The day has finally come to pack our suitcases and embark for yet another journey; this time, to India.
I am excited to finally “live” the itinerary that took me 3 months to put together, yet apprehensive to encounter dangers many of my friends warned me of – aggressive men, food poisoning, suffocating odors etc.
Our 40+ day trip will take us to:
- Delhi
- Varanasi
- Mathura, Vrindavan and Sikandra
- Agra and Fatehpur Sikri
- Khajuharo
- Jhansi, Aurangabad, Khuldabad, Ellora and Ajanta Caves
- Mumbai
- Mysore
- Kushalnagar, Bylakuppe and Bangalore
- All of Rajasthan
- Amritsar
Literature and videos:
- Lonely Planet India 2013
- India: A History by John Kaye
- Plain Tales from the Raj by Charles Allen
- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
- Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Mughal Empire by Diana Preston
- City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple
- White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in XVIII century India by William Dalrymple
- The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857 by William Dalrymple
- Delhi by Khushwant Singh
- The Alchemy of Desire by Tarun J. Tejpal
- Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry
- Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
- The Story of India – BBC documentaries.
- www.tripadvisor.com
- Lonely planet website and its Thorn Tree Forum
Last 3 months, I spent absorbing the history and culture of India, the books created a new dimension in my life, bringing me back to times of Babur and Shah Jahan, Mughals and East India Company. I am thrilled to finally go and see it with my own eyes: appreciate, learn and inevitably fall in love with this country. I also am excited to see our Oxonian friends in Delhi and Mumbai, attend Dalai Lama teaching in Bylakuppe and most importantly, discover India with a person I can’t live without – my Dimi.
It is going to be an extraordinary trip to Incredible India!