Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go...

I last wrote a week ago, so I'll catch you up on the wild and crazy happenings here in India.  Actually, there's no wild and crazy, so let's reset your expectations before you read any further. 

Last Sunday, Blaine and I took a car around Delhi sightseeing.  We had the same driver, Monu, as the previous day going to Agra.  He was great and we were able to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time.  We tooled by Akshardham (a showcase of Indian architectures, traditions and cultures, www.akshardham.com) and The Red Fort (the walled city of Old Delhi where the Mughal emperors lived).  Then he took us to Jama Masjid (the prinicpal mosque of Old Delhi) where we dropped our shoes and headed on into the large courtyard of the mosque.  The courtyard alone can hold up to 25,000 worshippers!  From there, we went to the capital buildings, the prime minister's residence and the Parliament.  We drove past the Indian Coast Guard HQ in Delhi (took a pic for you, Ali), stopped at the India Gate and continued on to Humayun's Tomb.  After that, we swung by Lodi Gardens and the Lotus Temple (one of the main Baha'i temples in the world) on our way to Dilli Haat.

Dilli Haat is an outdoor market of over 200 stalls with people selling woodworking, scarves, clothing, bangles, dolls, food and everything else you can imagine.  We spent two hours walking around looking at their wares.  It was the perfect place for Blaine to do a lot of souvenir shopping for his family all in one place.  We found some really neat things that captured the essence of India.  After we were shopped out, we went with Monu to his final destination with us, the Delhi domestic airport.

We had several hours to wait for our flight to Bangalore, but we passed the time and had a relatively uneventful trip.  We were picked up at the airport and were delivered to our hotel, the Lemon Tree in Electronics City, at 12:30am.  After keeping myself up until 4:30am, I went to sleep until 3:30pm.  I had hardly slept at all over the past several days, so this was perfect and got me on schedule for the night shift.  Unfortunately, my coworker had caught a case of Delhi Belly and was completely out of commission, so I left the hotel at 6:15pm IST (7:45am EST) and headed off to work.  It was exactly as I remembered it being and the day moved along well.  I had lunch with our two team leads, Jerome and Madan, at the chinese place up the road and all was well. 

Fortunately, Blaine felt somewhat better on day 2 and was able to make it in to work.  We had a busy day, complete with taking the entire Capital Region team out to lunch at Lord's Plaza.  Wednesday was a complete whirlwind and Hurricane Blaine was in full effect.  We had a couple of training sessions and team lead/manager lunch all crammed into a short day.  Blaine was off to the airport to fly back to Delhi, where he would be working Thursday in the Noida office and then as soon as work was over, head to the airport to fly home.  We continued on our training sessions and role plays in Bangalore.  On Friday, the Fannie/Freddie team took me out to lunch.  Guess where we went?  KFC!  Like most US chains in different countries, the food was exactly the same.  They said they go there every Friday.  It was a great time, spending time out of the office and getting to know them better.

That brings us to the weekend.  It's currently Sunday night at 11:15pm here.  I had decided that I was just going to chill out this weekend here at the hotel.  I got caught up on some things and am ready for work this week.  The owners will be in the Bangalore office this week, so I should be prepared.  Next weekend, I have plans with TJ and who knows exactly what we'll get into. 

So, that's about all the news from this side of the world.  I hear that DC is going to get snow mid-week.  We'll see.  Until I write again, be careful out there!

Guess who's back...back again?!

As you guessed from the title, I'm somewhere I've been before.  That place...INDIA!  I can't believe a whole year has passed since I was last here.  This time, I'm staying just over 3 weeks and all of it in Bangalore except for a few sightseeing days in Delhi.  So, let's get to it...

I left home on Thursday night, 2/21.  After a near 13-hour flight from Dulles, I arrived in Doha, Qatar and after a 2.5 hour layover, continued on to Delhi with another 3+-hour flight.  I don't really mind flying at all.  I spent the bulk of the flight to Doha asleep and since I had the row to myself, I was able to stretch out and it was awesome!  Of course, no flight is complete without a movie.  I was able to squeeze Lincoln in on the first leg and then watched The Dark Knight Rises on the second.  Yes, I know, I was the only one on the planet that hadn't seen DKR, but hey, it was worth the wait.  Since the return flight from Doha is two hours longer without the jet stream, I've already planned my next set of blockbusters (Argo, Looper, Training Day and perhaps Wreck-it Ralph).  Okay, so after all that, I arrived in Delhi just after 3am on 2/23, collected my luggage, cleared customs, and was off with my driver to the hotel. 

After an hour or so, we made it to the Park Ascent hotel in Noida at 5am.  Blaine had gotten back from work a half hour prior and was in the lobby waiting.  We spent the next two hours catching up on all the happenings of the past few days - his time at the Noida office, what was going on back home, etc.  Then, he retreated to his room to get a few hours of sleep and I got online to let my loved ones know I had made it safely to my destination and to catch up on the exactly 391 work emails I received during the one business day I was out.

We met in the lobby at 10:30am and were off on our trip to Agra.  After Staci's and my experience at the Taj Mahal last year (see below), I made sure we took a private car this time, so we could control the stops on the tour.  As of last summer, there is a new expressway to Agra which cuts the travel time in half.  It used to take 5-6 hours and now is around 2.5-3...big difference!  It was smooth sailing and we arrived there around 1:30pm.  Our driver was unable to take us close to the Taj entrance since there was a festival going on at the visitor's center, so we parked and got out.  What happens next was truly a sight that unfortunately was not captured on film...

Blaine and I took a rickshaw down to the Taj entrance.  No, not an auto-rickshaw...instead, a bicycle rickshaw.  That poor guy!  He had to go up a small dirt hill to get out of the parking area and he was probably going to have a heartache pulling the two of us.  Let's just say that it's a good thing Blaine and I like each other because we were up close and personal in the little seat being pulled by the dude's bike.  It was just under a mile to the entrance, so I figured we'd just hoof it back.  We paid the guy and as soon as we got 10 feet away, I turned around to go back and see if he could take our picture to document the experience, but he was off on another fare.  Bummer...hugely hilarious pic opportunity missed! 

So, we moved on toward the Taj.  As typical, several people were offering postcards and books as well as to be our guide through the Taj grounds.  One of the guys named Ravi latched on to us and continued until he wore me down, to which I said to Blaine, "We're gonna rent this kid."  (Blaine is convinced this will be the best quote of our entire trip.)  I usually prefer to see things on my own and especially since I was just here a year ago; however, I liked the kid and figured it was worth the $6 fee.  Well, it turned out to exceed expectations and he was great.  He gave the full rundown on every aspect of the Taj and surrounding buildings and was extremely knowledgeable.  I definitely know a lot more about it now than I did before.  All I can say is, if you ever make the trip to the Taj or another Seven Wonder of the World, spend the money and get the guide.  Ravi was the best $20 investment I've made in quite a while!

After we finished at the Taj and got to see how the marble was inlaid with the gems, we said farewell to Ravi and continued on toward the car.  That's when we met Slumdog Millionaire's cousin.  This kid was trying to sell me Taj snow globes - one was a larger one acting as penholder for two pens and the other was a pack of 10 or 12 snow globe keychains.  He started at 500 INR for each.  By the time he had walked over a half mile with us he was down to 100 for either one.  I can't tell you how many times I told him "No thanks," but he kept on trying.  He truly exemplified Og's scroll, "I will persist until I succeed."  The good news is we've already called corporate and are preparing his visa to be ready in ten years.  We're convinced he'll be running either our company or another staffing firm by the time he's 25!

From there, we moved across town to the Agra Fort.  It is where Shah Jahan's son imprisoned him once he took over the throne.  The fort looks across the river at the Taj and Shah Jahan could see daily the mausoleum (the Taj Mahal) he build for his late wife, Mumtaz.  (info on Taj: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal)  Once we spent an hour at the fort, we met our driver, Monu, and started the journey back to Noida.  Upon arrival, we dropped our bags in the room and headed back downstairs for dinner.  We hadn't eaten all day, so those of you that know me, know how I love food (especially the spicier the better), so let's just say that this buffet had all the makings of a fantastic feast.  All the food was great, particularly the paneer with chili sauce.  Blaine found out that he is not a fan of pani puri but was good to go on everything else.  This was the end to a fabulous day.  Looking forward to our travels around Delhi tomorrow and will update the blog as soon as possible.

Ever feel like Gilligan?

We spent the bulk of Friday trying to secure tickets to go to Agra on Saturday.  All the trains at the best times were booked and we were coming up empty for both Saturday and Sunday.  Fortunately, I reached out to my company contact and he was able to find us a bus tour leaving at 6:30am returning at 10:30am.  The timing was great for us and we’d be able to get all of our sightseeing around Delhi done on Sunday.  Even though this whole process took several hours, at least we were confirmed for a ticket to Agra.  That night, I went to dinner with the GM of our India operation and another work colleague from US.  We had a nice dinner with good conversation and I returned to the hotel around 11:15pm to get some sleep for the big adventure to Agra the next day.

So, just like Gilligan who though he was only going out on a 3-hour tour, the journey began with our cab picking us up at 6:30am.  We were to meet the tour bus at a stop in Delhi and be the last pickup before the trip to Agra.  First, the bus needed to get out of Delhi and we seemed to run into traffic wherever we looked.  Of course, we weren’t running late enough to skip the usual rip-off (oops, I mean stop-off) at the place along the way where the bus company gets a kickback for taking all the tourists.  After losing a half hour there, we continued on, only to battle more and more traffic.  Long story short, the trip from Delhi to Agra is only 125 miles (200 km), but we did not reach the Agra Fort until 1:35pm (yes, do the math…that’s a 6+ hour ride and we were last to board the bus!).  Nonetheless, we made it to Agra.

They gave us just over a half hour to tour the fort and head back to our bus.  Once we got there and it was time to move on, there were several people hanging outside the bus, smoking, eating sweets from street vendors, etc., which delayed our trip another 15 minutes.  Then, we went to the shopping center where we had a half hour to peruse the handicrafts sanctioned by the state.  We saw the exact replica of the Taj Mahal which was truly incredible in its detail.  Staci and I found a street vendor close by selling aloo tikki and had a nice little feast in a bowl for 20 INR (about 40 cents).  Again, we didn’t leave until 15 minutes after our projected departure time.  After our shopping tour, the bus stopped for lunch – another half hour spent at a restaurant they had targeted for the tours to come.  Staci and I stayed on the bus and waited to move on to the piece de resistance, the Taj Mahal.  Guess what happened next?  We were waiting nearly a half hour extra for these 3 young guys to come so we could leave.  They never made it and didn’t answer their mobiles, so we left them.  They knew we were going to the Taj next, so they could get a taxi or a rickshaw to take them across town. 

Finally, we arrived at the Taj Mahal at 4:30pm.  We were given an hour and a half to get through security, enter the East Gate, see the Taj and get back to the bus.  It was truly ridiculous that this was the whole purpose of our trip and we were only getting 1.5 hours…rude!  Anyway, we raced to the gate, entered, took tons of pics and attempted to see the inside.  The line was so long that we knew we were not getting inside, so we made the most of the outside, taking lots of pictures and trying to capture the magnificence of this structure.  The detail in the marble is incredible and the flower inlays are outstanding.  It truly is a sight to behold and worthy of being called a Seven Wonder of the World!

We busted it back to the bus to make the departure time of 6pm.  You know one thing’s for sure, Americans do know how to be on time and when the tour guide says we’re leaving at a certain time, we believe them (otherwise, we know we’ll be left behind).  This time, there was one guy who was way later than the other late ones and not picking up his cell.  He finally showed back up to the bus at 7pm – ONE HOUR LATE!!  He claimed that he didn’t know what time to be back, even though our guide told us about five times before we left that it was 6pm.  We left the three at the last stop for being nearly 30 minutes late, so why didn’t we leave him?  The really frustrating thing was that Staci and I could have spent the additional hour actually seeing the inside of the Taj.  Totally ridiculous!

Moving on, we headed for Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna.  Once we got there, I was completely out of it.  I had only slept 4 hours that morning and only 3 hours the night (day) before that.  Staci and I stayed on the bus and did not get off to go see the temple.  Apparently (as I hear it from Staci), the bus stopped at a second temple.  Then, the Indians on board wanted to attend the 11pm service at the temple, so we waited.  Finally, at 11:30pm, we were en route back to Delhi.  Of course, going straight there would have been too easy.  We had to stop along the way for people to get food/snacks, go to the bathroom, etc., which took another 40 minutes.  Our car was supposed to pick us up at 11:30pm originally and did not end up collecting us until 2:15am (and we were the first ones off the bus!).  We reached the hotel at 2:30am after a 20-hour journey.  The sad part was that the main attraction was the Taj Mahal and we got so little time actually there.  So, heed this piece of advice if you ever make the trip to India and want to visit the Taj, take the train!  At least you can make your own schedule and spend as much time as you want where you want!

Working on the night shift

After taking the 6-hour bus ride from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur, then a flight to Delhi and a cab ride to Noida, we arrived at the hotel at 7:30pm.  I was supposed to be at work at that time, so I had to do a quick change and get over to the office as soon as I could.  I was for sure after only sleeping about 4.5 hours in total from the previous day that I wouldn't be able to make it through; however, all went well and I only glassed over for literally a minute or two. 

It was really cool seeing our RPO in action.  There are nearly 135 recruiters on the floor so you can only imagine the buzz once everyone's phones start humming.  I spent a lot of time with the training team and they really seem to have it together.  They even invited me out to the chai wallah with them for some early morning tea at 2am in the morning.  Yum!

Anyway, after 3 full nights of working (the first night was 10.5 hours and the other two were 12 hours each) and meeting with as many teams as possible (background check, training, HR, various client teams), I made it through the Delhi leg of the work trip.  Staci and I are going to do some sightseeing today and then hop a train early morning to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort.  Should be amazing.  Write more then. 

Jaisalmer Desert Festival

Staci and I were up early yesterday morning, trying to adjust to the time change.  We went up on the roof at 6:40am, optimistic for a good sunrise.  That didn't happen, but it was nice to take a look out at the city and see the fort high on the hill.  After a hot shower, we went upstairs for breakfast, ready to begin the day.  We strolled through town and staked out good seats for viewing the festival's opening parade.  They had everything from a band on camels to dancing women to men dressed as ladies...sounds like home, without the camels.  From there, we decided to skip the Mr. Desert, Best Mustache and a few other contests which were the early program for the day.  Instead, we made a break for the fort. 

The Jaisalmer fort is one of the only forts still inhabited by people.  Cows, dogs and people live together in a huge stone fortress with extremely narrow streets and no real markings.  We stumbled upon a man named Raju, who was so happy to share the story of his family's home and took us on a tour of the entire house, telling us the history of each room.  He was incredibly informative.  Further, at the end of the tour, he didn't ask us for a tip or try to sell us anything!  Staci bought a lotus flower candlestick holder that was really cool from him at a good price, so all were happy. 

We walked back from the fort, changed and were ready to go on our camel safari at 2:30pm.  We drove about a half hour outside Jaisalmer to the Thar Desert where we met our camels and their guides, Ali and Salim.  We trekked through the desert on the camels for about an hour and a half, through the dunes and the desert people's community.  It is always so interesting (and upsetting) when traveling to foreign countries to see how some people have to live and under such poor conditions. 

After our ride was over and we snapped a bunch of pics, we sat in the dunes waiting for the sun to set.  The night before's sunset was an amazingly huge red ball of fire, so we were hoping we would see something nice in the desert...not so much.  Oh well, it was a great experience riding a camel through the desert and I'm glad to have done it.  Doesn't mean I have to do it again, but once was good. 

We went back to the hotel and had dinner of aloo gobhi, palak paneer, jeera rice and buttered naan.  As usual, it was great and we left with full bellies and full pockets since the cost was so reasonable.  We had another night's stay on our rock-hard beds and prepared for day 2 of the festival.

Today, we went to the other stadium for the festival.  There were tons of events, so we were very excited.  The first event was the camel decorating contest.  Staci was asked to be the female guest judge and some other foreigner was the male guest judge.  The judging consisted of the camel's decoration, the rider's outfit and the camel's build.  She looked very official going by each one with her clipboard in hand!  They also had camel polo, an Indian game called kabbadi (which seemed like flag football, rubgy, wrestling and a few other sports combined but with no ball), a water pot-carrying contest for the Indian ladies vs. the foreign women, and a race to see which rider could get dressed, tie their turban, saddle and suit up on the camel fastest, which was truly entertaining. 

The best events of the day were the tug-of-wars in which the Indians battled the foreigners.  The men started things off and won the first match, lost the second and won the tie-breaker.  Then, it was the women's turn.  The owner of our hotel, Chenyson, signed Staci and I up for this event, and we did not disappoint.  Staci anchored the team from the very back and I was our lead-off in the front.  To be completely honest, I thought it was going to be a cakewalk; however, these Indian women were stronger than they looked.  The first match was tough, but we pulled it out.  Then during the second one, all the Indian women sat down in the sand except for their anchor.  It was like pulling on dead weight and I felt like their strategy was working, but we wore them down and once we got a good couple of pulls in a row, they were done.  We had wondered previously if the men were told to throw their second match to make it an even fight, but you guys know how uber competitive I am and I just wouldn't be having that.  A close second behind that reason was that I was completely whipped and there was no way I wanted to go to round 3.  Tons of respect for those ladies because my arms were shaking after the competition.  The good news is that we got a free polo shirt for participating in the contest, a $100 rupies (~$2) for winning and Staci and I were interviewed by several TV stations and newspapers  All in all, a totally fun time!

From there, we went back toward the fort and ate lunch at a great restaurant called Saffron in an old haveli in town.  Food was good and the conversation was better.  We took our new friend, Ralph from outside Toronto, with us.  We met him at breakfast at our guesthouse and started talking.  He's a 71 year-old traveling by himself (wife stayed home...imagine that, Ali!).  He beat cancer 11 years prior and decided to start traveling.  Super great guy with lots of good stories of awesome places he's been.  After lunch, we headed back to the stadium for more festival activities. 

The next main event was the camel tattoo.  All the camels come in to the stadium in full regalia.  Then, their owners put them through drills, showing off their synchronization and skills.  It was a sight to behold and it was amazing how well trained these camels were.  Afterward, Staci and I trekked back into the fort and she bought two more lotus flower candlestick holders.  Now, we've stopped at the internet cafe to catch up on our blogs and will head back to Desert Moon to get ready for our trip back to Jodhpur on the 6:40am bus.  Time here in Jaisalmer was short, action-packed and worth the effort to get here.  Tomorrow evening the real fun begins when I go to work in Delhi/Noida starting at 8pm.  I'm already wondering when/where I'll sleep next...

Did someone mention the Next Gen Sleep # 1000?

Yes, you, too, when completely exhausted, can sleep anywhere...and I mean ANYWHERE!  More about this later, but first let's pick up where we left off last.

We took the flight from Paris to Delhi on an old 747, which was an hour late due to a doctor being on board who had to clear a drunk person to fly.  There were no individual movies, so I was able to get a few hours of sleep.  Upon arrival in Delhi, we went through immigration in the new area of Indira Gandhi airport.  It has a bunch of hand sculptures on the top of the wall with sign language and was very nicely done.  Once we passed through, we collected our bags, exchanged money and headed for the domestic terminal, which is directly above the international.  The only problem with this was that there was no re-entry to the international terminal and they don't let people in to domestic until 3 hours before flight...a very big problem since it was about 12:30am and our flight was not until 10:35am.  We had to sit in a holding area with very few chairs, no bathrooms, etc. and wait to get in to domestic.  A sign on the door when going upstairs that there was no re-entry would have been totally helpful!

Anyway, we finally got in at about 4:15am.  We checked our bags for our flight, brushed our teeth and headed to the food court upstairs where we found the only thing open was old faithful...McDonald's!  Staci and I had a spicy paneer sandwich (which had special sauce that had quite a kick!) and the world's best fries.  Then, they had these fantastic u-shaped lounges, so we each took half and slept for an hour or so.  Awesome sleep!  Woke feeling refreshed and ready for the next leg of the trip. 

Took the flight from Delhi to Jodhpur in just over an hour.  Once we got our luggage, we grabbed a cab to the bus station.  That adventure took about 15 minutes of weaving through traffic and roundabouts (a bit scary!).  The driver dropped us off and said, "Walk through there and you'll get to the bus."  It was not a pleasant smelling or looking place and looked like a set-up for a con.  We went to the ticket booth and bought our tickets to Jaisalmer.  Fortunately, we were put on the newest and most spacious of the buses.  There were 2 seats on one side and 1 on the other with sleepers above.  There were no spaces underneath for the luggage, so we had to put them under our seats and where our feet would normally go.  And yes, it was a 5-hour ride. 

Just before we were about to leave, a beggar girl came on the bus and was trolling down the aisle asking for money.  At first, she passed us by, but on the way back, she stopped and would not leave us alone.  She was poking Staci hard in the arm, pulling her hair and digging her fingernail into Staci's hand.  She wouldn't take "no" for an answer.  We held out for several minutes and she was eventually shooed off by the driver since we were ready for departure.  Interesting experience, for sure!  Once rolling to Jaisalmer, Staci and I both managed to sleep a couple of hours on the trip, thus proving yet again that we can sleep anywhere. 

So, we arrived in Jaisalmer at 6pm and after being attacked by the touts fighting over who would drive us in their rickshaw, the owner of our hotel showed up with our names on a sign and we were off to our hotel, Desert Moon.  We dropped our bags in the room and before we headed upstairs to the rooftop restaurant, we laid on the bed, only to find out that it was a very thin mattress on top of very hard wood.  I definitely like a firm mattress, but this one's a bit hard, even for me.  Nonetheless, it is a bed!  For dinner, we had paneer butter masala, veg curry, buttered naan, roti and chai masala.  It was great (and dirt cheap!), so we went to our room and got ready for the next day.  Our traveling was finally complete and we arrived at our destination, after having left the US on Thursday at 4:20pm and getting to Jaisalmer on Saturday at 6pm...that's one really, really long day!

Midnight in Paris

Well, we've made it halfway! Staci and I are sitting in the Air France lounge here at Charles de Gaulle using their computers. The only problem is that the keyboard letters are in different spaces, so we're helping each other locate the punctuation keys.

The trip here was relatively uneventful. It didn't get off to a great start since I had to pay $75 for one of my bags which was packed with several books for the India teams. Really annoying since my other bag only weighed 13kg...ridiculous!! Anyway, Staci and I both had our first experience on an A380 and were seated upstairs. Very smooth ride and quiet. As usual, I was more interested in watching movies than sleeping. I watched Moneyball, Ides of March, Friends with Benefits, and part of Cinema Paradiso (a true classic that I've seen plenty of times).

And now we wait. The flight to Delhi leaves here in about four hours, so we'll catch up on email and pass the time. No sleep so far, but the next leg will not be left to chance...c'mon Ambien! Until then, nighty night.