The Curry Chronicles

Namaste ! Welcome to the Curry Chronicles ! This is Kelly and Yannick's blog for our much awaited trip to India. We are currently 2 days from departure. I want to think that we are well prepared after endless hours of research but I have a strong feeling one cannot be fully prepared for the wonders that India holds. We have had the recommended shots, procured malaria meds along with 2 grocery bags of other stuff for all that may ail us, conquered the Indian Embassy to secure our tourist visas, broken in our walking shoes, read the warnings of trouble making monkeys, and watched Gandhi.

We decided to reserve hotel and trains in advance as it is the busy tourist season. We arrive late Dec 24 after an early morning flight on Alitalia; Paris - Milan - Delhi. Our hotel in Delhi is sending a driver to extract us from the chaos that is the Delhi airport. Our plan (which may change as we go) is to spend the first 2 nights in Delhi. We are then off to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. After one night in Agra we are off on the night train to spend 2 nights in Varanasi, the holiest city in India. Hindu beliefs state that if one dies and is cremated in Varanasi, you go directly to heaven thus breaking out of the reincarnation cycle. We hope we will not have to test this theory!

After Varanasi we head out on another night train to spend New Year's in Jaipur. After a very busy first week in India we hope to slow down a bit by spending 3 days at Ranthambhore National Parc in a tented camp. Here we will take several safaris with hopes of encountering the very elusive Tiger. Sadly due to poaching, the number of tigers has greatly diminished, but if we are so lucky to even catch a glimpse of one it will be a very special lifelong memory.

Our next stop, Udaipur, will be another night train adventure. This is where we chose our 'splurge' hotel, a 17th century converted haveli (ancestral home) for 3 nights. We have reserved a lake facing room and recent reports indicate that after a long drought, Lake Picola is full to the brim and absolutely stunning once again.

If all goes according to plan, we will hire a driver to take us to Jodhpur. We hope to stop along the way to see the Jain temple at Ranakpur. We have 2 nights in Jodhpur after which we will likely hire another driver to get us to Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is a desert town about 100 km from the Pakistan border. This is an excellent base for a camel safari, if one is so inclined. We may settle on a sunset/dinner trip as time and comfort is somewhat limited.

One more grueling 19 hour train ride(when all goes well) from Jaisalmer and we arrive back in Delhi. We spend one final night and all of the last day before our 2:50 am Jan 16 departure back to Paris. We hope to take a few minutes while we are in India to write an update and maybe uploaded a few photos, so please, stop back and leave us a message !

We wish for everyone a wonderful holiday season and look forward to hearing from you!

Kelly and Yannick

posted by kellyee21 @ 4:24 AM