India Revisited

Somewhere over Germany, 40,000 feet above sea level, Radha and I awoke suddenly to the shuddering turbulence affecting the mammoth jet aircraft. I turned over in my bed hardly noticing the bouncing and went back to sleep. This was a far cry from the other seventeen trips we've taken to India, we were flying first class, having accumulated enough air miles by shuttling back and forth between Vancouver and Florida over the past eleven years.

Gary and Radha in first class

We were both amazed (and amused) by the novelty of transforming our spacious seats into small beds with the mere press of a button on the armrest. This is why, at the halfway point of a non-stop flight to Mumbai, we were sound asleep when the plane began to rock’n roll.

map of the second half of the flight on our TV screen

Two years ago, for Radha's 60th birthday, I promised her that we would return to India, the country that gave birth to the Vedas (the single most important library of knowledge this planet has ever known), and one of our favorite places on Earth. It took us a little longer than we planned (sorry, sweetheart but moving to Vancouver took more time and energy than we could have ever imagined), but we are both ecstatic to have finally embarked on our first vacation since 2004.

We will be there for a month, and our friends from India had told us many stories about how things have changed in their country – the proliferation of cell phones, imported cars, internet access, improved living conditions, and Western department stores sprinkled around the cities. It's hard to imagine that we'll be able to ride an elevated subway around the entire city of New Delhi when we get there next week. In 1978 during a flight over Iran (the revolution was in full swing interrupting our land travel to India) an airline employee ordered us to close the window shades as we made an unscheduled landing in Khandahar on the way to Kabul, Afghanistan. The reason? Turns out that both sides of the runway had Soviet fighter jets parked, preparing for their now infamous 1979 invasion.

Appropriately enough, the onboard monitor that maps our journey just revealed that we are now flying above Kandahar. It is –50ºF outside, we're traveling at 628 mph, and we have only another 1500 miles to go...

view looking over Afghanistan

As you've probably noticed, it's been a couple of months since I've had the time to write a blog article. Believe me, it wasn't out of laziness! Thankfully I now have the motivation, time and energy to get back into writing and sharing our journey with you. Stay tuned in as we share with photos, stories, and travel accounts during the next month. We are both delighted that you could join us!