Pi & Coconuts

One of the work gals had a birthday yesterday. To celebrate we went to the movies and went out to dinner. The movie experience in India was very fun! Aside from having popcorn, samosas and small Indian snacks were sold at the theatre. We went to see "Life of Pi". I've never read the book (considering it a bit too spiritual and deep for my tastes), but really enjoyed the movie (probably because I had no expectations). The movie was beautifully done with amazing scenery and colors. As it was centered around India and Hindu and spirituality, it was very appropriate to be watching IN India.

During intermission (Yes, you heard that right!), the movie vendors come by and take food orders. I could barely concentrate on the second part of the movie with the delicious smells of curry and samosas wafting around me.

After the movie we went to dinner at N-Grill a lovely restaurant near the office.

Gorgeous, right? 

I tried the young coconut martini which combined all the things I love about beverages- watermelon juice (new favorite), coconut juice (old favorite) and vodka (all -time favorite).  The drink container? Way better then a normal Martini glass! 

Indian Wedding

The wedding was a three day extravagant affair that started in Chennai and ended up in Mamallapuram .

The Mendhi Party was the first of the wedding events. It was hosted at the bride’s house and was a get together for the girls to get our hands painted in preparation for the wedding. The boys were there as well and it was essentially a cookout (with Indian food, of course). It was lovely and followed by a night of Karaoke! BF and I scored 100 on our lovely rendition of Sweet Caroline.


The second event, the Sangeet, happened the next night. The Sangeet is a celebration of dance and song. It was very similar to a western style reception except that we had been taught some bollywood moves and so were able to showcase our “talent.” Because the groom is Irish, there was also some Irish jigging to be had. The night was really fun and ended with the boys singing Irish songs well into the night!



We had a day off to recover from the Sangeet and headed to Mamallapuram for the actual wedding. We were staying at a five star resort which was AMAZING! The wedding day was when we actually got to wear our saris and tunics.

Indian Illness and Misfortune

While doing research for out travels, every website warned us of the diseases and illnesses that we may encounter.

And the group of us managed to get a lot of them!
- Three out of the four of us traveling together got Delhi Belly. (I have a stomach of steel!), and BF even managed to faint from his due to dehydration.
-Three cases of Bed bugs
- The MOST mosquitoes bites you can imagine. I had 28 on ONE ankle alone. TWENTY EIGHT!!!!
- The bride and groom ended up in the Emergency room on their wedding night because the bride cut her foot and required five stitches.
- One gal got a broken blood vessel in her eye
- One gal hurt her back from the long flight over
- There were many injured toes and feet from playing soccer

And at this very moment, I’m sitting in the ER in Dublin waiting to hear the confirmation that I contracted… DENGUE FEVER. Oh Joy!

Udaipur

After being in Delhi for a couple of days, we decided we needed a change of pace and flew to Udaipur. What a difference! It was a smaller city (though still with MILLIONS of people). It was much more calm and not as chaotic. It was voted the top best city to visit by Travel and Leisure. To be honest, there isn’t much going on here. There is a large lake with a massive hotel in the middle of it. It’s famous because the James Bond film Octopussy was filmed there. It was also the site of Elizabeth Hurley’s wedding.

On our way there, I learned that my friend Nelle who has been traveling for a year with her boyfriend, Adam, would also be in India. I had high hopes to meet her but figured India is so big she could be anywhere. But luck was on our side. We happened to be traveling to Udaipur on the same day! And even more lucky, her hotel was less then 100m from my hotel! We ended up meeting for New Year’s eve and celebrated on a lovely roof deck with perfect views of the fireworks.
In front of the fire pit


Some of my favorite images from Udaipur

Laundry Day


So colorful


Relaxing on the roof deck


After a couple of days in Udaipur, we headed to the airport to get to Chennai and you’ll never guess who we ran into….Katy Perry and Russel Brand! After they got engaged! We also ran into Heidi (from the Sugar babes) and her boyfriend (Dave Berry) in the Mumbai airport.

Here's my best shot of Russell Brand without becoming a crazed fan

The Taj!

So after our scammy day in Delhi, we woke up early to head to Agra which is where the Taj Mahal is located. Although the distance between the two cities is only 180km, it's actually a 4.5 hour drive (due to maniacal auto drivers, dangerous lorries and...er...cows on the road.)

It was worth the trip though. The Taj is beautiful! It's amazing that it was built solely as the tomb for one lovely lady.


We had a shifty tour guide who convinced us to cut the very, very, very long queues to get inside the Taj to see the tomb. At the time we were shocked, but on looking back, he literally saved us 2 hours in line.

Agra's sole industry is tourism so there wasn't much else to do there. We visited (were dragged to) by the tour guide to a silk carpet shop and a marble works store.

Doing some Marble work!


Finally, we were ready to head home on our 4 hour journey back to Delhi. Halfway home, the car suddenly starts to make weird noises and then STOPS. What the heck? The driver managed to pull over the shoulder where we sat for 30 minutes before we were told that it wouldn't start again. We (and when I say we, I mean the boys) managed to push the car to the nearest roadside restaurant where we sat for three hours until another car came to pick us up.

Scammed!

So, we were barely in Delhi for 5 hours before the group got scammed. We read the guide books and were warned to watch out for fake tourist guides who take you to their friend's store and force you to buy things. We were also weary of pick pockets, but we weren't prepared for this crafty scam artist.

Basically, we were walking down the street, minding our own business when we noticed that one from our group was no longer with us. We turned around and he was just standing there. Er... "AL what's going on?"

Apparently the scam artists threw sh@#$ on his shoes and then kindly offered to clean then at an exorbitant rate. Innovative, no?

We're still in India and the wedding is tonight! Expect lots of India updates in the upcoming days!

India- Adventure #1

"Whoa!" is the first thing that comes to mind when I try to describe India. I read all the books and guides and tried to prepare myself but it's just unlike any place I've been before.

We arrived in Delhi at 4:00am in the morning and as soon as we stepped out of the airport, we were met with chaos- People EVERYWHERE! For the first part of my trip, I'm traveling with BF and two of his friends. We thankfully booked a cab to come pick us up otherwise there would have been some aggressive haggling which would not have been the most fun so early in the morning. We get to this teeny tiny car and pile our massive suitcases in. Jammed into the backseat, I couldn't see the traffic but I could definitely hear it! Honking every second.... No joke!

We finally get to the hotel, check in and head to our rooms. Sleep? Unsuccessful! Punjab music streamed incessantly throughout the night. I thought it would be hot (21C) so didn't pack warm clothes- not so much. AND, there were no sheets on the bed. What the what? Since it was so late BF and I attempted to fall asleep. I put on as many layers of dresses as possible and BF and I huddled together for warmth. I brought two scarves with me which we used for warmth. (This is so backpacker. I was not prepared!) We must have been a funny sight, lying as still as possible so that the two scarves wouldn't fall off.

As morning came, we checked out of the hotel (even though we booked for another two nights) and checked into a five star hotel. Normally I don't spoil myself like that but it was easily justified after the night we spend in our 9Euro hotel room.

Stay tuned to hear about how we were scammed and what happened to us on the way home from the Taj Mahal!

World's Best Cities

Travel and Leisure have ranked the top best cities to visit and this year it's Udaipur, India. We booked our flights to India BEFORE this award list came out so I am going to say I'm very hip and in the know....riiiiiiiight...

Anyways, we haven't confirmed our route in India for 100% yet. We just know that we are spending New Year's Eve at the Taj Mahal (fancy!), and have to be in Chennai for a friend's wedding by January 2nd.

We were debating between going to Jaipur or Udaipur, but with these new survey results, it might sway us towards Udaipur. Either way, I'm definitely getting a sari!

Travel Plans

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to travel somewhere, anywhere every month. So far, I’ve done well to keep my resolution and have managed to pack my bags and go for a quick overnight trip if not a full fledged vacation up to this point. However, last night I realised that I don’t have anything planned for June. Ekks!

In order to keep my resolution going, the BF kindly agreed to take me to Belfast for my birthday later this month. Whoopee! Belfast is only an hour and a half away by train. Last week, my Boston buddies went there for an overnighter and loved it. Plus everything is much cheaper up North. Shopping trip for my b-day? Lovely!

Below is my resolution on paper. I still need to make travel plans for a couple more months this year. Anyone up for a trip September and/or October?

January – Galway
February – London (Twice)
March – Prague
April – Morocco
May – London (Again!), Boston
June- Belfast
July – Achill Islands
August - Croatia
September – No plans yet :(
October- No plans yet :(
November- Boston for Thanksgiving - Not confirmed yet.
December – Cork for Christmas and India for the New Year