurance for these cars or how they stay maintained – our Toyota SUV is getting beat to hell on the roads of India between the constant dings, pot holes (the roads are actually one big pothole) and occasional moped bouncing of our bumper.
I am sure that there are many more questions that I have not anticipated. Those answers as well as the misadventures of my in-laws visit to India should make for a fun future blog post.
We have become very active in the Hyderabad Hash Harriers group during our time in India. The Hash runs and walks are usually the highlight of our weekends. I have discussed the Hash Harriers in an earlier post but if you want to learn more here is a link to the World Hash Harriers page http://www.gthhh.com/.
This past weekend was particularly special as we participated in the annual National India Hash event in Hampi – the Nash Hash. During the 3 day weekend we travelled by overnight sleeper train, ran and hiked over 30 kilometers (Laura and kids walked and hiked over 15 kilometers), drank a little beer (a lot less than many of the other hashers), visited ancient ruins, and partied with old and new friends.
Before we went on the Nash Hash trip we wanted to get our Hash names. In order to be named, you have to lead a Hash run/walk. The last Sunday available to lead a Hash prior to the Nash Hash was New Year’s Day. So, we led the Hyderabad Hasher on our normal running and biking route on the trails behind our house (really dirt roads of a High Court Colony neighborhood that has never been finished and who knows if it ever will. We like it this way anyway.)
At the end of every Hash is a ceremony called “The Circle.” During this ceremony all the Hashers get in a circle and the Hares (or the leaders for that Hash) are hazed. Others get similar treatment including any first time Hashers, visitors from other locations . . . and anyone wearing new sneaker. You should never wear new sneakers to a Hash. If you dare you may be forced to drink a beer out of them!
First time Hares are “baptized” with beer and given a Hash name by the Circle – usually based on various personal traits such as hobbies, interests, career, appearance etc. combined with a sexual innuendo. We were fortunate to get some fairly PG and appropriate names.
Aidan’s Hash name is Trickster which he came up himself because he likes to do tricks on his scooter and bike.
Abigail’s name is Blah Blah Blah because she talks constantly including during the Hash walks.
Benjamin’s name is Bart Simpson because many of the Hasher thought they looked alike. This is definitely the weakest name.
Laura’s name is Likes it Outdoors because her favorite activities are all outdoor such as tennis, soccer, volleyball, biking and walking.
Finally Phil’s name is Free Refill which is self explanatory. I am not a big drinker so there is only one other explanation.
After the naming ceremony we were doused with beer while the following song was sung.
Here’s to the hares
They’re true blue
They are hashers through and through
They are pisspots
So they say
But they’ll never get to Heaven cause they
Went the other way
Drink it down down down down
Having completed our final initiation into the Hash Harriers we were ready to attend our first Nash Hash!
The Nash Hash was held in Hampi which is 380 kilometers southwest of Hyderabad. Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most famous and beautiful historical sites in the South India. The ruins of the palaces, villages and temples dating from the 14th century Vijayanagara Empire are scattered over around 26 square kilometer amidst giant boulders and lush vegetation along the banks of the river Tungabhadra. Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire and at its peak had a population of over 500,000 citizens (there are now only a few thousand residents of Hampi.)
The Vijayanagara Empire stretched over at least 3 states of India (meaning bigger than most Western European countries) and was famous for the development of Indian culture – music, art and literature; the prime aim of the rulers was caring for the people and their welfare. The empire thrived until it was destroyed completely by Moghul invaders who reduced the cities to ruins and massacred the people of Hampi.
We were fortunate that the Nash Hash was organized by the Hyderabad Hash Harriers this year. The organizers, they called themselves the Miscommunication team, did an incredible job. It was better than a cruise ship with everything planned from transportation, lodging, food, tours, parties and of course the Hashes.
The Overnight Train to Hampi
Our trip started on Thursday night with a 9pm train arriving at 6:30am on Friday morning in Hospet (which is next to Hampi and where our hotel was located.) Since so many Hashers from Hyderabad where attending the Nash Hash, the organizers reserved an entire “bogie” – an AC 3-tier train car – for 64 of us.
While there is much in India that I want to experience, riding a train was never one of them. However, with such a large group going we felt this was the way to do it. It certainly was an experience, although, I think once is enough.
The Indian railway system is the third largest in the world. Indian Railways is run by the government and is the world’s second largest employer with more than 1.36 million employees. It has a reputation of being fairly efficient which is understandable as it has enough employees that if only half of them are actually working it is probably good enough.
One of my biggest concerns about riding an Indian train was not the train itself but rather the chaos of the train station. We arrived at the train station slightly early and were surprised by how picturesque the building was.
Since we were early and still waiting for the rest of our party, I headed in to check out the station. It was not too bad. I was expecting major crowds and anarchy but it seemed fairly orderly allaying some of my fears.
Once everyone arrived we headed down to the platform to wait for our train.The platform got more and more crowded until the train came. I wish I had my iPhone out to video the ensuing scene. As the train pulled in a sea of young Indian men swarmed and accosted the 2nd class cars in order to squeeze onto them. Thankfully, we had reserved an entire car for our group so we were able to avoid the mêlée.
The bogie was arranged in 8 compartments although the only thing separating them was a curtain that can be pulled across the aisle. Each compartment was about 10 x 4 feet and held 8 passengers with three tiers of bunks – upper, middle and lower – arranged in bays of six on one side of the aisle, and bays of two (upper and lower) along the window on the other side of the aisle.
The accommodations were not much. They were a little tight but manageable – especially since we had the entire car and shared our compartment with one of our friends and her two boys. I could not imagine if we were sharing with people we did not know. The train service provided sheets, pillows and blankets and we were all able to get a decent night sleep. We only saw and killed a few roaches which was the worst part of the train and kept on giving me nightmares.
Friday and Hash Run One
We arrived in Hospet and 6:30am and had a short 5 minute bus ride to the hotel (we probably could have walked.) The hotel was quite nice. Not a 5 star hotel but fairly new, clean and modern. We checked in, registered and received all sorts of swag: running shirts, hats, fanny packs, socks, horns, mugs and more.
One of the things we love about the Hyderabad Hash Harriers is the eclectic mix of cultures represented with expats from all over the globe mixed with locals from Hyderabad. The Nash Hash had an even greater mash-up with Hashers from all over India but also the UK, Australia, Ghana, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Saturday and Sunday had similar itineraries: breakfast, a tour of the heritage sites, lunch, Hash run and dinner. After breakfast we went on a guided tour of Hampi. Our first stop was the Vittala temple and the Stone Chariot. This temple was built in the 15th century to honor the god Vishnu. The temple and Stone Chariot are the most famous attraction in Hampi. There was an entrance fee to the temple and just like in Rajasthan there was a price for Indians (10 rupees) and Foreigners (250 rupees.) Just like in Rajasthan I asked for a local ticket. The guy at the ticket booth fought me even though I had all the proper documentation to show that I was a resident of India. However, I had a bus full of Indian Hashers that came to my rescue and argued with the ticket booth operator in various Indian dialects. They told me to “just go in” and we will take care of it – which they did. Thus, we again were able successful in paying the Indian rate.
We then visited the Queen’s Bath, Lotus Mahal and the Elephant stables before heading back to the hotel for lunch.
The first Hash run was a terrific long run around a large lake and finished at a very cool private lake house of a friend of one of the Nash Hash organizers.
Saturday and Hash Run Two
On Saturday, we went back to the ruins in Hampi and visited a collection of temples located on top of a big stone rock which reminded us of Stone Mountain in Georgia.
We walked up and over the hill into the Virupaksha Temple that then leads to the Hampi Bazaar. The ancient bazaar was located in these stone “kiosks” along the avenue. Many local residents and shopkeeper still live and run businesses out of these ancient ruins. The Indian government is attempting to relocate them out of Hampi so they can completely restore the ruins. Based on my experience with Indian politics and all its bureaucracy I would be very surprised if the government will ever be able to clear the ruins of its inhabitants.
The second run was truly spectacular as we ran through the Hampi ruins and climbed to a temple on the top of a mountain overlooking the bazaar.
After descending from the mountain and temple, we ran to the banks of the Tungabhadra River.
At the circle after the run, they brought out slabs of ice to use in a hazing ritual in which they made the Hares (leaders of the run) and other random hashers (who are called out for various offenses such as running in jeans) to sit on the ice. Abigail desperately wanted to sit on the ice and as luck has it all the horrors (or children) were called onto the ice.
That evening there was a Hash dinner and party. The party featured skits and the Miss Nash Hash contest – guys in drag competing for the title. It was sophomoric and a bit vulgar at times but fun. It was reminiscent of a Greek or youth group event. I guess if you miss out on that during your younger days you could find it fun as an adult. The whole weekend had a little bit of this youth group retreat feel – including all the drinking.
Speaking of the drinking. Kingfisher donated all the beer. There was one case of beer for every attendee – 150 cases! Laura and the kids did not drink any and I had only 4 beers all weekend as pounding beers in the middle of the day after a run will just make me sleepy. While we did not drink our fair share there were plenty of other Hasher who made up for us. I heard them singing in the pool at 2am. The entire Hash group is really great. However, there is a little bit of a divide between the locals and the expats. As a generalization, the expats such as us enjoy the running and socializing but not the heavy drinking and smoking (the amount of smoking is amazing and surprising given that it is a running and walking group.) Many of the local Asians however (not just the Indians but the local Asian Hashers as well) enjoy the heavy drinking and smoking. It is as if they have not had the opportunity to get this out of their system during their younger and university days – which is probably true as the local university experience is quite different than it is in the US or Europe.
Sunday and the final Hash Run Three
We had our final Hash run on Sunday morning. It was a nice flat run along a canal next to the hotel. It was a working canal with people using it for clothes washing, bathing and irrigation of agricultural fields. During the run we passed yak pulled carts and many children who were so excited by the site of all of us running that they would try and chase us.
Here is a video of the laundry service and the canal:
Doing laundry does not seem so bad compared to this.
We headed back onto the train that evening with a boxed dinner from the hotel. We were all exhausted from the weekend and slept fairly well even after killing a half a dozen roaches prior to bedtime. I did freak out a bit when I jumped up at 2am after I thought I heard something scurrying around. Somehow, I was able to fall back asleep, although, only for an hour at a time to make sure nothing was crawling on me.
The weekend was well planned and packed with great activities. The train was an (once in a lifetime) experience and we were glad we did it. It was fun to ride the train with all of our friends and taking overnight trains allowed us to have 3 full days with enough rest to enjoy all of them. Attempting an Indian train on our own would be quite daunting though – so I think we will stop while we are ahead and save the good memories.
Over the Christmas break, we took a 10 day road trip through Rajasthan in Northern India. Rajasthan is the least populated state in all of India and is known for its Palaces, Temples and handicrafts – particularly linens such as blankets and tablecloths. This was our first significant excursion on the highways and roads in India. We were pleasantly surprised by the conditions and light traffic on many of the roadways. Once we got outside the major cities we were able to travel along fairly good highways through open stretches of farm land and wilderness. That was a shocker.
The trip began with a purely Indian culture experience. Given the length of the trip and the amount of time to be spent on the road, all of the kids packed a bag with small toys and games. Aidan packed a rubber snake and I made the mistake of letting him wear it around his neck as we went through airport security. The Army guards confiscated the snake because was dangerous to take on the plane. Aidan could throw it on the ground and incite a panic as it could be mistaken as a real snake. Aidan was extremely upset and we tried to convince the guards to let us put it in our bags to no avail. They really showed no sympathies for the kid. Laura finally convinced the guards to hold the snake in the security office and give us a ticket to pick it up later. Alas, we arrived too late upon our return to Hyderabad and the security office was closed. I am sure the snake made a nice Christmas gift to one of the guards’ children.
Day 1 – Jaipur
Our trip started in Jaipur – the Pink City. It is called this because many of the buildings, particularly in the old city, are painted pink. The city was painted this color to welcome Prince Albert and Queen Elizabeth II in 1876. The story is that the Maharaja asked the Prince what his favorite color was and then painted the city to match.
We stayed at the Le Meridien hotel using Starwood points that we earned after spending a month at the Westin when we moved to Hyderabad. It was our first time staying at a Starwood property after reaching Platinum status and it was pretty sweet. The General Manager of the hotel met us when we arrived at the hotel and had us quickly checked in and escorted to our suite – we were upgraded to one of the nicest suites we have ever stayed in. The suite was brand new with marble, wood, ornate furniture and a massive bathroom (actually there were two bathrooms with a half bathroom off the foyer.)
After settling into our suite, we went sightseeing. We started at the Jantar Mantar or Observatory. This initially sounded boring to me but was extremely impressive and interesting. The Observatory is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments that were built by one of the Maharaja’s in the 1700’s. The instruments were used to tracking celestial bodies as well as time and dates – with extreme precision. The largest sun dial in the world is located here.
The Observatory was laid out as a large, well maintained park-like space with the instruments dotting the park as if it was a beautiful sculpture garden – except each of the sculptures performed a certain astronomical function.
There are two entry prices to all the heritage sites such as the palaces, forts and the Observatory – one for Indians and one for foreigners. The price difference is significant at upwards of ten times. The determination of how is Indian is almost discriminatory – it is just the color of your skin. Since we are Indian residents and are one of the less than 10% of the population that pay taxes, I felt I have a just as much if not more of a right to pay the Indian rates. As a result, I brought my PAN card (tax ID card) and copies of our residential registration documents to prove that we are Indian. Incredibly, I was successful at every attraction. The big test will be when we visit the Taj Mahal in February. I am up for the challenge.
Next to the Observatory is the City Palace which was the residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur. The palace was also built in the 1700’s and portions of it are still used as a residence for the current royal family. The palace had seen better days, but as we soon saw in all the palaces, forts and temples we subsequently visited, the details, grandeur and scale of these buildings were amazing. The palace must have been spectacular after it was completed in the 1732. It was particularly impressive to see these structures still standing after hundreds of years. The current construction in India would be lucky to last 10 years. Of course, the most interesting thing to the kids was the Maharaja who lived in the palace that was over 500 pounds!
We finished our day with a visit to a linen and rug shop. They had a good gimmick of luring in tourist with demonstrations of how block printing and woven rugs are made by hand. The tactic worked. It was fun, but we avoided buy anything.
Day 2 – Elephant ride to the Amber Fort
We went to the Amber Fort the next morning to ride the Elephants up the mountain to the Fort. The Elephants are only available until 11am so we arrived first thing in the morning to ensure we were able to ride them. It was definitely a highlight of our trip and worth waking up a little early for. The Amber Fort (sometimes referred to as the Amer Fort or Amer Palace) overlooks a small lake and the mountains. It was built for the Maharaja of Jaipur in the 16th century.
While living in India, Aidan has developed a love of Indian clothes. Aidan is very artistic and likes to dress sharply, so I guess it is no surprise that he likes traditional Indian formal wear. During our visit to the Fort he found a vendor selling turbans and had to have one. He did a good job negotiating the price down to 200 rupees (less than $4.) The negotiation also led to my favorite conversation in India.
The vendor asked Aidan “where do you live?” Aidan responded “Hyderabad.” The vendor then says “No. Where were you born?” Then Aidan says “Singapore.” Conversation is over as the vendor is dumbfounded and does not know what to ask next!
After visiting the Fort, we went to a temple known as the Monkey Temple that is over run with monkeys. There were certainly more monkeys than people at the temple.
Day 3 – Rohit Garh Wilderness Camp
On our 3rd day in Rajasthan we headed out on our first major portion of the road trip. We drove from Jaipur to a small town called Rohit which is about 20 km from Jodhpur. Our destination was the Rohit Garh Wilderness Camp where we would be staying in one of 6 tents. I was very excited about this leg of the trip as the tents seemed very cool and Madonna had spent New Year’s Eve here in 2009 with Guy Ritchie.
The ride to Rohit was supposed to take 6 to 7 hours. So we left first thing in the morning. I woke up with some ominous rumbling in my tummy. I would soon realize that I should not have eaten the mint chutney at dinner the previous day.
I will skip the gory details (I will save it for my brother-in-laws this summer over a few beers as they share my potty humor – moreover enough time would have passed for me to be able thoroughly laugh at this, hopefully, once in a lifetime experience.) The 7 hour car ride became a painful test of wills harder than any marathon I had ever run as I tried avoiding having a Bridesmaids like moment. We stopped once during the trip at an Indian truck-stop but the bathroom was not adequate (no toilet paper) and I sloshed on.
When we finally made it to the tents, I got out of the car, looked at the General Manager and just shouted “show me to my tent!” I think he immediately understood what was going on from the fear in my eyes and whisked me to our tent. I spent the next two hours in what I would describe as the gastrointestinal version of withdrawal. I was doubled over in pain, feverish and unable to move except for quick sprints to the bathroom. In all my travels, including now living 6 months in India, I have never been so sick. I have never been through drug detox but this is how I would imagine it would feel like. I even thought I was hallucinating at one point when I saw a small bird flying in the tent. Turns out that was real though and the General Manager came in and quickly scooped up the bird.
The staff was great. They frequently checked on my status. However, they kept on asking if I wanted something to eat. . . You should never ask this question of someone suffering with this condition.
Finally, my good friend Cipro kicked in and I started to emerge from the bowels of my misery. I did miss a wonderful dinner though.
The next morning was much better and I was finally able to enjoy the camp. The atmosphere was quiet regal. We felt like British royalty on safari – so much so that Laura even drank hot tea with breakfast (for those of you who know Laura well would know that she does not drink any hot liquids other than hot chocolate.)
It was a cool but clear morning. The temperature got down into the 50’s but we were fairly toasty in the tent with lots of locally made quilts and the queen bed even had a heated mattress pad to Laura’s delight.
Day 4 – Village Tour and Ranakpur Temple
In the morning, I finally felt refreshed and ready to eat. After breakfast we went on the resort’s signature tour – the Village Safari. We boarded a jeep and with our tour guide to visit two local villages.
The first village we visited was of the Bishnois. The Bishnois are considered the “premier ecologists of the world” who have protected nature for more than 500 years – probably the first environmentalists. They have lived the same simple lifestyle for hundreds of years. Visiting their village was like walking back in time.
On our way to the 2nd village, we saw a sheep herder with his flock. Driving through the mostly barren semi-arid land, staying in a tent, visiting a 500 year old village and then seeing the sheep herder I had the thought “Is this how Moses lived in the Wilderness?” It did not seem like much has changed in this part of Rajasthan since biblical times.
We then stopped and saw some antelope.
The second village was of Brahmin farmers. Historically, Brahmins were priests in the Hindu caste system. In this remote part of Rajasthan they were also farmers. The village was much different than the Bishnois village. The buildings were also made out of a mud and cow dung based plaster, but painted in bright colors. The homes had multiple rooms with most of the structure around an open air center area – only the perimeter of the home had a roof. When we asked what happens during the monsoons, the response was most of the house gets wet and the plaster crumbles . . . then they rebuild it after the monsoons end.
Being priests the Brahmin live a pious lifestyle – no meat, no alcohol etc. However, they do have one vice – opium. When a visitor comes into a Brahmin village they hold an opium ceremony to welcome them and ease the pain from their journey. As part of the tour, we participated in this ceremony. The opium is heavily diluted with water and jaggery (unrefined sugar cane.) They filter the drink through a sleeve made of camel wool and then serve it from their hand to the visitor. We were allowed to drink it from our own hand. I turned it down as I was still recuperating from the previous night (and was not too excited about trying opium in any form or dilution.) Laura, however, took a small sip and while I thought we would be peeling her off the ceiling later she had no ill effects at all to the detriment of this blog and the story that we would have been able to have told.
We were hungry after the opium ceremony and went to the main Rohit Garh hotel property in Rohet for lunch. To my surprise, it was one of the most elegant lunches I have ever had. They set a table for us poolside and then, without ordering, just kept on bringing over dishes of tasty food for us – fish, chicken, spinach, potatoes, pasta, rice, dal, naan bread and more. The food was all prepared “European” style and was not spicy. It was easily the best meal we had in Rajasthan.
After a wonderful feast, we took a 2 hour ride to the Ranakpur Temple. Construction on the Jain temple started in 1437 and took over 20 years to complete. The entire temple is made out of marble. The intricacies of the marble work and carvings is astounding. It was the oldest and most impressive historical architecture we saw in Rajasthan.
From Ranakpur Temple we got back in the car for another 2 hours to Udaipur.
Udaipur is known as the City of Lakes. Lake Pichola, Fateh Sagar Lake (our hotel was situated on this lake), Udai Sagar and Swaroop Sagar are considered some of the most beautiful lakes in the region. They are beautiful, but like a lot of things in India only if you do not look too closely – and see the trash and decay – which is unfortunate. Despite this, Udaipur was named the Best City of the World in 2009 by Travel + Leisure. We were excited to visit the city.
Day 5 – Shopping in Udaipur on Christmas Day
On Christmas morning we woke up and decided to do what most Americans do on Christmas – go to the movies! We went to see an early morning show of Mission Impossible arriving just as it was starting. We rushed in only to realize that Tom Cruise was speaking in Hindi! Amazingly, the theater refunded our money after a short discussion on why they did not mention to us the movie was in Hindi and not English (we have since seen Mission Impossible in Hyderabad in English.)
Thus, we had to find a plan B which first started with visiting a collection of classic cars of at a local hotel. It sounds boring but it was really cool to see American, British and German classic cars, trucks and even a bus from the first half of the 20th century. How they imported these cars to India back then is beyond me. It was also remarkable that they have been able to maintain and restore them.
In the afternoon, we went shopping (it was Christmas after all) at the Shilpgram crafts fair. This is one of the largest arts and crafts fairs in India and is held in Udaipur over the last 10 days of each year. Artisans and craftspeople come from all over India to participate – there are over 500 vendors and stalls. The festival is mostly for the locals so you find real handicraft items such as cotton blankets, hand printed table cloths, worsted wool jackets, pottery, copper works, jewelry, paintings and more – at great deals once you have haggled. Laura had a blast and bought more in the next 3 days than she had in the entire 6 previous months we spent in India. She prided herself on her ability to successfully negotiate down to the “local” price. She became friendly with a couple of the merchants and is considering importing some of the items when we return to the states. The wool products (jackets, vests, slippers, rugs) alone would make a nice business. Get your orders in now.
There were multiple outdoor food court areas selling all sorts of Indian street food such as chat and even cotton candy. The food actually looked very good and like a lot of fun. If I was not just a few days removed from my stomach troubles I would have loved to try a few items.
There were performances throughout the day and shows every evening at the fair. The dance performance were quite bizarre. This video is of some sort of crazy zombie dance. There are also two guys in drag dancing with the zombies with takes it from bizarre to disturbing.
Crazy zombie dancing
The next video is a dance depicting a mighty warrior fighting with . . . a giant chicken?
Chicken Fight
We were considering staying for the evening shows but as the afternoon progressed it appeared that all of Udaipur was descending upon Shilpgram, So we ditched any plans of staying for the shows and headed back to the hotel. It took us over an hour to go the 2 kilometers to the hotel. Cars were parked everywhere. I saw one car that was blocked in on all four sides and so tight that they could not even open up any of the doors. I think it was a good call to skip the shows.
Day 6 – Another City Palace and more shopping on the streets of Udaipur
The next day we visited Udaipur’s City Palace. The James Bond film Octopussy was filmed throughout various sites in Udaipur. Some of the restaurants in the old town advertise continual showing of the movie while you eat. In the movie, Bond stays at City Palace and infiltrates Lake Palace, which is the floating palace home of Octopussy in the film. Lake Palace is located in the middle of the Lake Pichola and is now a luxury hotel run by Taj Hotels. We wanted to visit the hotel but only guests of the hotel are allowed in. We considered splurging and spending a night there. I thought it was $400 for the night, but then realized I missed a zero when I did the conversion from rupees. The rate was $4,000 a night for a standard room. So, we saw Lake Palace from the top of City Palace.
Along the road to City Palace is a small temple. We were told this was also used in the movie Octopussy but not sure how. We still need to watch the movie.
We went shopping in the old city area around City Palace after our visit. Of course amongst the purchases of jewelry and other artifacts was a small silver peacock.
Day 7 – Monsoon Palace and back to Shilpgram
On our last day in Udaipur we decided we were Palaced-out and were going to spend the afternoon back at Shilpgram to do some more shopping. This was the best shopping Laura had seen in India and wanted to take advantage of it once more before we left Udaipur.
We woke up earlier than expected and since the Shilpgram did not open till noon we took a detour to the top of a mountain and Monsoon Palace. The Palace was built here so that the Maharana could watch the monsoon clouds. It was also featured in Octopussy as the home of the movie’s villian, Kamal Khan. Bond is held captured here.
The detour turned out to be worth it. The palace is in pretty bad shape, but it is on a quiet hill overlooking the city. There was no one there in the morning and it was a peaceful way to start the day which is very rare in India.
Day 8 – Aidan’s B-Day and Bundi
Poor Aidan. He celebrated his 6th birthday while we were on holiday. Having a birthday at the end of December has meant that he has celebrated his birthday over vacations in spots such as Bali, DisneyWorld and now Rajasthan. However, he has only had one true birthday party last year in Atlanta. This year we arranged for the Sheraton to surprise him with a cake. So he started his day with birthday cake.
We then made our way to Bundi which is a very small town between Udaipur and Jaipur. The road to Bundi was the worst one we travelled on. For an hour before we arrived we bounced around the “bumpy road to Bundi” as it came to be known in the car.
The main attraction in Bundi is the Bundi Palace and Taragarh Fort overlooking the lake and town. There is also a summer palace (more of a guest house) called Sukh Mahal that Rudyard Kipling spent 2 nights. It is believed that the inspiration for Jungle Book came from this short stay in Bundi.
There are no 5 star resorts in Bundi so we stayed in a local Haveli which are former private mansion residences that have been converted into small heritage hotels. Our suite was comfortable enough for one night . . . just one night as the beds and furnishings were very hard. The food was a little too local for Laura though and did not settle with her. It was now her turn to get sick although she never was as bad as I was. Six months in India without issues and then Rajasthan does us in. Can’t wait to take my in-laws here in February. That should be fun.
Day 9 – Return to Jaipur
From Bundi we drove back to Jaipur for a relaxing afternoon and, of course, a little more shopping before we flew back to Hyderabad the next day.
Day 10 – Home to Hyderabad . . . Finally
India is a place of extremes. The most blatant example is the contrast between extreme poverty and extreme wealth. On our last day in Rajasthan we experienced the best and worst of India. Our flight was scheduled to take off at 2:55pm. On our way to the airport we found out that our flight was delayed 5 hours. We were not sure what to do. The first issue was the car and driver as he was going to Delhi for his next customer. The owner of the company allowed us to keep the car and driver until 6pm. He also said that if we needed a ride to the airport after 6pm that he would arrange for another driver to pick us up.
We were close to the airport so we decide to go there and check on the status of our flight. We wanted to make sure the flight was truly delayed and that it would not take off earlier while we were hanging around Jaipur – this happens. The airline was nice and told us that all flights from Delhi (where the plane was coming from) were delayed and there was no chance the flight was taking off before 8pm. We then wanted to see if we could check in our baggage. This is an issue as the rule is that once you enter the airport you can not leave. There are Army guards controlling the entrances into the airport. The airlines all have windows on the outside wall of the airport so you can handle bookings and questions such as we had without entering the airport. The airline said we could check the bags and then leave the airport. We went to the Army guard and asked him the same thing (behind him is a large sign stating that once you pass this point you can not leave the airport.) Amazingly, he said we could as long as we did not “check in.” We did not really understand what this meant but we pushed on into the airport. At the desk, the airline staff was exceedingly nice and checked our bags and printed our boarding passes. They then coordinated with the Army guard and as long as the airline held our boarding passes then we were allowed to leave the airport – which is what we did. Not sure why we could not leave the airport with our boarding passes but our luggage was checked-in and we left the airport.
With transportation and luggage taken care of we now had to figure out how to spend the next few hours. We knew we would eventually need to have dinner so we figured we would find a mall. The only mall was just a few stores along the bottom of an office complex. We did a little browsing and had an ice cream at McDonald’s. That took an hour, but then what? We noticed a park on the way to the mall and asked our driver to take us there. It turned out to be the first proper park we had seen in India. There was a playground, various courtyard areas and a musical fountain in the center. By the fountain, we saw some locals flying kites. As we were watching how high they could get these very basic cheap balsa wood and plastic kites they invited the kids to help out. They even gave the kids a kite when they left. This was an unexpected and wonderful treat.
After flying the kites, we found the playground area. It was also surprisingly nice and clean. We still knew we were in India though when Laura noticed a stray dog gnawing on a what seemed to be a bone. “Is that a skull?” she asked which it was. I could not bring myself to look too closely but I am pretty sure it was the skull of another dog. Lovely.
All good things must end. Dusk rolled in as it approached 6pm. The families started leaving and a lot of young men began filling the park. They were probably just here to hang out after work and maybe see the musical fountain, but a family of 5 Caucasians was entertainment in itself. We finally decided to leave when the staring became too unnerving.
The flight delay had been extended and we were now looking at a 10pm takeoff time. Our driver had to leave so now where do we go to kill 4 more hours. There was a Marriott hotel by the airport so we went there to have dinner and chill out.
The surprises continued at the Marriott. Laura was worried that the flight could be cancelled so she wanted to check if the Marriott had rooms available in case of such an emergency. The front desk manager was so concerned about us and the kids becoming tired before the flight that he gave us a room to use for a few hours until our flight left. Incredible! The hotel was gorgeous and the standard double room was very large and opulent. They had a deli and we ordered sandwiches (bagel sandwiches no less!) and had dinner and a movie in the room. At this point the flight had been delayed until after 11pm so Laura and the kids took a 2 hour nap. The tour company sent a driver to pick us up and we got on our flight home just prior to midnight. All of the luggage made it as well.
What could have been a horrible 10 hour delay turned out to be a wonderful afternoon and evening. Only in India!
![IMG_1994[5]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_19945.png "IMG_1994[5]")
![IMG_1996[8]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_19968.png "IMG_1996[8]")
![IMG_2024[3]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_20243.png "IMG_2024[3]")
![IMG_3130[17]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_313017.png "IMG_3130[17]")
![Phil and Abigail in their safari gear[3]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/phil-and-abigail-in-their-safari-gear3.png "Phil and Abigail in their safari gear[3]")
![IMG_3157[12]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_315712.png "IMG_3157[12]")
![IMGP0816[4]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/imgp08164.png "IMGP0816[4]")
![IMGP0770[3]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/imgp07703.png "IMGP0770[3]")
![IMGP0768[3]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/imgp07683.png "IMGP0768[3]")
![IMGP0763[6]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/imgp07636.png "IMGP0763[6]")
![IMG_3178[3]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_31783.png "IMG_3178[3]")
![IMGP0797[13]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/imgp079713.png "IMGP0797[13]")
![Laura making naan[4]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/laura-making-naan4.png "Laura making naan[4]")
![IMG_3197[2]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_31972.png "IMG_3197[2]")
![Naan cooking[11]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/naan-cooking11.png "Naan cooking[11]")
![IMG_3199[6]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_31996.png "IMG_3199[6]")
![Tiger tracks[9]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tiger-tracks9.png "Tiger tracks[9]")
![IMG_3240[5]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_32405.png "IMG_3240[5]")
![IMG_3283[3]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_32833.png "IMG_3283[3]")
![IMG_3259[5]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_32595.png "IMG_3259[5]")
![IMG_3303[13]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_330313.png "IMG_3303[13]")
![IMG_3315[2]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_33152.png "IMG_3315[2]")
![IMG_3319[4]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_33194.png "IMG_3319[4]")
![IMG_3329[6]](https://ventimigliasindia.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/img_33296.png "IMG_3329[6]")
ventimigliasindia 