Shannon and I have been having a wonderful time here in jolly old England. We spent another day visiting London, including the imperial war museum, which was tremendous. We had dinner - at a local pub - with my aunt Sudha and uncle Douglas. Steak and Ale pie and a pint of local bitter. Very British, very yummy. Great to see them, trading stories about Nairobi, New Zealand and other places.

Over the weekend, we went with Surbhi, Karan and Sagar to Devon. We stayed in Lynmouth - a beautiful little English town on the west coast. Walked through the woods along a river there and generally enjoyed the scenery. This was where Shelley (the poet and original hippie) lived for a few years. We also saw the home of Coleridge. We ate the the Ancient Mariner (the pub next door). In fact we've eaten at a number of pubs - always a highlight of any trip to England!

Today, we're off to Windsor Castle, which is just nearby... In fact we've got to run!

The trip is winding down now as we are back in the Western world... at the mothership: England. Yesterday we went to Westminister Abbey and saw the tombs of many of the characters from the story we've been following the last three months -- Charles Darwin, King George, David Livingstone... what a journey.

We also saw my old B.U. digs at South Kensington and I showed Akhil the deli where we used to buy our beer and Hob Nobs. We feel like we are home already - here with Akhil's aunt Surbhi and uncle Karan in Weybridge and bopping around London during the day. Heard the good news about the Super Bowl and can't wait to reconnect with our friends in Boston and CT and L.A. next week! Hope to bring this mild weather with us. If not, can I borrow some woolens?

And a few notes about Nairobi. We've spent a couple days here since the safari and still had some wildlife experiences! Went to an elephant/rhino orphanage that rescues animals whose mothers have died. Saw a playful baby black rhino and a bunch of mischievous baby elephants! Pretty funny. Then we went to the giraffe preserve... They have an elevated platform and you can feed the giraffes food pellets directly. I mean you put the food right on his tongue! (Which is about a foot long, by the way.) Pretty strange... We also visited the Karen Blixen museum, now of Out of Africa fame. And today, we'll visit the national museum before heading out tonight on a late night flight to London via Dubai. Bye bye Africa!

For Surbhi and Karan! I (Akhil) haven't been able to access my Disney email lately (Shannon's hotmail account, shannonpv@hotmail.com, still works), so just to confirm our flight information:

Emirates Airlines flight EK 15 from Dubai to London Gatwick. Departing Dubai at 7:55 AM Tuesday, arriving in London at 11:40 AM.

Look forward to seeing you!!!

Finally - an update! Our circuitous tour of East Africa brought us back to Nairobi this morning, after 16 days of witnessing herds of hundreds of elephants, thousands of wildebeest and zebra, and a variety of antelopes and gazelles day after day on the plains, plus prides of lions eating - and playing - within ten feet of our vehicle. Then there were the rhino at Lake Nakuru, the baobab trees at Tarangire, and baboons - well, everywhere.

Africa is sublime! I was not happy to get on the plane this morning, leaving Zanzibar and its white sandy beaches behind. With its unique history combining so many cultures and of course, its abundant spices, the food there is some of the best we've had on this trip. Cardamom, cloves, ginger and lime are used along with fresh fish, vegetables, pineapple and mango. Delish! We took a spice tour yesterday and discovered that cinnamon is a tree, and so is cocoa. Also saw cardamom and vanilla growing, cloves, tasted chickoo, jackfruit and grapefruit off the tree, and met some other tourists - one who knows some friends of ours in L.A. We went swimming off the beach by our hotel yesterday afternoon and had an unbelievable view of Kilimanjaro on the flight here today, but that wasn't enough for me - I could've spent another week there.

At the start of our safari, on our way out of Nairobi we did see the birthplace of Akhil - the Aga Khan hospital. We also got our driver to take us to what we believe is Mina's childhood home. Once out in the "bush," somehow we got very lucky with our accommodations, from the Ark to the Mara Serena to the Tarangire Safari Lodge. I had one bout with stomach trauma otherwise we've been well fed and had an incredible time.

Two more days in Africa before we head to London, continuing on this tour of the former British empire! We stop in Boston on Feb. 9 for a week to complete the circuit and reconnect with bitter winter weather. We hope to post some photos from there.

Jambo! We're in Nairobi! A breath of fresh air that was greatly needed. Bombay was actually a very cool place - we saw Akhil's parents' medical schools and dorms, and the Gate of India on our brief city tour before leaving the country Friday morning.

We arrived in Kenya last night, toured around Nairobi a little and then arrived at the Fairview Hotel. Very nice! We had pizza and a beer, a good night's sleep and showers this morning! Plus, a great breakfast, and now a few last minute emails - not sure when we'll have access again. We're off on our safari in 1/2 hour. We hope to stop by the Aga Khan hospital (where Akhil was born) and maybe even his Mom's old house, as it is on the way to the Aberderes, our first stop. A quick itinerary: Aberderes (The Ark), Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, on to Tanzania to Lake Victoria, the Serengeti, Ndutu, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Arusha. Then three days in Zanzibar before returning to Nairobi and heading to London!

See you after Safari!

Another Akhil post... We're back in Ahmedabad, preparing for Uttran (the big kite festival). Well, actually, my Mom is doing some last minute sari binge shopping, and Shannon and I are trying to prepare for Kenya/Tanzania. Have I mentioned that I've eaten enough ghee (clarified butter) and sugar to supply the energy needs of NYC for a year? More soon!

Technical note from Shannon: If the archives have disappeared from your view of this blog, that's because they have been pushed down to the bottom of the page (we have to make our sidebar wider somehow...) So, if you want to get to the archives to see the new photos we added for NZ, Australia and Bangkok, just scroll on down and you'll see the links on the left. Also, you can try viewing the text on "Small" or "Smallest" font size in your "View" menu.

Just when I was getting adept at the art of the bucket bath, suddenly I realize, our India experience is nearing its end! Today is Monday and we depart early Friday for Nairobi from Bombay. We've reached Ahmedebad and it was a little sad to leave Jamnagar after nearly two weeks there - enough time to almost feel like a local. I don't even notice the cows in the median anymore...

After our farewell dinner out with the family last night, Akhil and "the guys" had paan -a betel leaf stuffed with any combination of candy sweets, tobacco, calcium carbonate and coconut paste. It's an acquired taste, I think. I haven't quite acquired it yet. I have acquired a taste for mustard-chilis and 4 p.m. masala chai though. Akhil and I complain about the chaos and the caste system, the corruption and the filth, and the confusing, seemingly hypocritical treatment of various unfortunate animals (if you're a dog, STAY AWAY from India!), yet we're both very sad at the thought of departing so soon, when there's so much left to see. Maybe next time we'll come for Diwali.

Here is another India photo from Jaipur, where we rode an elephant to this palace gate. We're adding some old photos today from Glenorchy, Bangkok and Sydney in some of the archival posts, in case you're interested!

Can't get the theme song to "Kal Ho Naa Ho" out of my head....

For the most part, we've been lazy bums the last couple of days, doing nothing more than shopping around town, playing with Akhil's entertaining 10-month old, 3-year old, and 6-year old cousins Simeron, Rushali and Isha, and ingesting way too much very tasty Gujerati food, including this millet-flour tortilla type of bread called rotla that you top with ghee (clarified butter) -yum! And this vegetable and potato mash you eat with grilled buns called pao baji (sp?) - Akhil was able to consume no less than 8 buns himself. Needless to say you may not recognize us when we see you next! Please be kind... We're planning to leave Jamnagar tomorrow afternoon for Ahmedabad for the kite festival, Utteran.

Jamnagar is known for its tie-dye, or "bandhani" textiles. Apparently much of the work is done by women who work from home, tying thousands of tiny knots in cotton and silk fabric, and dying it in stages, one color at a time. We bought so much stuff, Akhil's parents were forced to stuff an extra suitcase that they're graciously taking home to the U.S. for us. Akhil's aunt Aruna Foi also took us to the teaching hospital where she is a professor in the OB/GYN wing. I got masked up and peered into the O/R, and visited the maternity ward and labor rooms. There is a sign on the wall near the entrance to the hospital that says "First two deliveries free." They encourage tubal ligations after that.

I know this is out of sequence, but here is a photo from our days in Rajasthan - of the palace in Udaipur.

Another quick note. We did a day trip from Jamnager to Dwarka to visit a temple, day before yesterday. There are many priests who live there - something like 30 according to different castes. They each keep a book with signatures from visitors. We found the priest for our caste and found the signature of my great grandfather, from 1928. The books are well kept. My father wrote our names in the book. The funniest comment was from the priest who, upon finding that Shannon and I were married, quietly asked my father "is she of the same caste?" My father replied "not quite!"

Oh yes, in case you were wondering, India transvestites DO wear saris. That one even threw my parents a little.

Yesterday, we went to Junagadh, the site of Mt. Girnar. There are thousands of steps constructed to a series of temples on this mountain. Another site for pilgrimages. Apparently, at one temple, 1108 saddhus go each year and magically dissappear. My father asked if there was a trap door someplace - they didn't think that was funny.

We climbed 5500 steps today to the third peak, where some holy men were smoking weed and asking for money. We gave 5 rupees for a photograph and came back down. Took about 5 hours total - finally some exercise!

We have received such an education here in Jamnagar. I can't even go into it all. This house has so much history. The fourth generation of Madhani's are living here now. My father was born in a room downstairs, along with most (if not all?) of his nine siblings. We visited cousins in Rajkot yesterday as well. More Madhani's (who knew?)
We're here for a few more days, then off to Ahmedabad on Monday for the big kite festival, Uttran (sp?), before heading to Mumbai (Bombay).

All over Ahmedabad, they are winding kite string onto spools for the festival. They make a mixture of powdered glass, glue and coloring, and run the string through it before winding the spools. They can then have kite fights, trying to cut each others string. I'm told they sell a lot of band-aids this time of year, seriously.

Just as an update - we are now in Jamnagar, seeing the town where Akhil's father spent his formative years! Many stories to tell... more soon.

Okay, here goes, we're going to attempt to post a few photos from India! Below I hope you'll see an image of the Taj Mahal. More to come...

Another quick note from Akhil. Ahmedabad is quite different from other parts of India we've seen. Quite a bit more prosporous. We've been visiting with family and friends for the last three days. Visit, eat, sleep, eat, eat some more, visit some more... We've had the wonderful opportunity to get to know my cousin Devan and his wife Gauri, and their two children, Shreeja and Raj. I played a bit of street cricket with Raj yesterday (he's six, but he has a bat). Shannon got a scooter ride with Gauri (which involves avoiding cows and monkey street-gangs) as well. We went to the sari shop today which was fun - Shannon tried on a beaded chiffon number and wowed everyone (they were laughing, I think that means they were wowed). We visited Gandhi's Ashram, where he lived for 12 years and a famous temple just out of town. Some beautifully and extravagantly dressed Rajasthani women (stone bangles from their wrists to their shoulders, bright saris and huge nose rings with a chain to their ear) stopped, stared and pointed at Shannon - of course we were staring at them!

Tonight, we're having dinner with about 20+ friends and family - and we haven't even gone to Jamnagar yet where most of the family is!

That's it for now - wishing everyone a Very Happy New Year!! At some point I'll explain how they celebrate Christmas for a week with Indian Santas everywhere, but that's another story...

Ah, Ahmedabad. Things are more civilized in Gujerat! We arrived at my relative's apartment last night. This is more what I expected India to be like. Still plenty of cows, camels, autorickshaws and so on, but the storefronts seem more modern and clean and generally well put together. And of course, the hospitality of my uncle Indukaka and family is wonderful. In a few days we'll see the Topiwalas here, before we head off to Jamnagar...

Hello from Delhi! Another note from Akhil...We've been trying for two days to get to Varanasi and finally gave up. We were trying to fly from Khajuraho, but planes have been unable to land there due to insufficient visibility. Apparently, they were doing runway work and accidentally damaged the Instrument Landing System, so they have to fly in on visual flight rules. And they're not repairing the ILS because they don't think it's worth it until after the runway work is complete. So no flights without 3600 meters visibility! It's a wonder that this place functions on any level, it really is.

Anyways, we drove 4 hours to Jhansi (no train station in Khajaraho) and got on the train to Delhi, which was true to form, 2 hours late. We got to bed at about 2:30 this morning and hope to fly to Amedabad tonight to visit family.

An email note: Connections here are very slow, and my Disney VPN service is also very slow. So I'm having trouble accessing email at all in India. I'm not ignoring anyone, I just really can't send email. It usually takes an hour to get one or two emails off. So if you'd like to email me (and please do!!), please do so on Shannon's account at shannonpv@hotmail.com. Thanks!

Merry Christmas! A note from Akhil... We are in Kajuraho, and have miraculously found a working internet connection. So quickly, before the connection dies - we saw the Taj Mahal. Amazing! Walking around with Shannon is quite an experience. People stare, yell and generally harass her. I expected the stares, but the young men yelling "hey girl" and children mobbing her asking for "One pen!!" caught me off guard. Walking through Jaipur in the evening was pretty intense. But then again, it's not everyday we see an elephant (with driver) walking through the street. They honk, but the elephant doesn't seem to mind - he just keeps plodding along. We're trying to go to Varanasi tomorrow, but the Indian way is to kindof hope you get to where you want. Flights have been cancelled for the last four days - too much fog, and too few tourists? We're not quite sure. Driving the roads, I've seen my life flash before my eyes. Big Tata trucks heading your way on a one-lane road, bicyclists, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, scooters, women with firewood on their head, cows, cows, more cows, goats, starving dogs and the occasional man defecating, all share the road. And us in our mini tourist van, flying through it all at breakneck speed. I may become religious before I'm gone.

Ok, that's it for now, before the connection dies again!

It's now Sunday the 21st and we're in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, a fairly large city of more than 2 million. It's not every day that you can say you rode an elephant after breakfast - today's highlight, in addition to seeing the city's palace and museum and astronomical complex. We've travelled for a week now, first from Delhi to Kota by train, then to Bijaipur, Udaipur, Deogarh and now here in Jaipur; tomorrow we set off for Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. People can tell you what to expect when you arrive in India -- you can read about it, hear about it, see photos of it -- but there's nothing that can truly prepare you for the wonder of this society. Cows and monkeys really do wander freely in the city streets - as well as on the highways - which our driver Mohan has been navigating beautifully (not an easy job). On Friday night we were entertained by traditional dancers in Deogarh, along with the former king and queen, who have turned their palace into the hotel we stayed at. Earlier in the week we lunched at the Lake Palace in Udaipur, which you can see in the Bond film "Octopussy" - I can't imagine anything more grand. All of this of course amid throngs of people living in what we'd consider very basic and difficult conditions, but the children seem happy, and the women look beautiful, dressed in colorful saris, even those working in the fields or carrying pots of water along the highway on their heads. This will be a Christmas season Akhil and I won't forget. Thinking of you here in India! Happy holidays!

Mina, Dhanvant, Akhil and I are here in this magical country of India - in Udaipur on the fourth day of our tour of Rajasthan. We've seen several palaces and driven hours through villages of people, places and things that are nothing like anything I've seen before. I'd like to elaborate and will do so soon once we get access to a faster Internet connection. For now, congratulations to MariCris and Lindsay on the birth of Connor!

A quick note from Akhil... We made it to Bangkok! The big, bustling Asian metropolis is nuts of course. Hot here, but not as bad as last summer. We walked all over yesterday, around the national gallery and grand palace. Today, we're taking it easy and browsing in air conditioned department stores! My Levi's are pretty much toast, which leaves me just one pair of khakis for two months, so I'm going to try and find something. Funny how wearing one pair of pants every day is a bit hard on them! Once, again, I think I'm a bit over the whole backpacker thing. Yesterday, we went to Khao San Rd. This is the ultimate backpacker hangout. In the 80's, it was just a street, in the early 90's, when I had stayed there, it was friendly and quaint. Now, it's like the Chiang Mai night market. You can barely walk down it and there's a McDonalds (see photo of the Asian "Ronald") and Burger King there too.



Completely out of control. The Lonely Planet effect strikes again. Globalization and the tourist economics have a radical effect on such places. I'm sure someone has done an interesting study on all of this.

Tomorrow, we're off to India to meet up with my folks - we're looking forward to it!

I saw a kangaroo. Really, I did. It was about 15 feet away in the brush on the trail during our "bushwalk" in the Blue Mountains, just two hours outside Sydney. The area, which I'd barely heard of, is stunning - the valleys are filled with this blue haze they say has something to do with the oil emitted into the air by the eucalyptus trees. Beautiful place. We hiked four hours down into the "Grand Canyon" and just made it back out by dusk, fortunately. Our hotel in Blackheath, the Gardiners Inn, was built in 1823, and Charles Darwin stayed there in 1836 during his five-year trip around the world pre- 'Origin of the Species.' The parlor room had a player piano in it and there were boxes and boxes of music scrolls.

We have been completely charmed by Sydney, having explored on Monday Bondi Beach, the miles and miles of shopping, the Blue Mountains area on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a Sydney Symphony performance last night at the Opera House, which can singlehandedly give you an appreciation for architecture if you didn't have one before. Akhil and I have visited it at least four times and can't get tired of sitting on the terrace at the Opera Bar for sunset cocktails! It's been a superb five days and now we have just a few hours before we depart for Bangkok. I heard about the east coast snow storm that occurred last night. And though I love the snow at Christmas, the 80-degree summer weather we're experiencing here now is nothing to complain about. Sorry, friends! We invited you!

Here's the infamous opera house, inside and out: