The good news is I got to India…the bad news is my baggage didn’t. It got stuck in Beijing but will be delivered to Lataa Chitti’s (my aunt’s) house.

Not deterred, I raided Lataa Chitti’s closet (3 AM - photo at right), Mehar Singh drove us to the train station (4 AM — the title of this post is derived from the incredibly annoying and repetitive message that played over the station’s loudspeaker when trains were delayed) and we hopped the train to Jaipur (6 am). The service on the train surpassed our expectations (on time, lots of legroom… way better than Amtrak!). When we got on board we received tea and biscuits, a copy of the Hindustan Times, followed by a delicious lunch of vada, and sambar (Jamie looked confused so I showed him how to eat them).

After getting off the train we met up with Jamie’s family (David, Rusty, and brother Dan) at the luxurious Le Meridien. From there it was off to the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar and the Palace of the Winds.

The Jantar Mantar is an astronomical/astrological observatory, which includes a huge (27 meters high) sundial which can tell time up to 2 seconds. It was also interesting to see the dials which are used to calculate the ascending star sign in Hindu astrology. My grandfather was an astrologer and I’ve been hearing about Hindu stars and signs since birth so it was very cool to see how the calculations are made.

  

I am sitting in Delhi’s Airport, anxiously awaiting Ramya’s arrival! My first 24 hours in India have been jam-packed with:

• Sightseeing, including several unintended loops around the very confusing 3 rings of Connaught Place, Delhi’s new Metro (the nicest subway I’ve ever been on), India Gate (Delhi’s Arc de Triomph), the fascinating Ghandi Smitri Museum (on the site of his assassination in 1948), and the very impressive Humayun’s tomb,
• 4 or 5 incredible meals/snacks and tea with my autorockshaw driver,
• Ear cleaning service sales pitches — one man cornered me on a park bench and tried to sell me said services by showing me a little notebook with testimonials by all his satisfied customers — one read “You should have seen how much crap he pulled out of my ears — Raju is amazing!”
• Some absolutely wild rides and walks along the anarchic roadways of Central Delhi,
• Very smoggy, smoky, foggy air that (combined with my jetlag) can give the place a very surreal aura, and last but certainly not least,
• The incredible hospitality of Prasad and Mehar Singh, Lataa’s staff (Lataa is Ramya’s aunt who we will see at the end of our trip, and at whose wonderful home I stayed last night while she’s on vacation). They have burned the midnight oil (our flights arrive at ungodly hours) to make my first 24 hours as painless and comfortable as possible.

Photos coming soon. Ramya’s flight just landed and we’re headed straight to the train station to catch our 6am train to Jaipur, where we’ll rendezvous with my family for a couple days. Hope to catch some sleep on rails!

Jamie is currently en route to Delhi right now, via London (eat some salted cashews for all of us, J!) Unfortunately, thanks to a canceled United flight (with no notice), I’m still in rainy San Fran (BOO!).

When I arrived at the airport this morning they informed me that I couldn’t fly to Delhi via Beijing without a Chinese visa because my itinerary said I was staying in Beijing for over 24 hours. What?! A 28-hour layover? That was definitely NOT in my original plans. But apparently United/Air China canceled my original Beijing to Delhi flight and without telling me, booked me on a flight that left the following day (moral of the story: think twice before flying United).

Rather than camp out in the Beijing airport and risk deportation due to lack of a visa, I’m just flying to Beijing/Delhi tomorrow morning…certainly not my ideal situation. The good news is, while this sets me back a day, it doesn’t interrupt too much of our itinerary. As soon as I get to Delhi, we’ll hop a train to Jaipur to meet up with the Ruth clan.

Just hoping that Jamie can survive a day in Delhi left to his own devices We shall see…

Merry Christmas from Heathrow, where I’m joined by all my fellow heathens. I got something even better than pub food on my overnight flight: mincemeat pie — one of only a few British culinary creations worth blogging about. Props to Cedric, who half-jokingly predicted this most favorite pie of mine might appear on my tray table. For the record, there is no meat in said pie.

I’m bummed I won’t get to spend the first day exploring Delhi with Ramya, but I’ve promised not to have too much fun on my own (Supreme Court of India Museum, here we come)!

Well, sort of. We’re finally leaving rainy San Francisco tomorrow (on separate flights, going opposite ways around the world), and should arrive in India in the wee hours of Thursday morning. That means all 75 minutes or so of my Christmas will be spent in Heathrow Terminal 5, while Ramya gets a little longer to enjoy the holiday during her layover in Beijing’s airport. Incidentally, all Ramya and I wanted for Christmas this year was ramen and over-cooked pubfood, so this is going to work out really well.

Enjoy our first video as we set off for India (and Ramya almost breaks her back before we even get there).

Jamie said I had to post something or I would lose my blogging privileges, so here is a short list of things I am excited for on our trip:

• Seeing my family!! (especially my cousin Bhargav whom I have yet to meet)
• Overnight train rides (umm, not really, but the stories should be good)
• Visiting the Taj Mahal and other touristy places I’ve never been
• Roadside carts, mango juice, Grand Sweets and Thumbs Up cola (the best soda in the world)
• The sweet smell of cow dung and auto exhaust
• Not having a cell phone or email for 2 weeks (I know you’ll miss me)

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