India: An independent adventure

Follow Carol Pucci's travels online as she makes her way from India's capital of New Delhi, through royal Rajasthan and Jaisalmer in the western desert; on to Kerala in the tropical south; and finally to India's largest city, Bombay (Mumbai).

Introduction - Friday, Oct. 6
Setting off for India
I'm going to India this week for the first time, and as I've worked through the various planning stages, I've gone from being too excited to sleep to waking up in a cold sweat. "If you get nervous, think about the rest of us," a friend remarked ... More »

Part 1 - Monday, Oct. 9
"A soft landing" in Delhi
The Master Paying Guesthouse (www.master-guesthouse.com) where I'm staying in Delhi is a no-star inn with five-star service. When I read about what Avnish Puri, 50, and his wife, Ushi, 37, had done with his grandfather's former home ... More »

Part 2 - Tuesday, Oct. 10
Delhi old and new, from rickshaws to gelato shops
One of the things I was most looking forward to was Avnish Puri's "Hidden Delhi" tour that he offers twice a week starting at 6 a.m. We spent most of our first day in New Delhi, the British-built part of the city with wide streets, government buildings ... More »

Part 3 - Wednesday, Oct. 11
A day at the Taj Mahal
Monuments, no matter how famous, aren't what excite me most about travel. It took me a half-dozen trips to Italy before I made it to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. With just three days to explore Delhi, I wasn't sure I ... More »

Part 4 - Thursday, Oct. 12
Through the night by train — Delhi to Jaisalmer
The British-built Indian rail network is one of the largest in the world. Everyone rides the trains. We did, too — for 20 hours overnight on a 921-mile trip from Delhi to the desert city of Jaisalmer ... More »

Part 5 - Friday, Oct. 13
A cool drink and a few catchy headlines
How do you celebrate the end a 20-hour train ride when you arrive in a desert city where the temperature is 104? A cold drink on the terrace of a fine hotel is always nice. The Shahi Palace Hotel ... More »

Part 6 - Saturday, Oct. 14
Watch out for cows, even in the heart of the souvenir district
"Mind the cows," Little Raj warns as he leads us past the souvenir stalls inside the Jaisalmer fort to the home that belonged to his great grandfather. Just then, one turns it brown-and-white head in my direction ... More »

Part 7 - Tuesday, Oct. 17
A night in the desert with beetles and stars
Ummed Singh, 12, piles blankets on Camu's burlap saddle and motions for me to climb on. I swing my leg around and hold on. "Lean back," he tells me. The camel stands up, and, though I'm leaning back ... More »

Part 8 - Wednesday, Oct. 18
On staying healthy and staying wired
Staying healthy in India takes preparation, but it also can require some on-the-spot decision making. I consulted the travel nurses at Group Health before I left, updated my tetanus shot, filled prescriptions for malaria ... More »

Part 9 - Friday, Oct. 20
An oasis in a sea of big-city chaos
I've been booking us into family-owned hotels and guesthouses instead of luxury lodgings, and, although I'd heard good things about Jas Vilas, an 11-room inn in a high-class area of this hectic and crowded city ... More »

Part 11 - Monday, Oct. 23
A close call on Indian Airlines
If you're flying within India, aging, government-owned Air India is no longer the only choice. Privately owned Jet Airways is considered the top airline in terms of service, and now there's price competition ... More »

Part 12 - Tuesday, Oct. 24
At home in Kerala
Almost anyone will advise first-time visitors to India to stick to either the north or the south, but not try to do both. I felt pulled both ways when I began planning this trip, mostly ... More »

Part 13 - Wednesday, Oct. 25
Waiting for the toddy man
We were sitting on our porch at Gramam Homestay around 7:30 a.m. when we first saw him — a man wearing only a white cloth tied around his waist, muscles bugling from his thin legs. ... More »

Part 14 - Thursday, Oct. 26
A trip through the backwaters
An overnight trip through the backwaters on a houseboat is the highlight of a visit to Central Kerala. Each boat comes staffed with a captain, an assistant and a cook, and from noon one day ... More »

Part 15 - Friday, Oct. 27
Slim, beautiful — she was the one
India is modernizing, but when it comes to marriage, most are still arranged, and it can be an expensive proposition for both families. Our driver, Pankaj, 30, married in August. His wife is 20 ... More »

Part 16 - Saturday, Oct. 28
Walking in the spice jungle with Joseph
"Come carefully," Joseph warned, leading us down a path into his jungle spice pantry. For the past 20 years, Joseph A.K, 52, has been the caretaker of a 12-acre cardamom, coffee and pepper plantation ... More »

Part 17 - Sunday, Oct. 29
Mysteries of Indian life and love explained
India is filled with mysteries that baffle the Western mind. I'd been saving up some questions for Santhosh, 34, our homestay host for our last night in Kerala ... More »

Part 18 - Monday, Oct. 30
A city of opposites, from waterfront dining to street beggars
"What country?" asked the man chopping coconuts behind the Oberoi Hotel on the Bombay (also known as Mumbai) seafront. "USA," I said, as he handed us the coconut and two straws. ... More »

Part 19 - Tuesday, Oct. 31
Visiting India, seeing the world
One of the benefits of bringing our newspaper to you online is the feedback that readers offer. The "comments" section on this site is filled with good advice from veteran travelers, people who have lived in India ... More »