My Travels

It is a five hour drive to Jaipur from Delhi. Jaipur is home to the famous 'pink city palace' and is the state capital of Rajasthan. There are about 28 states in India with Delhi being the national capital/state. It is also home to many forts and palaces. In the evening, took some pictures of the Water Palace . Didn't linger long as the beggars and hawkers were a little overwhelming. This is my first taste of the local population in touristy areas. The persistence and aggressiveness of both beggars and hawkers leads me to think that people are very determined to eek out some kind of living even if off the hapless tourist. Checked into the Holiday Inn Jaipur . I usually don't stay in Holiday Inns but my first choice became too expensive and I figured the international locations would be nicer than the domestic locations. The room was nicely furnished and the breakfast was satisfying. I will say that the internet access was slow and unpredictable. If you are going to buy,

Had a mixup at the train station in Ludhiana to Delhi but ended up riding for free in the "back of the bus." My advice is to not buy train tickets as a waitlist passenger and always get confirmed best class of service seats. That way, you might get something comparable to the Greyhound bus in terms of comfort. Checked into the Eros Hotel New Delhi Nehru Place . I didn't want to crowd out my friend as more wedding guests were arriving. It was also nice to be able to get stable power, internet access, and hot water. India is notorious for providing unstable power to residents as my friends have started their own generators during the various brown outs in the few days I have been in the country. The hotel was very nice, found out that Eros is a movie production company. Apparently, Indian companies go into any business that will make them money regardless of industry or specialty. The next day, hired a driver to head out to Jaipur and Agra. Compared to the train experience,

Travelled via train north of Delhi to Ludhiana. Upon arrival, we went to a friend's house. Ludhiana appears more suburban than Delhi and the house is more of a compound than a house. :) I think in the end I preferred northern India as it didn't seem as cramped and teeming with people as the other parts of India I travelled through. The next day, travelled even further north near the Pakistan border. Went to a town, Amritsar, to visit the Golden Temple . The friend's family is Sikh and the temple is the holiest temple within the religion. On the way to Amritsar, there were two 'adventures.' The first was navigating the highway and experience Indian concept of passing. We even played bumper cars with another vehicle. Luckily, the rented car suffered the only damage and the driver took off immediately. The second event was the random checkpoints to Amritsar. The state is under military control until elections are over. During this time period, the army is trying to el

Went out to Delhi for a friend's wedding. Flew on Continental Airlines to get to Delhi through Newark. I haven't flown Continental for many years and the recent merger with United Airlines gave me an opportunity to see what the service is like. My first leg was pleasant, the economy chairs are equipped with power ports and I had an individual TV screen to watch programming at my leisure. Something you don't find on domestic flights with United. After landing in Newark, checked out the Continental Club. I think the one I walked into was very large. Probably on par with the United Club at SFO. The one thing I noticed was the free well drinks available which is not always offered at the United counterpart. The food options were light - mostly snacks rather than light hor d'oeuvres. At the gate, Continental required everyone to come up to the counter to check visa docs before allowing you to board the plane. I guess it makes the process smoother but seemed unorganized to

For the holiday weekend, planned a trip to Salt Lake City for some snow. I anticipated that the snow conditions would be fantastic and give me a chance to break in new equipment.  Flew out on United Airlines bright and early. Unfortunately, my snowboard didn't make it and I missed the opportunity to try out my board at Canyons Resort . The United Baggage Representative did say that United would pay for my rental charges because of the delayed baggage. I even received two phone calls from them updating me on the status of my luggage. Now I just have to hope I get refunded before my birthday. :p Unfortunately, my anticipations of powder was dashed as there seems to be a snow drought yeart to date for this winter season in the mountain west. The conditions at Canyon City was poor and I only did a few runs. Even though the lift ticket is free for same day flight arrival, I was too tired to enjoy it with the basic rental from the shop. On the bright side, my rental should be free com