It's Cold Here

I'm wearing as many layers as I can...

Hello New York!

Happy Halloween. I made it into New York at 6:30pm yesterday. It was quite a LONG day of traveling. I forgot it was Halloween until I arrived in NYC and saw all the crazy costumes.

Hello Paris...

We arrived in Paris at 7am and tried amusing ourselves until our 1:30pm flights. DUTY FREE SHOPPING! We also had overpriced coffees and french pastries. I bought a walking stick from India for my mom. I guess it's considered a weapon, so I couldn't carry it on. The airline wasn't going to wrap the stick in anything before checking it in, so...I decided to pretend that it was my cane and actually use it as I walked through security. Noopur and Katie were behind me critiquing my cane techinique. Above is me recreating my poor acting skills, but it must not have been too bad b/c it made it with me through two screenings :) Before I would get on the flight I would rewrap the stick so it wouldn't get scratched...fyi in case you're wondering what's going on with the cane in my hand.

Goodbye India!

Late Tuesday night we headed to the airport for our 2:30am flight. The airport was surprisingly busy. I guess most international flights go out of Mumbai in the wee hours of the night. I was ready to get on the plane so I could fall asleep.

Last Day in Mumbai

This is the famous VT Station. It's Mumbai's main train station. The architecture is so nice.

Last Day in Mumbai

We had real mendhi done at Noopur's aunt's house. The top two pictures are Katie's, bottom left is Noopur's and bottom right is mine. It was so amazing watching them work. The amount of detail was beautiful.

Last Day in Mumbai

Our last walk with Noopur's Aunt and Uncle.

Mumbai

Sunday night was Noopur's uncle's mom's 83rd birthday celebration. She was so excited and happy to have all her friends and family around. There were quite a few people there and lots of delicious food.

Back in Mumbai

Sunday we went to Elephanta Island. It's an hour boat ride from Mumbai. A complex of Hindu caves and temples are located here that were built in the 5th century AD. In the 16th century the Portuguese used the site as a firing range. Many statues were damaged by bullets. Above are examples of some wildlife I found on the island. A dog I named Scrappy Doodle and a little monkey. It's quite hot in Mumbai right now. Not ready for fall in the states.

Goodbye Indore

We said our goodbyes and then realized the car tire was flat. This was a 8:00 am for our 8:45 am flight. We miraculously made it on the plane. Anything is possible in India.

Mandu

Mandu

Monkey drinking :)

Mandu

Local fruit that our driver bought for us. It was the consistency of astronaut ice cream.

Day Trip to Mandu

We took a day trip to Mandu. It was about a 3 hour drive from Indore. It's in the middle of nowhere and just filled with so many amazing ruins. We started out with a tour guide that we picked up in the parking lot :) He was explaining to us about a ruler that had music competitions in his home. He wanted to demonstrate the acoustics in the building so he had us sit on one end while he sang in the other. He sang a really high pitched part and then a very low pitched then started snapping a clapping. This went on for a good few minutes and we weren't quite sure if he was going to stop. Katie and Noopur ducked off to the sides and started cracking up. I was stuck sitting across from him pretending to be entertained. The lack of detail in my description is b/c i couldn't understand a word he said. We gave him the boot after this stop. He also had 4 toes on one foot. That's not why we told him to leave, just an interesting fact.

Indore Palace

Out hosts took us to the Lal Bagh Palace. It is a combination of very different architectural styles influenced by French, English & Mughal styles. Above are statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The entrance gates to the palace are replicas of the gates at Buckingham Palace.

Indore Coffee Table

One evening we went out to dinner at a place called the Coffee Table. As we were waiting for the car to pick us up, I spotted a playground near the entrance.

Indore Mirror Temple

The Kaanch Mandir literally translates as the mirror temple. The entire temple (floor to ceiling) was covered in multi-colored glass mosaics. I couldn't take photos inside so I took one in the doorway as I left :)

Indore Jain Temple

The Gommat Giri Temple. The statue above looked so lifelike it was creepy. Directly above are footprints of each of the 24 holy men of the Jain religion.

Bhopal--Workout

Nana was showing us his morning workout. If we do this every morning we will be fit as a fiddle.

Bhopal--Home

Mix of images of Nana, Nani and their home. Nani makes beautiful pillow covers, bed spreads, aprons, wall hangings. The man with the sewing machine is a tailor that comes everyday to help her with her creations.

Bhopal--Agarwal Jain Temple

This temple was just up the hill from the Shiva temple.

Bhopal--Bhojeshwar Temple

This temple dedicated to Shiva has never been completed. It is located in the middle of the countryside and we found it so peaceful and beautiful.