While having lunch, found my Pups were playing Miami on ESPN2. Up 10 with ~ 5 minutes, they managed not to blow the lead like they did v Miami in the tournament 2 (?) years ago. +11.

Almost no sample size, but the bit I saw made me think of a decent mid-major, who plays tough, scrappy defense and ok offense.

Did not expect, as their coach and start player (his son) took off for West Virginia after their success the last few seasons. New guy used to be coach at NW Mo St, where he won multiple D2 championships over the years.

I think this was a bit of an aberration, but after so many years of being a doormat in the 90s and early 2000s, I may be overly pessimistic.

Re: Tom. Also have noticed that my typing is getting much worse in old age. As I've often told younger people who are complaining about aging: "Don't worry. Not only does it get worse as you get older, it gets worse faster."

First look at long-term weather. Looks like all of Denver, Newark, and Delhi are forecasting no precipitation and light winds. Seems like good traveling day(s)!

Probably be forced down by a blizzard over BFE, Russia.

It's happening. Scheduled the credit card payment for tomorrow, which contains the payment for the non-deposit portion of the cost.

Checking with the tour company that I've got everything, sounds ok. Might be a small bit over on the weight limits for the internal flights. I'm a terrible packer. You'd think, given the amount I've traveled (and my NFL affiliation--I am an owner, after all) that I'd be better at such things.

So looked up overweight baggage fees on Air India. Looks like INR 650. ~$7.68 USD. I think I'll be ok.

One other good piece of news. For some reason, I thought the physical size was limited to my smaller suitcase, but it looks like I can bring my bigger. Always glad to have extra space, just in case I find some stuff to bring back for friends and relatives.

This time + 1 week, I should be about an hour out of Newark. Sigh. There's probably worse places to spend a Friday afternoon. None leap invitingly to mind, though.

Only a half-hour out of Newark???

I'm looking forward to trip reports. Have a time!

Thanks, Tom! T - 6 days.

Got a couple things from the store this morning, pretty sure I've gotten everything I need. Made car payment, which is due during my trip (didn't think they'd have a branch of Chase Bank over there).

Ordered some shutters for the family room back in September. Got a call today that they were in, and the installer had time tomorrow. Will be glad to have that done before leaving.

Pretty well ready to go. Check in for flight Thursday, get up Friday, off to the bus stop, then to DIA.

Go through the checkin process on the United site earlier. Blah, blah, blah...get to the end, and I can't check in, because I have to show someone at the airport a visa before getting on the plane.

Really? That couldn't have been the first thing they checked?

Anyway, got a group text from a friend who was in town asking if anyone wants to go for lunch. On the way down there, the United app lets me know it's time to check in,

Optimistically (Foolishly?), I fire up the app, and go through what seem like the same series of info (yes, that's my passport....I promise not to bring gasoline or TNT on the plane....etc).

Get to the end, same kinda message. Sigh. Couldn't my account be marked as, "already tried, has to wait" and not ping me?

NBD. On the plus side, it was really nice to see my friends. I don't make a point of getting together as often as I should.

That happens pretty often, normally you are still checked in though and have your seat assigned, and can go directly to the bag drop queue, if there is a separate one, you just can't get your boarding pass yet before showing whatever document. But I don't know specifically for United, I've been flying with them a couple times recently but I don't remember.

If Lucy tees up that football again, Charlie, don't try to kick it!

Have fun! I'm really looking forward to your trip.

Got to the airport ok. They redid security and check-in since I was here last. Took a few wrong turns, and missed the redirect for TSAPre, but got through pretty quickly.

Had a United Club pass, so up in the lounge. After getting something to eat, talked to customer service about my upgrade.

She said I'm 8 on the list, with 1 available. Checked to see what the cost is to pay. $1500 to go to Economy plus--just a little more legroom.

Asked about upgrading to business. Can't do that directly.

So went over and started my laptop. It's woefully underpowered, as I bought it specifically for travel. Nothing on it but a browser and OS.

So far, it's been over 40 minutes trying to get it connected. None of the resources seem to be pegged--CPU at 50% is highest. But, it's connected to wifi w/o internet, and doesn't start the browser when I ask it to.

Does not bode well for updates. Ofc, phone connected to wifi just fine. Not sure what is going on with computer.

Forced a restart. Laptop back to it's usual sstate of extermely slow, but within expectations. No idea what was going on before.

Talked to the gate agent about the upgrade. Miles will go back in my account

I fit pretty well in regular seats, so that's not so bad. Someday I'll have to figure out a trip to use them.

gd are you telling me you had time for united lounge but not for weisswurst and beer?

also, if you're just going to be browsing, get a chromebook not a laptop - unless that is what you're already talking about

Haven't gotten far enough for weisswurst. Beer may be in my future though.

In Newark. Pretty uneventful ride over. Did notice a guy a couple rows ahead of me and across the aisle who kept his laptop out on the tray table long after we were told to stow things. No problem, but it did get me to wondering: why hasn't someone invented a device to secure devices to surfaces? Could be as simple at a strip of velcro, I think.

There are times when you want to the device to be stable, even if the environment might not be.

This morning after checking in, dropped the folder that contains my printed material, including my entry visa. One of the agents helped me pick it up.,

On the flight over, realized I just scooped up papers, didn't do an inventory. Got that out of my carryon; fortunately, everything was there.

Also forgot to turn off my headphones while in DIA. When I turned them back on, they're 80% charged. the USB connector that charges them is in my checked bag. Hope there's enough charge for the remaining 14 hours,

Anyway, after landing, walked through terminal A to the shuttle ot terminal C, then found my gate. Felt nice to be up and about after the ride.

When I got here, walked by a decent-looking steakhouse. Seemed like prices were around $60. Expected more "airport pricing". who knows, maybe it sucks.

About 1:40 til boarding starts then the long ride.,

Seems my bag has been loaded to the Delhi flight, according the the app.

Online just tells me to use the app, instead of getting the bag info. Weak.

Bon voyage, golddog.

Thanks, Charlie! Somebody at the next gate just took off for Heathrow, hope you get a fare.

arf!

relax
sit back
and enjoy your trip

Don't understand it. The hotel in Delhi's wifi was giving me a cert error when I tried to hit 2p2 to post. Could hit the rest of the interwebs. Anyway, in Varanasi now, all good so far.

Flight from Newark pretty uneventful. A few times there was turbulence, and a kid across the aisle and a row behind me was being fidgety and loud for a while, but overall good. Another experience for Tom 'm going to spoiler since it will upset some people.



Anyway, land at Delhi, customs pretty quick, exchanged some $, bag came, and found my ride, Anjara. She drove me out to the hotel from airport, which was an experience.

One of the first things I saw was a horse in the road. Seemed to be a pretty busy main road or even highway, and there's a horse pulling a cart.

Traffic terrible, even late at night. Just worse during the day. Lane markings just opinions, as is direction of travel. Horns gong all the time, but it didn't seem to be mean-spirited. More like a toot or two to let another vehicle know that you're there. Yhey figure it out and things move, albeit slowly.

It's a lot to take in. Sensory overload achieved.

We talked about a few things on the way over, it was a nice ride and she was a nice driver. Get to the hotel and check in. Ask them if there's a place I can walk to, to get a beer. Not this late (it's probably 11:30 on a Saturday night). Well, it's ok, they're supposed to have a minibar, I'll take one and go to bed.

Nope, minibar means some snacks and a can of a protein shake or some such. Probably good, I should go to bed anyway. Just over 28 hours door-to-door, but remember I went to DIA real early. Probably around 25 for a normal person.

A pretty nice room though:



A couple of things different from US, of course. The switches are the button kind instead of the flip kind, and down is "on" instead of up. Also, even the outlets are powered by switches--I had to get help, because I couldn't figure out why the laptop wasn't charging. Oh, have to actually energize the outlet. They do the thing here I've seen in some parts of the world where you put the room card in a slot on the wall, which activates the electricity--so you're not burning lights while you're out.

Pretty spotty sleep that first night. Faced a highway, and even though traffic was lessening by the time I got to bed, there was enough horn noise I'd wake up every few hours. Not terrible, the windows were pretty well insulated. I'm sure a lot of it was adrenalin after being in a new country the first night too.

I will apologize in advance for the spotty reporting. I wasn't good at taking my notebook with the first while.

Got up the next day and went for a walk after breakfast--just after sunrise, about 7:40. One of the first things I saw was



Seems like that had seen better days. Initial reaction is it reminded me of Manaus. Infrastructure not great (broken sidewalks, wires hanging everywhere)--IOW, a developing country.

Yep, horses even in town. Saw quite a few, actually. Near as I could tell, they were being use like pack animals at construction sites to haul off debris.



Wandered down the main street next to my hotel, then back and underneath the freeway. It's nicely decorated.



Eventually found a gas station convenience store to by a Coke. When I gave him a 500 rupee not for a 40R Coke, he was having problems getting the change together. This became a repeated concern.

I didn't think to ask the money changer for small bills. However tit's around 83INR:USD1, so a 500R note is not quite $6. I can't imagine a business opening without that kind of money in the register.

Back to the hotel, ask them if there's a place I can go get some beer to go. SOFC< it's where I'd just been, just behind the first set of buildings. Doh!

After a while, another wander. Here's kind of a representative view of a side street I wandered down.



Tons of people set up their "shop" on the sidewalks. A lot of street food, but also saw several people selling locks, a couple of dudes doing barbering just on the street. It was very busy.

Eventually wandered into this place for lunch. Ordered a place of chicken fried with garlic. Guy picks up his phone, and calls someone. After a little bit, another guy walks in and orders; again with the phone.

A few minutes later, restaurant guy goes out, and comes back in a little while with our orders. Strange, I guess the kitchen was elsewhere.

The stuff was tasty, but very hot. LIttle hcuks of chicken with some spices covering it, and garlic and diced shallots.

When I went to leave, gave the guy a 500R note for a 200R bill. He asked if I had anything smaller. "That's what they gave me at the airport/" Eventually he borrowed some money from the other customer to get the right change back. Rally? You don't have more than 1.5x a one-person meal in change? I don't get the situation.

That evening, the three of us who had arrived met with the tour leader to discuss logistics and got for dinner. One guy was beat and stayed in, so the other three of us jumped in a tuktuk (my first time!) and went to a nice bar and restaurant in a shopping area not far from the hotel. Butter chicken FTW!

Tuktuk back, had one of the beers I'd bought earlier, then to bed. End day 1.

The next day, the three of us who had arrived plus the outr guide went out to see Old Delhi.



The first part was a tour given by a young man who works with a group that helps runaways.

Apparently, it's quite common for children to be in a bad place. He, himself, had been at a school where he was abused and ran away at age 9. These children end up in the 'big city' hoping they can make it there.

His organization reaches out to them, providing food and shelter, and trying to get them on a good path. Indeed, he was saying he'd been up all night studying for an exam, which might turn in to a scholarship with a chance to go to the US to study.

It was interesting but not particularly photogenic. Most of Old Delhi looks like it's about 20 minutes from falling down.

Next, we were off to an old mosque which is now a historic landmark. Still a mosuqe, but due to the historic nature, non-Muslims can go in and check it out.

On the way over, we saw one of the orignal gates from when Delhi was a walled city



At the mosque, it was a few bucks extra to go up in the minaret. I was the only one who did.



Views from partway up









Here's an idea of the stairs. About as wide as my sholders (and I'm by no means a big guy) and pretty steep, but at least they were darkish.



After coming down, we got some bonus monkeys.



Then wandered through the old town bazaar kinds place. Good thing this dude has his vest and hard hat, that makes it safe.



After that, we visited a Sikh temple.





I forgot what those instruments are called, but they reminded me of accordions only sitting on the ground. They guys were singing and playing for the crowd.

After the Sikh temple, we went for lunch. Next, headed to another old mosque, but this one was truly a historic site. Not in use, just the ruins from the 850s (?)



An up-lcoseof one of the pillars. Quite intricate, though by now weather has worn it quite a lot.



They built this tower, which was a minaret back in the day.



I want to say something like 379 fee tall, but I'm probably misremembering. The imam had to climb up all those stairs for the call to prayers five times a day. Unfortunately, closed now so we couldn't go get the view.

The guide also mentioned this iron pillar. Something about the purity is unmatched even by today's modern techniques, I think. If you put your back to it, and reached around, whatever percentage of the circumference your arms covered is indicative of how lucky you are.

I guess people with long arms are luckier.

Of course, that wears over time, so it's fenced off now. Plus, we don't want to have too much luck in the world.













Then, we had dinner at the hotel. Next day, Varanasi.

Had a late morning flight to Varanasi. On the way, we could see the Himalayas off in the distance. Wasn't obvious, kind of a streak of brighter white beneath the clouds.

Short flight, got there, and the group piled into the bus for the first stop at Sarnath. This is an important site in Buddhism, as it is where Buddha delivered his first sermon after achieving enlightenment to his five disciples. A local expert gave us quite a lot of information on the site.

This was the stupa built in Buddha's time.



It was a monastery as well, actually a pretty large complex they've uncovered.



Then we went over to another part of the site, which was a temple



and this little area which recreates Buddha's first sermon





The tree they're under is kind of interesting. Buddha attained enlightenment under a bodhi tree in Northern India. For reasons I can't recall, his daughter took a sapling off it and planted that in Sri Lanka. This tree was taken from a sapling of the second.

So, sort of Buddha's tree's grandchild.

Anyway, got to the hotel and had a nice dinner with the group. On the way in, I noticed a sign that said something like "bar and brewery" just outside the hotel gates, so walked over there.

Coming up the stairs, I noticed a couple of bouncer-type guys, then that some workmen were attaching handles to the doors. There was an LED disco ball sorta thing (lights instead of mirrors), and some dance music playing(but not too loud).

I was greeted by a young man in a light colored three-piece suit. Got a drink menu, and asked for a pint of their house ale. IT wasn't ready yet, all they had for beer was Bud, Corona, and something else.

Hm. No, I was looking for local beer, and definitely not a club. Thanked him for his time, and wished him well. I think I might've stumbled into opening night or something. Anyway, back to the hotel bar for one, then to bed. Pretty nice room.

Up early today and down to the Ganges for the twice-daily Ganga Aarti ceremony. It's done to try to coincide with sunrise and sunset.

First, this group started singing under the canopy.



Then priests did a lot of waving about with incense and fire. The Ganges is behind the priests, the canopy is to the right in the priests pictures. There's quite a lot of stone steps called ghats for the crowd to sit on.







This went on about 20-30 minutes. The crowd seemed to get a lot out of it. Afterward, we had a cup of chai tea. I'm not a tea drinker, but that was really good. Served in little clay cups, I could see why people here make a part of their daily routine.

One of our group brought some ashes (I think her husband's grandmother, who was Lutheran Norwegian) and did a little ceremony to put her ashes in the Ganges.



Then went on a boat and up & down the Ganges a little bit. This guy played his sitar and sang a bit for us.





Naturally, My Sweet Lord has been running through my head all day.

Our tour leader, Ruby, and some of the waterfront.









They're getting some of the pyres ready for funerals. Ruby said it's a 24x7 thing, but we didn't see one in action.



Afterward, the rest of the gang went on a walking tour of the old city. I was beat, so headed back to the hotel with Ruby. We had breakfast, then I took it easy for a while. Now lunch, and we're up to current.

Bonus monkeys from Varanasi city: