Ready To Go

Well folks, another adventure to a part of the world that we haven't been to yet. We are off to India for three weeks on Tuesday, February 14th, (19 hours of flying) and we will meet Robin's sister Suzanne and her husband Colin who live in England. We have arranged a private tour through Holiday India and will be stopping in the following cities....New Delhi,Mandawa, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar, Jaipur, Agra, Jhansi, Orchha, Khajuraho, Varanasi, Sarnath and back to Delhi. The four of us will be touring by private car with our own driver. We felt this was the best option for us vs. taking a large tour so that we have more flexibility. As most of you know, Robin and I "don't do large organized tours".  We return to Delhi on March 5th.

Ran into an acquaintance today and she asked if we were going to visit an Ashram.  For those of you who might wonder what that is, the definition of an Ashram is  "a secluded building, often the residence of a guru, used for religious retreat or instruction in Hinduism". Robin simply rolled his eyes, so I think the answer to that one is "no". Actually, he said "Claire could certainly go if she wants, but that I will find a pub".....do they have pubs in India?
On March 6th, we fly to Nepal for 3 weeks visiting Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Nagarkot, Chitwan National Park, Bandipur, Pokhara, Jomsom, Marpha, Kagbeni, Muktinath then back to Kathmandu. Will be doing some trekking for about 5 days during this trip. For those BMO bankers that we used to work with, we will be meeting up with Elsie James during this time; she helped with this part of the trip.

You always think you know the costs of the trip, but that is before you go see the Travel Doctor and he tells you....well you need some shots to protect yourself, so you drop a bundle there. Then you find out you need pictures for Visa's and trekking permits. Oh, then there is tipping for drivers, porters, guides, etc.  Then I decide to visit my Naturopath as my immune system seems to be in the tank (I get sick everytime we visit the grandaughters!). Well, I paid a cool $400+ to get natural herbs/tinctures to help me get through this trip. As one of my nephews says..."It's not about the money, money, money.....kaching, kaching, kaching!"

Packing for the trip is a bit of challenge, considering we need hiking gear for Nepal but not in India. Warmer weather in India...different clothes for both sections of the trip. Good thing we are flying with KLM as they allow us 2 free bags each....and they wonder why we don't fly Air Canada !  We won't tell our Sister-in Law, Brenda that we are taking 3 bags as we always give her a hard time about the size of her luggage.....ooops, I think she will probably read this blog!

We will be doing regular updates and hopefully posting pictures as we go.