Day 60 & 61: Hampi, Karnataka.

Hampi: Was once the capital of one of the largest Hindu empires in Indian history, Vijayanagar was founded by Telegu prices in 1336 and hit the peak of it's power in 16th century.


Day 60: Today we headed to Hampi to see the ancient ruins of the Vijayanagar empire . We had a fun group on the bus tour of Hampi for the weekend. I met a nice couple Silky and her husband, recently wed they were quite the couple in love. Silky was one of the few woman I met that worked. I had come to realized soon after that many more of the woman in South India work than North India. Met two Physics Professors who came from Hungary and were in Bangalore for two weeks, they were slowly easing into trying the local cuisines. Then there was the Mumbai family and the Indian family from D.C, the husband and wife were brought up in India. We had a great time on the bus chatting and playing local Indian games that Silky spearheaded.

Day 61: Today we went to go see Hampi, it was pretty amazing. I should first say that the whole area around that is surrounded by boulders of little and big rocks everywhere, this was caused due to an earthquake many 1,000 of years ago. It reminded me alot of Death Valley and the Arizona area in the U.S. The ruins were amazing, they reminded me alot of ruins of the roman empire. They had such elaborate carvings from the stone and they have depictions of the Mahabarta and the Ramayan, the two famous Hindu epics on the stones.

I have come to better understand the Hindu religion via my tour guide that day who was so passoinate and excited about sharing his knowledge of the ruins and the Hindu religion with me. There are three main gods: Brahma (God of Creator), Vishnu (God of Preserver), Shiva (God of Destroyer), thus the full circle of life. Each of these gods of course has a goddness, how could a great god not have a great goddness by his side, right ladies. The goddess that correspond to the gods are the following: Brahma (Goddess Sarawasti-Goddess of Wisdom), Vishnu (Goddess Laskmi-Goddess of Wealth), Shiva (Goddess Parvati-Goddess of Goddess Sakthi). Many of the other gods that you hear about are forms of Vishnu, Shiva, Laskmi, and Parvati. Brahma is not really worshipped and I am told there is only one temple in India in honor of this god).Then change into different forms to help fight out demons and evil in the world. I guess you could say it's something similar to greek mythology. Each of these gods has a corresp0ding vechile that they move around in. Brahma - the bird Hamsa, Vishnu- Garuda (giant bird), which is visibily displayed quite frequently in SouthEast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, etc..), Shiva-the bull Nandi. The elephant god is Gnaesh, which is the son of Shiva and Parvati, story has it that Shiva had cut off the head of his son and then replaced it with the first animal he saw. His vechile is a mouse.

That day I met a guy from San Fran. who litterally lives 1km from my old apartment, what a small world it is......

Day 58 & 59: Bangalore, Karnataka

Day 58: Headed to Bangalore, which is the capital of the state of Karnataka. When I got to the airport I realized how modern everything was and when I when to catch my prepaid taxi how orderly everything was. They even have pedesitrian walking lights I was in shock, I hadn't seen this in other parts of India. It's more or less you try and cross the street and hope to god no one hits you, it's usually in intervals. I even saw a 'Target' from the plane, this is definitely the most modern city I have been in India. Bangalore is the 'silicon valle of India', it is the major hub for IT centers and other companies. It's a nice change to be in somewhat familiar surroundings.

Day 59: Today I was able to meet my former co-worker Amit. We had lunch at a great North Indian restaurant, which was a nice change after having dosa's, idilis, and other rice based dishes in Tamil Nadu. The food in Kartnaka is very similar to the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. Bangalore is very green with lots of trees and wide roads, somewhat similiar to the bay area and the climate is the best I have sampled so far, no humidity, which is very nice for a change!!!!!!!. It is a change from many of the other cities I have been to as I had not seen any beggars on the streets and the city is one of the cleanest I have seen. That night I took an overnight bus tour for Hampi, it is beginning of monsoon season and the streets were literally filled with water.

Day 57: Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu

Day 57: Today I headed to take a bus from Chennai to Pondicherry, which use to be a former French colony. When I got to my hotel and walked around the streets I said 'holy cow I can't believe I am in India'. The streets were wide and with very few people, the buildings looked french with bright yellow and red colors. The names of the street were in French. I was so happy I could move around. After being in Chennai and other cities in India, it's hard to find personal space as the country is overpopulated. I realized how much I appreciate my personal space. Then I headed to Auroville, which is a colony based on people working together for a better community. That night I treated myself to a nice French meal at one of the French restaurants.

Day 58: Headed to Bangalore. When I got to the airport I realized how modern everything was and when I when to catch my prepaid taxi how orderly everything was. They even have pedesitrian walking lights I was in shock, I hadn't seen this in other parts of India. It's more or less you try and cross the street and hope to god no one hits you, it's usually in intervals. I even saw a 'Target' from the plane, this is definitely the most modern city I have been in India.

Day 55 & 56: Chennai (in the state of Tamil Nadu), India

Day 55: I arrived in Chennai(which was orginally called Madras till 1997), which is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, which is in South of India. Tamil Nadu stands for the 'land of the Tamils'. It is the true heartland of South India and is considered to be the cradle of the Dravidian(the orginal inhabitants of India) civilisation. Many of the city names and streets were changed after the British left India in the 1947. The verbal and written language is not similar to Hindi at all, so I was at a complete loss when trying to talk to people in Tamil. As I toured around I noticed how more laid back the people are compared to most areas I have visited in the North and they also have many colleges and universities here. I went to a couple of the Hindu Temples and noticed how different they were to the North. They are much more colorful, bright blues and yellows, and the statues are much more detailed and defined. These reminded me of the temples in Kuala Lumpur and Fiji, where most of the Indian are of South Indian descent. Then headed to the snake farm, where we saw pytons and cobras, not my favorite creatues. Then we headed to Marine Beach, which is the 2nd longest beach in the world, the first being Rio De Janiero. For lunch I headed for the ever so popular 'dosas', which are a rice based pancake with potatoe filling and then you get a couple of chutneys and sambar(soup looking) bowls to dip the yummy dosa in. The south is more known for it's rice dishes. For dinner I tried the popular 'uttapam', which is a rice based pancake with the same yummy dippings on the side all on a bannana leaf.

Day 56: Today I tooked it easy and relaxed a bit. Tried some food from the state of Andra Pradesh, known for it's spicy food. The food was quite tasety and spicy. I got rice with a couple of vegetable dishes.

Day 54: Katmandu, Nepal

Day 54: Today I went to Durbar Square, where they have many temples. Hindu and Buddhist and they even have some that are mix of Hindu and Buddhist. In the mixed Hindu and Buddhist temple we saw a living goddess. They claim she is a reincarnation of one of the Hindu female god, Durga. Then headed to the airport. When I got to the airport, they had many security checks there at least three. Since I was planning on going back to India from Nepal I didn't bother to use up my Indian currency, which consisted of a couple $1000 and $500 rupees. At the airport I found out that you are not allow to bring in $1000 and $500 Indian rupees into Nepal. Not having anywhere to deposit them, the airport guy at the airport India let me pass thru, when I was going to Nepal. When I got to my 2nd security check in Katmandu, when I was leaving Nepal, the security guard thoroughly checked my bags and found the $1000 and $500 Indian rupee notes. I told him I did not use them I had come to Nepal from India and was planning on going back to India. He told me that this was a big crime and that his supervisor was watching that I could get in big trouble for this. Thoughts of movies I had seen about the horrible conditions in Thailand prisons passed by me.... As I looked pretty frightend, knowing I was in a helpless situation, at the security guard, he helped himself to a few of my $1000 and $500 Indian rupee notes and let me pass by. I thought boy was I lucky and then realized what had happen. The security guard had try to frighten me so he could help himself to a nice bribe. Well I guess you win some and you lose some. Being upset I had just lost about $80 US dollars I was even happier to leave Nepal and not have to see the sights of any potential Nepalese prison camp. So my advice is if you are traveling from India to Nepal DO NOT BRING ANY $1000 OR $500 Indian rupee notes with you!

My layover was in Calcutta to Chennai. When I got to Calcutta, being on the North East side of India, close to Burma, I noticed alot more of the Indian people looked of Chinese asian descent.

Day 52 & 53: Pokara, Nepal

Day 52: We headed back to Pokara from the hike. The people in Nepal overall have been very nice and laid back. Pokara a little bit more, since it is more secluded. Tried pizza, but instead of mozzarella cheese they had yak cheese, which unfortunatly is very strong and not so good.

Day 53: Headed back to Kathmandu via a bus. Sat next to an American girl of Chinese descent. She was commenting about how similar Nepal was to the Chinese culture and I of course told her I thought it resembles alot of the Indian culture. She told she had seen a Nepalese wedding and the groom carried the bribe on his back, which is similar to the Chinese custom. The bride was wearing a sari, which is part of the Indian tradition. Nepal is truly a mix of those to cultures. Even the food on the menus, gives you the option of Nepalese, Indian, Chinese, or Tibetian.

Day 50 & 51:Pokara, Nepal

Day 50: Today headed to Pokara to go trekking. The people of Nepal are a cross between Indo-Aryan people from North India and Mongolian. They are also alot of Tibetans here due to the take over of Tibet by China. Nepal is a Hindu Kingdom and the woman wear saris and langha's. The men have colorful topi's (hats) similar to the style of topi's in Himachal Pradesh. It is very similar to India. Pokara was very nice and not so much hassle with people trying to sell you stuff as Katmandu was. Signed up for a trek with a female trekking company called the 'Three Sisters', they are three sisters that started the organization about 10 years ago. They are Nepalese, but living in North India they decided to defy their parents in getting an arranged marriage and after college the girls headed to Pokara to start their trekking business. Their goal is help promote woman into becoming independent and to become trekking guides. The three sisters now have a trekking company and a guesthouse and are one of the successfull treking companies in Pokara. They have decided to share their wealth and have adopted 14 children.

Day 51: Did my trek up the moutain in Pokara. Passed by many traditional villages. The woman looked very similar to the the woman of Himachal Pradesh in India, the Central Asian look. They also had the same type of clothing, not to colorful, more subtle. They carried their baskets the same way, which is by having a strap around their head to carry the basket, which lies on their back.
My tour guide was from the NorthEast of Nepal and was of Mongolian descent. The trek up was very mountainous and their were alot of rice terraces along the way. That night I tried the tibetian 'momo', which is basically a chinese dumpling. it was quite tastey. Tried the Everst beer which was not very good.

Day 48 & 49: Katmandu, Nepal

Day 48: Headed arrived in Katmandu. It is a green, and cool, it is a valley in the Himalayas. Being very tourist it was nice to find a supermarket for a change, interesting how you realize things that you take for granted. Ended up staying at the Katmandu Guesthouse.

Day 49: Today took a plane up to see the Himalays what a sight to see. We saw Mt. Everst the tallest mountain peak in the world jutting out of the clouds. It was great magnificient. Ended the night going to eat a traditional Nepalese meal and seeing a cultural show. The clothes were very similar to the Chinese clothes. The food is very similar to Indian food, it's a cross between Indian and Chinese. They have dal and bhat which is very common in Indian foods. They don't eat any type of bread instead they eat rice with everything.

Day 46 & 47: Varnasi, Uttar Pradesh

Day 46: Varnasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is a bit more relaxed than Delhi. Relaxed pretty much the day. Ended up meeting a nice British girl, who I had dinner with.

Varnasi- city of Shiva (God of Destruction). It is one of the holiest cities in India. Hindu pilgrims come wash all their sins in the Ganges. It's where the most intimate rituals of life and death take place in public on the city's famous ghats.

Day 47: Took a boat tour of the ghats along the ganges. Saw many people bathing, washing their clothes in the ganges river. It was quite a sight to see. Then headed to some other temples. Then headed to Sarnath about 10km from Varnasi, where Buddha preached his first sermon after finding enlightenment. Buddha was a Hindu prince that lived in India in the state of Bihar he rejected the Hindu religion and formed Buddhism. Headed back to the Ghats to check out the nightly scene. They had puja's along the ghats and we even saw a body burnning. Ghats means steps leading down to the Ganges river. It was amazing to see the buildings as they were 1,000 of years old. Varnasi is considered to be one of the oldest cities in the world.

Day 45: New Delhi....

Day 45: Delhi...Came back to Delhi via the bus. Decided to finish up my sightseeing of Delhi. Headed to Dili Hut, which is a arts and crafts area and they have nice food around India. I tried food from Nagaland, which is NorthEast part of India. The food was a bit more bland than other parts of India. Then headed to see India Gate, the National Musuem. Saw the tribal outfits of people in the Northeast, close to Burma interesting their outfits resemeble more of Asia. Some even where feathers in their head. Then went to Akshar Dam, a great big SwamiNaran in temple.

Day 45: New Delhi....

Day 45: Delhi...Cam back to Delhi via the bus. Decided to finish up my sightseeing of Delhi. Headed to Dili Hut, which is a arts and crafts area and they have nice food around India. I tried food from Nagaland, which is NorthEast part of India. The food was a bit more bland than other parts of India. Then headed to see India Gate, the National Musuem. Saw the tribal outfits of people in the Northeast, close to Burma interesting their outfits resemeble more of Asia. Some even where feathers in their head. Then went to Akshar Dam, a great big SwamiNaran in temple.

Day 43 & 44: Manalli..

Day 43: Today I did a tour up the Himalays and saw some more beautiful scenery and saw snow on the side of the moutain. We went to the Beas River. This is where Alexander the Great tried to conquer India, but decided to return his troops back to Greece. Met a nice Bengali family. Tried a traditional Manali meal. There bread was a little different the bread was more round and thick and resembled more of a bagel made of whole wheat flour. The eat alot of fish there, so I tried the fish curry.

Day 44: I shopped around Old Mannali. The people were very friendly. I guess you tend to get that more with villages vs. cities. The people here are definitely more relaxed and friendly than other parts of India I have been to. They don't try and push you into buying things. They may ask you once and that's about all. It was a nice break.

Day 41 & 42: Manalli, Himachal Pradesh

Day 41: Manalli (in the state of Himachal Pradesh) is beautiful and lies up agains the beautiful Himalayas. It is very green with lots of pine trees, and the air is nice and clean. I thought my nice escape from the 'real India'.I decided to stay in Old Manali. It is pretty tourists here and they cater to westerns. There are alot of Isreals that are here from what I am told they are here due to the opium that many people smoke in the area. It is illegal, but I have been told alot of them come to smoke the opium.

Day 42: Today I rested and enjoyed most of the day watching the beautiful scenery. The weather was nice and cool. Many Indians come here for their honeymoon. The pine trees and the snow capped Himalaya moutains, the pretty waterfalls. I noticed there were some people that looked like they were from Central Asia. There clothes had more suble colors than the Indian clothes and they were lighter in complexion and small facial features. I also noticed alot of Tibetans and Nepalese. The Tibetans came due to the takeover of Tibet by the Chinese many fled to India in the Himachal Pradesh area. In particular Dharmasla, which is home to the exiled Dalai Lama. The Nepalese came for better opporuntity. It was hard for me to distinquish them as they look very Indian. Nepalese look a mix of mostly Indian and then some Asian.

Day 39 & 40: New Delhi...

Day 39: Today hung around Connaught Place where there are alot of modern shops. Then had dinner with Laura.

Day 40: Today I left to go to Mannali in the state of Himachal Pradesh. I was happy to take a break from Delhi. I boarded a volvo bus, which is a reclining seat. On the way up I met a nice Indian family with two little sons. The ride was pretty smooth except for the mountain curves. This was an overnight bus and the were going up into the moutains. I woke up at around 2:30am in the morning to swinging back and forth in my seat with the ride up the mountain. I don't know how the bus drivers keep the bus from falling down the mountain as most of the time there were no rails on the side of the road to safeguard the vechiles from falling down the side of the mountain.

Day 37 & 38: New Delhi...

Day 37: Today I went to city of 'Agra' in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Saw Akbar's tomb, Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. Akbar was one of the great Mughal emperors. The Taj Mahal was magnificent. It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan and dedicated it to his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to their 14 child. Then headed to lunch and had some delicious Indian tikkia masla. Indian chicken in a rich gravy sauce, which represents the influence of the Mughals. Then went to the Agra Fort. The ride back to Delhi was a bit bumpy as I don't most Indian buses don't have suspensions, so don't sit in the back seat!

Day 38: Today I decided to relax and get my hair done as it was becoming very dry in the heat. I went to one of the beauty salons there and had an Indian woman do my hair, who looked more Asian. The secret to Indian woman's beautiful silky hair in this heat is doing hot oil treatment twice a week. I thought she was from Nepal, but she explained to me she was from the North East state called Manipuri that borders Burma. She explained to me that area many of the people there look more Asian than Indian and there food includes alot of noodles, similar to Burmese and Chinese food. Then headed to do some shopping in New Delhi in the hip area with my friend Laura I just met from Atlanta. We then headed to the Hari Krishna temple to have a buffet dinner. There were alot of colorful lights around the temple.

Day 35 & 36: New Delhi...

Day 35: Today I left Jaipur and headed to New Delhi. I arrived and noticed how much modern is was to Jaipur. I guess since it is the capital of India it is expected to be modern. I noticed a big statue of 'Hanumam' which is the king of the monkeys. Is half man and monkey. I thought how interesting it reminded me of when I was in Bali (another Hindu area) and saw big statues of the gods in the middle of the road. I walked around town and was checked out there subway system. I was very impressed as the subway system was very modern. I checked out the subway system map and realized they had a neighborhood called 'Rohini', I was pretty impressed as Rohini is not a very common name they even had neighborhoods with the name 'Patel'.


Day 36: Today I took a tour of New and Old Delhi. I saw the Jantar Mantar, which is the astronomical observatory with masonry instruments. Then headed to Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which is dedicated to the goddess of wealth 'Laskmi'. Hindu temples are usually dedicated to a god or gods and the god or gods are displayed as a statue ornately decorated.
The temple was built in the Orissan style (Orissa is a state in India). The headed to the Qutub Minar, the Bahai House of Worship. Had a break for lunch some of us headed to 'McDonalds' as we were short on time. They have all different types of burgers with an Indian twist to them
all without beef of course, since the cow is very sacred. The cow represents fertility and nurturing in the Hindu religion. The cows roam around freely on the streets and often have right of way with traffic. The pizza restaurants all don't have pork pepeorni they have lamb and other types of peporoni, pork is not alow to be eaten in the Muslim religion. Finished the tour that day with the Red Fort and Humayun's tomb. Red Fort and Humayun's Tomb are both examples of Mughal articeture, Shah Jahan was suppose to move his capital from Agra to Delhi and built the fort for this purpose. Humayun's Tomb was built by the Persian born senior wife of Humayun, the 2nd Mughal emperor. Then headed to dinner with some people on the tour bus. Over dinner I was mentioning how it would be nice to get back to 'reality', one of the guys turned to me and said this is 'reality' and I thought wow this is true for most of the population this is the reality. The povery, people trying to sell you things, etc.... Interesting how we define our own realiy by our surroundings...

Mughals-came from Afghanistan and had conqured much of North India. The founder of the Mughal line Babur was a descendant of Genghis Khan (the great emperor of Mongolia)
There were 5 great Mughal emperors one of them included Shah Jahan who the bulit the great Taj Mahals.

New Delhi-was built as the imperial capital of India by the British and Old Delhi served as the Islamic capital of India.

Day 33 & 34: Jaipur...

Day 33: Today, I spent the day in bed with a cold unforutnately due to the AC being too high. I ended up checking out the local shops which is filled with jewleries and sari's. Then headed to a coffee shop, to get my strawberry milkshake. The coffee shop was very new and modern.

Day 34: Today I spent the day sightseeing. The bus was mixed with westerns and Indian people traveling from other parts of India. I find in India the best way to book tours is thru the local tourism center. We headed to Hava Mahal, City Palace, Amber Palace, Nahargath Fort, and Jaigarth Fort.

Day 32: Jaipur, Rajastan

Day 32: Jaipur is the capital of the state of Rajastan.

Rajastan: the 'Land of the Kings', is India's most coloured -charged state. Half desert, half bony hills, everyday is shot with searing colours. The state is packed with magical towns and cities. that are colorful. This is home to the Rajputs, a warrior clan. The Rajputs' bravery and sense of honour was unparalled. The would fight all odds and when no hope was left, chivalry demanded mass suicide take place woman and children commited suicide by self-immolation on huge funeral pyre while the men confronted the enemy and certain deaths.

Jaipur is know as the 'Pink City' as there are many places that are colored pink. Colors colors and more colors. Rajastan is the state of color. Indian woman have beautiful colored saris and Indian clothing and are very well ornate in jewelry. The colors are striking and look fantastic against the brown complexion of the Indian woman. Today I headed to the Om Tower to take a veiw of the city. This is a hotel that has a revolving tower at the top. I got a great chance to see Jaipur and to see how much of a dessert it really is, similar to Las Vegas.

Day 31 Ahmedbad..

Day 31: Ahmedbad is Gujurat's major city. I stayed with my cousin Seema who is a housewife and her husband runs his own business. I soon realized that alot of my cousin or cousines wives who went to college are now housewives. My cousin Seema's husband wanted her not to work, but to stay home with the kids. That day we headed to the Mega Malls. Ahmedbad and soon I would see that alot of the other major cities in India are full of these Mega Malls, basically similiar to like any mall in the U.S. I was surprised to see how modern the stores were inside and it was all air conditioned and were no haggling with prices. I soon wondered what would happen to the independent stores that still worked on haggling with prices, if everything was going to fixed prices. As we headed to the mall I saw a camel driven cart in front of the mall. I thought to myself this is India in the 21st century, going to the new and modern with all the mega malls, mega cineplexs, and gas stations, but still keeping the old with camel driven carts etc.. It will be interesting to see India in about 20 to 30 years from now.

That night my aunt and uncle from my mothers side came to visit. Another close relation as my aunt is my mom's sister and my uncle is related to my father. We had dinner the men and kids ate first and then the woman. I thought how interesting the men eat before the woman. I thought boy this would never happen in the U.S. I began to think how my life would have been so different had I not had the opportunity to live in the country where the men and woman are more equal and there are more opportunities for woman. I headed to the airport to buy my ticket to Jaipur that night. My cousines husband drove me to the airport and he brought along his two kids. In the car we started talking about the differences in the U.S. and India. India is a country where anything goes, which is similar to most 3rd world countries that are poor and desperate, bribery is common. My cousin told me that he doesn't have a license for a scooter, but if he drives one and gets stop then he slips the policemen 10 rupees vs. getting the 100 rupees or so for the ticket. Then we stopped to buy the ticket at the airport. My cousins husband parked the car in front of a no parking sign, he didn't seem to worried about getting a ticket. The policemen came by and said something, but my cousin was able to get him to go away without moving his car. We drove home that night with my cousin playing Hindi music and the kids happily singing along. We got back to my cousines house. My cousin Seema has three bedroom flat, but only one room has AC. We all piled into the room with the AC. I was really beginning to appreciate my level of privacy.

Day 29 & 30: Patan...

Day 29: Today my cousin Pinto, took me on his motorbike to see some places in town. Patan was an ancient Hindu capital. We went to go visit Rani-ki-Vav, which were rememants of a former bathroom of the Queen. It was amazing the amount of intricate detail and the different levels of floors that they had. That night I slept at my uncle's house, there were cots outside. It is common to have the whole family or parts of the family sleep on cots outside during the hot summer nights.

Day 30: Today I had lunch at my mothers sisters house, who we would call 'masi'. She lives in older house in Patan, she is about 70 and despite the fact that she is and house are old she does a great job in keeping the house clean and tidy. Then my cousin Alkesh took me to Ahmedabad. As we headed on the road I noticed an overloaded van with the back door open and men hanging out of it. I would later come to see the trains that are overpacked with people and the cities that are overcrowded. India is definitely an overpopulated country. You also see cows on the middle of the road as well and have to honk at them to have them move.

Day 28: Patan...

Day 28: Today I headed off to my mom's brothers house who we refer to in Gujurati as my 'mama' and his wife is my 'mami'. They have a nice five bedroom house the floor is all tiled to keep from getting too hot. My uncle son and his wife came with their two kids from the neighboring state of Maharstra, the kids were off and my cousin had his own business so he was taking the month off and spending it at my aunt and uncles house. Being the entreprenuers the 'Patels' about 80% of my cousines have their own business. We had a nice meal which consisted of a vegetable dish, roti (Indian bread), rice, dal (a type of soupey substain), and a tastey sweet for after dinner. This type of meal is very common in the state of Gujurat is to have both roti and rice for the meal. After lunch, my aunt asked if I wanted to take a nap surprised as it was the middle of the afternoon, she said they usually take naps during the afternoon in the air conditioned room, especially during the summer months. Agreeing to it, I then headed off to the air conditioned room with my aunt and my cousin's wife. Everyone found a spot on the bed or slept on a mat on the floor. The men take a nap in a seperate room.

After lunch, I then headed off to my uncles house across the street. My uncle is my father's cousin. Interesting my uncles father and my fathers father are brothers and my uncles mother and my father mother are sister. The resemblance is striking that he has to my father. My aunt is my mothers second cousin. Relations are very important in India. The villages that my parents are from are part of a group of villages called 'Village 42'. Marriages are arranged or encouraged between the villages that are part of the group of 'Villages 42'. It is major taboo to marry someone from the same village as you may be directly related to them!

We then headed off to the Ashram (holy Hindu Temple), where my father's family was part of. It is similar to having a family church. I met the Guru, that my father had gone to, he was 115 years old, but still remembered my father, I was amazed at his memory at that age. After that we headed to where they make Patola silk sari's. Patan is famous for making these sari's and the threads are tie-dyed to create the pattern before the weaving process begins. These saris literally take several months to make. The owner even showed me a picture of him with Colin Powell in Washington D.C. they were so famous they were asked to come for a special visit to the Smithsonian. When we walked outside I noticed all the woman in their colorful sari's. India is very colorful with all the colorful textiles. I also noticed that I did not see as much poverty as I had seen the last time I was in India. India is such a dyanmic country, hailing as the 2nd populous country in the world. I thought to myself 'What is the Face of India? ', I hope to answer this by the time I leave.

Day 27: Patan, Gujurat

Day 27: I woke up that morning in my cousins house on my fathers side. He lives there with his wife, his son, his sons wife, and my uncle his father. I slept in most of the day after my long flight. I woke up that moring and decided to head out to the bizarre with my cousin's sons wife. I hadn't realized how modern Patan had gotten. It had a two story shopping bizarre with many different types of stores, it even had a nice new movie cinemas. For those of you who are not familiar with India, Indians love the movies. Bollywood as this is Indians version of Hollywood hails as the largest film industry in the world. We walked into the street area some more and I noticed the camels pulling the carts. This is something that I did not see in South East Asia, boy I thought this really is the cross roads of Asia and the Middle East. I then spent the day speaking with my uncle who at the age of 75 had the best English out of everyone in the family. Many people from Patan, did not speak English well so I forced to speak the native language which is 'Gujurati'. Each state in India has it's own language aside from the offical language which is Hindi.

Gujurat: The state of Gujurat, is one of India's wealthier, more industrial areas. About 40% of Indians in New York are Gujurat and the Gujurati, surname 'Patel' is well known overseas. The 'Patel' surname is the most common surname in the state of Gujurat. 'Patel' means famer or village head. I could see that as both of my mother and father grew up in small villages outside of the town of Patan in north Gujurat. Being the entrepenuers the 'Patels' usually are both my mother parents and fathers parent both started business from the crops that they grew on their farms.

Day 26 : Hello....India

Day 26: I am on my way to India. I had a lay over in Bangkok, which I took the opportunity to have some sushi as I did not know how the sushi would be India. I bordered my flight from Bangkok to Mumbai. I ended up sitting next to a gentlemen who was Parsis (descendants from Iran, who came to India in th 10th century), who I mistaken for a Spanish or Italian as his english was perfect and he had more of a light olive complexion. I came to find out that he was schooled in England most of his life. Parsis he told me follow the religion Zoroastrianism, which is the concept of dualism whereby good and evil are locked in continuous battle. A pleasant afterlife depends on one's deeds and thoughts during earthly existence. Zorioastrianism was eclipsed in Persia (Iran) by the rise of Islam in the 7th century and some of the followers fled to India in the 10th century. There are about 90,000 Parsis in India many of them first settled in Gujurat as farmers, but later moved into commerce and moved to Mumbai...FYI...Fred Mercury lead singer of the band Queen was a Parsis.

The ride to India was rather smooth except for the bumpness when we flew over central India, my Parsis friend told me that it was due to the extreme heat, I thought boy I better get ready for this heat. I arrived in Mumbai (largest city in India and the capital of the state of Maharashtra) airport, we took a bus from the plane to terminal, my Parsis friend told me that this was very common for Mumbai airport. When I got to the terminal I realized how modern it had become, since the last time I was in India, which was 10 years ago. The chairs were pretty modern and the airport was cleaner than what I remembered. I had a 2 hour lay over, I sat down still trying to get use to my new surroundings, I tried to spot other Westerns as I was still getting used to the fact that I was surrounded by all these Indian people, funny I thought I look like these people, but I feel more comfortable with other Westerns as that is the surroundings I am use to being around. I boarded my flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad (one of the largest cities in the state of Gujurat). I arrived in Ahmedabad and was greeted by my cousins, who hired a car to drive me to the town my family is from which is about 2 hours away from Ahmedbad a place called Patan. As we were driving I realized how modern the roads had become and all the gas stations and hotels along the way. They even had a water amusement park that I spotted.

Day 25 & 26: Ventine

Day 25: Today I spent the day catching up on things and then went with Gayda to see her new house which is about 15 minutes from the capital Ventiene. We enjoyed bread, cheese, and fruit up in her balcony. Her house was quite spacious.

Day 26: Well today was my last day in Ventine. I have enjoyed my stay here. Funny the country is suppose to be the country of a thousand/million elephants, but I had not seen one as of yet!