We meet our tour guide, Anil. Again another friendly and talkative person. We went back to the hotel to change and pick up my co-workers camera. Off to Humayun's Tomb. We were told that the horn was used to let the drivers, rickshaws, people in front that we would be passing and get out of the way. It is used like the break. I have a great quote from the driver : While driving in India, you need good breaks, a good horn and lots of luck. That was true today and I expect every day. You see lots of mixed people from the poor, middle and upper class living side-by-side. Another interested note is that trucks are only allowed in Delhi after 9PM and before 8AM. I think that was to do with limiting traffic and pollution, but wouldn't want to see what the traffic was like with the trucks during the day. As during the day we had to deal with cars, crazy motorcycles, rickshaws- manpower and auto driven, and many people walking. The Humayun's Tomb was very interesting, lots of land, green grass and many trees, somewhat like a park. We saw many old buildings and the renovations project with the manual process of getting the bricks ready for replacement. This was a nice first stop. One downer was the Lotus Temple wasn't open on Monday. This was a must see, hope we can stop by later in the week. Now off to India Gate. We saw men on the sides of the road painting the yellow like, a very slow and manual process, without saying very dangerous.
We stopped at the India gate, but were unable to get close as they are in preparations for next week Republic parade. We got pictures and will try to upload some tomorrow. Also I observed vendors selling pani puni - a treat (hard shell made out of flour, with vegetables inside and a spicy water) that I was able to indulge in at a co-workers celebration a while back. Then we went through the government buildings and stopped for pictures in from of the Parliament building...if I am conveying incorrect information, its because of my guide, not my notes or recollection. We traveled on part of the road where the parade will be held and that part was traffic free, a nice feeling. On our travels, we say monkeys on the street, street barbers giving cuts and shaves, and a samosa stand. Another interesting quote for the tour guide: In India everything is possible and nothing is impossible....I saw lots of impossible, like driving rules and regulations.
We drove by the Red Fort on our way to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque, seating 2,500 people at full capacity. This took us through Old Delhi. If you think New Delhi is too much, you haven't seen a thing. Old Delhi is wild. I loved it. Roads were small, traffic going both ways, people, bikes, motorcycles everywhere and I didn't see any accidents. We went through the hart of Old Delhi, seeing the markets, fish and chicken and may stores and shoppes. Honestly that experiences made the whole day complete. Somewhere in the mix we stopped at a tourist store, they had lots of cool items. My co-worker bought some items, but I held off shopping till I see more items. Now on to our last tourist destination,
The last stop was Raj Ghat, Gandi's Memorial place. This again was very well maintained as spacious with lots of grass and trees. We were told that world diplomats planted trees in the lands as a lasting memorial gesture. I was another cool site. Then we returned back to the hotel for dinner. We ate at the only place open at the time. I had a very traditional Indian meal.....pizza and I tried black tea. The pizza was great, big and filling and the tea was OK. After lots of conversation and talk of our journeys, we headed back to our room and I update today's adventures. Tomorrow will be mainly work stuff so not as exciting. I would have to say this trip has been great so far, different then what I have been told in all aspects.
Monday, January 14, 2008
India Trip - To The Office
Honk, Honk......just trying to get your attention. That's how Indian drivers do it and as I experienced first hand today it kind of works out. We'll I got up after a somewhat good night of rest - once woke up to the honking cars, but overall not bad. The shower was great and really refreshing. I skipped breakfast at the hotel but had some snacks...that was OK until I was told the buffet had idles which are one of my favorites. We exchanged some money, not a great exchange rate though, 1 dollar = 37 rupees. Then we met our drives, I was assigned to Ansari, he was very friendly and talkative, which was fine with me....some initial observations...car honking is as part of the Indian driver as the turn signal, not really sure it their cars have turn signal or no one uses them. It took about 45 minutes, but saw many interesting things. We got to consultant office buildings (three buildings) and saw the sweets store, we will visit that later in the week. We checked-in and met Sarvata (overall manager). Then met some of the team leads, Manish (RBPS and BIS), Sona (ODT and ODR) and Raj....I will update later with the correct name (Stratweb and BB). Vikas joined us as well. We had lunch, Dal, rice, some cottage cheese items, chicken, a couple selections of flat bread and a sweets dish. Everything was very good, a little spicy but really good....I needed to have seconds. I had a can of Coke - it had a pull tab, haven't seen that in years. Then we went to the second building to meet the team....We walked around and met many people. I finally ran into my buddy, DJ "Hollywood". I was good to see him after a year or so. We then got on the computer and did some emails...then we planned our sight seeing activities.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Inida Trip - Airport and Hotel
After getting off the plane, we waited for about 1/2 in queue to go through our first security check in and had our passports stamped. We got our lounge and exchanged some monies. They went through customs, very long and uneventful. We walked through a crowd and found our drives waiting with our name on a board. They assisted with luggage to the cars through a back door. I saw auto confusion and lack of order for the first time. I saw many cars, truck and motorcycles. We got the luggage loaded and off to the hotel.
The driver and others on the road are very horn happy...that is music to their ears I guess. Lines don't mean much as they mainly straddle them and I saw a number of motorcycles run a red light, not very safe. There were all kinds of auto, small cars, cycles, truck and larger go-carts on the road. I also saw some one stopped on the side of the road relieving himself. We got to the hotel and I had a headache from the horn and swerve ride...not too bad.
Hotel greeted us politely, check-in was quick, people were extremely polite and helpful. I unpacked made a phone call back home and am now siting at a Internet terminal, typing all theses posts to get me caught up for the day....
Travel wasn't that bad, accommodations were awesome. I am heading to bed for day one in the office.
The driver and others on the road are very horn happy...that is music to their ears I guess. Lines don't mean much as they mainly straddle them and I saw a number of motorcycles run a red light, not very safe. There were all kinds of auto, small cars, cycles, truck and larger go-carts on the road. I also saw some one stopped on the side of the road relieving himself. We got to the hotel and I had a headache from the horn and swerve ride...not too bad.
Hotel greeted us politely, check-in was quick, people were extremely polite and helpful. I unpacked made a phone call back home and am now siting at a Internet terminal, typing all theses posts to get me caught up for the day....
Travel wasn't that bad, accommodations were awesome. I am heading to bed for day one in the office.
India Trip - Travel
I had a driver pick me up at my parent's house at 3PM, he was a little early and departed shortly afterwards. We needed to make one stop to pickup another co-worker, then off to Newark. We arrived at Newark airport around 5:30. Going through the security check, I was alerted that I had liquids which were unacceptable. I took three tiny containers of Gatorade to keep my stomach settled on the flight. They confiscated those items pretty quickly and everything else was pretty uneventful. We waited in the president's lounge. That was pretty nice, comfy chairs, football game, drinks, and crackers and cheese. We tired the Airborne cocktail, glass of water and one Airborne tablet. I reminded me of Alka-seltzer, but tasted like gator aid. We left for the gate around 7:30, we needed to check-in again and soon after boarded the plane.
Seats were big and comfortable, I say they had a special plug for the electric, which I had planned to watch DVDs, that was quickly changed. Seats allowed for automated leg rest, leg rest extension, seats to go back and a back arch setting...very comfortable. We were given a choice between a number of papers to read and the game each of us a package of socks, eye covers, tooth paste, tooth brush, mints, and head phone to name a few. I started drinking plenty of water as I always get dehydrated on the plane. I was a smooth take off and they estimated 12.5 of flight time. The flight route was up the coast, over Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean, below Greenland, over Russia and into India.
Meals: first course was assorted nuts and an Indian mix of nuts, dried fruit and spices. That was different in that it was sweet and spicy, chewy and hard. Not something I would eat on a regular basis. The second course was breads, wine and water. The third round consisted of appetizers, beans in a tomato or shrimp and lobster. Then was the salad, which I was getting stuffed. Then the main course followed by a hot-fudge ice-cream sundae.
Flight was pretty smooth, some bumpy areas but overall good. I saw parts of three movies, 3:10 to Yuma, The Heartbreak kid and the Gameplan. Nothing really exciting but passed the time. I sleep for 3-4 over Russia. They gave out hot wet towels before each meal, very refreshing.
Breakfast or Dinner: Started with a hot wet towel, then OJ and juices, rolls and sticky buns, ending with cereal or omelets.....Another multi-course meal.
We touched down around 8:45PM India Time, ahead of schedule.
Seats were big and comfortable, I say they had a special plug for the electric, which I had planned to watch DVDs, that was quickly changed. Seats allowed for automated leg rest, leg rest extension, seats to go back and a back arch setting...very comfortable. We were given a choice between a number of papers to read and the game each of us a package of socks, eye covers, tooth paste, tooth brush, mints, and head phone to name a few. I started drinking plenty of water as I always get dehydrated on the plane. I was a smooth take off and they estimated 12.5 of flight time. The flight route was up the coast, over Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean, below Greenland, over Russia and into India.
Meals: first course was assorted nuts and an Indian mix of nuts, dried fruit and spices. That was different in that it was sweet and spicy, chewy and hard. Not something I would eat on a regular basis. The second course was breads, wine and water. The third round consisted of appetizers, beans in a tomato or shrimp and lobster. Then was the salad, which I was getting stuffed. Then the main course followed by a hot-fudge ice-cream sundae.
Flight was pretty smooth, some bumpy areas but overall good. I saw parts of three movies, 3:10 to Yuma, The Heartbreak kid and the Gameplan. Nothing really exciting but passed the time. I sleep for 3-4 over Russia. They gave out hot wet towels before each meal, very refreshing.
Breakfast or Dinner: Started with a hot wet towel, then OJ and juices, rolls and sticky buns, ending with cereal or omelets.....Another multi-course meal.
We touched down around 8:45PM India Time, ahead of schedule.
India Trip - Farewell Party
Woke up on Saturday morning and finished packing. Needed to run around a bit to make some final purchases. I bought some pizzas as my family was going to hold a farewell party for me at noon. My entire family showed up to see me off, but really they attend to get a free meal (just kidding). We had lots of food and cake. Nephews brought me some snacks, as they were debating to keep the snacks for themselves, but eventually turned them over to me and a original self-created sticker card from each of them. My niece created a crayon card and wasn't too eager to let that go either Thanks to everyone for attending.
India Trip - Why Blog
Just wanted to let everyone know this wasn't my idea, as I haven't been really attracted to blogging, but one of my co-workers suggested I create a log and I thought to include it in my blog and be done with it. I told him that since I have given him many tasks in the past which he always completed successfully that I could and would do this task for him, so here it is.....
India Trip - Preparations
I was asked to travel to India and be part of my company's annual executive trip to one of our consultant corporate center. Since I work with many Indian co-workers, I though it would be a great time seeing their homeland and allow me to better relate with them. Initially I was told three major details, I would fly business class, duration would be about a week, and I would need to get a number of shots. Then I was also told that I would have some other tasks, lead some presentations, purchase some chocolate candies and send before our arrival as a gift, and I would need to read a book as it relates to the executive theme of the week. This wasn't that earth shattering. My only concern is if the Eagles were going to have any playoffs games, but as you are already aware that concern did not have any merit.
Medications: I needed about 4 shots 2-3 weeks before my departure, another a week before, another 2-3 days before and the last one - 6 months after my return. I am not a big fan of shots, but everything went without incident. Also I was given a daily pill and a pill for sickness if required.
Other preliminary information: Take lots of over-the-counter stomach medications to recover from the spicy foods. Don't drink the water, only unopened bottles, even when brushing your teeth. Eat at main restaurants not with any street vendors. Do not eat the uncooked vegetables, no salad. Everything must be cooked and always look for the steam from the foods. Finally, fruits were acceptable if they had to be peeled.
If I followed these simple rules, I should have a fun and uneventful trip.
Medications: I needed about 4 shots 2-3 weeks before my departure, another a week before, another 2-3 days before and the last one - 6 months after my return. I am not a big fan of shots, but everything went without incident. Also I was given a daily pill and a pill for sickness if required.
Other preliminary information: Take lots of over-the-counter stomach medications to recover from the spicy foods. Don't drink the water, only unopened bottles, even when brushing your teeth. Eat at main restaurants not with any street vendors. Do not eat the uncooked vegetables, no salad. Everything must be cooked and always look for the steam from the foods. Finally, fruits were acceptable if they had to be peeled.
If I followed these simple rules, I should have a fun and uneventful trip.
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