India

Today we ones again packed all of our stuff and checked out of our hotel room. It made packing a lot easier now that we sent some stuff back. Well, Tony didn’t even have to stand on our bags to close the zippers! Tony hopes Ruby will not think of the extra space as “room to buy stuff”. We then took a walk down the crowded street to Falafel’s restaurant near India Gate. It was good but it wasn’t Falafel Drive-Inn (San Jose Restaurant). It’s our last day and we wanted to see a little of the city before our flight so we started a walking tour listed in the Lonely Planet India book. There are a lot of amazing buildings in Mumbai and if you didn’t know you would think you were in Europe. Ruby hadn’t felt well all day and as we walked around she started feeling a little more ill. When Ruby started throwing up on the street we decided to rethink our plan of staying out all night and going directly to the airport from the bars. We checked back into our hotel so Ruby could take and nap and try to recover before our flight. Other than a mild upset stomach this is the first time either of us has been really sick from food. Tony got some dinner at FoodInn and went on the lookout for BRAT diet items (Bananas, Rice, Apples and Toast) for Ruby. We had come prepared and Ruby medicated herself with some cipro and compazine. By 1 am she was feeling much better and the nausea was under control. We took a taxi along the water to the airport and headed off to Thailand. Luckily Ruby didn’t have any further episodes but we think it was probably the fruit in the sangria!

Soapy water in bucket works well for hand washing clothes! It’s so hot in Mumbai that we were confident they would air-dry quick. Then we packed up everything that we don’t need or that we accumulated on the trip and took it to the post office to send to Tony’s brother Jeffrey in France. YAY! It turned out that we had been carrying an extra 26lbs for the last few weeks. It felt so good to get rid of all that stuff and we know it’s going to make packing tomorrow so much better. Feeling like we accomplished something we rewarded ourselves with the crispy treat chicken again at FoodInn. If you ever get the chance to eat there please do because it was just as good as yesterday and maybe as good as tomorrow? Once you’re done with shopping and you’re still walking down shopping streets you need to learn how to avoid the persistent vendors, our advice: look straight ahead, do not make eye contact, and ignore all requests to check out their wares. There is nothing wrong with this and it is not considered rude so don’t feel bad We stopped off at a small coffee shop to update our blog but Tony started a conversation with Tony and Sara from Amsterdam so drank beer and talked instead! He’s makes independent films and was planning on doing a project in Goa. They had just arrived in India so we exchanged stories and gave them some suggestions. We returned to Moshe’ for a pesto chicken salad dinner, just up the road from India Gate. We met up with Tony and Sara again at a small bar called the Woodside Inn. The two Tonys and Sara had beers and Ruby had her first sangria in months—and if you recall Mendoza Argentina you know how much she likes sangria! It was pretty good, red wine with fresh fruit in it, but you would be surprised at how many countries can mess that up! Tony and Sara called it an early night and we decided with our late flight out tomorrow we should too. We hope you they have a great trip in India and we hope weill see them in New York?

After an 11 hour train ride we arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Train station in Mumbai around 6:30am. Walking off the train we instantly realized that we were back into the hustle and bustle of the city. As we got into a taxi we were surprised by all the European influenced architecture. It was Kirk’s last day in India and we had no idea where to go but Kirk had stayed at a cheap and clean hotel called Al-Hijaz ($18/night) in Colaba the last time he was in town. This turned out to be a great location, just around the corner from the Gateway of India and the boats going over to Elephanta Island. We all showered and had an amazing brunch with french toast and a pesto chicken salad at Moshe’s. It sounds like a crazy combination but when you’ve been traveling around India for the last month and so excited just to see some of your fave non-Indian food on the menu. We then hopped on the “locals” boat to Elephanta Island which takes about an hour from the docks. The island is famous for the rock carvings inside caves on the hillside. This place was amazing and we felt like it looked like a smaller version of Petra, Jordan but we haven’t been there yet so we’ll let you know. The main attraction is a large open room about 200’x200’ with detailed wall carvings on all four sides: one featuring a huge beautiful three headed Hindu God Lord Shiva, as creator, protector and destroyer of the universe. Tony was not having luck with monkeys, first he nearly got mauled by a papa monkey when he was taking pictures of the babies and then later another monkey ran up and grabbed a coke bottle out of his hand. Tony tried to chase the little bugger but the monkey hissed and showed his fangs. We thought it would be best if the monkey got away with it since Tony never got his rabies shots! After practically having to drag Ruby down the steps through the gauntlet of sales booths we made it back onto our boat. We decide it had been a long day and why not treat ourselves? So we splurged and spent the extra 40 cents to upgrade to the nicer boat. Kirk still had some shopping to do before the trip home so we walked down Bhagat Singh Road which is another gauntlet of street vendors and small shops selling you everything from shawls to saffron. Ruby got the most amazing shiny sparkly flip-flops and Kirk finally got his elephant inside of an elephant inside of an elephant We then stopped for lunch at the FoodInn which Kirk recommended. It was sooo good and the crispy treat chicken appetizer was amazing and definitely something we will have again before we fly out! We continued to shop, haggling for clothes, jewelry and things that we didn’t even want. Bargaining tip for the bazaars in Mumbai: always offer 50% of what the vendor says first. You will usually get at least 30-40% off of their initial offer . . .and if they’re not willing to budge, there’s usually a vendor with same exact product just at the next stall over! It was fun but out of money and with Kirk waiting for us back at the room it was time to call it a day. Back at the room, we watched as he tried to stuff everything he’d just purchased into his overstuffed bag and thought “maybe we should ship some stuff home?” . After sending Kirk off we walked around town enjoying the people watching and stopped to get some pani-puris and fresh fruit for dinner. For the record: Yes Tony ate pani-puris off the street multiple times in India and no he did not get sick.

We started our day with yoga at a small studio (more like a shack) on the beach with Lola. This time she was teaching Vinyasa Flow. The class was great and but some of the moves were a little advanced for us. Ruby tried not to laugh since Tony was standing in front of her trying to do one of the poses. She thinks the name was “The Epileptic Flamingo”. .well at least that’s what it looked like! He blamed his bad ankle but I blame over 3 months of traveling and eating well. We then grabbed a great breakfast with Kirk and started packing. Tony managed to somehow get all of our stuff into the bags but he practically had to jump on them to get the zipper closed. We had a long taxi ride to the train station. . . there was no way we were going to take 4 consecutive non-A/C buses again! We decided with the long trip that we would get some food at the train station before boarding. Don’t do this if you come to Goa! The food was horrible and we’re lucky that we didn’t get sick. The train was running an hour and a half late so we sat on the grass, shared photos, and talked to Kirk about what food he was looking forward to when he gets back to Oz. We had reserved great seats in A/C second class that turned into beds. This is a totally different train experience than the last one we took and we don’t think we can ever go back! We chatted with a family from Mumbai that were in the same cabin. They were so nice to share some of their homemade matis (salty snack) and ladoos (sweet sugary balls) with us. The hospitality in India is like no other. . . except Lawton Oklahoma says Tony

Ruby was up bright and early today excited about going to do some yoga. She woke both Tony and Kirk up just in time to run down the beach to Magic Park to catch a Kundalini yoga class. The class was taught by a really sweet young woman named Lola. Kundalini combines meditation with several poses. All of us are essentially beginners so it was really funny to watch. Ruby enjoyed it the most and her favorite was the “elephant walk” while Tony hated the “Dragon’s Breath” which involved panting like a dog with your tongue out , he thinks it should be called “Dog’s Breath” instead . . good thing nobody was recording this! Afterwards we found a great German breakfast place called Pum Pernickel and Tony tried some of the honey lemon ginger tea that Kirk had been drinking . . . really gingery! It was nice to find some good baked bread after all the rice and naan we’d been eating. We showered after lunch and of course Tony had to go boil water outside for Ruby's hot water. . that's love I tell you. Afterwards, we caught up on the internet for a few minutes before heading to the beach to read and drink our vodka-spiked Slice (a delicious mango drink available everywhere). Kirk met up with us on the beach and we did a little shopping. Tony sat and watched the sunset while Ruby decided she wanted to try an ayurvedic massage . . . it was wonderful. The woman massaging Ruby used jasmine scented oil, and hot poultices made of Indian medicinal herbs to relax the muscles. On our last night in Goa we went back to Ajay’s Mango Tree restaurant and tremendously enjoyed some more fresh seafood—Ruby got her masala prawns again while Tony and Kirk both shared a grilled tuna as well as two red snappers. . . and of course we all had a Hello to the Queen!

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We had a pretty mellow day today, doing exactly what you would expect when in Goa, NOTHING! Arambol Goa is not really India at all, you can wear skimpy clothing without being judged, there’s ample amounts of alcohol available (for cheap) and it’s mostly westerners.... so we took advantage and slept in, walked around and looked for places to eat and did some day-drinking. Not a lot to blog about when you do that. The Arabian Sea is warm and the sand is nice with a soft breeze and not too many skeeters (aka mosquitoes). Walking and relaxing on the beach, just the way we like our Valentine’s Days! As a mutual V-Day present Tony finally shaved his furry face--well technically he got a straight razor shave Ruby barely recognized him without the fur. We watched the sunset on the beach with all types of crazy performers: jugglers, fire throwers, hula hoops and dancers that you would expect in Goa. We meet up with Kirk for dinner at Mango Tree on the beach, Ajay the owner was super nice and is a professionally trained chef and it showed in the food. The masala prawns were DELICIOUS. . they were so flavorful along with a simple fresh salad ! Kirk and Tony really enjoyed the fresh red snapper that had been caught that day. We may be eating here every day in Goa? It is truly a gift to have the opportunity to travel and to be eating on the beach with the love of my life . . . it is truly something we will never forget!

Well, we survived the train and even managed to get a little sleep and woke up to a gorgeous sunrise over the palm trees. We arrived at the train station in Goa but still had a long way to go to Arambol Beach which is a haven for hippies. We tried to get a grab a cab but with busses only costing around 1 dollar each it’s hard to spend $22 on a taxi! At the time we didn’t know we’d have to take 3 busses and one three wheeler but that’s the things that happens when you travel on a budget. The highlight of that trek was a stop for a masala dosa! We finally arrived over 3 hours later and walked from town to the beach and found a nice room on the beach ($8/night), of course we had to carry our bags because you can’t roll them through sand! That’s when we decided we REALLY REALLY needed to do a shipment back home. We all took showers and a short walk up to restaurant called Outback located all the way on the north side of the beach around the cliffs. The food was great and they even had chilled white wine to go with our fish! After traveling so far and for so long if felt good to be sitting and relaxing listening to the waves. Life is good! Kirk introduced us to the ridiculous dessert called “Hello to the Queen”. We think it’s just everything they had piled on one bowl? Roasted bananas, ice cream, cookies, whipped cream, nuts, chocolate and we think a few more things. You know Tony loved it and he’ll probably be asking for it every night now. Now with a ridiculous sugar high we walked home along the beach listening to the trance music coming from the clubs and bars.

We got up early to pack our bags that are getting pretty big now and we are realizing that traveling the world with only carry-ons is a good idea on paper but it’s a little hard in reality. We hopped into a three wheeler which has become our favorite of the trip thus far—the driver had a stereo playing great Hindi music, flowers and colorful streamers hanging off the sides Our trip to the Tata Tea museum that morning was awesome. We learned a ton about tea processing and its history here in India. They played a video with tons of historical information but turned it into a Tata Tea infomercial at the end Did you know that the only difference between black and green tea is oxidation? Neither did we and if you did . . . maybe you drink a little too much tea and it’s time to switch to coffee? :-) We arrived at the bus terminal just as the bus to Kochi was departing and somehow Tony managed to squeeze all of our stuff on as Ruby ran across the street to grab some nuts and a drink for the long 5 hr non-stop ride. On the bus we met a kid named Kirk from Sydney that had been traveling around India for the last three months. We used his India travel book, talked to him about it and decided that we would follow him to Goa. The one problem with this brilliant plan was there is only one night train a week and none of us had reserved tickets—thus, the only tickets we could get were in general seating . This was Tony’s first train in India and the train station was as crazy as you would think. People everywhere, no lines and no real direction on what to do or were to go. Before the train even stopped people were jumping on and off, running up and down as we were doing our best just to drag our stuff in. We didn’t know what “General Seating” was at the time but we do now. Let us tell you, the train doesn’t have assigned seats, in fact it doesn’t have seats at all more like benches with people crammed in. The first on gets the best seats and if you don’t get on quick enough you may be standing for a very long time. This was a 15 hour train ride and after a few hours standing in the halls Ruby and Kirk decided they would go on a mission looking for open seats or a train conductor. Tony stayed with the bags and talked to a few local boys who were coming back from testing in the city. The first problem we encountered is that you cannot walk all the way down the train through connections but actually have to get off to switch train cars . . . so Kirk and Ruby were stuck at the front of the train until about an hour later when at one of the stops Ruby came running back in the train telling Tony that she and Kirk found seats in the front of the train. The best way to get to our new seats was to run outside the train at the next stop but unfortunately for us Kirk stayed to save the seats and sent Ruby (yes 100 pound Ruby) back to carry the 7 bags with Tony. We decided that we had all night and would just walk the aisles slowly until we made it to our new car or came to a locked car. By the way it’s hard enough to walk though a train in India without any bags now we’re dragging, pushing, and carrying 7 of them. We were quite the spectacle…bumping people’s heads, running over people’s feat…basically making a giant mess of US India relations. We finally got stopped by a train official who must have thought we were crazy and gave us two beds. It was some of the best news we had heard in a long time till he told us it was just a few more train cars up. Funny thing about that is we were so excited about our new beds that we passed them and had to walk 3 or 4 cars back thought the cars we had just walked. Yes back, bumping people’s heads, running over feet…well, we finally made it to our beds and Tony ran up and got Kirk. With only two beds Ruby and Tony had to share a 3 foot wide bunk. This is great practice for the yoga we will be doing in Goa. Good night and don’t forget to pre-book an A/C sleeper car for your next India train!

Green, green and more green. That is how we would describe Munnar, well, most of Kerala really. We decided to hire a private driver to take us around to see the sites . . . in India that is a luxury that we can afford ($23/day) We couldn’t get over the gorgeous tea plantations which cover most of the surrounding hills. If we had to make a comparison. . we’d say this area is like Lake Tahoe meets Santa Barbara wine country. We checked out some colorful orchids at the flower garden and I made clear to Tony that I did not want any hydrangeas which Tony thought were pretty! We stopped at a few spots along the road to take photos including a tree covered with Jungle Honey Bee Nests. . . glad those things didn’t start buzzing around! We stopped at a known wild elephant crossing. .we saw trampled grass and dung but alas no elephants were to be seen. Our driver offered to take us to see tigers on a night safari through the jungle but we’ve been watching the Discovery Channel and didn’t want to end up on some animal attack show just yet! We stopped at a local restaurant and found out that the “menu” is just a suggestion of what they could have some day. .all they had was fried rice?! So far, this menu thing seems to be a trend around South India. We have not been enjoying the food in South India as much. . it’s probably because we were spoiled by family up north. Somehow we crossed into another Indian state: Tamil Nadu and ended up at the Top Station which was an old lookout point for the military. We also had the opportunity to watch some Indian tea plantation workers doing the very labor intensive job of hand-picking through the bushes for just the best leaves! We went to a sunset view point but unfortunately we didn’t get to watch the sunset due to some untimely GI upset After all that we just wanted to chill in the room for a bit and watched more Discovery Channel (the only English Channel on TV) at our hotel—7’s TM which cost us about $20/night. Later we meandered out into the crazy little town for another mediocre dinner served on banana leaves and called it a night.

We find ourselves hot, sweaty and dusty. . how did we get into this predicament? Hmmm it might have something to do with the fact that we have been “winging it” and have had no reservations or guidebooks for our time in India! Secondly, we decided it would be a good idea to take one of the Kerala state run buses to a place called Munnar (highly recommended by one of Ruby’s cousins). Boy was that a bad idea. These state-run buses are NOT air conditioned and in the 90+ degree weather we are not happy campers and practically sticking our heads out of the window like dogs to stay cool. South Indians must be made of steel because the driver did not stop for ANY reason for the first 6 hours of the trip, no bathroom breaks OR stops for a small bite/drink. Tony even says that he had no business complaining about the South America buses after this experience, those were LUXURY compared to this! After 9.5 hours of many switchbacks, a little nausea, and endless palm trees on the most indirect route possible we finally arrived at our destination just as the sun was setting. We must admit that the view was gorgeous and made the trip all worthwhile. . although next time we’ll probably hire a private driver for about $100 instead of the $10 we paid for the bus! We watched the sun set over waterfalls, tea plantations, hills covered in palm trees and spice stores. We happily hopped off the bus and told one of the tuk-tuk drivers to take us to a hotel that was less than $20/night, grabbed a bite to eat and are really looking forward to exploring this region tomorrow!

The first thing we did this morning was go get some fresh squeezed pineapple and mango juice—one of the perks of being in India is that they have fresh fruit and juices all over town. Then we meandered our way through town to East Fort and passed through some sort of labor protest until we found the stop to pick up a local bus (50 cents each) to Kovalam beach (about 13 km south). Most of the day was spent walking around exploring Kovalam beach. They have terrific shopping but apparently NOTHING is made in Kerala. . everything comes from places like Kashmir and Jaipur. It was really tough not to buy EVERYTHING. . the items were so unique and beautiful. Some of which we haven’t seen again anywhere in India! Ruby was doing her best to spend our daily budget on stuff for the house . . . thankfully (with no help from Ruby) we still had enough money to take the bus back! South India has terrific seafood so we definitely enjoyed some fish and prawns at lunch. We saw this ridiculous looking religious float playing loud music driving on the street---and it was just one of many that we would see in the state of Kerala. Afterwards we hit lighthouse beach to laze around until the sun was ready to set and then headed back to Trivandrum for dinner. The beach is on the Arabian Sea which has really warm water, it was pretty but nothing spectacular, we hear that Varkala Beach further north is nicer. We had some disappointing pepper chicken for dinner which was not even close to Ruby’s uncle’s recipe and headed to bed.

By midnight we were on a Volvo night bus heading from Chandigarh to Delhi. These are supposed to be some of the best buses in India but Tony will beg to differ. After a long bus ride we were both exhausted. There is not a lot going on at Delhi airport at 5:00am but we did find a few comfy benches to nap on until our flight at noon. We grabbed some Brandy Snap Cookies at Cookie Man of Australia. They are amazing and if you see Cookie Man of Australia you should definitely get some! Our flight was only a few hours to Mumbai then on to Trivandrum in the India state of Kerala. We both passed out most of the way and tried to catch up on some lost sleep. Kerala is known to have the highest literacy rates in India as well as lots of Christian influences so we knew this would be different from our experience up North. The only thing on our mind when we got into Trivandrum was a hot shower. This is South India where it is really hot a lot of the year. So of course they did not have hot water and when Tony asked they looked at him like he was crazy and told him “there’s no hot water at night”. We now know that when traveling around India, hot water is a bonus and even more so if it comes out of a shower head NOT a bucket. After dinner. . . missing the home-cooked food already, we called it an early night.

We had a leisurely morning at the house working on our budget, emails, and trying our best to update the blog. Afterwards we headed to Sonu’s shop in sector 37C for some shopping and to pick up some gems that we had picked out. With the help of Sonu Tony picked up a new suit and had it fitted. We had some time till the suit would be ready so Sonu decided to take us out to his favorite pani-puri spot. This location is famous for having 7 flavors from sweet to salty but after tasting them all we still think the ones in Fremont are some of the best! I don’t think anyone can get deals like Sonu and he almost talked us into making a custom ring because it was so cheap. We were planning on leaving on a 4am bus to Delhi but Sonu suggested we take a night bus to avoid missing our flight because of traffic. Yes, another night bus to add to our list! In appreciation of Sonu’s bargaining abilities we went to the liquor store and asked the shop owner which was the best brand of whiskey---it turns out we picked out the one that Sonu and Amen served at their wedding! We had lots of packing to do but he had other plans for us and took us to his house for one last amazing home cooked meal by Auntie Nina and Simran. We had some whiskey and ate good food till we were about ready to pass out and miss our bus. They also gave Ruby a gorgeous teal/brown suit and Tony a dress shirt. Afterwards, we rushed to Baboo’s house to pack and said our sad goodbyes to everyone. Heena had some very thoughtful going- away presents for us too! Sonu dropped off at bus station at midnight and we were on our way. Pre-Family Visit Luggage Count: 3. Post-Family Visit Luggage Count: 8. yup, looks like we need to do some shipping!

Heena, Ruby and I got up early to head to the Gurdwara (temple) in Sector 8 for the conclusion of the akhand path (religious ceremony) in remembrance of Ruby’s grandmother who passed away in February of last year. Ruby decided to wear her new suit again and received lots of compliments on it! It was great to see so much of the family driving from as far as bassi pathana, Ruby’s mamaji and auntie also came for the event. Tony got asked a thousand questions by the fam and passed with flying colors. Ruby really wanted to spend some time with her mom before leaving Chandigarh so we went back with her mamaji to the house. We ended up spending the rest of the day there and auntie made Nuno’s favorite Manchurian dish. We all enjoyed dinner and talked for hours. Tony spent most of the evening playing Playstation with cousin Rooble. It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone. Ruby’s mamaji dropped us off at the house while trying to convince Tony to take acting classes and start a printer ink refilling business on the side

Yay! Today we get to put on all of our spiffy new duds for Honey’s big wedding day! We got all dressed up and took a three-wheeler across town to the Gurdwara (temple) for the wedding. I think Tony got some looks in his new kurta pajama and everyone asked if “he was from the outside?”. Honey’s mom Pinky was just glowing and super excited to see her second daughter getting married. Tony was taking notes on all the ceremonies and traditions since they can be a bit elaborate. It all started with food and drinks at the pre-wedding reception at the temple. The groom arrived a few hours later with a large procession including a band with bagpipes but somehow he got away without having to ride in on a horse Then there was the formal wedding ceremony inside the temple where the couple gets “tied together” with a garland and the bride follows the groom around the alter 7 times. Afterwards we all went to the post-wedding reception at the temple for some more yummy food and had a chance to meet some of Ruby’s more distant relatives visiting from Hyderabad and Ahmedabad with open invites to come and stay and visit them anytime! You’ll see that Ruby loves babies and hardly put Amen’s newborn daughter down during that entire them. After all this excitement everyone headed to the Bride’s home to “send her off” and you can see that everyone is upset or crying because it is symbolic of her “leaving her home for good” to join her new family at her husband’s house. After this we got a bit of break to rest and change outfits. Sonu took us shopping and boy can he bargain!! If anyone needs to go shopping in India, Sonu’s the man to call We wish we could take Sonu to NYC with us! Afterwards we had another wardrobe change and headed to the gorgeous formal wedding reception at Rai Farms. All we can say is WOW! Tents, fireworks, fire-dancers, amazing catering, a live band and an open bar. . . . they certainly know how to throw a party! Everyone was decked out and we really enjoyed looking at all the shiny-sparkly outfits everyone was wearing.