No Taj Mahal This Time
40% of the world population lives in China and India. How can you visit the world without going to both places? Neither has a civil war currently and neither is preventing Americans from getting visas. And we like the food. We've been to China, so India here we come.
We decide to split India into 5 parts, west, south, north, east, and far east, not necessarily in that order. East and far east will include Bangladesh and Myanmar, and maybe Sikkim and Bhutan, so far as possible. South will include Sri Lanka.
The first trip will be "west," including Mumbai and Maharashtra, Gujarat and Ahmedabad, the southern part of Rajasthan, and some of Madhya Pradesh.
So now we are on Trip #1. When we describe our itinerary, it invariably receives the following response: "You are, of course, going to see the Taj Mahal." No, we say, that is in the north trip. Similarly, we hear: "You are, of course, going to Kerala." No, that is in the south trip. As it is, 35 days (about as long as we can stand to vacation) is barely enough to see what we are trying to see.
Mike is trying to learn 100-200 words of Hindi. Most folks don't know that India has apx 22 official languages. Hindi is a second language in major parts of where we are going, incl. Gujarat, where Gujarati is the first language, then Hindi, then English. Hindi is also a second language in Maharashtra outside of Mumbai, where Marati is the first language, etc. There are major parts of south India where Hindi is hardly spoken at all, but that is a subject for another trip.
A final thought: In the book of Esther, King Ahashverosh ruled from Hodu (India) to Cush (Ethiopia). So now is certainly the time for Hodu.
40% of the world population lives in China and India. How can you visit the world without going to both places? Neither has a civil war currently and neither is preventing Americans from getting visas. And we like the food. We've been to China, so India here we come.
We decide to split India into 5 parts, west, south, north, east, and far east, not necessarily in that order. East and far east will include Bangladesh and Myanmar, and maybe Sikkim and Bhutan, so far as possible. South will include Sri Lanka.
The first trip will be "west," including Mumbai and Maharashtra, Gujarat and Ahmedabad, the southern part of Rajasthan, and some of Madhya Pradesh.
So now we are on Trip #1. When we describe our itinerary, it invariably receives the following response: "You are, of course, going to see the Taj Mahal." No, we say, that is in the north trip. Similarly, we hear: "You are, of course, going to Kerala." No, that is in the south trip. As it is, 35 days (about as long as we can stand to vacation) is barely enough to see what we are trying to see.
Mike is trying to learn 100-200 words of Hindi. Most folks don't know that India has apx 22 official languages. Hindi is a second language in major parts of where we are going, incl. Gujarat, where Gujarati is the first language, then Hindi, then English. Hindi is also a second language in Maharashtra outside of Mumbai, where Marati is the first language, etc. There are major parts of south India where Hindi is hardly spoken at all, but that is a subject for another trip.
A final thought: In the book of Esther, King Ahashverosh ruled from Hodu (India) to Cush (Ethiopia). So now is certainly the time for Hodu.
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