notes from feb family trip to delhi, jodhpur, udaipur & agra
 

It's so funny to read other people's observations upon returning from their India trips because we just got back ourselves, (12 days in Feb. w/ my husband and 15 & 11 yr old daughters and 5 more days in Mar by myself) and we all have so many of the same feelings. Our not-very-big house suddenly seemed so extravagantly enormous and the roads deserted. I didn't think we'd actually miss the chaos - which bordered on the overwhelming at times - but indeed we did. And I agree it's both because the people everywhere were so warm and friendly and because everything - the endless contrasts one just can't help commenting on - is an on-going and addictive suprise.

To offer some quick highlights/recommendations:

We flew American, Hartford to Chicago (where one has to chose between a 50 min. and 6+ hr. layover) to Delhi. Uneventful (especially the 7 hr layover) and on-time.

DELHI Stayed at the Maharani Guesthouse in Sunder Nagar. I'd read mixed reviews but couldn't find anything else low-mid-range available. Rather grubby for the price. Good location, friendly service, but dark and drab.

Shopped at Cottage Industries near Connaught Cir, took rickshaw through Chandri Chowk in Old Delhi (mind blowing for our first day in India), toured massive Jama Masjid mosque where there seemed to be a demonstration getting underway as we were leaving - our self-appointed guide translated only the word "unity" but we suspected it had to do w/ the Danish cartoon mess. Red Fort worth a visit.

Flew JET AIR to Jodhpur. Good service and very serious about security.

JODHPUR: Air clear, dry and hot (high 80s) midday. Stayed in the Ranbanka, next door to Ajit Bhawan. Very good value. Comfortable bright marble rooms, simple and pleasant decor, very good bathrooms, lovely garden/restaurant area, solicitous service. Pretty pool, good food, music & dancing show at night.

Highlight: tour of the Mehrangarh Fort. The audio tour (I usually avoid) was excellent.

Drive in Quallis to UDAIPUR - 5-6 hours, easy, good road, interesting drive.

UDAIPUR beautiful!! Lake full and gorgeous. Lots of shore birds, terns and ducks. Stayed at small (7-room) Amet Haveli - wonderful 350-yr old rooms overlooking lake. Our daughters' room was quite a bit smaller but our suite was really nice. Lovely simple and quiet open air cafe/restaurant next door (run by same people) tree-shaded w/ spectacular view of the palace - understandable why Udaipur is called India's Venice.

We also liked the roof-top restaurant at Udai Kothi (sp?) a boutique hotel just down the road. Food excellent and view brilliant. (Non-guests can also swim in roof-top pool for $6-$7.)

Must mention: for miniature paintings - be sure to check out the small gallery of a local artists cooperative down the street: Kahul Art School 4 Gangaur Marg ([email protected]) They supply a lot of the local shops but sell directly as well. They also give lessons/demonstrations, which our older daughter especially loved.

Flew back to Delhi via Jet and drove down to Agra for 1 night - a gruelling 5-hr rush-hour drive. Stayed at Taj View Hotel - a bit corporate for our tastes. Agra is pretty much awful but Taj Mahal was worth the drive. Excellent guide, whose card I still have: Kamal Kishore Gupta (mob. 9837014852).

We can't wait to go back and god do we miss the food.

Thanks again to everyone who offered suggestions and insights during my tortured 6 weeks of planning. Lyd

How did it feel when you were at the Jama Masjid? Was it tense?

I went about 7 months after 9/11. My guides thought I may not want to go to the Muslim section of Delhi, but I said "Of course I do." Everything was fine.

Hi Lyd, Great to hear you had such a fantastic trip, my husbad, son (16) and daughter(12) and myself will be travelling around Rajasthan in October/Nov. 2006 (for the Pushkar Fair etc.,) We travelled extensively in India in 1984 - I guess things have changed lot since then - however it will be the first time for the children, how did your girls cope on with the poverty etc., also any information about maleria prevention - last time we were there I got very sick taking the pills. Any tips or suggestions would be most welcome. We are really looking forward to the trip as we know what a fantastic place India is and how friendly its people are. Happy travelling.

I took Malarone on recent trip which is new since I had travelled in 1994. I tolerated it well.

Your choices for malaria prevention in India are Malarone and Doxycycline. Malarone gives some people (like me) upset stomachs. If you go with Doxycyline, you need to continue taking it for 4 weeks after you leave India. Doxycycline increases the sensitivity of your skin to the sun.

Codycool: Our girls have been to Asia before so had exposure to poverty but saw things in India they hadn't before. The begging children was the tough part, especially for our 11-yr old. Kids the same age would come right up to her and make a gesture indicating hunger. The hardest part of this for her was that we'd instructed her not to respond because Indians had told us that giving money or toys had the effect of encouraging parents to use their children to beg. Our "solution" such as it was (nothing gets rid of the heartache) was to give money to crippled or very old people and to give gifts to children who were clearly in need but NOT asking for anything. We'd brought lots of colored pens and note pads and things like that and our daughter would hand them out to obviously very poor kids who were just playing on the sidewalk or sitting with their families (with the family's permission.) The kids would respond very warmly and it allowed our daughters to feel as if they were reaching out in some small way. Our older daughter took digital pictures of lots of kids and shared them with the kids or their families, which the kids loved. A friend told me they'd brought a polaroid and handed out the pictures, which were a hit. The other thing we did when we got home was to sponsor a child laborer (an 8-yr old boy) in the Moradabad brass works to be taken out of the factory and enrolled in school for a year.) Colleagues of mine run the program through their Indian NGO. If you're interested (only $120 for a year) I'll happily share more information.


Waynehazle: People as Jama Masjid were very welcoming for the most part. We didn't hang around to find out where the demonstration was heading - but everyone else was typically curious, wanted to talk, know where we were from, the age of the children etc. - didn't seem to be any big deal that we were American though we're a bit self-conscious about it overseas these days.

Tip for other readers: Picture taking is ok. Remember to pay the guy at the gate to watch your shoes and the self-appointed guide will ask for something like Rs 60.

We all took Malarone - no one got upset stomaches but we all had vivid "Malarone dreams."

Malarone does not cause vivid dreams. It is Larium (mefloquine)that has this side effect. Larium is not effective in south Asian countries.

Yea Larium does give good dreams - but we sure had some wild ones on Malarone - coincidentally or not.