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Out of India

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

April 18,2007

So… picking up where we left off, we spent our last night in Delhi before flying on to Paris (talk about culture shock!).  Since our flight was at 2am, we decided to check out of our hotel in the morning and spend the day sightseeing before heading to the airport.  Our driver, Sanjay, took us to see some of  Delhi’s popular tourist spots like the impressive Jama Masjid, India’s largest mosque (circa 1656) and the Ghandi Memorial. 

However, after 10 days of sightseeing we were a little sick of forts and temples, so we decided to pass on the Red Fort and the rest of the sights and go to the zoo (kid’s choice). [read on]

Pushkar – The Holy City

Friday, November 2nd, 2007


April 20-21, 2007

After our early getaway from Jodhpur, we made good time to Pushkar which is well-known for its famous camel fair. Each October, the town is inundated with thousands of buyers and sellers of over 50,000 camels causing this quiet town of 15,000 to explode with excitement and activity. It has also become a bit of a tourist attraction and we had mixed feelings about having missed it. In the end, though, like most other places we had been, we were glad to be able to see the quieter side of Pushkar on our own terms without having to deal with throngs of people – especially tourists (as opposed to seasoned “travelers” like us). After we settled into our charming hotel on the outskirts of town, Claude decided he needed to stretch his legs and decided to climb up to Gayatri’s temple which sat atop a nearby cliff overlooking Pushkar. The kids had no interest in hiking in the intense heat so I stayed behind with them and we did lessons until they were climbing the walls. Finally, we decided to take a break and go explore the marketplace. This was one of the first times I had ventured forth into an Indian market with the kids without Claude by my side and the dynamic was very interesting. Without Claude’s intimidating male presence, everyone seemed to feel at ease approaching us and calling out as we passed. Children scampered along behind us and shyly asked for candy while women and teenage girls and boys called “Hi, Mommy!” and “Hi, Boy!” and “Hi, Girl!” as we passed. They seemed to be enthralled by the sight a single Western woman traveling alone with two children. Their gentle smiling faces lit up when we responded and called “Hello!” and “Namaste” back to them and some actually followed us for a while, asking questions in broken English as we wandered through the colourful marketplace admiring the beautiful fabrics, spices and exotic smelling food for sale. The kids were delighted by the many monkeys that scurried along the rooftops and hung around the market hoping for a handout from a sympathetic food vendor.

As we finally made our way back to our hotel, all of our new friends waved and called out to us from their doorways as we passed, making us feel like visiting dignitaries. [read on]

Jodhpur – The Blue City

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
April 19-20,2007 The next town on our itinerary was Jodhpur, the Blue City, where all the buildings are painted blue, apparently because the colour blue absorbs very little of the sun’s heat and this keeps the houses cool ... [Continue reading this entry]

Jaisalmer – The Golden City

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007
April 16-19 We returned to our hotel in Bikaner dusty and happy after our wonderful visit with Hansu and her family. Despite the lack of air-conditioning, we hadn’t been bothered by the 45+ temperatures and the kids ... [Continue reading this entry]

Hansu’s Visit

Saturday, August 18th, 2007
April 15 After leaving Jaipur, we headed to Bikaner where, after a quick side-trip to visit the rat temple (ick!), we checked into the Hotel Harasar Haveli and enjoyed a lovely sunset meal at their rooftop ... [Continue reading this entry]

India – Agra to the Pink City

Saturday, July 28th, 2007
April 10-14 After leaving Nepal, our favourite destination of the trip thus far, we had mixed emotions about visiting India. Since our primary reason for visiting India was to visit our foster child, Hansu, near Bikaner, we had decided to ... [Continue reading this entry]