Off to India
 

We're off to India tomorrow morning. This evening we found out that Air France, Delta's partner, changed our seats yesterday from an isle and window to two middle seats in different isles. Not a great start. We'll be at the airport bright and early to see if we can rectify this situation.

Do I get credit for starting my trip report in a timely fashion?

Grrrrh...just venting.

10 extra points...

these seat change situations are getting out of hand... same thing happened to us a while ago... i kicked up a big fuss... the on board staff helped out quite a bit... we got a 3 seater with no one in between...

bon voyage!

Thats awful about those seat changes but I hope you have a fabulous trip.

Have a great time, and raise holy he'll about the seats (quietly, of course)!

Definitely disappointing. That's the bad news. The good news is you're still going to India! I hope to be also before the winter is out.

A seat switch happened to me on my Vietnam trip, and to my brother who is a million miler top elite with the airline. It certainly is annoying, but the airlines claim that seat assignments are just requests and are not guaranteed.

Have a wonderful trip, despite the annoying beginning. I look forward to reading about your adventure.

Thank you all. Nothing will ruin out good time. We are hoping for a free upgrade to business class. Hah!

Good luck on your seat situation. It is maddening to think you have it all covered and something like this happens. Have a great trip and we will be following...literaly.

Waiting...anticipating...

Have a wonderful trip! I look forward to hearing all about it.

Don't let the seat situation get you down and have a fantastic trip. I look forward to your report.

How annoying! Good luck, hope you have a wonderful time.

If this is our only set back, life will be good. We're in Atlanta now waiting to fly to Paris. We were given new seats - window and middle, but in the exit row and we were assured that there is far more leg room and that the seats recline. Now we will fight over who is stuck in the middle! Air France sure had things messed up. They changed our seats from Paris to Delhi to 2 middle seats as well, however we were told that in Paris they will reissue us our original seats.

Travel requires flexibility.

Enjoy your trip. I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures.

Me too!

Have a great time and as Craig says don't let the seat aching get you down.

Seat thing. That should say, I hate this apple keyboard.

awaiting your first trip installemnt

did you make it or should we send out the dogs??

...you mean dogsters??

No the dogster has his own problems with terrorists on the Nile right now and cannot be disturbed.....

Aloha!

Remember nice long, juicy reports please.

Calling dgunbug, calling dgunbug....

Are you communing in an ashram, or floating down the Ganges?

Hi from khajuraho. No free wifi anywhere so u have only been on the net sporadically and was unable to get into fodors when I tried previously.

First let me say we are well and enjoying India. No delhi belly, but I do gave a rather large rash in my leg which will gave to wait till we return gone.

The plane ride was fine although air France and delta messed up on our next leg of the trip as well and we were again moved to two middle seats. It took about 30 minutes to rectify although it didn't matter as there were many empty seats between paid and Delhi and we each took 3 seats and spread out to sleep. The only problem was that my glasses fell and I stepped in them. Luckily they did not break, but were merely bent as I did not have a spare pair along.

We arrived and cleared customs easily around 11 pm. Our intention was to sleep in the delhi airport as our flight out to udaipur was at 5 am. It turned out that the rooms in the airport were all booked. I paid to stay in the lounge area (I think about $20) for 2 hours, but everytime I was about to doze off, I was awakened by slapping sounds. The room is also used for massages! Not worth the money at all if you intend to sleep. Later we headed up stairs where we found the seating to be more comfortable. The airport was quite nice with a decent food court and shops.

We arrived in udaipur early enough to grab breakfast and start our adventure. My first stop was an optical shop for my much needed repair.

More later

Just wanted to note for abyone that may be coming before i complete a report-that Gwalior was a nice surprise with fabulous cliffside carvings and a palace different from any other we have encountered.

We are following...leave in 2 weeks. Any good pointers will be noted.

Waiting to read more!!!

It's good to hear from you. I love reading brief updates as people are traveling, so thanks for checking in.

Thanks for posting...

Does your husband regret not self-driving? Enjoy your trip.

Ha! While he still says he could have driven, he notes that we would never have gotten past our first destination. I think he is quite relieved to be a passenger...even he knows his limits.

We are staying at the Palace on the River (Rashmi guest house) which is well located and whose food lives up to it's recommendations. My husband wants to know though, "if we pay extra, can we get a mattress"? My god...we might as well be sleeping in the floor. Not sure I can recommend this hotel based on the bed, but I will reserve judgement.

Tell them you know the man who was pulled into the Ganges by Bruno.

http://thedogster5.wordpress.com/top-dog/

That might get you extra service.

Oh, and if you're down that end [right, I think, from Rashmi] check out this place:
Suryauday Haveli
http://amritara.co.in/Varanasi/suryauday-haveli.html

It's new, doubtless overpriced...

Regarding hard beds in India, I discovered after several trips that my back improved when I slept on the hard beds. I found a beautiful old bed in Jodhpur, had it sent home, added plywood and a futon and that's where I now sleep. I confess though that I do enjoy a nice pillow top on occasion when traveling.

Dgunbug, great to hear from you, as you are there. Keep on enjoying!!!

We are back from our morning adventure which started with a boat ride. We paid 500 rupees for the two of us on a private boat. Most wanted 1200 as the river is high due to the monsoon rains. Bopul (hotel guide) was supposed to meet us at 6:15 to accompany us, but he was a no show. We found that he wasn't necessary anyway. There was only a small fire burning, but the view from the boat was great.

Upon returning to the hotel we ate a delicious breakfast - banana pancakes, juice and massala tea, included in the very reasonable price of the room.

Dogster - may the gods shine on you wherever you are. Don't know if it was our mention of you or our complaint about the bed, but upon our return this afternoon, we were given a new room with a bed considerably softer and we were assured that Bruno is residing elsewhere!

It is hard to describe the chaos that is Varanasi, but I will say that this is the India that I was expecting. It is a photographer's dream. We love it here and look forward to wandering the streets.

Hate doing this report out of order, but would like to comment on experiences we are having now. I promise to report on the beginning portion later.

lol lol lol. excellent.
I can tell you're already in THE ZONE.
BTW, just eat at the hotel. It's the best you'll find out of a pretty bad bunch.

Check out the Haifa restaurant, a 2 minute walk from the Palace on the Ganges, we stayed next door at Ganges view and had a god dinner there with beer served out of a tea pot.