Harris World Tour

Saturday, March 16, 2019. Last night I was overwhelmed by the streets of India. I tend to get very emotionally involved with poor people and their needs. I confess, I cried last night because I just wanted to help all these people but at the same time, I'm so ready to leave this country. When I get like this, I know I need a stay home day, so I had one. Gregory left the house after lunch and to his Rotary meeting. I thought I was going to have a lot of time to read and just relax, but somehow time flew while I was catching up on little things. Sunshine and I took advantage that we had time to wash each other hair. We used a pitcher and a bucket since we don't have a shower. So yes, just like medieval times we have been taking showers in our palace that actually has a bathroom! Sunshine liked it, as for me, well, since we had the time it was okay, but I told her to imagine having to do this every week plus other chores? NO thanks. I'm glad I live where I live! Gregor...

Friday, March 15th, 2016. Today we actually visited the inside of the Jagdish Temple. The kids didn't want to do it, but it was a major attraction in Udaipur, we just had to do it. Plus, I explained to them that you really get to learn more about the people and traditions of a place when you visit its temples. Sure enough, when we got there, there was a big group of people praying, I think. It seemed more like they were chatting. Before going to the temple, we bought some flowers for the gods. After climbing the stairs, you have to take off your shoes which I honestly think is disgusting and I was bummed that I had not brought my socks, but I really wanted to see the inside. When we were watching, a woman was passing out some kind of food to everyone. I extended my arms and she gave some brown sticky ball. It was sugar with something else. The lady gave me a big smile and told me to eat it. After I ate it, Daniel said to my ear "mom, we are doing everything we are not ...

Thursday, March 14, 2019. The best part about staying at this hotel is that breakfast is included and it is good, especially the chai. (Which is actually made with the owner's cow's milk!) After breakfast, we crossed the bridge, and I was happy we made it alive because there is hardly any sidewalk and there are two lanes of cars, motorcycles, cows, and people all wanting to cross at the same time! I really don't know how this country manages to function but it does! We walked to what seemed to me like the old town and visited the outside of the Jagdish Temple which is a large Hindu temple in the middle of Udaipur in Rajasthan, just outside the royal palace. It has been in continuous worship since 1651. A big tourist attraction, the temple was originally called the temple of Jagannath Rai but is now called Jagdish-Ji. It is a major monument in Udaipur. Wikipedia . After seeing the temple, we walked to the City Palace. We were told not to go inside because it was not...

Wednesday, March 13, 2019. Today we arrived in Udaipur and took an uber to our hotel that was like an hour away. We stayed at a hotel called Gajkaran Haveli that had the view of Lake Pichola. The hotel looked much better in pictures than in reality but the manager was super nice and gave us a room to rest. We arrived at 9:00am but check-in was at 11:00am. We had breakfast on the roof and admired the view. We met some people from Vancouver who told us that the internet wasn't good there. Daniel was disappointed. They also told us that Sunshine and I shouldn't walk alone because something unfortunate had happened to her. This is not the first time people warned us about women walking alone. We rested in the morning and right after breakfast, our rooms were ready. Like I said, it wasn't anything fancy but they were clean at least. The room had a great view but it was too close from the main bridge were lots of motorcycles, cows, and pedestrians walking by so it was also n...

Sunday, March 10th, 2018. We stayed home. What did we do? Lili - catching up with the blog and researching for places to stay and reading Gregory - research and more research for hotels and places to stay in Jaipur and Udaipur. Sunshine - yoga, homework, reading, painting Daniel - wishing there was faster internet, downloading books and reading Photos please click here https://photos.app.goo.gl/TdozQUpE9nA6p6vk6

Saturday, March 9th, 2019. Hello blog readers, this blog post is brought to you by Sunshine (again)!! I bet you're wondering why I am taking over the blog again. It's because this day, March 9th, is a very exciting day for me and my dad, but not for Daniel and my mom. They had a nice day staying home, getting work done and hanging out. But as for me and my dad, we were out the door by 9:30, on a bumpy tuk-tuk ride to the city. Aquiles, the friendly driver, dropped us off at an office. There we waited excitedly for the shuttle. Meanwhile, a parade happened in the street, with a bunch of Indian women dressed in beautiful colors and men banging drums. It was cool. So the shuttle comes, and we are the only people on it (besides the driver obviously). We then take a long, bumpy, sketchy ride along the side of a mountain that had a pretty nice view of the river. Plus there were lots of monkeys along the side of the road! Finally, we arrived at yet another office, where we had to che...

March 5th to Mach 7th, 2019. Ok, I know I promised I wouldn't get behind, but here I am, already five days behind. I have so much information and images and things to share that I don't even know where to start. I could go back and look at the pictures I took every day and remember exactly where we went each day but I think it would take too long. So I decided that from now on, I will write more of a summary. Plus, my lovely family has told me that I don't need to write every single detail like I do. I forget that I'm writing a public blog and not a personal journal. So here it goes, my summary, and then, I will pass this to Gregory to add all the missing information and proofread it before it can be published. The day after we visited the Taj Majal, we flew from Delhi to Dehradun. From there we took a prepaid taxi to Rishikesh, the capital of yoga. I was honestly expecting a more green and peaceful place, mostly because Gregory had read to me about staying in the ashr...

Tuesday, March 12, 2019. Today, we woke up to no electricity or hot water. Last night there was a big storm and the host informed us that many electricity posts were down. He felt awful because yesterday we didn't have hot water either, and he wanted his five-star review. Poor Ravi, he worked so hard and he was devasted. We told him not to worry because there was nothing he could do about it. Also, there were big leaks in the main room and Daniel's bedroom. Good thing we didn't come in monsoon season, and good thing we are leaving today. I have to point out that in many places, the day that we are leaving, something goes wrong or doesn't work. In Ethiopia, no water, in India, no hot water, it's kind of a sign that it is time to leave that place. We played ping pong to kill time until our uber came to take us to the airport. We didn't think about ordering food to go. I wish we had because there weren't many options at the airport. Things went smoothly,...

Monday, March 11th, 2019. I can't believe I agreed to go rafting with my family. I was very anxious at first, but once we were in the water, it wasn't bad at all. It was actually fun. It was actually more dangerous getting there. A driver took us to the top of a mountain and drove like a maniac, honking and using the opposite lane to pass. Anyway, we made it and it was fun. We shared the raft with some Indians that were living in South Africa, which was lucky for us because they translated the instructions into English for us.  That's right, I heard all the instructions from the guides in Hindi or incomprehensible broken English! After we dried off, we had lunch in a nice restaurant. By nice, I mean it wasn't street food. Sunshine thought it was a fancy restaurant, my poor sweet child if she thought that was fancy, but her comment gives you an idea of the kind of places we have been eating in India. I know we were advised against eating street food, but we only eat...

Friday, March 8th, 2019. We hired Aquiles again to take us to Ramjhula Bridge. When we got there I was overwhelmed to see how many beautiful clothing stores there were. I loved everything, Indian fabrics are definitely my style. We went shopping and even though I wanted to buy everything, I didn't because we were on a mission to find a tailor that could make my outfits. We also found by chance the tour office Jumpin Heights, which was the office our host recommended for the zip line. We spent some time there trying to figure out what we wanted to do. After a while, we told them that we would come back, but that we were currently on a mission. We crossed the famous bridge on foot. It was super crazy because it was not only for pedestrians but also for honking motorcycles and cows. The tiny town is cute, it has a temple right after you cross the bridge and many stores to buy crafts, clothing, bags, and food. We also stopped for a sim card and then we went looking for the tailo...

Wednesday, March 6th, 2019. I slept more than 10 hours and I was still tired. I woke up very homesick and with anxiety level high.    I tried to rush everyone so we could go out to find a place to eat breakfast. Gregory told me that it was ok to order breakfast at the hotel because we were not going to find anything cheaper. Well, it wasn't what we expected because we had read signs of what breakfast was suppose to be: eggs, cereal, toast. Well, instead we got rice with peanuts and vegetable sandwich made of mayo, green peppers and tons of onions! Not exactly our favorite but we ate it. We checked out and waited to hear back from our Airbnb approval. We chose a luxury apartment that looked modern. Everything looked great except that it is in the middle of nowhere, which in a way is what we wanted but I always worry when there is no food nearby because we don't have a car. The best thing about Airbnb is our host. His name is Ravi and he is amazing. He came to pick us up ...

Tuesday, March 5th, 2019. Today we got up at 7:00am because we need to make a stop before going to the airport. We had to leave some of our stuff with our friend Xe because we can only carry 15 kg per suitcase. Our first Uber arrived at 9:15am, I was nervous already and guess what? it was too small to fit our suitcases. Gregory requested an Uber XL which is bigger for suitcases. We finally got on the road and left to Xi's house. When we got there, I helped him take all our small bags full of stuff to his apartment, mostly because I wanted to use his bathroom. The place wasn't that close from the street, I'm glad he walked me back because I would have gotten lost. We hugged, said our goodbyes and thanked him for keeping our junk! We finally rode to the airport. I can't say that it was a pleasant ride with all the honking and people crossing and cars speeding but I was happy that we were getting out of Delhi. The airport check-in went smoothly and the best part was...

Monday, March 4th, 2019. Today we got up at 4:30 to take a 6:00am train to Agra. I didn't sleep well, being a little bit anxious about the train, even if we had our reservation. Our Uber arrived on time and took us to the train station. Getting to the train station was easy because there wasn't much traffic, except for the cars not respecting red lights, including our driver. When we arrived at the station, it was already crowded with several dozen cars honking and going in all directions. We found our train right away. I always like to ask people if I'm on the right train because I took the wrong one when I lived in Belgium in high school. [Gregory's note: this is what I live with. She burned her leg on a motorbike exhaust pipe once, so she never wants to ride one again. She took the wrong train once, so now every time she gets on a train she has to ask people, despite the signs on the platform and on the side of the train!] We were on the right train and we did get ...

Sunday, March 3rd, 2019. Today we had to be out of the house by 11:00am because the cleaning boy was coming. I think it was a good idea to get us out of the house in the morning. When we came out of the cave, we realized that it was chilly and rainy! We took an Uber to visit the Lotus temple, which is a Baha'i temple. The only reason I know about this religion is that I had a Baha'i friend back home. The Bahá'í Faith is a religion teaching the essential worth of all religions, and the unity and equality of all people. Established by Bahá'u'lláh in 1863, it initially grew in Iran and parts of the Middle East, where it has faced ongoing persecution since its inception. Wikipedia   The temple is shaped like a Lotus and it looks very beautiful from the outside. It is in a big green park which is well-maintained. Everything was well organized and they let us in in small groups at a time. We had to take off our shoes but they provided a bag where we could put the...

Friday, March 1st, 2019. We got a late start at the cave and of course at the last minute, I remembered that we forgot to go to the dentist  last night  to show him the retainer. Sunshine and I ran next door to ask how much would the retainer cost and we decided against it when they told us that it would be $250! After that, we took an Uber to go to Chandni Chowk, which is classic old Delhi, by the Red Fort. We had to take a metro to meet with Xe, whose parents we stayed with in Modena. Xe was there in Modena during our stay, and what good luck that we met him again in New Delhi! It is a small world. I have to say that I felt relieved and happy to know a person in a chaotic city. A lot of people said terrible things about India and I was scared of coming here. Actually, that's not true. When we were first planning the trip, I was so excited about India that I wanted to renew my marriage vows here! I wanted to organize a big wedding and have a 3-day celebration. Well, th...

Thursday, February 28th,  2019. Today we woke up at 10:00am not only because we went to bed later and were tired, but because we didn't know it was morning. We were staying in a cave! We need to turn on all the lights in the house (and they are the ugly fluorescent ones) to be able to see! I promise I didn't complain. [ Gregory's note: not much.] The place is not as nice as it looks in the pictures but whatever, we're only here for 5 days and we all have a bedroom and a bathroom. We will get used to it. The unit also came with a complimentary breakfast of eggs and cookies, so it's not so bad.  We had a late breakfast (I saved the yogurts that no one ate on the plane) and then researched dentists in the area since Sunshine's tooth is been hurting. [ Gregory's note: hey Sunshine, what time is it? 2:30! You have to say it out loud.] Gregory found a nice dentist with excellent reviews two doors down. We walked over at noon to see if she could take us ...

Wednesday, February 27th, 2019. Hello blog readers, Sunshine here! I thought you might enjoy a change of perspective. Well it just so happens this day is the day we leave Dubai. 6 days in Dubai probably seems like a nice perfect vacation to you, but after 3 months in Africa and getting ready for 3 weeks in India, our stay seemed quite short. Anyways, we got up early (which was nearly impossible because of the slight time change from Tanzania) and had a light breakfast.  After that, we were outta there and at the airport. Let me tell you, the Dubai departure area is not nearly as nice as the arrival one. You wouldn’t believe the arrival zone, big shiny pillars, fountains, clocks on every wall with the Rolex logo! But the way out was like any other airport, with oh so charming fluorescent lights and cranky security who have issues with swiss army knives. But after security, we went to the lounge, and oh baby! The buffet was great. 10/10 would recommend the breakfast app...

Tuesday, February 26th, 2019. Today we got up late and stopped at the Indian restaurant to grab food to go to the beach. We took an Uber to La Mer, a free private beach.  The "boardwalk"/entry really reminded us of California. It had a lot of restaurants and looked like something you would see in Los Angeles. It also had very cool murals. When we walked towards the beach, a woman told us that we couldn’t bring outside food to the beach. We walked to a small fountain, sat on the bench, and ate. Afterward, we walked to the beach and the water was so beautiful, with different tones of blue. There were a bunch of hammocks hanging above the water. Sunshine ran to an empty one. She asked me to take pictures of her. Gregory and I got to settle in the sand with our books while Daniel ran to the water with Sunshine. It was a nice warm day but the water was cold. I had the excuse of my burn so I couldn’t go in. We stayed in the sun for a while. I took a nap. When the kids got out of...

Monday, February 25th, 2019. Today we took an expensive Uber ride to visit the Burj Arab Hotel, which is supposed to be a 7-star hotel. Danielito is the one who did all the research and wanted to see it. We did too, we even dressed up nicely.  When we got there, we were informed that we could only go in if we were guests or if we had reservations. Gregory of course, asked if we could make reservations for the bar. Well, the bar was only open at night and the kids could not go in, anyway. She did offer us reservations at the 1st floor cafe, where we could have coffee and a slice of cake for 250AED, about $70. Each. Then we would have to leave. I thought to myself, what in the world do they serve in that coffee? Maybe the lady read my mind because she added, "you also get a glass of juice"! Are you kidding me??? Of course, we didn't go in and now I understood why there was a big line of people outside taking pictures of the so-called seven-star hotel. Right there, ...