What's up in India

Okay, I'm back and ready to tell you about this amazing place called India. I think the toursim board of India got it wrong, India to me was more magical than incredible (but I guess their marketing people will disagree).

I started out with my wife touring what is known as the Golden Triangle of India - Jaipur, Agra and Delhi, but before that we started of easy with Udaipur. Udaipur wasn't part of the tour (yes, we joined a tour, shame on us) but because of my wife's friend, Jasmin, gushing over it on facebook we decided to add that to our itinerary. I'm glad we did, it was one of our favorite places of the trip.

After that I went out on my own to visit my good friend Vinodh in Bangalore and there I felt like I had hit the jackpot. Not only was he and his family the most gracious host ever, he took me experience Indian wildlife in Kabini and the Ranganathittu bird sanctuary and he also allowed me to experience a slice of Indian family life as I stayed with him and his family for a couple of days. I also went around some of the most amazing temples and palaces while in Karnataka state, including the amazing Mysore Palace and the temples of Belur and Halebid.

To round it off, Vinodh also organized the last leg of my trip which was to lush Kerala, a southern state known for its backwater countryside and laid back Fort Cochin. Wanting to show of the best, Vinodh booked me in the best places there and if some of you have been following my tweets (those things on the right side, under twitter) then you'll know how great these places have been.

So in the end I was able to do the usual tourist route, I was able to live with an Indian family and I struck it out on my own. This was probably the most balanced trip I've had. Watch out for the highlights in the upcoming posts.