Pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/wyattgaylor/India#

http://picasaweb.google.com/wyattgaylor/India2#


Here are the links to some of the pics. Enjoy!!!

Pass on the links to whoever you think would enjoy it.

End of the Trip

So this is the end!!! Flight to Ahemdabad to Mumbai was on time. We had to wait for a bus to get to the International Airport. We were told to wait for our number to be called. An hour later and still no number called. We went to the information both and they said we didn't need to wait and now the line was HUGE. 

Finally made it to the International airport. By the time we got through all the crap they make you do, with no signs or information so figure it our yourself, we were on the plane 10 minutes before departure, or so we thought.....

Looks like a flight from Hyderbad was late so we rushed to sit on the plane for an extra hour, yippee!!!

Flight was uneventful, the food was not nearly as good nor was the flight attendant service, but it seemed to go by quicker.

Finally landed in SF and after picking up Rocky we passed out!!!

Now it is time for laundry and getting over jet lag!!

Last days in Ahemdabad

Woke-up and checked the news, crazy stuff still happening in Mumbai. Raj, our cousin in Mumbai says everything is okay in Mumbai as it is isolated to the 3 buildings so not to worry about flying through Mumbai in 2 days. Visited with our Sister-in-laws family and did some shopping.

The next day we did more family visits, some who we had seen in the first couple days in Delhi. Again nothing too exciting as I was pretty glued to the tv.

Vatsala has a pretty bad cold which she is refusing to do anything about. Hopefully she goes to the doctor when she gets back to US soil. 

Last time getting ripped-off. The taxi ride to the airport is 950 rupees plus tax for a 15 minute ride. The only plus side is they forgot to charge us for a car ride the day before so we got our revenge.  

Ahemdabad

Remember that form I filled out when we first arrived? The one that said I will get ripped-off while in India? Well for the first time did I feel like this was true through the full trip. It started with the “coolies”, the bag assistants from the train station. Unlike in America where there is either a set price or it is straight gratuity, in India it is required that you give them what you feel is fair and unless you grossly overestimated they will bitch and complain about you not giving them enough. In our case we attempted to give them 100 rupees (2 bux) for 7 bags that they wheeled on a cart and really didn’t do too much. They started screaming at Raju in Hindi and was a big ordeal. At the same time the “cab” wanted 500 rupees (ten bux) to basically down the street. We knew this was a rip-off because we only paid 7 rupees a km the rest of the trip. Once we got rid of the coolies with another 100 rupees, we started driving. It was over 90 degrees and the AC wasn’t on. I noticed that the car had it so I had Vatsala ask for him to turn it on. The SOB wanted more money to turn it on. I started cussing at him in English and though he didn’t understand he got the idea. Vatsala called him a cheat and stupid because he was sweating his ass off as much as us. Once we arrived at the hotel we discovered they wanted 675 rupees a day for Internet service. People in India only pay a couple hundred a month and we were only supposed to be charged 350 in Mumbai in a “nicer”hotel. The restaurant in the hotel was double the price with half the portions. The only good was the price of the hotel and the beds.

We were all tired and crashed until real late and then woke-up and had dinner. As we were getting ready for bed the news of the Mumbai Terror Attacks were trickling in. Once I saw that it wasn't an isolated incident but all over Mumbai, I first prayed that we had left that morning and then called my Mom to let them know we were 600 km away. I stayed up until 1:00 AM watching all the stuff as it was happening. I am not sure of the pictures or videos shown in America but locally they were showing "freshly" shot people and you could hear the explosions live. 24 hours earlier we were all over where these attacks were happening. 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned anywhere wasw two days prior to the attacks the hotels had heavily beefed up security. The last couple days the hotels were doing the mirror check under cars and requiring they open their trunks and hoods. So regardless to what the  news says, SOMEONE knew some shit was about to go down!!!

Leaving Mumbai and Train to Ahmadabad

Left hotel @ 5:30 on-time, got a little lost but made it with 10 minutes to spare. We thought we forgot one of our bags that happened to have our passports but it was hiding in the trunk. Took the 1^st class train again. I guess each route has different amenities, this one had lessor food but had power plugs and LCD tvs with fixed programming on. 

Day 4 in Mumbai

As I stated earlier I think the Combo Chicken and Alcohol made for bad news for me. Didn’t wake-up with a hangover so I am pretty sure either the street chicken or the ice in the Long Island jacked my stomach all to hell. Luckily for me Raj was late so by the time he arrived I was feeling good enough to go sight-seeing on our last day in Mumbai. We took a whirlwind tour of all of Mumbai, Taj Hotel, Gateway to India (under construction), CST, and the other spots mentioned on the news recently, and then ate at The Pizzeria which was located by the Ocean. 

Might be obvious to all but I will state it anyway, INDIANS CAN’T MAKE PIZZA!! We then walked across the main street and checked out the view over the bay.  We then visited Raj’s parents before getting to bed around 12:30 AM to get plenty of rest before our 4:30 AM wake-up call.

Day 3 in Mumbai

            Didn’t do too much touristy stuff today…We went shopping where Raj helped us bargain for all our gifts. Here I had some “world famous” chicken from the street…This I think we my later demise. We then had some dinner at Bombay Blues which was basically “American Food” with some Indian junk food. We then dropped off Vatsala and Priyanka and went to a lounge.  Part two of my demise, I had almost 5 Long Island Ice Teas as it was 1 + 1 night on them, Buy One Get One Free in America. Needless to say it was a chill night.