India: Incredible in more ways than one

We're in Beijing as this is written and catching up on old posts. Its a long one, so hopefully worth the wait.

As Marie mentioned in a previous posting, its been 9.5 years since I last visited India. Suffice to say, things have changed a LOT. Each of my previous trips to India has consisted of traveling from city-to-city visiting family (with the exception of 1983/1984, when I was in school). Sightseeing was never really part of the plan. However, since mom wasn't with us for this trip, we decided combine visiting family with taking in some of the history of this 5000 year old country.

Here is an executive summary of each of the places we visited:

About Delhi/Agra:
The Good:
- New Delhi is a very green city, with vast amounts of forests and parks.
- Infrastructure improvements: New Delhi now has a modern and rapidly expanding metro/underground. Also, all the public buses, cabs and auto rickshaws are powered by compressed natural gas. And finally, a fancy modern airport is currently under construction.
- The architecture, from the government buildings (former British Imperial area) to the numerous temples, mosques and forts (culminating with the Taj Mahal, recently named as one of the 7 wonders of the world), is absolutely fascinating.

The Bad:
- It didn't seem possible that traffic could get any worse than it was, but it has. Apparently, each year an additional 100k vehicles are added to Delhi's roads.
- While New Delhi is certainly modernizing, Old Delhi is still in a time warp. Interesting for tourists to visit, but not so nice for the people that live there.
- The insane drivers of the Delhi bus system (aka, Blue Line) are responsible for over 60 deaths in the year 2007.

About Chennai:
The Good:
- Chennai really appears to be a rapidly developing city. The most modern restaurants, hotels and bars in the city are reasonably similar to those you'll find in other cities.
- I gained a newfound appreciation for southern Indian food (typically I prefer northern Indian food).
- Bizarre thing related to Chennai, but my French improved quite a bit. Obviously, hanging around Karl, Xavier and Marie helped out.

The Bad:
- My Hindi was useless in Chennai, as most people in the city speak Tamil. I don't know this for a fact, but would dare say English is more widely spoken than Hindi.
- Chennai is so absurdly hot, I now understand why my friend/co-worker Savi, who grew up in Chennai, turns on a space heater in our 68 degree (20 degrees celsius) office.
- The traffic and overpopulation wasn't as bad as New Delhi, but lets just say its competitive.

About Rajasthan:
The Good:
- Rajasthan is chock-full-of-history, including many restored/unrestored attractions and UNESCO world heritage sites; it shouldn't be missed by anyone. Apparently, Bill Clinton is a huge fan of the state.
- Jaipur was the first "planned" city in India (1727)
- The Taj Lake Palace is one of the most spectacular hotels in the world.

The Bad:
- Bad for us: We spent so much time in the Lake Palace, we didn't get to see any of the wonderful sites in Udaipur, which is considered the most romantic city in India.
- A prolonged drought in the area from a few years ago has really taken its toll on the ecosystem of the region.
- While Jaipur was the first planned city in the world, the city's infrastructure hasn't changed as the requirements have evolved over the past 280 years.

About Ladakh:
The Good:
- The Himalayas are HUGE. Pictures can't express the sheer scale of these mountains. To arrive at Leh airport, the plane must weave its way between mountain peaks. Very cool stuff.
- There are a large number of Tibetan refugees in Ladakh. While that normally wouldn't go under "the good", its nice to know there are secular nations that allow them to do their thing. (note: can't test links in this section as websites that reference Tibet are blocked by the Chinese government)
- Ladakh is home to the world's highest airport (Leh at 11.5k feet), two of the world's highest golf courses (Leh Golf Course and a military course), and the highest motorable mountain pass (Khardung La at 18.3k feet).

The Bad:
- The air is so thin at 11k - 18.5k feet, it takes about 30 hours to get acclimatized. For reference about how high that is, the flight from New York - Providence usually cruises at 18k feet. Also, the impact 1 car has on air quality at this altitude is much higher than any other place in the world.
- Most tourists in the region are western hippies "seeking salvation" from monks, such as the Dali Lama.
- Sadly, the ongoing border disputes between India-Pakistan in the state of Jammu-Kashmir has made it unsafe for people to visit one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Thanks to a large military presence, Ladakh, the eastern most portion of the state of Jammu-Kashmir, which shares a disputed border with China) is safe; however, the rest of Jammu-Kashmir is said to be absolutely stunning.


About family:
- Through her exquisite cooking, heaping portions and "won't take no for an answer" demeanor, in only 3 days, our Aunt Shipra was able to undue 2 months worth of weight loss.
- It was wonderful to get to finally meet Karl. His apartment is really nice, and I hope he continues to watch TV once his assignment in India concludes (he didn't own a TV when living in Paris; something about going out and having a life).
- Despite being in the their 70s, our Uncle Dev and Aunt Shipra have FAR more energy than we do (that's more a compliment to them vs. our laziness).
- Despite being in my mid-30s, everyone in my family acts as if I'm 11 years old.


About India:
The Good:
- My cousin Sanjeev described India as a collection of different regions, each with their own history, culture and language -- all under one roof. And there's a lot of truth to that; you can't visit one region and say "you've seen India".
- In 1997, the only practical car options were the Ambasaddor, Maruti 800 and Maruti/Suzuki Esteem. Nowadays, every major manufacturer has a presence here, and consumers have a much larger set of options at all levels of the pricing spectrum. Even luxury brands such as Hermes, Louis Vuitton, etc. have recently established stores in India.
- The economy is growing at about 9-10% a year, and much of that wealth is going to a rapidly expanding middle class.

The Bad:
- Corruption is rampant throughout the government. In fact, many multi-national corporations increase their contingency budget to account for "new/unknown licensing issues" (e.g, kickbacks).
- Over-population is taking a massive toll on the country's ecosystem.
- While the things are progressing in the country, given all the resources available to them, the country should be progressing much faster than it really is (more on this in a future post)

Uncle Dev summarized it best when he said "Incredible India", the Ministry of Tourism's slogan, is very appropriate, as it can be applied two different ways:
- You won't believe the history, the cultures, the beauty.
- You won't believe the traffic, the government bureaucracy, the overpopulation.

Il nous faudra revenir au Rajasthan...

Je revais de visiter le Rajasthan et j'ai l'impression de n'avoir rien vu... Mais je ne vais pas me plaindre ! Apres deux jours a Jaipur, nous sommes maintenant a Udaipur, ou la maman de Nick nous a offert un sejour a l'Hotel Lake Palace pour son anniversaire. Nick avait sejourne avec sa famille dans cet hotel en 1983 et en avait garde un excellent souvenir! Peut-etre avez-vous vu cet hotel dans le James Bond Octopussy ? L'hotel a ete construit en 1756 sur une petite ile du Lac Pichola. Il servit longtemps de palais d'ete aux seigneurs d'Udaipur avant de devenir un hotel de luxe, en 1963.

Si luxueux que nous ne sommes pratiquement pas sortis!

Profitons-en bien car nous partons demain pour Delhi, puis Leh (Himalaya), ou nous serons certainement moins tente de passer nos journees enfermes dans une guesthouse !

De nouvelles photos: Langkawi et Madras

We have just posted our first photos from India (in Chennai) and our last photos from South East Asia (the island of Langkawi)

Random thoughts (in no particular order)

The Filet-O-Fish and 6 piece Chicken McNuggets meals are the coveted #1 and #2 McDonald's Value meals in Singapore (as opposed to America where they are banished to #9 and #10). Screw all you haters that say no one buys the Filet-O-Fish.

Walking through Luang Prabang, Laos really feels like walking in the year 1920.

Everyone should have their nose hairs clipped by a barber in the streets of Hanoi; so when someone asks you at a dinner party, you can answer "Why yes, I have".

While many people predict the imminent demise of the western empire, our friend Richard believes we will retain a leadership position for quite some time, as he feels the rest of the world is lagging in innovation. After seeing how customer service representatives in Southeast Asia handle situations they haven't been trained for, we tend to agree with him.

Having said that, there is no doubt that the rest of the world is catching up very quickly, led by old fashioned hard work and western financial investments.

Marie has the uncanny ability to find the most expensive hotel/lodging in a given city. That doesn't mean we necessarily stay there...

The United Nations may no longer have the political clout they once did, but unquestionably, they have a place when it comes to preserving historic sites, promoting education and coordinating humanitarian aid.

The saga that is Paris Hilton is covered by every TV station and newspaper around the world. Why?

When you break it down to the bare essentials, a country needs to provide its citizens with clean water, shelter, food and clothing, followed closely by primary education and medicine.

You haven't lived until you've experienced the warm smile of a Laotian kid saying "Saba-dee", or a group of Vietnamese kids walking up to you and saying "Hello".

Its may be a cultural thing, but seeing dog meat on a menu will make most people (including yours truly) sick to their stomach.

Malaysia is second to only southern California in the number of customized cars. Having said that, lets just say the quality of customization is very low on the maturity scale.

Many brands popular in the 80s (e.g, B.U.M Equipment, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Orange Julius) have an usually large presence in Southeast Asia. Granted, its not a terribly large presence, but when it comes to these brands, ANY presence qualifies as unusually large.

Many people know the Sultan of Brunei is among the richest fellows in the world. But, could you spot Brunei on a map? Until this trip, me neither.

We really wanted to visit Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), until we learned how the government treats its citizens. Hard to justify giving even a dime to such a horrible regime.

Its not easy to find books/magazines in Laos and Vietnam, both communist-led countries. Wonder why?

We've completed over 33% of our trip, and it has more than exceeded either of our expectations.

Mon mari est un imposteur

Le temps passe vite. Cela fait plus de 2 mois que nous avons quitte New York, et nous ne voyons pas le temps passer. Nous sommes arrives en Inde il y a un peu plus d'une semaine. Nous avons commence notre sejour a Madras... ou Karl ne nous attendait PAS. Nous avions en effet decide de lui faire la surprise de notre visite avec la complicite de Xavier. Ca a paru lui faire plaisir... ou il est tres bon acteur ;-) Apres 3 jours a Madras, nous sommes partis a Delhi 4 jours pour rendre visite a la famille de Nick. Nous etions heberges chez son oncle et sa tante. Nick n'etant pas retourne en Inde depuis 1998, n'avait pas vu sa famille depuis pres de 9 ans ! De Delhi, nous sommes alles passer une journee a Agra, ou se trouve le Taj Mahal. S'il y a un truc que je realise depuis que nous sommes ici, c'est que Nick n'est pas un vrai Indien:
- il ne porte pas de moustache
- les indiens ne le comprennent pas quand il essaie de parler hindi
- il se lave
- il n'a pas porte de chaussures Bata depuis ses neufs ans
- il ne fait pas de brushing

Nous sommes maintenant au Rajasthan. Nous sommes arrives hier a Jaipur et partons demain pour Udaipur. Apres Delhi et notre emploi du temps strict et minute, nous avons eu besoin de prendre notre temps pour visiter la ville. Personnellement, je resterais bien une journee de plus a Jaipur car j'ai l'impression que nous n'avons pas vu grand chose... Malheureusement, nos billets d'avion ne peuvent etre changes.

C'est bien avoir un beauf dans le famille

Bonjour et bienvenue a ma premier post en francais. Mes excuses sinceres pour les nombreuses erreurs grammaticales.

Nous voyagons a Chennai visiter Karl, le cousin de Marie. Il est en assignment pour 4 ans comme le directeur de l'Alliance Francais en Chennai.

Alors, pourquoi c'est bien etre beauf? Karl a le plus de livres d'art et de litterature que tout personne dans le monde; et il ya tout en condicions perfect. C'est étonnant!!! Mais, si vous connaissez Karl, vous avez il n'est pas technique.

En Chennai, Karl a un voiture s'appelle Tata Indica. Un jour, son chauffeur Suresh dit que les embrayage de la voiture doivent être changés, en raison de l'usure, et les prix est $200USD. Deux mechaniques different dit meme chose. Comme vous le savez sans doute, le coulour de peau de Karl est blanc. En India, peau blanc traduire a "tout le monde essaie de t'arnaquer". Alors, le beauf, errr, mechanique amateur (moi) examine le voiture, et le problem est juste le cable de embrayage que coute $10USD!!!! Voila!!!

Ma comprehension c'est que Michel en Toulouse (l'oncle du Marie) est aussi bon mechanique (il apprecie aussi le tuning quand il est jeune), mais les fait que nous avons deux poilu est simplement de coincidence :-)

Et merci Julien, pour enseigner la signification du mot, beauf.

News photos

It's been such a long time since we've written anything in the blog... Sorry about that! We have been in India for the past week visiting Karl (my cousin) in Chennai and Nick's family in Delhi. We are right now and in Jaipur, Rajasthan and taking advantage of the relatively fast connection at the hotel to post some new photos online. Promise we will post more news on the blog very soon. In the mean time, check out our 2 photos albums from the island of Borneo (Malaysia).

Voici (enfin) de nouvelles photos: Kuching et Kinabalu (2 albums)