Delhi Jaipur Agra – Golden Triangle.

(THis is a rough draft of the salient points, will revisit soon to present the finer details )

Ajmer Fort

We considered taking the Palace on Wheels – it is expensive but runs only during the Indian Summer vacation schedule i.e April through mid June. Xzmde2 h2
Indian vacations are great, as we don’t have to do the fine grain granularity level planning, pack your bags and get rolling; you know what to expect, and we are able to think on the fly and improvise////as you will see…read on.

We were quite tied up with work activities and “Vacation Planning” just stayed on the TO DO list. We did surf quite a few web sites, and did some online exploration nothing serious. Airline reservations are good to have, and India pretty much works like the USA, the earlier you book the better off you are. You don’t need an Indian travel agent to help you mostly. The online world has enough information to help you navigate. And just talking to other folks who have been there, done that, certainly helps too.

We booked our tickets on Deccan, one of the cheapest airlines in India. Sometimes the fare was Rs 0/- and the taxes would get tagged on. Some pretty good deals, but it is a basic airline, does not offer the end to end experience of a Jet Airways - but makes us feel right at home considering the pathetic state of American Airlines. Depends on what you want. We ended up flying from Mumbai to Jaipur, and then to Delhi and then back to Bombay. Delhi, Jaipur and Agra form an isoceles triangle with each side being 250 kms. Thus, it is not advisable to fly between any of these points. Fly to one point and then drive down to the others. Doesn't matter which sequence you do it in.

We were planning this vacation in the month of August which is off peak season for India (as schools and vacations are taken during April – June) and the only advise that was offered to us was to take it easy and let things happen. There is no hurry to make the bookings. We took it too easy and made our flight reservations at the very last minute. We got our car reservations done for Jaipur and Delhi – through some family friends. At Jaipur, we had the INNOVA which was quite comfortable and ideal for city driving. At Delhi, we rented the Toyota Qualis, which is quite rugged, but a tad uncomfortable. The Qualis is now discontinued and we usually end up getting older run down SUVs - stay away from the Qualis. We didn’t bother to find out the specifics of the rental. Typically rental charges for the city is Rs. 900/day and you are restricted to 8 hours and 80 kms. Anything beyond that you need to get the rates set before you get into the car. The charges typically are Rs x for each extra hour and Rs Y/ each extra km. You can get an estimate of the total distance, everything is negotiable. If you have the car for a longer period (beyond 3-4 days) you can also negotiate a lumpsum payment.

JAIPUR
We had booked the ManSingh Hotel in Jaipur. The hotel is divided into two properties with separate rates – the ManSingh Towers and Hotel Mansingh. The Tower is 5 star, (we were told because it has a gym too), while the Hotel Mansingh is 4 star. This is not the Taj type hotel and needs a remodel but neverthless quite nice, breakfast included in the rates. We had negotiated a rate of Rs.4500/ for 2 nights. This was the rate that was offered to us also by calling the Mansingh hotels Mumbai office.

We ended up spending the first evening at Chokhi Dani, on the outskirts of Jaipur. This is an ethnic cultural fare hosted by the Chokhi Dani management team. A wonderful effort to provide a livelihood for the traditional people of Rajasthan. You get to understand the arts and crafts of Rajasthan with friendly locals. A Rajasthani Culture 101 of sorts. We took Camel rides, Elephant rides etc and also enjoyed a very traditional Rajasthani dinner. We spent a good 3 hours at Chokhi Dani.

The next day, we ended up visiting the 3 forts. Sangamner Fort, City Palace Hotel and the Jaisalmer fort. The City Palace hotel – where BHOOL BHULAIAN was shot at - is right in the heart of the city and not to be missed. Part of the palace continues to be occupied by the resident king and the the other half is exposed out as a tourist attraction. This is worth a visit. There is shopping inside the hotel and the prices are quite reasonable (specially because it was off peak season). You can done some of the shopping done here – or wait to get into the heart of the Jaipur shopping district. But no harm in checking out the merchandise that the merchants enthusiastically hawk at you. Hawa Mahal is right next door, so don't miss it. Be prepared to shelve out extra for the camcorder whereever you go. Jaisalmer Fort is quite striking and not to be missed. Sangamner Fort has hosted lots of Bollywood films and you will have that familiar feeling when you walk inside. The Hawa Mahal was under construction, but neverthless we walked in there.

The next day we ended up shoopping at Bapu Bazaar. Excellent shopping and very reasonable rates – do not miss out on the experience. We wanted to head to Puskhar – which is one of the pilgrimage - pure and pristine spots of India - has the only Brahma temple of India, but we didn’t make it there. There are lots of things to do around Jaipur and you can’t do them all- as they are a good driving distance. We also wanted to go to the Maqbara of

DELHI

We flew that evening to Delhi. We got stuck in the Delhi traffic. Delhi is seemingly like how Mumbai was in the mid 90s. Lots of traffic jams all over, they sorely are in need for flyovers and drainage systems. We got stuck due to an incessant downpour that water logged many of the roads. Delhi is certainly greener than Mumbai. We stayed in the **** area, at one of the non descript hotels. They all have hot water and air conditioning and make reasonable attempts to make you comfortable. The breakfast is typically included too. We spent the first day checking out the tourist attractions starting with the Red Fort. We checked out India Gate, Gandhi Samadhi, Kutub Minar, Lotus Temple, Swami Narayan Mandir etc. We made the cardinal mistake of allocating a Sunday for this and found most areas to be very crowded. Most places have separate lines for women and are usually much shorter, so make sure you leverage this facility instead of standing in long lines.

AGRA / MATHURA / VRINDAVAN
The day after we drove to Agra. We stopped on the way at the birthplace of Krishna - Mathura Vrindavan. The temples close at Noon, so make sure you get there prior to noon. We then drove to Fateh-pur-Sikri (passing Agra) which has lately become a tremendous tourist attraction due to Jodha Akbar. We also visited the Saint Chisti memorial behind Joda Bai’s palace.

AGRA
By the time we got back to Agra it was past 10PM. We were wishing we had driven down from Jaipur to Agra and finished up Fateh pur Sikri on the way. We had booked the Taj View hotel. We had been recommended the Oberoi hotel across the Yamuna with a view of the Taj - but that was Rs.30,000/night and we were looking for two rooms - and we couldn't quite get a deal for that one. The internet deal for Taj View was Rs.6000 for 2 nights which included breakfast and dinner. But we were staying only one night - and we were paying about Rs 5000/ night. We were supposed to have a Taj view – we got there late night and all we could see was a foggy view of the Taj Mahal about 5 kms away in the distance. The next day was a rainy day, not the best day, but we did the best we could. Put Anu’s recommendation. We scampered back to New Delhi where a new driver awaited us for our Char Dham trip.







Our pictures from the trip to Jaipur, Delhi, Vrindavan, Mathura, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and CharDham (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath) July 18, 2007 to August 2, 2007

CharDham Yatra -

Mount Shasta - Connecting with the Spirit

An Indian Mystic has said "Really, one doesn't need to go to India. Everything I have needed to know about connecting to the spirit I learned meditating on a rock on the side of Mount Shasta. Its a place where the veils between the ethers are thinner than elsewhere, and where the Masters can communicate with you more easily. You should go there"

The Sanskrit word Shasta means one who lives according to divine law. Although, some say that Mount Shasta was actually named by French fur trappers who called it chaste, meaning "pure." Or, it could have received its name from the Tshastel Indians who lived in the area.

There is something uncanny about Mount Shasta. A buddymentioned how strange it was to see Mount Shasta rising above into the sky as he drove by on I-5....a sinister feeling to it. The mountain exerts a strange force. John Muir wrote that the first time he saw Shasta, "all my blood turned to wine and I have not been weary since." Peculiar and unexplained things have been happening around the mountain at least since 1883, when a young man in nearby Yreka named Frederick Spencer Oliver claimed his hand was seized by strange forces that made him write uncontrollably. The result was "Dweller on Two Planets," an occult classic that told the story of the Lemurians, an ancient race who abandoned their Atlantis-like continent when it sank beneath the Pacific Ocean and formed a mystical brotherhood inside Mount Shasta. (Many years later, Shirley MacLaine was browsing in a bookstore in Hong Kong and reported that this very book fell mysteriously off a shelf and landed in her hands.)

We spent a short weekend trying to experience Shasta country...and it was one wonderful weekend.

Here are some things to do in and around Shasta

We had camped out at http://www.yelp.com/biz/castle-crags-state-park-castella.
It is a fantastic location if you ignore the I-5 freeway noise that becomes a tad annoying more so in the middle of the night if you happen to wake up. It didn't bother me - sleep is not an issue. One of the amazing experiences of camping out here was to see the galaxy of stars, the milky way streaming up in the sky in a straight line. This was the only time I have seen it.


We took a short trail at Panthers Meadow and also a trail @ Castle Crags
We bought some crystals in the town - interesting experience (though a ripoff in retrospect)
We also drove upto Mount Shasta as far as we could and did a short hike.
I am sure I am missing a couple things.


Everitt Vista Point
Drive up Mount Shasta on the Everitt Memorial Highway (just follow Lake Street up out of the center of Mt. Shasta City past the high school). After you drive approximately 8 miles, you will see the sign for the popular Everitt Vista Point 1/2 mile before the destination. The view west over the valley from your car is breathtaking, but if you walk through the parking lot and take the trail starting next to the restroom facility, you will soon come to a stone lookout which affords a panoramic view to the south. On a clear day you will see Mount Lassen and Castle Crags in the south, with the sweep of the Eddy Mountains and distant Marble Mountain Wilderness Area to the west.

The Everitt Vista Point lookout is the location of frequent "star parties" during the summer, where local astronomers bring their telescopes and binoculars for the celestial show. Check the local newspaper the Mt. Shasta Herald, to see if a star gazing party is planned during your stay.

Panther Meadows is one of the most beautiful locations on Mount Shasta, with the purest spring you will ever find, and the most pristine energy in which to meditate, sleep, camp, etc. This area and its campground are reached from Everitt Memorial Highway, and is a short distance from Bunny Flat. The campsite is located in Lower Panther Meadows and is maintained by the Forest Service, so their regulations apply to all camping here. There are ten campsites, no drinking water, and vault toilets. The campground is open in mid-June through Labor Day, depending on weather conditions. anther Meadows, Shasta-Trinity National Forest: A two-minute walk on the south flank of Mount Shasta, 7,400 feet, takes you to this camp along a pristine meadow, with nearby hikes available to Gray Butte for eye-popping, long-distance views. Directions
To reach Panther Meadows, take the Central Mount Shasta exit off California's Interstate 5, head east on Lake Street through town, curve left onto Everitt Memorial Highway, and drive 13 miles up the mountain. There are plenty of campsites and vault toilets, but no drinking water except for the spring itself. The campground is open from mid-June through Labor Day, depending on weather conditions.


Here are extracts from a writeup in San Francisco Chronicle by John Flinn
I am following Beverly Ann Wilson through room after room of her sprawling crystal emporium, and Beverly is following a pair of twitching metal rods.
I'd come in to shop for a souvenir. But in Mount Shasta's Middle Earth Crystal Room, she informs me, customers don't choose their crystals. Crystals choose their customers.
Beverly is using the metal divining rods -- the same tools dowsers employ to find hidden water -- to tune into the vibrations emitting from "my" crystal.

Still trying to get a handle on the town's status as a "world renowned spiritual energy vortex," as a brochure I picked up in the visitor's center put it, I called the Circle of Life Wellness Center for Conscious Living and made an appointment to have my body's energy systems checked out by something called the Aurastar 2000.

In a little office above a Papa Murphy pizza restaurant, a woman named Carol Ito had me place my left hand on a device with 50 metal sensors and count backward from 100. Ito booted up her IBM ThinkPad laptop, and in a few seconds an image appeared on its screen -- Leonardo da Vinci's famous sketch of the male body superimposed on what looked uncannily like the swirling colors of a tie-dyed T-shirt.

Those colors, Ito explained, represented my energy fields. "It's the same as your aura, but we don't like to use that word," she said. "It's too charged. "

Examining the readout, Ito told me that my heart, solar plexus, spleen and root chakras were doing just fine, but that my neck and throat chakra wasn't doing so well -- probably stress -- and that my brain and third eye were working overtime.

"People use this feedback to make decisions in their life," she said.

Frankly, I wasn't much taken with the Aurastar 2000 -- until Ito noticed the band of gray around my midsection in the readout. "You've had an injury to your waist, haven't you?" she said. As a matter of fact, I had. I'd had a kidney removed three years earlier, the only serious trauma to my body in many years. I left her office a bit less skeptical than I arrived. On my last day in town I drove 15 miles up the Everett Memorial Highway to its end on Shasta's southwest flank, at about 7,900 feet. I set off walking up a rocky trail, past the last, stunted trees. Much of Shasta's paranormal activity has been reported in this area -- probably, the skeptic in me thought, because it has easy highway access.

Elephant Seal Walk - Guided Tour

Fifty-five miles south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate, a low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish maritime explorer Sebastian Vizcaino sailed by the point on January 3, 1603. His diarist and chaplain of the expedition, Father Antonio de la Ascension, named it Punta de Año Nuevo (New Year's Point) for the day on which they sighted it in 1603.

Today, the point remains much as Vizcaino saw it from his passing ship. Lonely, undeveloped, wild. Elephant seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals come ashore to rest, mate, and give birth in the sand dunes or on the beaches and offshore islands. It is a unique and unforgettable natural spectacle that hundreds of thousands of people come to witness each year.

Año Nuevo State Reserve is the site of the largest mainland breeding colony in the world for the northern elephant seal, and the interpretive program has attracted increasing interest every winter for the past 19 years. People who hope to see the seals during the winter breeding season are urged to get their reservations early. The males battle for mates on the beaches and the females give birth to their pups on the dunes.

During the breeding season, December through March, daily access to the reserve is available via guided walks only. Most of the adult seals are gone by early March, leaving behind the weaned pups who remain through April. The elephant seals return to Año Nuevo's beaches during the spring and summer months to molt and can be observed during this time through a permit system.