Posted by: Gideon | June 14, 2013

India with Kids 2013. Buffaloes in the house, and we say good bye to the Himalayas!

Daniel with the next door neighbors (the ones who live on the ground floor).

Daniel with the next door neighbors (the ones who live on the ground floor).

We woke up on our final morning in the mountains to the sound of the neighbors shooing their water buffalo and goats out of the house. The traditional house of the Kumaon has two stories – the family lives upstairs, and the livestock lives downstairs.  While the local kids were getting ready for school (school uniforms, backpacks etc), the animals were taken outside where they would spend the day. It’s times like this when the different lives people lead across the world really comes into focus – for us, the fact that water buffalo sleep downstairs is simply incredible – for the village family, it’s completely normal. They probably would find our North American big city way of life unfathomable in many ways (though not totally, with the spread of satellite TV across most of India).

After playing some morning cricket, it was time to pack up. We hiked about 20 minutes up the hill to the waiting cars while the guys who look after the village house carried our luggage. The ride back was long and very windy. The best way to avoid becoming car sick was to sleep. Finally we arrived back in Kathgodam where we had lunch at the same South Indian restaurant we’d eaten when we had arrived a few days before.

Playing cricket. Hit a 6 into the valley and the game is over!

Playing cricket. Hit a 6 into the valley and the game is over!

Then it was time to board the train. Pujan joined us for the journey back to Delhi, and entertained the kids for the full 6 hours!

It was late at night when we arrived back in Delhi, and we sadly took our leave from Pujan. He’d become a really good friend in just a few short days.

We needed to get up bright and early the next day – we were off to see the Taj Mahal!

I plan great trips to India. For more info see here:

Leave a Comment

Posted in India, Kumaon, Travel with kids, Trekking with kids | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | June 5, 2013

India with Kids 2013. Walking in the Himalayan foothills. Day 3 and attending a Puja.

Quivertree at the Himalayas

Quivertree at the Himalayas

Our final full day showed the Himalayas in their full glory. We walked along a high ridge directly opposite a magnificent unbroken chain of mountains stretching from India to Nepal. It’s hard to describe how magnificent the mountains are. Alongside our path were flowering rhododendron trees with their huge bright red flowers almost bursting.  It was spectacular!

Rhododendron season

Rhododendron season

Our day wasn’t all about walking. We had lunch by a group of very ancient temples, dating back almost 1000 years and which, according to local legend, were built in a day. The first thing that came into my mind when I heard that, was that it had to be built by some “Superhero”, as the temples are massive, and made with huge blocks of stone that could easily weigh a ton each.

After lunch, we were invited to take part in a special “puja” or Hindu blessing ceremony at one of the temples, which happened to be one of the 12 holiest Shiva temples in India. Our guide arranged this for us, and so we went with him to buy the offerings that would be taken into the sanctuary.  We bought various gold papers, coconuts and a few other objects and foods that we didn’t recognise. Entering the ancient temple, we had to almost crawl into the innermost sanctuary, where two Hindu priests were waiting for us. One of them seemed very young, and he took charge of the ceremony. He asked for all our names and birthdates, and then began chanting. At various times we were instructed to place some of our offerings in front of the images, or throw water on the lingam, or ring a bell,and towards the end he dabbed a bindi on our foreheads and a holy red thread was tied around our wrist. We were instructed not to remove it until it fell off by itself.

The kids were in awe. I suspect that most kids these days find religious services to be incredibly boring – whether it’s in a synagogue, church, mosque, wherever. But the ceremony in the temple was fascinating and very personal. We are not Hindus and we had no idea what the priest was chanting – but it was obvious that he was praying for us and working very hard at it, and the kids all sensed this. The feeling as we exited was close to elation.

At the temples.

At the temples.

We continued our walking, and eventually arrived at our last village house, perched high above a village with incredible views of the fields. That night our chef gave the girls an impromptu cooking lesson which they really enjoyed, while us boys played cricket with the villagers.

I plan great trip sto India. For more info press here.

Saying good bye to chef!

Saying good bye to chef!

An incredible landscape lay below us.

An incredible landscape lay below us.

A quick cooking lesson!

A quick cooking lesson!

Leave a Comment

Posted in India, Kumaon, Travel with kids, Trekking with kids | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | May 28, 2013

India with Kids 2013. Walking in the Himalayan Foothills (Day 2).

Hiking through the wheatfields. Kumaon, India.

Hiking through the wheatfields. Kumaon, India.

Approaching a village, Kumaon, India.

Approaching a village, Kumaon, India.

Our second day in the Himalayas dawned glorious. This being India, it came as no surprise that in the house next to ours, a water buffalo was sneaking its head into the home.

After breakfast, we set off for another day of hiking. We spent the morning walking through wheat fields, past houses and schools,  and everywhere we went we saw women hard at work. It’s always the women who seem to do the heavy loading in India – working in the fields, on road crews, you name it.  We tried to visit a school, but it was final exam time, and so this was impossible. Any other time of year though, and I have no doubt we would have been able to visit.

Local temple, Kumaon, India.

Local temple, Kumaon, India.

Hiking - day 2. Kumaon, India

Hiking – day 2. Kumaon, India

Lunch was set up for us in a forest, and it was excellent. After lunch it was only Daniel and I who carried on hiking, while the others took a short cut (by car) to the next village house.  We arrived late in the afternoon, and immediately got busy getting incredibly comfortable – comfy chairs, pots of hot chocolate and tea, cookies, cold drinks and beer (for me).

While we relaxed, Eitan and Pujan went off for a small hike themselves. Eitan came back very excited – he’d seen the most incredible mountains! The Himalayas of course!

SONY DSC

Himalayas at dusk. Kumaon, India.

It was cold at night, and we loved the hot water bottles that were waiting for us in our beds. When I was growing up this was a standard item in winter, but these days one never find a hot water bottle anywhere. The kids loved it!

I plan great trips to India. For more info press here.

It's been a long day! Kumaon, India.

It’s been a long day! Kumaon, India.

Leave a Comment

Posted in India, Kumaon, Travel with kids, Trekking with kids | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | May 23, 2013

India with Kids 2013: Village to village walking in the Himalayan foothills. Day 1

Hiking through the wheatfields, Kumaon, Northern India.

Hiking through the wheatfields, Kumaon, Northern India.

The next day we embarked on what would turn out to be one of the highlights of our trip.

We were headed for the Kumaon region, in the state of Uttrakand. The Kumaon is famous for many things including the Corbett National Park, and the famous story of the man-eating tigers of the Kumaon. We were heading further north however, towards the town of  Almora and beyond, where we would be doing a three-day village to village walk in the Himalayan foothills. Some village houses in local villages have been refurbished for tourists. One spends the day walking from village to village with qualified guides, experiencing local culture and vistas of the magnificent Himalayas.

Our day started at around 4.30am, and we left the hotel at around 5.15am for the railway station. We were booked on the 6.15 am express to Kathgodam, which is a 5-6 hour trip towards the mountains. Our first class carriage was very comfortable, and we were served a good Indian Railways breakfast on board. Our guide for the next few days,  Pujan, met us on the train. In Kathgodam we had a great lunch (South Indian!) and then we piled into two cars for a 3 hr drive up into the hill country.

While it was a long and winding road, the journey was fascinating. This is a holiday region for Indian tourists mainly, and we made our way past a number of resort towns and villages which see hardly any foreigners.

Finally at around 4pm, the cars stopped at a small temple on the side of the road, and Pujan told us to take with our water bottles and hat for our very first walk. We spent the next couple of hours walking along well trodden paths, past village houses and fields full of wheat, stopping to chat to local people and smiling at the kids. One village lady asked if Eitan would like to stay with her family – her kids were climbing up trees armed with sickles to cut off branches. Eitan would probably have loved it! We walked past women carrying various loads on their heads, and we had to tiptoe past various village guard dogs. Finally, we arrived at our village house just before sunset.

Local Family, Kumaon, Northern India.

Local Family, Kumaon, Northern India.

It's been a very long day! Kumaon Village House, Northern India

It’s been a very long day!
Kumaon Village House, Northern India

“Our” house had three rooms fitted with double and/or single beds in a rustic but very comfortable way, with our own modern and sparkling clean toilet/shower block just outside.  Our luggage was waiting for us, and we chose our rooms and then went for drinks, which had been set up outside. Various alcoholic options including cocktails, wines and beers for the adults, and rhododendron juice for the kids (Amazing!!). Dinner was excellent (various Indian dishes) – cooked by a dedicated chef and his team. We relaxed by the fire, and finally, after what had been a very long day we were happy to go to bed.

I design great family trips to India. Check this link for more details.

Leave a Comment

Posted in India, Kumaon, Travel with kids, Trekking with kids | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | May 6, 2013

India with kids 2013. Delhi Highlights

Outside Humayun's Tomb, Delhi

Outside Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi

Delhi is a city with something for everyone. It has thousands of year of history and has been home to seven cities. What this means is that you’ll find huge monuments scattered throughout the city – way too many to visit on any short trip.

We started our day with a visit to Humayun’s Tomb. This is a huge UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a beautiful building surrounded by huge gardens. Typical Mughal style. It was an excellent way to start any tour of  Delhi – it wasn’t too crowded, and there was lots of space for kids to run around. We saw parrots, and we were amazed by the decorations, which looked exactly like the Star of David, something we figured to be unusual on a Muslim monument.

Next stop was Old Delhi, where we visited the huge Mosque. Unlike mosques in Turkey, which are massive inside, this mosque had no prayer room inside at all, and the huge plaza in front of it is actually the place for prayer. It just shows how things differ from place to place.

After the monuments, the next experience was pure fun. We hired cycle rickshaws to take us around the tiny, crowded lanes of Old Delhi. We stopped for some fried syrupy snacks called “jalebi”, and we rode along eating these sticky snacks. With hindsight we would have really enjoyed wandering around these streets on foot as well, but we hadn’t worked that in to our day. My suggestion: take a rickshaw ride, and take a walking tour of the area as well. It’s congested and busy, so ideally for kids 10 and up (and hold their hands tight).

Rickshaw ride, Old Delhi.

Rickshaw ride, Old Delhi.

We stopped briefly at Raj Ghat, the place where Gandhi was assassinated. It’s very simple, and because there is no museum here, it’s a bit tough for kids to appreciate unless they already know lots about Gandhi. It is a real pilgrimage place for Indians.

Our final stop for day was the Qutb Minar, a gigantic minaret that is the oldest and largest free-standing minaret in the world. It’s immense, and an amazing sight. And yes, it’s another World Heritage Site.

We didn’t have time of the Akshardhan Temple, which is apparently a mind-blowing modern temple with theme-park style attractions. It’ll have to wait until another time.

Qutb Minar, Delhi

Qutb Minar, Delhi

My suggestions for Delhi – try give yourselves two days – one for seeing some of the main monuments, and definitely hire a guide for a walking tour of Old Delhi if your kids are old enough. For your second day visit the Akshardan temple, and for women and teenage girls, consider a specialist shopping tour – so many of the clothes we find in North America today are made in India, and Delhi  has some fantastic boutiques for shopping.

It was a busy day, and we were happy to get back to our hotel. Our next day would be very tiring.

I plan great trips to India. For more details see here.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Delhi, India, Indian food, Travel with kids | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | April 30, 2013

India with Kids 2013 – Delhi (day 1)

Eitan playing catch with a coconut while the girls shop - Hauz Khaz village, Delhi.

Eitan playing catch with a coconut while the girls shop – Hauz Khaz village, Delhi.

Delhi came as a huge surprise.

I’d been there close to twenty years ago – at that time it was dirty, polluted, the roads were full of tuk tuks, trucks and buses belching black smoke and it was an ordeal.

But things have changed. It’s an even bigger city now, with a population of  about 20 million,  but the roads are now full of modern Indian built cars, and the tuk tuks and buses all run on natural gas, so  the cloying stink that used to typify massive Indian cities is amazingly no longer there.

We stayed at Mantra Amaltas, a great place in a quiet neighborhood in South Delhi. The rooms were good in every respect and we loved eating breakfast on the rooftop patio. There was also an indoor pool which we didn’t get round to using. Breakfasts were solid – lots of Indian breakfast food (which we love) as well as pastries, toast and fruit, and eggs to order.

Our first day was unplanned.  We chose to visit Haus Kaz, a quiet  area of ancient ruins which has become a center of boutiques and antique stores. Delhi is packed with ancient ruins everywhere. Some are major sightseeing destinations, while others see no foreign tourists and are either gardens or in this case, a shopping area. We enjoyed our explorations and the girls bought some stuff, as to be expected. Lots of restaurants offering everything under the sun, and the kids chose an Italian pizza restaurant. It’s abundantly clear that Delhi is where India meets the West in lots of ways. People have money, prices aren’t cheap and there is a massive amount of new apartments going up everywhere.

That night we relaxed and watched cricket, as well as Chhota Beem, a favorite kids cartoon that we remembered from our last visit in 2008.

I plan great trips to India for families. For more info, click here.

No need for tickets or wheel clamps in India!

No need for tickets or wheel clamps in India!

Leave a Comment

Posted in Delhi, India | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | April 24, 2013

India with Kids 2013 – Going back after 5 years!

Gal washing elephants 2008

Gal washing elephants 2008

Readers of this blog may well have read about our incredible family trip to South India in 2008.

Well, five years later, we decided to go back.

Gal, who was 11 then and is now 16, had two major complaints about our last trip. The first was the Taj Mahal – how could anyone possibly plan a trip and not go visit it (like us). The second was that we hadn’t seen a tiger back in 2008, and she had been terribly disappointed.

Well, planning this trip I could guarantee her one thing – we would go see the Taj. Tigers…well, we’d try, but they are wild animals and unless we went to a zoo, it would all be a matter of luck.

For first timers, India seems like an impossibly exotic destination to visit with kids. One thinks of terrible slums, disease, dirt, chaos, crazy traffic, and stuff like that. And yes, India is like that in many ways. But India is huge and developing incredibly quickly, and it is becoming easier and easier to visit the country and avoid most of that bad stuff.  You can do it in the South, as we found out in 2008, and you can do it in the North too. It’s an incredible destination for families.

My first visit to North India was back in 1994. India was crazy. Terrible pollution, ridiculous traffic, touts everywhere and terrible transport and communications. It’s become a lot better.

But first things first. When visiting a country like India, you have to be well prepared.

Visas: You need them! This has now been outsourced and so you no longer go to the embassy or consulate. Works fine but it can be very expensive for a family, depending on your nationality.

Vaccinations: You need them! Visit a travel clinic and see what you might need.

Medical Kit – take everything you think you might need. We were very well equipped with antibiotics, creams, ointments, band aids, and everything else.

Malaria Pills – the good news is that Malarone is now available in a generic format. Still not cheap, but so much less than it used to be.

Itinerary – get help! It’s a country that requires expert advice.

Flights: We flew via Korea. When it comes to travel to Asia, I try to fly on Asiana, a wonderful Korean airline. Lots of leg room, great entertainment and they really come across as wanting to do their best for you. One of the very few 5* rated airlines in the world, and often with good rates from the West Coast.

For our family, India is the most exotic country on earth. We couldn’t wait to go back.

With everything lined up and ready, we flew from Seattle via Seoul to New Delhi!

 

I plan great trips to India. If you’re interested, click here.

Leave a Comment

Posted in India, visas | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | January 25, 2013

Roadtripping California (with kids). San Diego and the Southern California Theme Parks

On the USS Midway

On the USS Midway

Next stop was San Diego. A great place to be and we stayed for a week.

The kids loved San Diego – much more user friendly than Los Angeles, with great places to eat, and tons to do. San Diego Zoo is one the most famous zoos in the world, while Sea World is basically a theme park, but a pretty great one at that.

Leopard cubs at the Zoo

Leopard cubs at the Zoo

Special experiences included visiting the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum, and the kids had a real live sword fight with a pirate on the replica ship used in the movie Master And Commander. We also saw a live baseball match and really had a great time at Encinitas beach.

My take: I’d go back and stay at Encinitas next time!

As we turned North again, we headed for the theme parks.

Disneyland took three days. Now, I am not great lover of theme parks, but I won’t deny that Disney do the most incredible job. I have ben to Disneyworld twice and Euro Disney once, and this was our first time in Disneyland. I think we liked it the most of all of them. It is smaller, but that just makes it so much easier to work your way around the park, and you do work when visiting any Disney park. You need to figure out what to do and when, and it takes some strategy. It was a major highlight of our whole trip. Being August, lines were long, but never so long that we became disenchanted. The kids loved the roller coasters and they went up the Tower of Terror at least 5 times – you know, the one that drops, like a dressed up hellavator.

One of the most unexpected rides was the Ferris Wheel. Why? Because we chose a car that swung freely, and it was one of the scariest rides we did in the whole park!

We also visited Cars Land a few times – amazingly, the line to get a fast pass took a massive 45 minutes, but it paid of in spades later on, when we bypassed the crowds waiting over 100 minutes for their 2 minute ride. The new cars land is great – we loved the race and we loved the Mater ride, but we thought that the Flying Tires was a failure – they just don’t work well, and  hopefully Disney will fix them up or replace them.

A few days later we visited Universal Studios – we spent one day only, but it was fantastic. The only problem – massively long lines – at least they sprayed us with a fine mist all the time.

I took the boys to Legoland – good but not great, and way too busy in summer. We also went to 6 Flags – terrible if you do not ride coasters, and even if you do, the waiting times were a disaster. We missed half the rides we wanted to go on as the lines typically took 2 hours or longer. If you don’t love coasters, DO NOT go here.

So, we learned a lot.

1) Disney work great – even in the middle of summer.

2) Six Flags is terrible – lines go on forever and unless you go in the off-season, don’t go near.

3) Legoland is ok. Probably best for kids 8 and under.
4) San Diego Zoo is terrific.

5) Sea World is good as well.

The hands-down winner by far was Disneyland.

Pluto, Mickey and Me

Pluto, Mickey and Me

Leave a Comment

Posted in California, Disneyland, San Diego, Theme Parks, Travel with kids, Universal Studios | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | December 18, 2012

Roadtripping California (with Kids). Santa Barbara to LA

Image

At Venice Beach

Heading south from San Francisco, we made for Santa Barbara. We’d been along the Big Sur route before, so this time we headed straight down. Our target – the beach!

In Vancouver we live in a beautiful city, and we even have quite pretty beaches, but throughout the year the ocean temperature ranges anywhere from freezing to almost bearable.

Santa Barbara has some great beaches, and we bought a boogie board and headed straight for the surf. The kids took to the water immediately – and refused to come out.

Santa Barbara is a very touristy town, but it’s very expensive as well. We stayed a couple of nights and then it was time to move on.  We drove through Malibu, looked for a parking place at the beach and couldn’t find one, and continued to LA.

I have never had any interest in visiting LA, but Gal, who is now 15, has been yearning to go. The fact is, there is tons to keep kids of all ages very busy.

We did the obvious things – like checking out the stars on the sidewalk at the Chinese Theater and going as close as we could to the Hollywood sign. We also got scammed by Spiderman and someone out of Star Wars, who very kindly posed with the kids and then demanded a big fat tip! We decided to save money by buying a map of the stars’ homes, and then got so lost that we couldn’t figure out where anyone lived.  We hit the beaches – busy Santa Monica as well as seedy Venice beach. We visited the fabulous Getty Museum  - well, the kids needed to be spurred on by gory background details as to what happened to Marie Antoinette in order to appreciate her furniture, and we went to the La Brea Tar Pits and the Automobile Museum – the latter two just great for kids. La Brea is all about extinct mammals, and the Auto Museum is all about…every car you can imagine.

Actually we saw the best car outside the museum, a Bugatti on Rodeo Drive, that apparently everyone knows about. It’s car that costs more than $1 million! House or car, house or car…now lets see what’s more important in life. It was good lesson for the kids to see.

We also spent a great evening at the Hollywood Bowl. I told the kids we were going to see Tchaikovsky, but they were a bit upset when he didnt’ appear personally.

When all was said and done, LA proved to be a big hit, but with the terrible traffic, and the heat, I was glad to move on.

Image

With CHIPS at the Auto Museum

Leave a Comment

Posted in California, Los Angeles | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Posted by: Gideon | December 4, 2012

Free and fun – a new “book” on how tourists should behave in Myanmar published!

This week the Myanmar Times wrote about a free downloadable “book” that has just been published on how tourists should (and should not) behave in Myanmar. It’s illustrated by some of the top cartoonists in Myanmar and is lots of fun!

The link is here:

http://www.dosanddontsfortourists.com

Enjoy!

It's all about making friends!

It’s all about making friends!

Leave a Comment

Posted in Myanmar | Tags: ,

Older Posts »

Categories

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,081 other followers