October 14th - October 22nd

A month or so ago my PM was trying to get me to run in the Delhi half marathon because he had heard I had done one before. There was no way I was in any shape to do a half marathon but the race also had a 7k that went along with it. Me and some of the other SMEs signed up to do that. When the race day came around, the 5 or 6 SMEs that signed up to run turned out to be 2 that actually did it! Earlier in the week we had met some ex-Military guys that were in town working with the Indian Government so two of the guys joined Folake and I for the race. Below is Lee and I in action! You can see some police in the background. They were in a lot of places along the race path. At one point I saw a policeman with a big ole' gun standing right on the curb - it was just so alarming to see this guy with a big gun as you are doing a 7k - Only in India!


The race was interesting to do - a fun, different experience. In the US if you were to do a 7k, a majority of the people doing it would be about 80% athletes of some caliber. In India I think it was about 80% non-athletic type people running the race. As you can see below there were a lot of people wearing jeans. But they were so enthusiastic about the race. At one point I was hot and tired so I was walking. This guy with an umbrella came up beside me and was trying to encourage me to run. So I told him if he'd run - I'd run. We started running and he seemed so excited to be running with me. He kept trying to hold the umbrella over me as well, but he just ended up poking me in the side of the head with it - over and over again. He didn't realize he was doing it because he was working so hard to run with me. He was in some type of non-running pants that had to be hot. He was also telling me that he was fasting because he was Muslim and it was Ramadan. So basically that meant he couldn't drink water either. I would never be able to run in the heat and not drink water - so I was impressed. He was asking all kind of questions - the first one I always get - 'was I married', what was I doing in India, ect. Finally Folake caught up with me (she had started the race a little late). So all three of us were running together at first, but Folake had a much faster pace than I so eventually my little friend couldn't keep up and we lost him. I tried to keep up with Folake too but eventually I had to drop off as well!



Below is Folake and I trying to recover after the race. Frank (one of the military guys) was trying to take our picture and was taking a few minutes to get it ready. The group of guys in the background noticed that he was going to take a picture so they got all together - like he was going to take a picture of them. Not sure if they just wanted to be in the background of our picture or if they just thought Frank wanted a picture of them. It was a little strange - but in India it didn't surprise me!!


Below is the winner of the Half Marathon. He is from Kenya. I think he was the guy that lapped me in the Bermuda marathon!! :o)


Half way through my stay at the Taj Palace they made my floor a Taj Club floor - which basically meant I got better shampoo, lotions, and I now get conditioner. It also meant I could now go to the Taj Club for free! All the people that are here for longer and have suites have been going to the Taj club and it means free drinks from 6:30 - 8pm. Obviously we can't take advantage of this often because we don't get home from work until after 10pm but on the weekends it is a nice perk to have. Below is Elliott and I enjoying the perks!


I organized a dinner at Olive - a great Italian restaurant that I went to when I first got to India. All the girls backed out so it was me, 4 of the military guys, and Eric from Hewitt.


Sometimes the beggars sell newspapers to get money from you. These aren't newspapers you would want to read and they don't really cost any particular amount of money. I guess they just figured they would have more chance of getting money from you if they give you something in return. The girls are usually so cute. They are always smiling and love to have their picture taken. There are times when we take food (fruit or leftovers) from the hotel and give it to the beggars. Some are very appreciative but others get mad at you b/c even though they did the sign for 'I'm hungry' and you give them food, they really want money. It sometimes makes you not want to give anyone anything if they are just going to get mad at you because you gave them what they asked for - or even sometimes if you don't give them enough money. I know this might sound mean but 'beggars can't be choosers'.


Sunset at the Taj.


We just finished a batch of training - below is their graduation picture. All these associates were trained on 3.x.

Jaipur (Pink City) - October 8 and 9

Jaipur is the state capital in Rajasthan. Rajasthan has more of a desert climate. Jaipur was much warmer and hillier than Delhi. The morning that we drove to Jaipur was the morning the earthquake hit. We did not feel anything since we were on the road but my co-workers back in Delhi were woken up by the earthquake. No damage was done in Delhi though.


Along the drive to Jaipur there were several times where we saw Camel's on the road. The closer we got to Jaipur the more there were. Also saw some scary things along the road to Jaipur - I saw a dead camel in the road and even worse there was some type of traffic accident - I think a truck/pedestrian accident and there was a dead body covered by a sheet on the side of the road. It was a little disturbing. It wasn't like in the US where there were medics around. It was just one or two random people and this dead guy.


Once we were in Jaipur we saw a lot of elephants.


First stop was Amber Fort. This is the surrounding walls of the Fort.


Veena and Beth as we are about to enter the Fort.


No place in India have I felt like more of a Rock Star than in Jaipur. The picture above is of a group of kids that were doing a 6 day tour of Rajasthan. They were at the entrance to Amber Fort waiting to get in at the same time we were and they kept coming up to Beth and I asking to take their picture with us. The ones that didn't get a picture with us outside the Fort came up to us while we were inside and asked if they could take a picture with us. This happen the next day as well. As we were getting in the car to leave Jaipur this one kid was trying to take a very discrete picture of me as he was walking by. It really made me feel like someone famous. :o)


Inside of the Fort.


View from inside Amber Fort - elephants bathing.


The Jal Mahal Palace, Jaipur is noted for its intricate architecture. The Palace was developed as a pleasure spot. It was used for the royal duck shooting parties. The palace is situated in the middle of Man Sagar lake. The first four floors of this building is under water, only the top floor remains outside. Built in 1799, the palace is now abandoned, but reasonably well preserved. In the monsoons, it looks particularly startling with its red sandstone set against the water hyacinth filled lake.


Some of the shopping in Jaipur. All these shoes are handcrafted right there in the store.


More shopping.


Built in 1799, by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh the 'Hawa Mahal', Palace of the Wind, is one of the major landmarks of Jaipur. It is an integral part of the City Palace, an extension of the Zenana (women's chambers) standing away from the main complex. This five storey building of unusual architecture designed by Lal Chand Usta, is a stunning example of Rajput artistry made of red and pink sand stone, beautifully outlined with white borders and motif's painted with quick lime. The monument with a spectacular view of Jaipur city with road avenues, intersections and colorful crowds in the market, was originally conceived with the aim of enabling ladies of the royal household to watch the everyday life and royal processions in the city without being seen by others.


View of the street below from one of the windows in the Hawa Mahal.


View of busy street from Hawa Mahal.


In front of Rambagh Palace. This is an amazing Taj Property where we had dinner and watched a folk show.


Can't really tell from this view but if you click on the picture to enlarge I swear you can see a nose on the moon. :o)


View from inside Rambagh Palace.


Dinner at Rambagh Palace. This is an Indian meal where you can try a little bit of everything. It was pretty good - especially the Nann and the Chicken Kabobs.


The picture doesn't do justice on the personality of this little boy - he was so cute and entertaining. His shoes are several sizes to big and he has no pants on. For some reason a lot of the little boys walk/play around with no pants!


One of the two giant silver urns that are in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest silver objects. This was in City Palace.


Beth in her shopping mode!! This is what a lot of the stores looked like from the inside. You just sit down and they pull out things you want to look at and then some!!

Mumbai (Bombay)- September 22nd - September 25th

Mumbai was not on the top of my list of places I wanted to go in India. But I'm so glad I went! I had the best time here and the contrast to Delhi was so interesting to see. I expected everything to be relatively the same but it was SO different. In fact the first night I didn't even feel like I was in India. We stayed at 'THE' Taj Mahal Hotel and it was all Americans and Europeans - or at least way more than the Taj in Delhi. The second two nights we stayed at another Taj property but there were more Indians there.

One of the main differences were the accents - I would hear someone talking and almost think they were British. But when I turned around to look they were in fact Indian. I guess when the British ruled India it left more of its influence in the Bombay region. Also in Delhi there are more trucks and commercial vehicles - not the case in Mumbai. Mumbai is on the ocean so that was a nice change too. Mumbai gets a lot more of the monsoon than Delhi so it was a lot greener and not as dusty and dirty. There were also a lot more tourist in Mumbai than I have seen in Delhi. Before I arrived in India I was actually expecting Delhi to be more like what Mumbai is actually like - more metropolitan and a lot more tourist.


The cabs in Bombay were decorated a lot more than you see in Delhi!


Taj Mahal Hotel where we stayed the first night! It has the original hotel and then you can kind of see the towers to the right. We stayed in the original hotel (102 years old) and it was much nicer than the towers (30 years old). They are in the process of renovation the original hotel and we got a renovated room.


Room at the Taj! Almost looks like a painting.


Indian Marble is a very popular thing in India. The Taj in Delhi has a lot of marble through out but no bathroom like this. The entire bathroom was very nice!!


View from room. It wasn't a very nice day. It rained off and on both Thursday and Friday but the rest of the weekend was nice.


Another view from our room. This is the Gateway of India - a big tourist attraction.


Inside of hotel. Very detailed!


Another inside view from up above.















View of pool.


Leopold's Cafe and bar. This was a restaurant that I really wanted to visit because it was a main hang out for the characters in the book Shantaram that I read. We ended up eating there 3 days in a row because the food was good, cheap, and it had a fun atmosphere.


I included the picture above because the guys with the balloons in the picture are very memorable to me. They were the most annoying part of the trip. By Gateway of India and on the streets of Colaba Causeway where we were shopping these guys would not leave you alone. They kept bugging you to buy the balloons. We finally did because we thought it would make a great gift for kids but realized once we got home that we got the smaller version. So basically we were deceived. Every time we went out again they would just hound you to buy the balloons and run into you with them when they were trying to get someone else to buy them. It was annoying!!


Another picture of the Gateway to India. It was built as a triumphal arch to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary, complete with four turrets and intricate latticework carved into the yellow basalt stone. Ironically, when the Raj (British rule) ended in 1947, this colonial symbol also became a sort of epitaph: the last of the British ships that set sail for England left from the Gateway.


Chowpatty Beach during the day. This is a favorite evening spot for courting couples, families, political rallies, and is where crowds gather to watch images of the elephant-headed god of good fortune, Ganesh, be immersed in the sea after it is paraded through the city streets. We missed the festival by a week - but it would have been a mad house if we had been there. They televised it on the TVs in Delhi and I could not imagine the number of people that were packed in this area and all around the city.


Haji Ali's Mosque. During high tide, the connecting causeway is submerged in water giving the impression that the mosque and tomb are floating out at sea in splendid isolation. The Haji Ali Dargah, the floating tomb of a wealthy Mohammedan merchant who renounced his worldly ways before embarking on a pilgrimage to Mecca.


View from our second hotel that was further north in Mumbai.


Beautiful sunset on the beaches near our hotel.


I can't remember if I mentioned this before but you see a lot of people sitting this way quite often. To me (especially after 3 knee surgeries) I can't imagine anyone sitting like this - let alone being able to get up after sitting this way.


Night out for the group!!