India Part V

Monday May 12th 2008

This will be my final entry of my trip to India and Dubai. We took an overnight plane to Dubai and arrived in the early morning, about 7am. We were picked up by the hotel van and taken to the hotel so we could check in. There was some confusion with the front desk and our rooms were not ready as requested so we went upstairs to the breakfast to wait. The hotel staff was not going to let us eat breakfast that morning but Steve convinced them that they should provide the food while we waited. We were supposed to go on a tour of the city after breakfast but again there was some confusion with the tour company and it was not ready. When we were finally allowed up to our rooms Gretchen and I passed out in our beds until 1 pm. We had to get up and get ready to go on a business visit to the Dubai International Finance Center. Since we stayed in bed all morning we had no time to procure lunch but our great friend N came to our rescue with a bag of French fires for us to eat while we were getting dressed. This part of the trip was the most disorganized of the entire adventure. However, traveling in such foreign countries I had to expect some problems.

We arrived in the business center and it was incredible.

There were tons of skyscrapers and so many buildings that were under construction. I had never seen anything like that before. I couldn’t imagine downtown Indianapolis having so much construction at once. We had a business meeting with two people, the first guy was a professor and he would be in a similar position as Ben Bernanke in the US. He gave us a slideshow of information on the UAE and several statics about their country. One interesting thing he said was that 90% of the Dubai population are immigrants. It made me think of the US 200-300 years ago and immigration was the foundation of our society and here is Dubai creating its own melting pot. They do have a long way to go in the area of social issues but it is a place to go if you need a job.

After our meeting we went on a city tour and it was customized to where we wanted to go and to the things we wanted to see. They took us to the Harley Davidson shop where a few people purchased gifts for their friends and family. We also stopped by The Hard Rock Café. They took us out on one of the Palm islands and which is still under construction. I had read so much about them prior to going on this trip it was one of the things that I defiantly wanted to see. There were several apartment buildings and hotels in the midst of construction as well as some finished buildings. The tree portion of the palm was the bridge to the island. We drove by all the rich people’s houses on the beach as well as the Sheiks family residence. As a side note there were billboards on the side of the road with pictures of the Sheik and of his sons. I just couldn’t imagine a billboard with a picture of Bush as I was driving on 69. The bus took us to a local beach were we could see the ocean and see the 7 star hotel shaped like a sail boat. The beach was beautiful and clean, I was disappointed that I was in my dress cloths because I would have liked to go farther into the water. Next, the bus stopped by a Muslim mosque and we could take photos. They had speakers outside playing Muslim music. That was different.

By this time of the day I was exhausted and starving. Kathy had arranged a special dinner for us and made it a surprise. There was a river cruise that had a buffet dinner and live music. We got there and it looked cool. One person from the group got nauseous and motion sick from the boat rocking so she decided to get off and go back to the hotel. About five minutes after she left N told me that he was feeling sick and he wanted to go back to the hotel. I was completely exhausted myself so I guess I was feeling a bit selfish, but I told him that if I had to stay then he did too. He did stay and was miserable the entire evening. I guess misery loves company. I did feel a bit guilty the next day.

Tuesday May 13th 2008

This was our free day in Dubai so we could do what ever we wanted. I felt that I needed to pack in as much as I could, so we had the whole day planned out. We got up early and walked to an area bakery for some lovely dessert for breakfast. I had a piece of cake and some type of pastry with a Diet Coke. I tasted heavenly. We met up with the other members of our group and headed over to the market shopping area to buy some souvenirs. I had great fun bargaining and trying to get a good deal. I bought several things here including a hookah pipe. This is a traditional eastern pipe used to smoke tobacco. I thought it would be a fun decoration for my living room.

There were five of us in the group and we decided to take a cab to the mall to try out the indoor ski resort. They have a local law that you can only have a total of 5 people in a cab (including the drive) and we had 5 people in our group. We had to bargain and convince the driver to break the law to let us all ride together. We had one person in the back lay over the other people’s laps so she couldn’t be seen from the street. They also had a law that the front passenger must wear a seatbelt. We arrived at the mall in time to take a 12:30 ski board class. It cost $40 for a one hour lesson and the rental of the clothing and board. We each got a coat, ski pants, and boots to wear. My ski pants didn’t fit and I was so embarrassed. I went into the dressing room to try them without my regular pants but they were still too tight. While I was in the dressing room I saw several Muslim women in burka's putting on their ski attire under their long dresses. I could hardly ski in regular clothing, I couldn’t imagine skiing in a cumbersome burka. After we were all dressed we took our class and it was hilarious. You had to try to walk with one foot clamped to the board and drag it along behind you. I assure you it was very awkward. The next step to our training was to hobble up the tiny hill five feet and try to ski down. The instructor would hold you up and let you get prepared and then she would let you go and you would try to slide down the five feet. I not at all graceful and I had a very quick fall onto my side and but. Then I had an incredible fit of laughter which made it all the harder to get back up. We did this a few more times and I was only able to stay up once, but I was so proud of myself. Our next obstacle was to get to the top of the mini hill and then snow board down. There was this conveyor belt that you stepped onto that took you to the top. Since I am so clumsy I decided to take off my board and just hold it while I stood on the conveyor belt. When we got to the top of the small hill we were to sit down in the snow and then she wanted you to stand up and go down the hill doing this weird hopping motion. I thought that this looked crazy and I decided that I didn’t want to get hurt in Dubai and I didn’t partake in this part of the adventure. I went to the bottom of the hill and took photos of my friends.

We got done at 1:30pm and we went to the food court for lunch. We were in a hurry because we had to get back to the hotel and get ready for our second adventure of the day at 3pm. We were not able to convince another cab driver to break the law so we had to take two cabs back to the hotel. I took the second shower of my day and got ready for the most exciting part of my trip. We went on a dessert safari. We had these big Jeeps pick ups up and they had three rows of seats and there were roll bars on the ceiling. Two minutes after we left the air conditioning in the jeep stopped working and it was only 110 degrees out. It took about 45 minutes to drive out to the dessert and it worked intermediately through out the ride. The driver took us to the city mansion of the Sheik and in the side yard there were several peacocks with their wonderful feathers fully extended. We had a 30 minute stop at this place you could rent quad bikes and drive them around the sand dunes. I decided to rent one and it was great fun. There weren’t any rules except to stay in this large fenced area and you could drive as fast and crazy as you wanted. If you went up a large hill you could find yourself on the edge of a steep drop to the desert at the bottom of the hill. The steep hills scared me so I tried to stay away from them. We got to drive around for about 20 minutes and I had a great time. I think that there was three of who rented the bikes. I don’t have a photo of this so if anyone has a photo me on the bike I would love a copy ;)

The next adventure was even better. We got back into the Jeeps and our driver took us out for some crazy off road adventure. We would climb to the top of the hill in the jeep and the take a sharp turn off the side of the hill and slide down. It was like we were a child’s tanka truck. He would drive real fast and then make sharp turns and the sand would fly everywhere. It was the ultimate guy’s adventure. I loved it the entire time. The first time we went down a hill I had to close my eyes I was so scared. But then I got used it and came to anticipate the adelrine. This was certainly a very unique experience. I don’t think that you could ever do something like that in the US with all of the laws and lawsuits.

Check out me on the Camel.
After the fabulous jeep ride they took us to this dessert camp where they had a BBQ buffet dinner for us. They had free henna tattoos and a show after dinner. I got a temporary tattoo on my leg and within two minutes I had it covered in sand. But it was fun. The tables were low to the ground and you sat on pillows on the sand to eat. After dinner they had a belly dancing show that also included a man doing tricks with a large multicolored cape. The cape dance was a bit cheesy. After this was all done we went back to the hotel and I had my third shower of the day. A few of my friends decided to go to the beach for a midnight swim but I really needed to sleep since I never sleep on the plane.

The next morning we had to leave the hotel at 6am to come home. After we checked in at the airport we all pigged out on McDonalds and Dairy Queen Blizzards for a decadent breakfast. The plane ride home was extremely long and uncomfortable. The people who sat next to and behind me were in great need of a bath and deodorant. I am so glad that I had this wonderful opportunity to travel to Asia and see go to these business meetings that I would never have the opportunity to due on my own.

India Part IV

Friday May 9th 2008

This was the never-ending day. We left our hotel at about 9:30 am and took our van to Agra which is where the Taj Mahal is located. This van ride took us out in the country and through several rural and farming areas. While we were driving, there was a camel with a cart attached to it on the side of the road and our driver stopped so we could take a closer look.
Being the adventurous sort, when I was invited to climb onto the cart and sit in it I did. It was very funny trying to get up there. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for this to be my major mode of transportation. It was very nice of the locals to allow us to see it up and close…I think that our tour guide had to tip the guy for letting us take photos and sit in the cart. I have to wonder what they thought of us climbing out of this air conditioned van in our American clothing and wanting to sit on their camel cart. If a foreign person stopped me and wanted to sit in my car I would think that they were crazy and I most likely wouldn’t let them because I would be worried that they would try to steal my car. Of course if this did happen I would never accept a tip…this is a very large cultural difference. After we had been traveling for three hours we stopped at a McDonalds for lunch. I ordered a fish sandwich combo meal and I got an ice cream cone for dessert. The ice cream cone cost me $.25 it was amazing how cheap it was. The didn’t offer any beef products, just chicken, fish and vegetarian dishes. They had a veggie surprise burger and a pizza pocket dish…they both looked very disgusting to me. As we were leaving Gretchen was talking to an employee behind the counter and he offered to give her a tour of the kitchen. She was not allowed to photograph anything but it was interesting. They told her that most of the meat and produce was imported from Australia and New Zealand. They have a special water filter system that takes their regular water through a cleaning process to make it healthy for anyone to drink. She said it was very similar to what you would find in the US kitchen and everything was very clean and organized.

We got back in our van for the remaining portion of our LONG trip and I began to get sick. I normally don’t get car sick or nauseated but this trip did not sit well with my body. One of my friends gave me some of this anti-nausea medicine that worked wonders…I was very happy to have this medicine. We drove through the country and seen several farms at one point we got off of the main road and I think that the driver got lost in this little community and we had to turn around several times. Our next destination was Fatehpur Sikri this is an old fort from the 1500’s that is about 26 miles from Agra. It was nice to get a sense of the Indian history and to see how some of their ancestors lived…and just because I LOVE to see old castles. We saw the Kings and Queens chambers as well as chambers for his concubines.


This was a local couple we saw.There was also a large chess board in the middle of the open square that was used with human players. I remember that it was extremely hot this day and the sweat was pouring off of me. After we were done here we drove to Agra and visited another heritage site, The Red Fort. The Red Fort is a grouping of Mughal buildings and was built in the 1500’s. I was fairly sick and very tired by this point of the day that I don’t remember much about this site except that you could see the Taj Mahal in the distance and get photos. After we were done visiting this fort we checked into our hotel in Agra. This was the most beautiful and comfortable hotel of our entire trip. The beds were very soft and the sheets and blankets were very luxurious. We rested for 30 minutes and then we went shopping at a local marble center. This is where you can purchase some of the inlaid marble pieces that are similar to the designs of the Taj Mahal. There wasn’t much to the shopping and I didn’t purchase anything…they certainly don’t have the consumerism that was evident in China.

As a side note I had not been sleeping very well on this trip and I was very exhausted at this point. My generous roommate gave me some very nice medicine and 15 minutes after lying down that night I was out until 5:15am the next day. I was so happy to have a full night sleep for a change. It certainly energized me for the next portion of my adventure.

Saturday May 10th 2008

We all met at 5:45 for the short van ride to see the Taj Mahal as the sun was coming up. We had to go through this crazy security center. You couldn’t bring a purse, camera bag or anything in with you. I had to leave everything on the bus and just carry my camera. I guess with such an international monument it is important to have such tight security so there are no terrorist attacks. It was a very beautiful white marble building that is covered with inlaid designs made up of precious and semi-precious stones. It was build between 1631 and 1648 by the Moghal emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife. I have to say I am very happy the get the opportunity go see it but it was a little anti-climatic. After all it is just a wonderfully amazing building. After breakfast we all piled back into the van for our second six hour ride that included motion sickness. We were going back to Delhi to have two business meetings.

Our first meeting was with Make My Trip.com. This is the organization that arranged our tour while we were in India and they also run a rather large international travel call center. The area that these call centers were located was a very new section of the city. It wasn’t actually in Delhi but in a suburb. It had a large Americanized mall and many modern tall buildings as well as tall multi-story apartment buildings. The had ordered in Pizza Hut pizza for us for lunch and we were all ravenous by the time that we arrived. The pizza was tasty and very similar to what we have in the US. They also had the iced pulpy orange beverage for us to drink…it was similar to a pulpy OJ. I didn’t especially care for this item. We ate in the employee cafeteria and they had lots of motivational items on the walls…this is a photo of an especially funny one. We then had an hour meeting with their Chief Technical Officer. He talked to us about how business worked in India and some of the challenges facing their organization. He was a native of India but he was educated in the US and he received his MBA in California. So I found his demeanor to be very americanized, the way he held our attention and had the command of authority around him.

This is what their office work area looked like.



After this meeting we went to a second business meeting down the street at IBM outsourcing call center. We were greeted at the door by several people and they had very high security at this company so we were not allowed to bring in any cameras, phones or note pads. There was a women at the door with a basket of flowers who pressed them to our forehead as we entered the building. They also had two fragrant and colorful flower arrangements on the floor as we entered these rooms. I almost stepped into them twice. He gave us a tour of the building it looked like a typical office with cubes; there were not many people there because it was Saturday. The gentlemen gave us a brief overview of their operations and he explained how they have to comply with American business practices while they are in India. An interesting rule that they follow is the practice of hiring people with disabilities. He said that they were specifically looking for a few disabled people to meet their American “quota”.

We arrived back to the hotel late about 7 or 8pm. We were going to meet in 30 minutes to go out to dinner but I felt the need to skip that meal and to pass out in my bed for the evening. I think that I had enough Indian food and being awake.

Sunday May 11th 2008

Even thought we had been in Delhi three times we had never really got any time to see it. This morning we were taken on a City tour and visited Humayun’s Tomb which is a massive 16th century monument to the second Mogul emperor. I don’t remember much about the tomb except that it was a big brick building. When we went up to the tomb portion there who native Indian women who snowed me. They asked me if I wanted to take their photo so I did and then they wanted paid. I don’t think that I was the only one scammed but I should have known better. Gretchen and I did some silly photos there and basically acted Crazy…I don’t have any to show because she hasn’t sent me the copies yet! As we were leaving there were two people who were “mowing” the lawn of the gardens. I say the term mow loosely because the guy was acting crazy. He was not going in straight lines and the item he was using to mow with looked like it was built 200 years ago. The tour leader took us to a small outdoor market next. This is some photos. I didn’t buy much here as it didn’t appeal to me. But, just before we left Steve was talking to this local man who was trying to get us to come to his small shop across the road. I wouldn’t have gone by myself but I felt comfortable going as a group. This man has lots of small tourist type items and he was very unwilling to negotiate. I finally got him to come down on a wooden statue of a camel. I still think that I paid to much but it was still fun. Next, we went to a local area restaurant for lunch and they had some very tasty chicken kabobs. Then we were off to a second shopping area…this time it was a handmade carpet shop. They gave us a 10 minute talk on how the whole community workers on these rugs and sends them to Delhi to sell. They were beautiful but VERY expensive. The cheapest one was about $400 and the one that I liked was about $800, consequently I didn’t purchase anything.

We had the rest of the afternoon and evening off at the hotel. I spent a few hours sitting at the pool reading my book and relaxing. We had to vacate our rooms at midnight to goto the airport for our 4am flight to Dubai.

The next post will be about my adventures in Dubai and it will wrap up my story.

India Part III

Wednesday May 7, 2008

After we finish visiting the Tibetan children's school we take our cars into the town of Dharamsala to visit a Tibetan Refuge museum. While we walked from the car to the museum there were several little stations set up protesting the suppression of the Tibetan government. This one is from Poland. The museum was very disturbing. They had images of the violence against the Tibetan people by the Chinese government and show the history of their exile. There were also photos of people after they crossed the Himalayan mountains on foot. Most people who walk over the mountains suffer from foot and hand frostbite. The museum also highlighted prominent Tibetan citizens who fought for their cause.

Next, we walked to Dalai Lama Temple. The Dalai Lama was in residence and Kathy wrote a letter to try to get an audience with him but he said he had to teach the monks that day. This is a photo of the prayer wheel. Buddhist walk by and spin all of the wheels as part of the Buddhist custom. I had to try it...I think I was filled with happiness for the rest of the day.

This is a photo of me in one of the courtyards and of the other one is one of the Buddhist gods inside of the temple. As we walked around there were several people praying and many Buddhist monks in their robes. They had thin mattresses on the floor for these people to sit on when the Dalai Lama teaches.

After the temple our guide took us to a local Tibetan restaurant. This was the best food that I ate on the entire trip. We got to order whatever we wanted and try some new things. And I was able to convince my companions to grant me bites off of their plates. I always want to try everything. I certainly liked the Tibetan food way more than the Indian food.

After lunch the tour guide took us to a local art museum. This museum housed local artifacts and art going back several hundred years. It was interesting to see some of the local household items as well as local art. There was a gift shop and I was able to buy some postcards with reproductions of art on them. I know I will only send them to special people.

Next, we went back to the city and we were set loose to do some shopping. I was immediately separated from my Friends, but I had a fabulous time bargaining and finding unique things to buy. I got a ring for myself, I got some cute notebooks for my nieces, I got this large old fashioned lock for Wyatt...I had a hard time giving it to him as I really wanted it for myself. We had an hour but I made the most of my time. The next series of photos are when we were waiting to be picked up by the cars. There were miscellaneous cows walking around in the traffic and the streets barley held 1 car but they were 2 lane streets.

Thursday May 8, 2008

I did something very special this morning. We started are day as usual at 6am for our daily walk up the mountain. We walked fairly far uphill this morning, I would guess that it was about 1.5 miles uphill and then we turned around. We got back in time for our 8am Yoga class. We were able to arrange for a local Yoga master to come to the hotel and teach us an hour course. It was a wonderful experience to learn from someone so close to the origins of the sport. The teachers legs were so small and he could contort his body like it was made of a twizzler. I am not able to fully do all of the positions but I am glad that I tried.

This morning was a free day so after breakfast we decided to take another walking adventure. This being the 2nd of our day. We just started walking up a path on the side of the mountain and weaved around. We wondered off the mini path at one point and ended up in someones yard. We were fairly embarrassed as they watched us walk quickly through their yard to the path. We did this for about two hours in the morning. At the very end or our walk we saw this family's home on the side of the mountain and we all waved to them. G kept saying how she wanted to see the inside of their house. We kept walking up and as we get closer to the family we waved and said hi. We started talking to them and were able get get an invitation to tour their home. It was a brick home that was just recently built. The husband told us that the whole community came together to help them build it. It contained three rooms, a bedroom for the parents which had electricity, a big TV and a DVD player. There was a bedroom for their two boys who were about 7 & 9 and it contained simply two twin beds. They also had a kitchen, which consisted of a place on the floor where they build a fire in order to cook, a electric burner and cabinet which held their kitchen items. I didn't see a sink, refrigerator or a bathroom. It was the husband who showed us around and talked to us. The children said a few things but the wife just smiled. He tried to offer us tea several times but G told them the water would hurt our stomachs. As much as I wanted to be polite....there was no way I was going to drink the water. I am sad to say the none of us had our cameras so I have no photos to go with this story.

After lunch we made our way to the tiny airport that contained only one airline. We got all checked in and waited. They have some different baggage handling rules in India. We had to first check in at the ticket counter and then go to a separate area to have our bags x-rayed. We then we got them back after they had been marked by the attendant and they were also closed so we couldn't open them with plastic ties. After our long three hour wait we finally boarded the plane. It was fairly small only about 25 rows with 3 across. We got sat down and ready for the departure when we heard the captain give the most horrible announcement, "Excuse me Ladies and Gentlemen...Our departure will be delayed by one hour due to congestion at the Delhi airport and unfortunately we have to shut the plan off so we don't run our of fuel because the Dharamsala airport doesn't have a refueling station." We were all in horror of sitting on an increasingly hot and hotter plane with no air conditioning. After about 10 minutes of sauna like conditions the tall man in the front seat went in the back and talked to the pilot and flight attendant. I imagine that he bribed him and they let us all of the plane to wait the remaining time in the lobby of the airport. This would have never happened in the US...They would NEVER have let us off the plane. We were lucky that this was such a small airport and we were the only people leaving that day. I found out later that the tall guy was fairly famous. He was a basketball player for Chicago and had a show on ESPN, John Sally. Since I am not a sports fan...I didn't particularly care but I guess some people might think that it is cool.

We go back to the same Delhi that we stayed at before and have dinner right away at about 8pm. We did have a special surprise...Kathy one of the instructors, invited an old friend to come and speak to us about his experience working internationally. He works for Habitat for Humanity and he has traveled all over Asia working for them. I would have loved to have been more engaged in this but I was so completely exhausted by this time that I couldn't hardly keep my eyes open and I was staring ahead like a zombie. I hardly remember anything that he said. I am sad that I wasn't able to partake more of this experience.

More to come later in India Part IV.

India Part II

On Tuesday (May 6, 2008) morning of my trip we went to visit Akshardham Temple. This temple houses statues of the various Hindi gods and goddess. You are not allowed to wear your shoes in the temple so I had to walk around barefoot and they had these mats laid everywhere that were soaking wet because without the water the ground would be too hot to walk on. The average temperature in May is above 100 F.

This is a photo of some locals waiting in line to see the temple.

This is a photo of the outside of the temple.

After visiting the temple we took a small flight to Dharamsala. This the is the city in the Himalayan mountains where the exiled Tibetan government located and home to the Dalai Lama. Upon landing the scenery was beautiful and the mountains were spectacular. I LOVE Nature and this was my favorite portion of the trip. We took an hour car ride up the mountain to our hotel. The road was very narrow and I was sitting in the front seat. On occasion I had to close my eyes because I thought we were going to go over the edge or an oncoming car was going to end my life. On the way up there was a family of monkeys sitting on the side of the road. I didn't get a photo but a short distance away two monkeys were engaging in serious public displays of affection.

After arriving at the hotel and giving up our nice large room with a view (but 1 king bed) to a married couple to a small no view, no balcony room, two friends and I decided to go exploring up the mountain. The hotel was built on the side of the mountain so we could walk up the road and the go up and down the sides of the mountain that looked interesting. This photo I was pretending to be superwoman to fly off the side of the mountain.

The next morning (Wednesday) two of my friends and I woke up at the crack of dawn. This means I woke up at 3 am and was unable to get back to sleep. We decided to start our day with a healthy constitutional up the mountain. We walked for an hour and breathed the glorious fresh mountain air. We walked downhill first so that made the last portion uphill. Our elevation was about 5000 feet, I assure you I think the people at the hotel could here me breathing as it was so labored. However, it was a good labored and a great way to start the day.

Our first stop of the day was at the Children's Tibetan Village. This is a school the houses 2000 children from infants to college age. These are not necessarily orphaned children but children who have been sent to Dharamsala from Tibetan China. The children live in family units of 30 children, they are fairly self contained with each unit preparing their own meals and takes care of their own daily needs. The children all wear uniforms at the school and the ones we saw looked happy and healthy. The next series of photos will be from the children's school..there is a real cute on of me holding a baby. I was the first one to arrive in the infant room and there was this little boy holding his arms out just wanting to be held. I resisted for about 30 seconds as I am not necessarily a baby person...but he was cute. I wanted to take him home with me. When we were trying to leave he kept holding on to me tighter...he did not want to be put down.

This is the common area and one of a typical dorm.

The two above is a typical dorm room and a closet that stores clothing and linens.

Below you will find dorm's area worth of toothbrushes. I became obsessed with the idea of wondering how the children know which was theirs as there are so many in one place.

The next two photos are of their library...apparently Harry Potter is read on all parts of the globe.

Visiting the school was a wonderful experience. I am so glad that I got the opportunity to see this and to learn a bit about the Tibetan culture.

More to come later in part III of India.