7 sleeps only and we're off!
 

We are all very excited to be leaving for India next week. Thanks to all of you for advice and recommendations. We have extensive notes to use as a guide (not a bible!) for our trip.

I will report here when we get back with "warts and all" information 'though I can't promise to match Mr Dogster's writing skills!

Thanks again (well I'm British and polite) I will post if I need advice ! Look out for me.

Will post soon. xx

I believe Mr.Dogster is heading to India at the same time. BEWARE! Have a great trip and we'll look forward to reading about it.

As a matter of fact, I'll be there before MrsMarge. It's impossible to know the exact moment. Sometime between now and then. Beware indeed.

But unless Madama Marge get very lost indeed, we're unlikely to be in the same opium den at the same time. Should she see an elderly man sobbing in the street, anywhere in India, she's to stop and ask if it's Dogster.

There will be no on-the-ground reports. This is secret men's business.

I wonder what date the Margarines are leaving Varanasi...?

If Bruno the dog and his enormous bouncer/minder are at the hotel, Marge, take the opportunity to go out with them on their late afternoon walk. No matter what happens, do NOT take the leash. But the walk with the man and his pet monster is fantastic. You'll see why.

The guide there, one 'Pappu' may be really good - but exercise intuitive powers. Varanasi is smiling slime-ball central.

When somebody comes up to massage your hand, if you give it to him, you will never get it back - not before you've been stripped naked and pounded on the flagstones in front of hundreds of bemused pilgrims. Just don't do it.

The food at your hotel I found perfectly fine and safe. By then your brood should have developed enough immunity. Exercise caution with little local eateries around town. I didn't ever really find anywhere much that looked inviting, I must admit.

Simple instruction. Face the Ganges outside your front door. Go down the 17,000 steps and left for the cremations, right for everything else. You won't get lost if you always approach the hotel from the ghats.

If you don't - you will still be wandering the Varanasi alleyways in 2011. The best of us; Mensa scholars, Rubrik's cube tragics, computer nerds - we all get lost. Some are wandering still, eternally trying to find their hotel. You'll see them. They all look like Bill Gates but with a long, long beard and a sad look in their eye. They aren't sadhus. They aren't even wise.

They're just lost tourists. Be kind to them. Try and lead them back to the light. One might well be me.

Good luck, Mrs. Marge! We'll arrive on 11/16. (Just sat next to a little old lady, even older than I, at a luncheon who went to see tigers in India a couple of years ago and loved it.)

Mrs. Marge, I am really looking forward to your trip report. We are staying at Palace on the River in Varanasi in February. Do tell us all about YOUR interactions with Pappu (whom we have reserved) and of course Bruno, "the Great Dane of death".

Do synchronize your visits. Can't wait to read "Uncle Dogster pauses "secret men's business" to show Mrs. Marge Varanasi."

Ah, Marija, who knows where the Dog will end up?

They seek him here, they seek him there...

Did you ever read that 70's book called 'The Diceman?' about a person who, instead of using any rationale at all, reduced life down to six options; numbered them - then simply threw a dice to make up his mind.

My travel plans are a bit like that.

" . . .they seek him everywhere."

"Be he from heaven,
Or be he from hell,
He is the one they call,
The Scarlet Pimpernel . . ."

Hey guys - just 3 sleeps til we go.

Mr Dogster - if you care (or dare), grace us with your presence. We arrive Varanasi on 9/11 for 3 days. The children are well behaved, my husband is a most honourable gentleman and we are bringing 1ltr of gin.

Thanks for the directions. Made a note most helpful.

Will write-up on return as we do not intend to take laptop or spend time on computers.

indianpearl, our youngest is Scarlet, must be a sign we should all take Mr D for dinner. We will be in Andamans from 16 Nov.

Huge thanks to you all, I have made so many notes from here.

One final thing, we are still packing too heavy, I think it's toiletries. However, we need winter woollies for safari, blankets for sleeper class (I know, I know but it's an adventure) snorkel gear for Andamans. We are gonna have re-pack. All tips/suggestions welcome

More gin!

We're trying to decide if we should buy a BBBIIIGGG bottle of Bombay Sapphire at the duty-free when we depart from Newark. Love the name Scarlet . . . wear funny hats and perhaps we'll recognize you if our paths should cross.

Stay well and have a wonderful adventure!

For all of us, it'll be a case of so-near and yet...

I get there two days after you leave Marge. I'm in Udaipur four days before indiana... by the time they get there I'm deep in the countryside on a secret adventure.

That damned elusive Pimpernel..

And, in about an hour, I leave. Better go.

Mrs Marge.
Re the blankets, we are going to pack some micro fleece blankets that are quite warm but weigh less than a pound and dont take up much room.

Is Dogster headed for the Rajasthani desert on a male bonding, Robert Bly-type weekend? Skip the sweat lodge if someone tries to talk you into it!!

Is Dogster headed for the Rajasthani desert on a male bonding, Robert Bly-type weekend? Skip the sweat lodge if someone tries to talk you into it!!

Dogster's gone but he's left a photo for us (click on his name).
Remember Marge and IP--
Those Fodorites seek him everywhere.

Good thinking Marija - more gin it is.

indianapearl, go for the big one of Bombay Sapphire. Hope our paths do cross - we can share a gin and tonic or 2. Scarlet's name follows her big sister's Poppy. We even have Scarlet red poppies in our garden - yes my favourite colour is red.

It would be good to spot the Dogster but I doubt we will travel the same paths.

PS we were packing lighter than we thought; those travel scales are really rubbish.

MrsMarge: My favorite color is red as well! Mucho red in my house, although not so much as to make everyone crazy. I try to quench it with greens/teal.

The Dog is on a secret mission to do weird and wonderful things which we'll learn about later. It's good to know he's back in India. I hope he is happy.

It seems there are some of us Fodorites who are primarily Indiaphiles. I think you're one. I doubt we'll meet as we're on different itineraries, but have a wonderful time!

I'm having some episodes of free-floating anxiety about the trip, but I'm sure it will all resolve itself soon.

Free-floating anxiety about a trip to India is merely sensible planning, indiana - lol. No sweat lodges, Marija - although, once in 2000 I went on one of those 'men's group' things. I don't need it. As it turns out I was the most manly of the lot of them.

The mystery will remain. I have a little bit of follow-up to do in Varanasi. No need to broadcast that. How am I getting there? Well, there's a story...

Where am I now? Not in Australia. What crucial item did I leave at home? My glasses. So, actually, I'm not really sure where I am - it's all a gentle blur. I'll go out, buy some new specs, look around and identify the city later.