So here we were on July 26, 6 months into our trip, had a flight from Bangkok to New Delhi, with a continuation flight to Milan on August 12, all for $444. We land in Delhi,get our SIM card for the phone and Internet, take a taxi to the city, check into a nice hotel centrally located in the heart of the city, all good!!  After settling in I went out to explore the surrounding area as part of our general routine. Although people spoke English, the sites, noise, crowds of people, beggars, dirt,and general mayhem made me realize this was a different place. Walking only a few blocks I was approached several times by men with some sort of sceme or hussle.(Cathi had read in a guide book to be prepared for this) That night we decided not to try and do India on our own.
The next day, we went to the National tourist office to get some information and a recommendation of a local tourist agency.(they turned out to be great)😀😀😀 After about 2 hours, a plan was developed encompassing a day tour of Delhi the following day and 14 days with personal drivers, tour guides in selected cities, overnite sleeper trains,  time in the Mountains to see the Himalaya’s and a return flight back to Delhi. THAT MAY HAVE BEEN THE SMARTEST THING WE HAVE DONE ON OUR TRIP. We could have never done the things we saw and did on our own.
Driving; Cows, buffalo, goats, and other animals are everywhere,in the cites as well as the outlying areas. Whether on city streets or highways, they have free reign and the drivers have to be very careful. The traffic is insane, the roads in need of repair, and the general infrastructure in disarray.
Our Hotels were billed as 4 star and we had few complaints. Breakfast was included everywhere, and we ate dinner in about half of the hotels. We also spent 2 nights on sleeper trains for the experience, and  it wasn’t too bad.
Drivers: All of the drivers were excellent, and they had to be! They had challenges at every turn, avoiding animals and people, bumper to bumper traffic, driving thru narrow streets in the cities, and navigating hair pin turns in the mountains, avoiding pot holes in torn up roadways. Vinod, the man who drove us the first 7 days after leaving Delhi was 46, a very pleasant personality and easy to talk to. He was positive on life, spoke good English, and was a delight to be with. The other drivers were accompanied by guides and didn’t speak much English, but their driving skills and patience were excellent. Gino’s,who we were with for 5 days in the mountains had skills I admired. Whether he was negotiating narrow streets and traffic, or hairpin turns on mountain roads with cliffs and washed out lanes that made you bite your nails, he was cool, calm, and collected.
Guides: for the most part we were happy with all of them. They provided detailed knowledge of the sites, history, culture, and general information as you would expect.
Food: in general we enjoyed the Indian Flavors. Although spicy, it really wasn’t any hotter than some good Mexican salsa. However, after 2 plus weeks of Indian cuisine, we have had enough. I can’t pronounce most of the dishes we ate, or tell you what was in them, but 50% of or meals were vegetarian, which is very common  for Indian people. They have some delicious breads, and eating with your hands is acceptable.
Sites: We visited 8 cities,4 states, plenty of temples, monasteries, forts, Palaces, and markets, but clearly seeing the Taj Mahal in Agra, and the Himalayas in Northeast India were the highlights. Both were breath taking and be visual memories we will cherish the rest of our lives.
I’m sure you have heard the tourism marketing line “Incredible India”, it is all of that and more! I could go on for pages describing the sights and sounds we have seen and heard the last 17 days, but I’ll save those stories for a time when anyone wants to get together for a drink or 2 when we get back to the U.S.

Next stop Italy.
Stops in Milan, (the Last Supper), Siena(Zach did semester abroad there), Cinque Terre, and probably a few other northern cities are in our plans thru the end of August. After that a few weeks in Croatia, Slovinia, and Czech Republic before meeting up with Alexa and Matt in Munich for the opening couple of days of “October Fest”. From there we are off to Turkey. To think one set of my grand parents came from Italy, and the other a boarder town to Turkey. Talk about going back to your roots!!!
ZWT continues on.  200 days August 20th
Bobby and Cathi