Journey through India

In December of 2003, we departed on two week journey to India.   We were accompanied on this trip by our good friends Korin Yang, Brian Lawler, Kim Yang, and Brent Davis.   The trip covered many different parts of India in the North, East, and South; spanned many different cities and landmarks, and required many different types of travel.   The pictures herein will highlight many of the amazing things we saw in India.  

For those of you interested in partaking in an exotic journey, it is worth noting that this trip was planned with the excellent assistance of Custom Adventures.  Custom Adventures primary business is planning exotic vacations (check out their web site at custom adventures).

The journey started in Old Delhi.   We flew from Chicago to Delhi via Frankfurt.  We started the trip in the largest city in India's Golden Triangle.   The golden triangle is Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur - the big three in Rajasthan; and a must for visitors to India.   In the short drive from Delhi to Agra, we passed many unbelievable things.   There was an inverted bus crash, more animals then you would believe (dogs, cows, bears, elephants, camels, goats, pigs, monkeys, just to name a few), cars, bicycles, motor bikes, auto rickshaws, and loads of people.   You are never quite sure how this seemingly chaotic combination works, but somehow it does.

We arrived in Agra to see the legendary Taj Mahal.   The Taj is a well deserved wonder of the ancient world.   It would be hard to believe a trip to India would not include seeing the world's most famous and fantastic mausoleum. 

We drove west from Agra to Ranthambore National Park.   The park boasts that it is one of the most concentrated tiger parks in the world, but unfortunately we were not lucky enough to see one.  After Ranthambore, we headed to Jaipur to experience first hand what living in India might be like.

Next, we took the train from Jaipur to Jodhpur.  Jodphur was an excellent experience.  We saw the majestic Mehrangarh Fort, and went on a camel safari on the edge of the great Thar desert.

We eventually left Rajasthan for serenity of the backwaters of Kerala.  We flew south from Jodhpur to Cochin (Kochi), with a short stop in Mumbai.  After seeing the renowned Chinese fishing nets in Cochin, we drove to Alleppey to board our private houseboat where we relaxed on the boat while being pampered with beverages and excellent food.  We spent the night on board the houseboat and finished our cruise in the morning in Kumarakom.

We then drove to Periyar Wildlife Refuge in the Eastern hills of Kerala.  Periyar is built on huge reservoir where you can safari by boat and by foot.   The park was beautiful, but unfortunately our wildlife viewing was limited.

Before heading back to the US, we met with some friend of friends in Chennai.  Sangeetha and Raja showed us around.   We saw the city through a friends point of view, which is refreshing compared to travel's guide.

The food throughout the trip was outstanding.  The trip was a unique journey that opened our eyes to many different and interesting things.   We would recommend the trip to the adventurous few seeking exotic and amazing things India has to offer.

All pictures were taken with a Nikon N80 with one of three lens: Sigma 28-105mm Zoom, Sigma 100-300mm Zoom, or Nikon 80-400mm Zoom.  We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed taking them.     

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