We arrived in India today for the first time today…

Last night, we flew over Afghanistan and Pakistan for the first time, but we unfortunately could not stop as we did not have visas for these destinations…

But, I will have to say: after travelling around the world, India is a completely different place.  There is definitely some pollution similar to Los Angeles, but not as bad as Beijing.  No bad coughs yet!

The real difference is the culture.  I was shocked to receive a 5 lb garland of flowers from our host.  These blow away Hawaiian Leis.  They smelled unbelievable.

The people are friendly and go out of your way to be helpful.  If you are lost on the street, someone will guide you.

Getting into a tuk-tuk to go shopping for bottled water, local wine, to get around the city was a different experience than anywhere else in the world.  Less than $1 to go anywhere.  Another $1 and they will wait hours for you.

The traffic is crazy…scary…a different sight every 3 seconds…it was like Cairo, Egypt compounded.

How did all these look alike dogs end up in one spot?

This is going to be an interesting 2 weeks to say the least…I am already blown away and I have not been here 24 hours yet.

Update: we found our first wine from India at dinner 🙂

Here are some of the sites and places we visited in Northern India:

• Varanasi
• Khajuraho
• Central India
• Taj Mahal
• Jaipur
• Republic Day Parade
• New and Old Delhi

And here is the latest posting for my recent visit to Southern India.