well today we head out! Woke up early, already had the bags pretty pre packed. Wish I could have shopped more. Would have loved to have gotten more gifts, but I am grateful for the ones I could get and even managed to get a couple of suits for myself! Hope they fit!

Went downstairs for breakfast and all of the ugly clown things are gone now. Not sure why but there is definitely alot of action going on. Say goodbye to many of the sweet staff who are sorry to see us go and ask when we are coming back. Must be our easygoing attitudes and friendliness, as we are mediocre tippers! Off to the Internet cafe for the last 'In India' blog that we will have time to post. Off to find cigs for Victor. We're down to our last rupees and had NO idea they would be so dear...shoulda taken out more money, shoulda gotten sooner, coulda, shoulda, woulda...ah well. One carton it is. Contemplated a bit of a walk down the street to see if there were any street vendors that may catch our eyes, but a sewer break had made such an aroma, that we decided to head back and R & R to get geared up for our loooooong trek home. Lots of activity by the pool we can see when we get to our room. LOUD music and the sound system and lighting system that we saw at breakfast was well on it's way to getting ready for action. 'VITS - Guest. Rest. Best.' banner was on the dance floor suspended over the pool. Did a Bollyshoot make it's way into our hotel??? They even decorated the lobby and changed the logos on the doors. By about 3 we can see dancers practice, stage smoke, and fire leaping from the water using a gas/movie effects guys setting up these contraptions in the pool. Needless to say, the pool is closed. By 4 we go for chaat/lunch and see some workers putting up a purple shiny gateway. Not having a good go of it and planning may have been a bit lax. It reminded me of the scene in the movie "Spinal Tap" where the band orders a miniature of Stonehenge instead of life sized and it gets trampled on stage by the dwarves. They put this over the exit to start with, not the entrance and no cars can get though it bigger than a small Toyota. The Hotel has buses. Umm..problems! So as we leave we can see the beautiful from the front, somewhat damaged from the back gate way with huge flaming incense burners IN BETWEEN the entrance and exit. Looks awesome, glad they figured it out. FINALLY ask what all the hoo ha is. They are changing the name of the hotel from Lotus Suits to VITS and TODAY is the big blow out. Great. We leave the hotel for 10, it starts at 8. *sigh* Well under our door comes in invite! Of course all guests receive a free wonderful meal to celebrate in the Sapphire room. The big show off with the cameras an paparazzi and 'Page 3' people is reserved for...well ....the Bollywood and Page 3 people and the $$ people. Now...not being one to just sit and watch, I tried to get Doug to go down and see what was happening. He'd rather nap. OK....well here is my chance to go to the 'Mumbai Bar' that I never got to do and bought my western wear for! On go the knee high leather boots, classy flair skirt and makeup. Now having to go through every freaking packed bag was a bit of a pain, but worth it!

Off I go and explore the sapphire room. No one there but the staff all recognize me. I chat and say my goodbyes and go to 'just peek' in the other room. I see other hotel guests being routed into the quiet ‘free dinner’ room but go by the VIP room. I guess I look confident and like I’m supposed to be there and I'm hustled in, led to the bar and a plate of food is brought to me! This works! Everyone is awesome and one of the staff sees me standing with a plate and seats me with a lovely couple! I finally got my Bollybar! LOL After watching some of the entertainment, it’s off to upstairs to change into my salwar and get re-packed and head out.

*** Home now….ask me about customs when you see me and the further adventures of the looooong travel adventure just to get home!**********
Hope the blog worked well and was enjoyed by all who read it! Love you much!

LAST DAY!!!! *yay and big sob at the same time*

Alright boys and girls! Today is the day! We hop a plane tonite for our journey home!

Miss you, love you, see you soon!!

XXXOOO

Kim and Doug

PS. In case you haven't figured it out, some posting are on the same day cause we write them in the room and take them away on the portable cruser and post them! See you later and love you all!

Thursday - Caves!

Thursday - Today we started out to the Kanheri Caves. It is one of Amin's favorite places and it took us about 2 minutes into the park to figure out why! It is impossible to believe this full jungle exist in Mumbai!!!! As we drive through the little tiny one lane path to the foot of the mountain we see people and Amin explains that these are indiginous people. They have always lived in the jungle and when they did the preserve they simply built it around the people and they live as they always have for the most part. If they leave tho, they cannot come back. They marry mostly among the seperate villages so that things stay the same. It gets complicated from there.

Up the mountian we go....the peace and beauty is unmistakeable and one of the most stunning natural wonders we've seen. The peace is broken up a bit by the fact that we have stumbled upon a Bollywood shoot. A school children scene. But after passing thier filming point, it becomes a series of scary steep steps, green jungle, peace, nature and the monks daily living and praying quarters hiding in crevices, and seeming to pop out of nowhere! Turn a corner and BOOM! A stunning hand carved buddha gazes serenely back at you. It almost seems surreal half the time. And then the Bollywood shoot makes it seem even more bizarre! I had some trouble with some steps. I think monks may have been the missing link between mountain goat and man. The place where they did much of thier chanting was a wonder of engeneering! The sound reverberated for miles apparently and even your whispers seemed to echo so loud in there so I believe that their meditation carried into the mountains forever.

Back down we went. Not much easer for me, but a bit faster. Amin found us back a nice path that was a bit less intimidating for me. It was worth every scarry moment! It was really a place we won't be forgetting anytime soon! I think it may have been my favorite place. Just before we left we took a seat near a little monkey toupe. The lead male was examining a mirror that was yet to be picked up by the BW crew after takes. We were close enough to touch them but that would be foolish. They were obviously very used to people, but unlike the monkeys on Elephanta that were pretty hungry and agressive, these had plenty to eat and merely saw us as barely interesting scenery or perhaps even a petty nuicence to thier day. We got some great video of them just hanging out and even a little scrap between the lead male and a younger male. Back to the car and off to lunch! Went to a place called Gondola's and had a 'sizzler' plate that was smokin' both in flavor and like a normal hot plate, also still cooking and steaming. Tasty! And then we went for Mumbai's best lassi in Bandra. Now....when Amin first said it was the best lassie, we knew it would be good, but after having lassi in SO many places now, we're pretty sure it may just actually be the best ever!!! *sigh* Yet another thing to miss when we go home. AND lo and behold, ANOTHER bollywood shoot! No one famous that we could tell at this one either, but we missed the 'Bollywood everywhere today' memo. Amin said "I was telling you, Mumbai is one big set....it's where you least expect all the time." He's right YET again! LOL

And then off to yet another memorable and heartwarming event...to meet the incredible man that saw the special and unique soul that is Amin and help him achieve all that his large heart and sharp wit can accomplish! "Sir" is Eustace....a man involved in saving children and charity for well over 40 of his 72 years. He is a generous, talented and open man with a twinkle in his eye that makes you feel immediately welcome. It was like coming home, even though you've never been there before! We can see why Amin loves him so deeply. Maria-Teresa, a family friend staying with them has a quick and easy laugh and giggle that seems so very very young, but we know as she has retired that she is ... shall we say past 50 a bit. (Never tell a ladies age!! LOL) I am blown away by thier youthful light and looks! Eustace's friend who happened to also be there when we were was smart funny and great fun to chat to as well! The ginger tea was awsome and the visit was far too short. But I think a week would have been too short! I won't go into many of Eustace's many accomlishments but one that hit home for us was he is the creator of the Amul mascot which is the longest running ad campain and will be in Guiness book of records. This made us giggle as JUST this week Doug had noticed his character on butter we had used!!!

Life is an odd and wonderful thing! Off to do a last minute gift shop and back home. Saying goodbye to Amin was sooo hard knowing we probably won't see him again for a very long time it was very hard not to cry. We will miss him alot. Hopefully he isn't sore today from the hug Doug gave him!! LOL He is truly the 'Prince of Mumbai'!!!!

Wednesday

wednesday- we were pretty much fine now but still a bit weak from not eating much, so we had a slow day. Amin came and got us and we went to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalya Museum. Formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India. Say that 10 times fast. Hell...say it once without looking!

It was absolutely beautiful and a bit hot. The grounds were a lush little patch of heaven but as they are doing some renos to the outside we couldn't get some good shots from the front end angle. After that some shopping, or my lame attempts at it anyways! We had an awsome lunch of mutton carbonara and chicken florentina with spagetti noodles and it was great and very mild...just what we needed! Amin told us his highs and lows about his trip to Hampi and we regaled him with our adventures in Delhi. It was great to see him again. We were suprised a little at how much we really missed him! His smile is truly contagious. I *DID* find an awsome jewlery box like I had wanted. Pretty darn happy about that! And my nose naths. It was a really nice day and joking and hanging with Amin was great. Tomorrow is one last super-lassi and Amin has a favorite place he'd like to show us. We are definately excited about these caves and jungle.

Good news / bad news

Good news! We are fine now! the bad news? We got Ghandi's revenge and it was pretty rude. Kept us under wraps until today. The other good news was as much as we were uncomfortable and tired, we still enjoyed just being together. So not much to tell you today other than the amusment and charm/warm fuzzies I felt when I saw some noobs standing outsite the hotel today looking amazed and bemused! We looked JUST LIKE THAT!!!! LOL

Hopefully I will take some interesting notes today or have some neat observations. we are still kinda weak and sensitive, so not sure how much we're gonna get done. but it did make us actually relax!

We love you all and will be home sooner than ya think!!

Late update!

Well thursday morning Raju and his beautiful wife picked us up at the hotel in at about 11:30, they were so apologetic for being late due to such awful traffic. We had reasurred them that we figured out very early that '10 minute drive' was somewhere between 5 minutes and an hour and a half depending on cows, accidents and general confusion! They brought both me and Doug a bouquet of flowers as welcome! My heart melted...how sweet! So we loaded up and off to shop! We hit about 4 stores and then off to a small restaurant for lunch. We barely eat here in India with the heat and our excitement being here, we find we don't have much of an appitite so they kept feeding us figuring that due to our size we MUST be able to eat more! LOL Raju made sure it was a clean and safe hygene place and the food was wonderful! water puri, papdi chaat, aloo tikka and something at was like a baseball sized crunchy filled with curd, potato, chickpea and lots of other crunchy and creamy goodness! So after waddling out of there we hit more shopping. Shoes in my size that I like are hard to come by. If your a medium to bigger girl, shopping will be a chore and expect alot of dissappointment in outfits and shoes!!! I'm only a size 9 but if your a 10 or 9 1/2, don't get your heart TOO set on that awsome pair of heals!!!

I did pick up next year Karwa Chouth saree! It's a stunner!!! Can't wait to wear it! So afer all that they kept telling us "let's keep going!" but I could tell that Mrs. Nagpal was fading fast. "No NO! We are here for you and time is too short! Don't worry, we are fine" Riiiighhhht. So we resorted to telling them we were tired and needed to leave. They knew we were full of daisy fertilizer, but it was a good face save for all of us. Well their home in Gurgoan was HUGE, lots of marble and probably the worlds fastest houseboy! Grandma and his son were jems! So we were fed some nice chai and more snacks of fresh paneer with chaat masala and corriander and almonds and cashews. Didn't need or want any of the food, but it was too good to resist! The boys retired to the other room for scotch and conversation. So at about 9:30 it was announce that they were taking us out for dinner! (DINNER?!?!) So I freshened up and off we went to a cozy little place where we had about 5 waiters watching us like hawks, serving our plates and anitipating every need. Not sure how that was....felt like royalty but it was a bit unnerving... Didn't have the heart to say "Hey dude, relax...I'm just a nobody!" Butter chicken, crispy butter naan, and the best dal we've had so far!! NOW I am really almost exploding. BUT it's time for the best kulfi! Now normally this is a BAD idea if your from the west and haven't been 'Indianized' yet, but he knew our weakness and assured us that this would be great and safe! It was and it was!! It was like burfi on a stick and when I told them so they howled with laughter as it *IS* like cold burfi on a stick, but this had never occured to them. Glad I could make them smile!! So off to home and off to bed....NOPE! Time for fireworks!! Awsome! Got a couple of nice ones on video! NOW it is time for bed after a bath.....cold bucket Indian style! Brisk and refereshing experience! My do that at home actually...but think I'll stick to warm water thank you! Tough changing clothes tho....always on the lookout as that houseboy is like a ghost! He's apparently the only servant in the house till sunday as it is a holiday for the other staff. (Other staff?!?!)

Next morning the sneezing and sniffling started....Uh oh. Hopefully it's just the pollution. The Diwalli pollution in Delhi this year was pretty harsh. And it's still hanging in the sky and every nite fireworks are STILL going off. Not helping! Don't ask me the gory detailes about nose blowing. After a huge and hearty breakfast it's off to see Raju's plastics factory. He makes the polio droppers for Unicef. At least right now...they do just about everything plastic as the order comes in. WONDERFUL people work there....all like family. Bit more shopping for a nice new pooja tray, stop off for an eyebrow threading and back for lunch of granny's awsome rajma! MORE food...geeze! We didn't eat this much all last week! I had to have some even though food was dead last on my list of want's but had to try it. It was heaven, but I think grandma didn't think I liked it cause I ate so little.. Kept trying to tell her it was awsome but I think she may have been a bit dissappointed. I hugged her lots to make up for it!

Off to the airport. Delayed....delayed...delayed....FINALLY on the plane. Hour past due and now I'm feeling pretty sick. Met a wonderful couple with an NGO that were living in Mumbai for two years with thier ....wait for it.....***5*** boys! Gotta say, she looked awsome for 5 kids! And we chatted pros and cons. I was so sniffly on the plane and asked forextra napkins, then more and when the stewardess figured out what it was for, she gave us a whole handful and when we disembarked said that she hoped I'd feel better. Very nice gal. So the nice couple who was waiting for thier bags I asked if there was a place I could get western medicine and she said that alot of the 5 star places had them, will be be costly...she asked if her driver could get a cab for us. Awsome! Thanks! 200 rps is what we paid to get there when leaving and that is what we wanted to pay to get back. The driver found us a cab but when the cab guy saw us he upped it to 500 rupees. No way but thanks so much for trying!!!!!! We went back to the queue. We told them 200 rupees or we'll just wait. finally one guys said ok. We loaded up then the guy who flagged him down wanted a tip. Fine...10 rupees...his buddy sticks his head in...there were two of us maam...more money! Please for two! Nope.....thanks. Off we go. Back at the hotel we aske about a chemist and head down the street. sewer pipe burst...ugg...I'm sick and it's stinky. My worst day in India by far. But luckily the chemist is close and cheap. Get my meds and back to the hotel.

Yesterday spent sleeping, sniffling, blowing and coughing. We take one meal at 11am. Fade in and out watching tv.

Today have overpriced but good breakfast at the hotel! MUCH better morning and looking forward to chaat in the afternoon at our favorite dhaba. G0nna REALLY miss that place alot!
Off to the internet cafe to tell all those I love about our days! XXXOOO to everyone and as much as we adore India, we are missing your lovely smiling faces! See you soon!!!

Long winded but yet still not complete!!

Yesterday was our Agra trip to the Taj! We woke up way too early so we took the time to pack. We had to meet our bus at the Metropolitan Nikko so off to a tuk tuk and the streets were almost dead (well....as dead as it gets here) and it was a 10 min trip tops. Our bus was to be there at 6:15 and it was only 5:30am. So we figured we'd have chai, no breakfast as that was supposed to be included on the tour. Well the place was pretty fancy, so we figured it's be a rip off and were playing "guess how much we'll get screwed" on the price. Our top guess was 100 rp for 2 cups. Bad chai...no masala. They charged us 350!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad we didn't order breakfast! Well we waited, and waited, and waited, asked personel, staff, other people who were waiting, NO BUS. BUT they did offer us a private car....for $350 USD! Yeah....think not. Called Raju and he talked obout getting a bus which would have been fine, but we had to go back to the hotel to get breakfast anyways. (best not to take chances with the street food). Off in the tuk tuk to the Ajanta. Talked to staff....$118 for a private A/C car for the 13 hour trip. All inclusive of toll booth fees etc. Talked them down to $100. Done! We ate breakfast and we were off! Didn't really want to then head to the bus depot etc. so this was easier.
On the way we were stoppd by cows crosing the road, saw a couple of camels, one pulling a cart and a 20 foot Hanumaan. Two goat herds and herders and the farmland looks a heck of alot like home! Minus the little huts. Going through the 'Indian prairies' tho there is alot more to look at!
The roadside temples are everywhere....some are almost huge monuments in themselves, some are small and sweet, but all are like fingerprints. No two alike! Wish we could get better pix, but if we stopped for every one (they are every couple of miles or so, give or take) we would never get to the taj, so we have to be happy with the memories of them and maybe the super quick glimpses caught on video. The tuk tuks out of town are a little bit bigger, but not buy much and if you've ever seen the joke cartoon 'The Singhsons' (sp) there really are 12 people or more on one of these things! I'll never be overly impressed with circus acrobats again! And at speeds going down the highway!!!
We stoped at a gov't stop for utter pradesh for travel taxes. Our driver got out and I pretended to sleep. The touts were relentless! Monkeys on sticks "Take picture maam! Nice picture!!!" "Necklace, looks good on you!! Where are you from?? Necklace!!! Cheap! Good price!!" Couldn't wait to get outta there, As we left we saw them all at the tourbus windows! All the way there were tons of dhabas all with tinsel and posters of movie stars and adds for various cell phone networks and soda. The coke/pepsi wars are here too! All this before 12:15!!!!!
Why do I know this was 12:15?? That's when the tire blew!! We apparently were quite interesting viewing for some of the locals who watched the chubby white Indian girl with the farang male. LOL
Stopped to fix the spar and let out a fly that had been making me nuts. Delhi fly relocated to Utter Pradesh, free of charge for the ride!

1:38 : 5 to a bike, more camels and now monkeys! All the ladies no matter how poor all have such vibrant colors. Minor stop with cops checking out buses, back on the road again.
Akbar’s tomb was beautiful as a precurser to the Taj and about 40 school kids in little uniforms all ran up to us to say Hello! Hello!!! And shake our hands …they all wanted to touch us it was so cute! They were facinated with my henna, my outfit and our special glow in the dark skin tone! They were just adorable!!!
The Taj….breathtaking! We waited in line, found out it was the wrong line, and saw a small riot on the way out! My time is getting short (as you can tell) ask me later or I’ll try to fill in the details on Sunday!!
Driver tries to get us to see his cousin’s hotel "Just 5 mins!" Nope, Raju is picking us up in the morning, back to Delhi only! He’s displeased!
Second flat in the dark close to delhi…almost home! Will write more later! Gotta go!!