Scanned in January 2002; and cleaned up a bit thereafter.

The excuse for this outing was a meeting called the Second Indo-US Workshop on Solar Terrestrial Physics, to which I was invited to be a participant. With the invite came a plane ticket and per diem for 14 days so not only did Lockheed not have to spend their money but we also were somewhat "subsidized" tourists! To make you feel that at least someone you know is benefiting from government activities, the source of this money is that India has paid the US for things (wheat primarily) in ruppies (India's currency) and the US can only spend that money in India. So, after paying for all the embassy type items there is extra money sitting there so it gets used for cultural and scientific activities, etc.

Since I was flying on this funny money, I had to go Pan Am (the only American carrier that lands in India and thus will accept ruppies) which meant I flew easterly (through Europe). Dawna, however, could get a ticket that was about $30O cheaper and 10 hours shorter and on a better airline by flying westerly, so she flew Japan Airlines. Initially, she was to also get a free night hotel, dinner and breakfast in Tokyo because the connecting JL flight was the following day so that sounded like fun. It turned out that just before she left they put on a flight that didn't require staying overnight so that fell through; but I’m getting ahead of myself.

It also developed that I had a meeting at GSFC prior to the India trip so on Tuesday, Jan 17, I flew to GSFC. Had meetings Wed, Thurs, and Friday and then gave some of my buddies a duffel with dirty clothes and paperwork from the meeting to take back to California. On Saturday afternoon I headed to Delhi. Meanwhile, Dawna caught a plane around noon Friday (Jan 20) which went nonstop to Tokyo across the dateline. She stayed at the planned hotel (at our expense although our travel agent has said he'll pay for it since he hadn't kept on top of the changes); got ready to go downtown for dinner (part of the whole idea was to have Unongee (eel)....but there was 6 inches of new snow and the public transportation systems weren't working so that fell through and she had to stay at the hotel near the airport. At least she obtained a good night sleep to fight the jet lag. Next day she was bored at the hotel, went to the airport early and did find a small "local" cafe that had the eel so all was not lost. Then she flew on to Delhi, arriving about 10 PM, which is now Sunday night. She was met by one of the scientists from the National Physics Lab (NPL) who were sponsoring the Workshop so he took care of getting her to the hotel, which saved her all that initial hassle. Meanwhile, I was flying from Baltimore, to NYC, to Frankfurt, to Karachi, to Delhi. I arrived about 5 AM on Monday and it took a couple dreadful hours to move through customs (we had a full 747 to get through while Dawna had walked through with only a dozen other people in no time at all). Eventually we made it and were taken to the hotel by some of the Lab drivers. I was checking in as Dawna was wondering where we were and was about to have breakfast. It's a long way to Delhi (13 1/2 hours time change when you go eastward and 10 1/2 for Dawna) so we (especially me, since Dawna had had two nights sleep) were a bit jet lagged, but we were both there!!!

A bath and a couple hours rest and it was time to move out. First activity was to go to the US Embassy to pick up our ruppies for the per diem expenses. This took a bit of fumbling into the wrong lines at the Embassy but in the process we did see a note saying the Raiders had won the Super Bowl (great!!!). Eventually we got rich, and then went walking in the general direction of downtown. Weather was like California (70 high and 45 low or so with sun and no rain) and it was great to get some exercise, stare at all the new sights and begin to get a feel for where we were. Got a great kick out of their lawn mowers which are like a reel mower but it’s pulled by a cow and one fellow walks along to hit the cow and the other fellow walks along to guide the mower. Every so often they stop to empty the grass catcher and let the cow eat it! Sensible! First real encounter with the locals was Dawna's shoe (strap) broke so we got it fixed by one of the many people on the sidewalk who are shoe repairers. Also accepted tea from a fellow who ran out of his gems store to try to sell things to us. It was mid afternoon now and we were hungry so asked a tonga driver, a 3-wheeler like a rick-shaw that is propelled by a small moter bike (it’s cheaper than a regular cab and we had taken one to the Embassy) to take us to a good spot. It was called the President Hotel and had an excellent lunch including Chicken Garlic Kabobs, Chicken Curry, Masala rice and tea. This hotel/restaurant will figure in our story more. It is right on the edge of Old Delhi (crowded streets, bazaars, shops) so we walked around there a bit and then went back to the hotel and retired for the night. Before we retired, however, we called a local Indian lady, whose name Dawna got from an acquaintance in the US. We arranged to meet the following night at our hotel to get to know each other a little. The meeting was successful and the two ladies agreed to meet next week to do some serious shopping.

TUESDAY: Sight seeing day. First to Qutab Minar complex which is 15 km south. Moslem place of 12th Century; has a 200 foot tower that is every bit as impressive as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, has the first mosque built in India, has an iron pillar that was built in the 5th century and has never rusted because it is of such pure iron… not to mention, no one knows how they must have cast it. Anyway, an excellent place. Then began heading back. Next stop was Safdarjang Tomb that is Moghal architecture; then to Humayun's Tomb which is better Moghul architecture (16^th Century) and a forerunner to the Taj Mahal. We ran into to four of the scientists here (they were basically following our path of the sights), Tom A,Tom G., Dick and Dave and you'll hear lots more about them later. I have known Dick for many years but only met the Toms and Dave on the Pan Am flight over. Anyway, we then walked a long way to India Gate (a war memorial that is like Paris's Arch-de-Triumph and met some fun people along the way. We were relaxing in a garden near the gate when the 4 guys showed up so we all walked on down to town and went to lunch (again it was late afternoon). Had more good Indian food but not as good as the prior day’s. We spent some time at the Janter Mantar which is an observatory that Marahaja Jai Singh built in 1725 and it has huge concrete-like structures that are like giant, fancy sundials. Really amazingly accurate and clever. Did a bit of shopping and then to the hotel to relax a bit. Then the 6 of us went to the Red Fort (built in 1650 as a spot for Moghul's to rule, still in excellent shape) to the evening Sound and Light Show (some history, music, etc). Then caught bike-rickshaws (like 3-wsheeler but peddled by a fellow) to go to Moti Mahal's (famous) for dinner but it was closed; so since it was late and the President was close we went there and had another fine meal. With 6 there was lots of sharing of taste treats! Fish, chicken mutton, biryani (sorta like fried rice), breads, etc. Then home!

WEDNESDAY: Continue sightseeing Delhi. Began with Jami Masjid Mosque which was built in 1640's and is the largest Mosque in India. Nice and can go up in a high tower and see all over Delhi. Also lots of fun with kids who were fascinated with we friendly foreigners. Walked from there to Red Fort, which meant we were in the real fruits, vegetables, chickens, fish, etc. market area of old town so we had lots of fun looking (and being looked at) and talking to people. Did the tourist bit of the Red Fort (excellent, but would have been so much better had the invading Persians not stolen so much of the inlaid jewels back in the 1700's). Also did a fair amount of souvenir shopping at one of the stores there. Meanwhile, had talked to a travel agent type guy at the President Hotel a couple of days earlier and had agreed to meet our 4 buddies there at 2 PM to talk to him in unison, so back to the President. Travel guy was out, so we left a message; and meanwhile hungry so had another excellent late lunch. We then walked to Ghandi's memorial. Getting there was fun because we got sorta lost in a poor residential area but people helped us out; especially the kids. The memorial is solemn and beautiful...sorta like the Kennedy graves. Walked back to old town and in the process came upon a lady on the sidewalk making brooms; so we ended up buying one and taking her picture and providing entertainment for many "spectators." Walked through more of old town and realized people weren't smiling like usual. Eventually thought to put my jacket over the broom I was carrying and then they smiled. Guess we were doing a no-no since only untouchables sweep the streets, etc. Went into a cloth/silk/etc spot and a real old super storeowner was doing his thing. Watched some locals go through lots of items and then buy some and eventually we did likewise. Beautiful silk at a very good price plus fun of really buying it at a non-tourist spot. Finally back to the hotel.

THURSDAY: Highlight for the day and part of the whole trip concept was to go to the annual India Independence Day Parade. The lab arranged for tickets which provided nice bleacher seats for all the single fellows and special VIP seats for two of us who were there with our wives! Had to act like we were some specific visiting dignitaries and also had a last minute hassle at the gate because our ticket invitations didn’t say anything about wives, but it all got worked out by being insistent. Parade lasted 3-4 hours and was interesting and enjoyable. The "interesting" part was the first hour's worth of military objects (tanks, missile launchers etc.)that were built in US, Russia and in India (with the latter receiving the most applause). Is sad that a developing country needs such things and that the masses need to be proud of them …. The "enjoyable" part was everything else. Bands, teams on horses, camels and elephants, folk dancers from all over India, floats, etc. Really colorful and just good fun. Weather was nice also, so a fine time and actually relaxing since we were just sitting. After it ended we walked downtown, met our 4 buddies and had a good lunch. Tiny bit more of walking around and then back to the hotel. The travel man from the President Hotel came by to see the 6 of us (at my request) and we arranged our plans for the next days outing.

Oh, yes, before moving on, I should mention that we were having breakfast at the hotel each morning and usually were eating Indian food (although they had other available); although by the end of the second week we were becoming so full, we began to eat less (more like a roll, juice, and tea).

FRIDAY: Up early and on the road by 7:30 AM. The 6 of us distributed 3 to a car, with the main travel man (Mr. Batty) driving one car and his helper (John) driving the other. Headed toward Agra, through lots of Delhi, which is very active at this time of morning and a real "thrilling" ride! Takes nearly an hour to get beyond Delhi and into "open" countryside, where open means lots and lots of bicycles, trucks, and animal pulling work carts. And this is National Highway - 2! A two (or less) lane, hard surfaced road upon which we averaged maybe 30- 0O miles per hour. Stopped along the way a couple times to observe things like buzzards eating the remains of a dead cow (cow dies natural death and they set it next to road for buzzards, dogs, etc and then later pile the bones up and someone collects them to make things out of);there were also nicely arranged piles of dung (collected, shaped into saucer like shapes, piled like a teepee for drainage and then used for fuel (burns hot and clean and even, we were told). Late breakfast at a midway, "turnpike" rest stop and it was lousy. Onward to edge of Agra and visited Akbar's Mausoleum which was quite fine and like Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, it is a step along the way to the Taj. Also, for this is now tourist country because of the nearby Taj, there were monkeys (which Dawna had fun with) and there was the snake charmer with cobra and mongoose and a nice big boaconstricter (which Dawna let crawl all over her). Then to the Taj Mahal, built in 1600s with much marble with inlaid semiprecious stones for design. It is absolutely magnificent. Couldn't have been better and absolutely no let down from anything you might have imagined. Spent quite a bit of time wandering and just enjoying. Then to a luncheon spot. We were hungry and it was excellent and with 6 ordering different things and sharing we sampled lots. Next stop a factory/store where they do Taj-like work today of marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Most everyone bought something and we got our main trip souvenir. Then to a carpet factory/store and quite a show and beautiful stuff but expensive (although probably half the cost of equal items in the states), but no one bought much. Into the car and an hour's drive to Fatehput Sikri. This is a city that was built in 1580's to become the capital but then non one ever lived there, so it has remained an excellently preserved Moghul city. Great !!!! Only problem was lack of time plus being pestered by people who wanted to be guides. It is all of red sandstone, lots of carvings, and just excellent. Onward, although it is dark, for less than an hour to Bharatpur. As you can tell this has been a mighty long day (the driver kept trying to get us to not attempt it) but we had planned it that way. Found a place to sleep in an old maharaja's palace turned into a rather bleak hotel. Cleaned up a bit and had dinner (lousy Chinese meal but we had no option). Oh, yes.... This was Dawna's birthday meal!!! Bad!!!

SATURDAY: Up bright an early and over to the bird sanctuary before the sun was up; which is why we pressed so hard yesterday. This is a fantastic spot, sorta swampy and you go around in a flat bottom boat that is being poled and we had a knowledgeable guide and there were birds and birds and birds. It is on the flypath from Siberia and other northern spots and this was the right time of year; so even folks like us who are not bird enthusiasts had a great time. Also did some walking. Back to the hotel in 5 minutes for breakfast and then on the road heading West for the 2nd leg of our triangle, the road to Jaipur. Looking out the window is great like always and it becomes dryer and the carts are now drawn by camels not oxen. Stopped a couple times, like to buy fruit in a village or to take a picture of a village or of people building a new road by hand, and whenever we stopped people would appear and begin to crowd around us out of curiosity. Arrived at Jaipur and checked into the hotel (not great but quite cheap) and then went downtown (the Pink City) and played tourist in the old Palace which now has some excellent museums (as well as seeing the Palace itself) and also did some street shopping and also went to another of Mr.Batty's planned spots which was a more interesting carpet factory than the one in Agra (watched people doing all steps in making a carpet) and again had quite a show of carpet displays. People bought some small items but again nothing large because of the costs (although quality was super). Dinner at hotel (no option) which was quite decent, and puppet show in lobby, which was OK although we were mighty tired.

SUNDAY: Didn't get up super early. Breakfast at hotel. Down to town to wander a bit and to see the observatory, Jantra Mantra, which was built by Jai Singh first (before the one in Delhi) and to see the Palace of the Winds. Then to a Batty selected shop which did Tai-dye stuff and also had everything. We got a tablecloth (not that that was what it was meant to be) with the Taj like design and Dawna got some fun shoes. Also went to the State Emporium and people bought more and more souvenirs. Headed out of town with first stop in less than a half-hour being Amber Fort. Quite nice and up on a hill so the view of the countryside is fine. And of course more stores and we got some jewelry type gifts. Drive back to Delhi; arrived and had a bit of rest and got clean, then we six ate in the hotel dinning room to celebrate our adventure. Over priced (for India) but the food was excellent and we felt decadent (too bad they had loud music).

MONDAY: Jake must go to work now. All day meetings at the National Physical Lab which is within walking distance of the hotel. I was scheduled to give the last talk of the day but things got a bit behind schedule so got rescheduled for first the next morning. That had the disadvantage that I couldn't fully relax that evening but the advantage that your audience is much more interested at the start of the day than at the end. Dawna spent the day getting reorganized after our outing and then also did a bit of shopping herself. In the process of doing a long walk she was told by some Indian ladies that that wasn't a good spot to be walking alone and that she had too much exposed jewelry, so she became more conservative after that (which is a pain but is the real world). That night we 6 went to the restaurant which had been closed when we tried it last week (Moti Mahal's). It is famous and was the first real restaurant in Delhi, but it isn't all that great now. Quite acceptable but not great.

TUESDAY: Meetings all day (we have lunch there also) and my talk (45 minutes) was first and went just fine. Meanwhile this is the day when Dawna is going out with the good friend of her Indian acquaintance in Cupertino. I'll let her tell that part of the letter.

I was to go to Kamini Navany's home at 10 am. From there we walked to the local market where she does most of her shopping. The first purchase was some silk material for pajamas and a couple of blouses. We bought the material and took it to the seamstress across the street. She took all kinds of measurements and then had me look through various old catalogues to choose patterns...all quite different, but fun. Then she told me that the things would be ready in two days! Then because my shoes kept falling apart, I asked where we could buy a pair. Kamini took me to a very nice shoe store, where I not only bought a pair of shoes, but two pair of leather gloves. Next we went to the silver store, where with her bargaining, we both bought several pieces of silver jewelry at very reasonable prices. Then back to her house for lunch … and to meet some of her relatives, who wanted to meet me. That took care of the day for shopping.

I came back from the meeting a bit early so we might go play a bit but Dawna wasn't there. She and Kamini and her husband, Lachman, showed up at 6:30 and they had made arrangements for seeing a folk dance deal at 7:00 (which I had asked Dawna to check into) so we raced to it and it was excellent. Then we took them to dinner and the spot was a good choice. We thought they’d teach us about all sorts of new things but actually they were very quiet on foods and I think they probably basically never go out to eat (too expensive). Nice meal and back to the hotel and bed.

WEDNESDAY: Jake continued "working" and Dawna continued shopping with Kamini. I went to Kamini's house and we went to an underground market this day. I bought some shirts for Nate and some ivory jewelry among other things. Then I mentioned that Jake liked the Indian lunch box and I thought I would like to get one for him, so we rode back to her market and I bought one of them. There was a brass store and I wanted to look in there to see if there was anything interesting and different … there was, so I came away with a couple of things. Then we went to see about my buying a gold bracelet...went to a very fancy jewelry store, but their bangles were too small … too bad, because I really liked some of their styles. They could have a new bangles made up in five days, but that was longer than we were going to be around. After we left the story, Kamini said that she could take me directly to the manufacturer and he could make me one in a couple of days. So that's what I did. Actually, we had to have Lackman, her husband come with us, as he knew where the place was, but she didn't. There are no marking on the building, just an open door leading up some stairs. You immediately walk up four flights of stairs and you are there … and it is not fancy. Anyway, I ended up using my old bracelets, turning them in, having them remelted and made into a new bracelet and it would be ready in two days! Having my bracelets made into a new one was something I have always thought would be fun… that is what the East Indian gal who brought me mine said people do in India because labor costs so little. All very interesting and something I could never have done on my own because the manufacturer didn't speak any English

That night was to be a meal at the Lab directors which got "downgraded" to being a meal in a tent (they do things like weddings and big parties, etc. in freshly set up tents) and it was fine but we aren't big on buffet environments and the standard there is to eat standing up but we westernized it and sat down in one of the few chairs that were available around the edges of the tent; but we were still eating off our laps. Opps, before the meal we had a couple of hours of classical folk dance presented in the lab auditorium. Hard to appreciate quite such a long performance, although it was good.

THURSDAY: I keep "working" and Dawna keeps doing her thing … First thing was to pick up the clothes I had made. It was hard to tell exactly how they looked, but I wasn't very pleased. I thought from all the measurements they took, that everything would fit perfectly … I was wrong. It was a disappointment and I am going to have to resew quite a bit. I was off one day on the bracelet business because we also picked up the bracelet this afternoon… And since we were pretty close to the hotel, I invited Kamini to join me for lunch. There was a vegetarian restaurant I wanted to try, which I knew Jake wouldn't be very interested in … we had a nice lunch and enjoyed listening to a fellow play the sitar. After lunch, we picked up my bracelet and I mentioned that the shirts I bought the day before were too small so I needed to return them .. which we did and I got some larger ones. Luckily we checked them out … actually, Jake was running low and decided to wear one, that's how we found out the size problem. Dumb luck .... That evening was time for the US to host the meal which meant it was at the hotel and we participants "paid" for it by signing some pieces of paper which let the Embassy pay for it! And low-and-behold there was an open bar, which I thought might be in bad taste for the Indians but I’m naive. They made great use of it. So everyone had a fun cocktail party and part of the fun was that so many big shots from the India government (science secretaries and all that) and from the Embassy were there so there were some very interesting conversations. Meal was again buffet and standup or siting in chairs. Pretty tasty and we were waited on hand and foot during both the cocktail period and the meal. HIGHLIGHT of the evening was that Dawna had brought a sari with her that an Indian neighbor in Palo Alto had brought to her 15 years ago .... It is beautiful and looked great and everyone loved it .. All of the ladies at the party came and talked to her (the previous night we had felt a bit on the outside but this broke the ice). I think they were extremely flattered that she had such a nice sari and brought it from the states to wear for this occasion.

FRIDAY: Yes, I'm still working and Dawna is still buying!!! Before we parted that morning, we had to plan our next adventure. Debated between going to the Himalayas or to Varnassi (sacred city on the Ganges) or to a wildlife spot or to Amritsar (in the Punjab and holy city of the Sikhs) and decided on the latter. Plan was to take the overnight train there on Friday evening and spend Saturday there and fly back on Sunday (we fly to the US a bit after midnight on Monday early AM). Arranged all this with first class sleeper accommodations for Friday night but what you really have is a receipt that says you have train accommodations and an open airplane ticket which you convert to a real ticket in Amritsar because you can only get real tickets two weeks in advance or at the city you are flying from (no real big computers or telephones in India). We were assured that that should not be a problem and if worst came to worse, we could return by train on Saturday night. So we parted for the day.

Karmini agreed to come to my hotel and then we were setting off to buy a sitar. I hadn't decided to buy one until the last minute and Karmini had only a couple of free hours that day as she was going out of town for the weekend, but was kind enough to help me purchase (bargain for) the instrument. All went fine and we now have a very nice sitar at home. We said goodby and hopefully I can return some of her kindness if she visits the US one day.

The meeting ended. We got all our stuff stored away and went to the director's home who was having a reception/cocktail party. We stayed an hour or so and then were off to the train station. Located the proper train but the way you find your compartment is to find your name on typed sheets of paper taped to the side of the train cars and we couldn't find ours. Finally found a conductor who had a master list of compartments and he explained that we were in car number 6169, compartment D, so we went there. There was a fellow in D and he took me outside and showed me he was in D and we were in E (really hard to read the misstypings but it was there) so we moved to E which was a room for 4 and one man was there already… so seemed like we'd have company for the evening …. but the conductor man came by and chewed us out for not being in D like he had instructed us (the taped list was wrong) so we ended up back in D which was only for two people, so that was nice. Problem was that these first class accommodations didn't include any linens or blankets! The benches did have a thin cushion on them, but that was it. We got as comfortable as possible and used some of our (really Dawna's) spare clothes for blankets and went "to bed." The train is slow (maybe averages 30 miles an hour) and stops a lot but actually fun … but also getting colder and colder. By morning you could see your breath in our compartment. We did get some sleep but also froze.

SATURDAY: Got up mighty cold but had survived. Bought some tea, which helped wake us up and looked out the window which was fun as we pulled into Amristar at 7:30 that morning. Immediately a million people/kids offered their services in helping us get anywhere. We tried walking to the tourist bureau but it had moved. Some of the kids were still trying to help us so we let one of them put us on his friend's horse drawn cart and we went to a suggested hotel. Not great or bad so we said we'd stay, providing we got our return airline tickets. We went to Air India and waited until they opened up and then asked for a confirmation to Delhi for the next day. Lots of "we don't have one" but we'll try, and after telephone calls, there were eventually no tickets. In retrospect maybe we should have "bribed." Anyway, back to the hotel for the luggage and to the train station. Arranged for a sleeper to Delhi and left our bags at the station and headed out to see Amritsar. However, upon arriving in Amritsar, we had noted a sign that told how to rent sleeping gear (blankets, sheets, pillow, etc) so we figured the return train ride would be a reasonable way to go and actually save money and we would get back to Delhi in time to do a few things. Standard transportation in Amritar is a bicycle-propelled rickshaw and we took one to the Golden Temple, which is the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. It is a super place. Very religious, quiet and large. You walk around barefooted and various people are bathing in the "lake." The actual Golden Temple is out in the lake, reached by a walkway, with various churchy buildings surrounding the lake. Everyone is nice to you. And the temple is beautiful, with many people praying, taking communion, chanting, etc. Spent a couple of hours there. Then took a bike propelled rickshaw back down to a restaurant selected from the book and had lunch. Good but not sensational. Then walked through some parks, and a small museum, and then up through the old part of town toward the Golden Temple. The old town was quite a place with many shops, very narrow streets, lots of people and smells. Only negative was all the military around. I forgot to mention that the Punjab and the Sikhs there were having disagreements with the Indian government (mainly Hindu) and were being violent, etc. so troops were in Amritsar to keep things cool. Most of the people in Delhi had told us not to go there! Anyway, we bought a few souvenirs and then headed to the train station early. Went to get our bedding and found out they only have a dozen or so sets for all the trains and you are to reserve a set well in advance!! Pleaded for at least a blanket but ended up with nothing; so into our compartment and putting on all the clothes we had, we got a fair but not great night's sleep - like the night before!

SUNDAY: Arrived at Delhi at 6:30 AM on time and went back to our old standard hotel and checked in, reclaimed our baggage and had a nice warm bath and a little rest. Then a big breakfast and out to walk around with a sorta of goal being the Lakshmi Narayan Temple (Buddhist) but generally looking the area over as we headed in that general direction. We bumped into a just-being-built Sikh temple and as we were nosing about some of the people came out and got quite friendly. Turns out that part of their whole religion is to be nice to anyone who comes to their temple, provide meals and accommodations, etc. free. Anyway they were quite nice and we ended up spending a couple of hours, seeing the temple, having tea and cookies but refusing lunch, and seeing the head of that church, a man called Babba who just happened to be there and who seldom sees any visitors but guess he thought Americans were worth seeing; so it was a real big deal to our visitors that we had a 15 minute session with him. Eventually we left and walked to Lakshmi which was quite a place. Then we walked on more and checked out the area of all the big government buildings. Eventually took a three-wheeler back to the hotel; had a drink and some nibbles and went to bed about 6 PM. We got up at midnight. Dawna's plane (Japan Airlines) was to leave at 3 AM and managed to leave by 3:35 or so. Mine was to leave at 5:20 AM and left by 6:30. Everything was slow at the airport and lots of checks and stamps but nothing really a problem other than they almost didn't let Dawna carry her huge sitar onto the plane, but she was stubborn and they finally gave in.

So, we both flew home (in opposite directions). Dawna arrived about 9 in the morning and I arrived about 9 in the evening. She had a 10 1/2 hour time change and I had a 13 1/2 hour time change. All told from bed to bed for me was 36 hours of which 24 were in the air (that's a lot of plane time) but my planes were not super full and it actually wasn't too bad; just a lot of eating and napping. Even managed to put in a full day at work on Tuesday!

If you’ve read all this you are to be commended. All in all, the trip was super, the people were friendly, the weather was superb, and we really saw only a very tiny part of India. Right now we have no major outing planned for the future, but there are several possibilities on the horizon.