We had a fantasic stay in Ahmedabad. We did a bit of sightseeing, spent a lot of time with the family, and met with a clothing designer. We spent seven hours with the designer, but we think that in the end Monika has finally got what she wanted. More on this later. Pictures to follow.

We are leaving for Bangkok tomorrow morning on a 5:30am flight. That means getting up at 2am! I think we are going to stay at the Novatel again. We liked it so much last time and it seems like a nice place to relax.

This sunset picture of Koh Phi Phi Ley,



the smaller of the two Phi Phi islands and setting for several scenes from "The Beach", reveals that the beauty and magic of Homer Simpson knows no limits.

Some cities have clouds. Mumbai has smoke.

We're off to Ahmedabad this evening on the 5pm flight. Monika has some cousins, who we haven't have the change to see in several years, that live there. The father came though Chicago last year, but the daughters and mother we haven't seen since Tim's (Monika's brother) wedding 4 years back. We can't wait to see them it's been a long time. Ahmedabad in eastern Gujarat is a big industrial city with a lot of commerce. Ahmedabad is infamous for it's crowding, pollution, religious tensions, and was the biggest city near the earthquake that struck Gujarat in 2001. From what I hear the pollution in Ahmedabad is less than Mumbai. Scooters are really popular there, more so than in Mumbai.

Finally I have been able to get the card reader attached to a computer. I probably could have managed it earlier, but then I would have had to forgo writing the posts.

Nov 30th, 2002. Flying over Alaska. Our next trip?

Dec 2nd, 2002. Spirithouses. A widespread custom of ridding your home of bad spirits.

Dec 3rd, 2002. Limestone hills and several rice paddies. I am facinated by rice and it's cultivation.

I've been stuggling to post updates to this web log, but I've been sick for the past fews days.

We spent most of Mon. Dec 16th, shopping in the Mumbai suburbs. I think we were in the Santa Cruz area. Specifically, Monika had a lot of luck at a place called Sia. We went to Sia on a recommendation of a friend from Chicago who once lived in Mumbai. Sia had an excellent and wide selection of custom jewelery. They seem quite proud of the fact that they made the costume jewelery for the movie Devdas. Apparently, Devdas made quite an impact of the fashion industry here, I've seen it mentioned in many, many shops and several fashion magazines.

Monika's aunt, Pannamasi, was with us on our first day of shopping. We is an amazing, patient woman with excellent taste. We hit a couple of shops before Sia, without much luck. As we walked by the window of Sia, Pannamasi saw this really nice green necklace in the window that she really liked. We went in and after 1 hour of shopping, the green necklace that Pannamasi had initially spotted was still the favorite.

On Tuesday, Dec 17th we headed into Mumbai proper for more shopping. Through a friend of the family, we were able to stay at the W.I.A.A. Club on Malabar Hill. The club is members, or guests, only. It has 4 floors of hotel-like rooms, a decent pool, tennis courts, squash courts, a playground, game rooms, and a health club. They also have a decent restraurant that servers a variety of food: India, Chinese, Continental, and more. But, the place has seen better days. Everything in the place seemed a bit run down. The furnishings, the walls, the stairs, everything is in need of a coat of paint or a bit of varnishing. Also, with the abundence of cheap labor in India, I would expect the place to be spotless, but it wasn't. The outside hallway leading to our room was constantly in need of sweeping, even when 3 porters where sitting on plastic lawn chairs at the top of the stairs. Although, most of the room was clean, the toilet, a rather important detail, wasn't.

All in all our stay there was pleasant and convenient and we are greatful to the member for booking us a room, but it's sad to see what could be a great facility just getting by.