Going to Agra

The train to Agra is a sleeper train. We had to be ready to take the car to the train station in Haridwar by 4am, so I got up at 3. In the station, I bought a little bottle of milk flavored with cardamom. We went into town in Rishikesh last night to stock up on cookies, etc to eat on the train. The train left at 6 and then we all settled down to sleep a little. Every so often a man comes through selling chai. He puts a tea bag in a 4 oz paper cup and fills it from a thermos with a very sweet mixture of milk and water. Only 10 rupees (20c) and delicious. Later many people came selling lunch. Christine and I ordered lunch from one man but then accidentally bought from another man before the first brought our order! So we ended up with way too much food.
We arrived in Agra at around 4 pm and took the car to our hotel. It's lovely - and has a Pizza Hut next to it. ;)
We will go to the Taj tomorrow (VERY EARLY) but today we went behind it and saw it at sunset. Then we went to a very nice restaurant that served MEAT and beer - two things that were unavailable in Rishikesh. No one seems to drink wine or coffee in India.
This hotel charges for WiFi but I will probably pay it and post this. Tomorrow evening we sleep in a sleeper train and the following two nights are in a tent so I will be incommunicado until at least Sunday.

Beatles' Ashram

Today we walked to the place where the Beatles studied transcendental meditation with the Maharishi. On the walk there, I took some photos of the cows in the street and a monkey eating a kit kat with her baby holding on to her. The ashram where the Beatles stayed is now closed. We paid the guard and he let us go in anyway. There are domed areas where the Beatles wrote their music. Lots of stuff is painted on the walls all over the place. It was very interesting. (Rishikesh in general looks like hippie heaven and there are lots of whites here dressed in Indian clothes and very serious about the rituals.).
Going to bed early tonight because we have to leave at 4:30 am tomorrow to get the train to Agra (site of the Taj Mahal). We'll spend one day in Agra. Then we take a sleeper train to Allahabad where we will be in a tent for two nights. So, unless there's Internet in my Agra hotel, this will be my last post for a few days.

Whitewater rafting on the Ganges

This morning we had breakfast at a little German cafe - coffee and banana porridge. Then we got in the jeep that took us to our whitewater rafting spot. The weather is lovely here in Rishikesh-sunny and in the 70's during the day. So the river was cool, but very nice. The water here is pristine - just down from the Himalayas. The river was pretty calm. There were only two spots of rapids and they were never very rough. We got very wet but there was never any danger of falling out of the raft. Gavin even jumped in the river and swam a little. The trip was about 40 minutes. Then we got out of the raft and walked up the hill to our hotel.
We are having fun looking at all the cows wandering the streets. They are just everywhere. Tonight when we were going down some stairs to a restaurant for dinner there was a cow on the steps! There are also street dogs. They enjoy lying around in the sun. People must feed them because they're not too skinny. There are also monkeys in the trees.

Rishikesh

We met our fourth person last night. His name is Neil and yesterday was his birthday. He's thirty. He's a very nice guy. I really like everyone in our group.
This morning we left the hotel at 5:30 to take the train to Rishikesh. The hotel here is really nice. We all have little balconies. We had lunch in the hotel and then had time to organize ourselves in our rooms. I fell fast asleep! They had to call me to wake me up at 4 so we could walk down into town. There are monkeys in the trees and cows everywhere. We saw a Hindu ceremony. It happens at sunset on the riverbank. Some boys who are training to be priests were chanting. There were many people on the steps - both Indians and whites. People bought little cones with flowers and an incense stick in them. They would put them in the river. Afterwards we went to dinner and came back to our hotel.

New friends

This morning I went to a huge Hindu temple. It's quite new and very beautiful. Then Jami joined me to go to the Gandi Museum and assassination site. It's an excellent museum.
My tour was supposed to meet at 2:00 so we did only a half-day touring. When I went to the lobby for the meeting, there were 2 others reading the G-Adventures announcement that the meeting would be at changed to 6. Gavin is British and just finished college. Christine is Norwegian and works for Save The Children. She has friend who will be joining us in Agra. That leaves one other guy. We know he's British but haven't met him yet. Since the meeting was postponed, we took the opportunity to go see Humayyan's tomb. It was impressive. We took the metro (very nice and modern, but quite crowded. Then we took a three-wheeled taxi. They are very funny little cars. They have only 3 wheels. When we got back to the hotel, Binu, our tour CEO was in the lobby. He said we will meet on the roof for a general meeting and then go out for dinner. We will leave Delhi at 5:30 tomorrow morning.

Long day of sight-seeing

Jamie arranged for me to have a driver and guide for today. They came at 9:00 this morning. We saw many things in Old Delhi. I saw a Jayne temple, Gandi's cremation site, the Qtab Minar, the Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk and the Lotus Temple. I'm still very jet-lagged and things are jumbling up in my brain.
In the evening, I went to Jami's school and saw a play put on by her students. Jami has a large band room. The school campus is very nice and I got to meet some of Jami's colleagues- very nice, friendly people.
I'm having problems with my camera. The battery ran out during the day. When I charged it, the camera wouldn't work anymore. I've decided I don't want to drive myself crazy about that right now. I may have ruined the battery, but the camera will probably be ok and I came here for the experience-not the photos.

First day in India

Coming here was definitely the longest flight I've ever taken. If you count the time I left my house till I arrived at Delhi airport, it was 24 hours - and with the time difference, one whole night never got slept.
Delhi is definitely quite overwhelming. I had paid for airport pickup so there was a man from G-Adventures there to take me to the hotel. Cars here drive through tiny spaces that no American would ever attempt.
Jami came over to my hotel when she finished the conferences at her school. There's a taxi strike today so Jami checked out a car from her school. I'm very impressed that she drives here. We walked to a restaurant and had some delicious Indian food.
Going to sleep now so I can enjoy Day 2 tomorrow.

The phone and other last minute stuff

I just called Verizon to find out about my phone.  I have an Iphone 4 and it will work in India.  I turned off my data, so I will only be able to use the internet when I am somewhere that has WiFi.  That way there will be no data charges.  Alexandra at Verizon turned on my international roaming.  Phone calls are $2 per minute.  Texts are 50 cents to send and 5 cents to receive (a bargain!).  She recommended that I keep my phone in airplane mode most of the time.  Then I can take photos, etc and check the time, but my phone will use less power.  It won't receive any calls or texts in airplane mode, but I can just turn airplane mode off every so often so I will know if anything has come in.

Also, Jami has made lots of plans for me in Delhi.  She is truly wonderful!  I will meet her on Thursday evening for dinner.  Then, Friday, Jami's local friend who is a travel agent is helping arrange a driver and guide for Friday all day, and for Saturday morning.  He will give me a fair and good deal with the driver and guide. Also, Friday evening, Jami's school has their high school play!  I am getting very excited about all the fun plans.  I think I may have to take Jami on a trip to Paris or something to pay back all she has done for me!

Ellen is picking me up at 6:30 tomorrow morning to take me to Dulles.  I have already done my online check-in with Emirates for my flights.

Info from G-Adventures

I called G-Adventures to ask some questions.  I thought I had booked one extra day in the hotel in Delhi because I would arrive a day ahead of time.  Then, as I looked at everything, I realized I get there two days ahead of time.  But it turned out that my airport pick-up is for the correct day and also I booked two nights extra in the hotel, so I am all set.  I'll have to tell Jami that I have more time in Delhi than I thought.  I think that's good, though.  It will give me more time to adjust to the time difference and to see Delhi.  Also, there are only five people in my group.  They are all quite a bit younger:  some born in the 70's and some in the 80's.  I think I'll keep up okay, though.  The girl I talked to had just come back from a trip to Turkey, so I asked her if she had stayed in a tent at all.  I'm worried about needing to use the bathroom during the night when I'm in the tent.  What if there are thousands of tents at the Kumbh Mela festival and I can't find my way back?  She said she hadn't been in a tent, but I should just talk to the CEO (our guide) about it and it will be fine.
Also, last Saturday, I had dinner with friends from Fez, Jeremie and his girlfriend, Andi, and Stefan and his wife, Agnes.  Stefan has been to India and said, "Oh, you're in for a treat.  You'll love India."  When I said I was flying on Emirates, both he and his wife said it is a fabulous airline.  Stefan is very tall and he said there's lots of leg room and it was the best experience flying coach he's ever had.  That's really a good thing since it's a 14 hour flight just to Dubai and another 3 hour flight from there to Delhi.  So, I feel much better about the two things I was worried about (tent and superlong flight).  Also, I'm so glad for my Fez trip last year.  This G-Adventures group will be similar to my Fez buddies.  The people I was with almost constantly were a 22 year-old, a 31 year-old and two 36 year-olds.  That's not too different from my India group.  I know I kept up with them - walking all over the city.  So, I have confidence that I will keep up with this group, too.

Getting close

I'm making progress slowly but surely. 

• My bags are bought.  Now I need to put things in them!
• The contacts have arrived. (I will wear them, but am thinking the whitewater rafting isn't going to happen.  Every time I check the weather in Rishikesh, it's COLD - in the 40's.  I can't see myself putting on a bathing suit and getting in the water. 
• I have all my shots and prescriptions.  I was supposed to get TDaP and Polio shots.  (My HepA, HepB and typhoid are up to date.)  When I went to Kaiser, the nurse gave me Polio and Typhoid!  It wasn't his fault.  The travel nurse typed it up wrong and he told me he was giving me a typhoid shot, but I didn't catch the error until after he had given me.  So, I am super-immunized against typhoid.  I also got the DTaP shot just to be sure.
• I start taking the mefloquine tomorrow - 2 weeks before I leave.  That will protect me from malaria, but not from India's two other mosquito-borne illnesses:  Dengue Fever and Chikungunya.  For those, I need to be sure to use mosquito-repellent with 30% Deet.I got it at REI, my new favorite store.  I'll be sure to use them, but I do wonder who many mosquitoes will be flying around in such cool temperatures.
• Speaking of medical stuff, the company I'm going with, GAdventures, requires that you have emergency medical insurance.  If you get sick or injured overseas, it covers the medical expenses and the cost to fly you to the airport nearest your home.  I got it when I went to Mali, too.  There was just an article about it in the Washington Post Travel section.  It said that it's very cheap because it's rarely used and people who do need to use it say it was fabulous - takes away any worry.  This time I took the company that GAdventures offers.  I thought that this way, if I should need it, my GAdventures group leader will know how to contact them, etc.  
• I forgot to mention in my last post that I have my visa for India.
• I've been corresponding with Jami and she is fantastically helpful.  Also, I can tell that she is very happy there and loves India.  That makes me feel good about the trip.  Anyway, she is giving me guidance about what kind of clothing to pack (lots of layers for weather that will be cold sometimes and warm others.)  We are planning to meet for dinner my first evening there.  Jami will also give me suggestions on what to see in Delhi the next morning, since my group doesn't meet up until 2 pm.
• I know what I need to bring for charging my computer and camera (guidance from Jami on plugs.)  I do need to talk to Verizon about my phone, but I am pretty much planning on not having a phone and using my IPhone only for email when there is wireless available.  That should be enough since I'll be with a group.
• So, here are the biggest issues I'm left with: (1) shoes to pack - ones that don't take up too much space, but are comfortable and look okay.  (2) clothes to pack - basically same issue as shoes and (3) figuring out whether I need to buy extra memory for my camera.