Post #218 4 April 2020

Gentlefolk,

This post gives an overview of our tour of India 22 February - 16 March 2020.

The following posts relate to the 14 cities we visited: Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Chennai, Pondy, Trichy, Madurai, Thekkady, Alleppey, and Cochin.

Blog posts on India trip,  22 February – 16 March 2020.

Post Number and date posted	Events described in post
Post #204     posted 20 March 2020	On 22 February 2020 we flew to Delhi for the start of our 24 day India Grandeur Tour. This post describes the flights with Singapore Airlines and our time in Delhi (highlights: the autorickshaw (tuk-tuk) ride through Old Delhi, the Sikh Temple, and the Qutub Minar Minaret). We stayed at the Vivanta by Taj Hotel in Dwarka for 2 nights, 22 & 23 February 2020.
Post #205         posted 20 March	Describes our visit to Agra (highlights: Taj Mahal and Agra Fort). We stayed at the Mansingh Palace Hotel for one night, 24 February 2020.
Post #206         posted 21 March	Describes our visit to Jaipur (aka The Pink City) in Rajasthan State (highlights: the step well at Chand Baori; Amber Fort; City Palace). We stayed at the Sarovar Premier Hotel for 2 nights, 25 & 26 February 2020.
Post #207         posted 21 March	Describes our visit to Pushkar in Rajasthan State (highlight: the Brahma Temple). We stayed in Dera Masuda Resort for one night, 27 February 2020.
Post #208         posted 22 March	Describes our visit to Jodhpur (aka The Blue City), Rajasthan State (highlights: Mehrangarh Fort and the new Palace). We stayed at The Ummed Resort for two nights, 28 & 29 February 2020.
Post #209         posted 24 March	Describes our visit to Udaipur, Rajasthan State (highlights: Jain Temple, City Palace Museum, Lake Pichola and Jagmandir Island). We stayed at the Kehloor Hotel for two nights, 1 & 2 March 2020. With its hills and lakes, Udaipur was the most attractive city we have seen so far.
Post #210         posted 26 March	Describes our visit to Mumbai (aka Bombay) (highlights: Gateway of India monument, Leopold’s Café). Mumbai is India’s business center, a huge, bustling, exciting city.  We stayed in the Ambassador Hotel in Churchgate for 2 nights, 3 & 4 March 2020. We instantly felt at home in Mumbai.
Post #211         posted 27 March	Describes our visit to Chennai (aka Madras) the capital of Tamil Nadu State (highlights: St Thomas Cathedral; Marina Beach). We stayed in the comfortable Crowne Plaza Hotel for 2 nights, 5 & 6 March 2020.
Post #212         posted 29 March	Describes our visit to Puducherry (aka Pondicherry, or just Pondy) (highlights: Auroville; French Quarter). We stayed in the Accor Metropolitan Hotel for one night, 7 March 2020.
Post #213         posted 30 March	Describes our visit to Trichy (proper name Triuchirappalli) (highlights: steep Rock Fort Temple; busy Sri Ranganathaswarmy Temple with its 7 gates). We stayed in the Sangam Hotel for one night, 8 March 2020.
Post #214         posted 31 March	Describes our visit to Madurai, Tamil Nadu State (highlights: Sri Meenakshi Temple dedicated to Shiva and his wife; autorickshaw ride through the city).  We stayed in the JC Residency for 2 nights, 9 & 10 March.
Post #215         posted 1 April	Describes our stay at the Mountain Courtyard Resort, Thekkady, Kerala State on 11 March 2020.
Post #216         posted 1 April	Describes our stay on the houseboat at Alleppey, Kerala for the night of 12 March 2020.
Post #217         posted 2 April	Describes our visit to Cochin (aka Kochi), Kerala State, our final destination on this tour (highlights: the old districts of Cochin Fort and Jew Town).  We had a spacious room in the Crowne Plaza Hotel for two nights 13 & 14 March 2020. We flew to Singapore on Sunday night, 15 March 2020, and then on to Sydney.
Post #218         posted 4 April	A summary / overview of our visit to India.

Three weeks was just enough to scratch the surface of this huge, multifaceted country. I can't say that I really know India after such a short time, but here are some personal impressions.

What was the highlight of the tour? For me it was seeing magnificent, bustling Hindu Temples and getting a feel for the importance of religion in everyday life - witness (sacred) cows wandering around everywhere. And India's long history going back many centuries. Religion and history pervade today's culture (so different from Australia).

What was the lowlight (if there is such a word)? For me there were three: (1) getting "the trots" on the houseboat in Alleppey, being sick is never fun; (2) being taken to tourist shops and restaurants by the guide, a couple of times was OK, but after that a waste of precious time; (3) our hotels were generally on the outskirts of cities, pretty isolated - mid city may have given us more insight into life in India.

But, overall, everyone agreed that it was a very good tour and good value.  We saw and did a great deal in a short time.

Some other impressions:

The most attractive cities, for me, were Udaipur in Rajasthan and Cochin in Kerala. I would like to visit those two places again.

On 24 & 25 February 2020 Hindu extremists attacked a Moslem area in Delhi; 53 people died and over 200 were injured, many shops, houses, and a mosque damaged.  Fortunately we were not affected, but it made us realise that there were communal tensions under the surface.

From admittedly limited contact, Indians seemed friendly and helpful. I chatted to some - English is widely spoken - several times I learnt that they were actually residents of other countries (eg England, Canada, USA), back here on a visit. The Indian diaspora is huge - an estimated 30 million live in other countries (including many in Australia).

People, generally, seemed reasonably well dressed and well fed - of course there is poverty, but I didn't see the "abject poverty" (eg people dying on the streets) which I had expected.

I was intrigued to learn that the Communist Party is currently in government in Kerala State.  It was first elected in 1957, and has been a regular contestant in elections since then.

Millions of motor bikes in India, but all petrol (in China motor bikes are now electric, much better for the environment!).

India is a kaleidoscope of colour and movement and smells and sights and sound. So many impressions it's hard to know where to start & stop; this brief summary will do for now.

...

We arrived home and went straight into "self-isolation" for 14 days (there was no health checking at Sydney Airport - slack!!! - didn't start for another week).  Our self-isolation finished on Tuesday, but our lives haven't changed much, we are staying close to home.  All our usual leisure activities have been suspended (eg U3A, gym, dancing, volunteering) and everyone is practising social-distancing.

Back home in Canberra, a BBQ for Vera's birthday. We would normally have friends around, but the government has banned more than two people getting together.

We were delighted with the silk carpet and doona cover which we bought in Jodhpur.

...

Covid-19

A quick update on the coronavirus, which is dominating our lives at present.

Who would have thought that a little bug which originated in Wuhan, China could bring the world to its knees in just 4 months????

The world has hit a new milestone with over 1 million cases of CV-19; and I'm afraid there will be a lot more to come - it is just starting out in countries like India and Indonesia.

Date 2020	Global		Australia
	Infections	Deaths	Infections	Deaths
23 March	335,972	14,642	1,353	7
25 March	423,543	18,876	2,317	8
27 March	525,614	23,706	2,810	13
29 March	649,904	30,249	3,640	14
31 March	775,306	37,083	4,361	18
2 April	932,013	46,667	4,980	21
4 April	1,088,878	58,243	5,330	28

Italy and Spain have been hit hard, with over 10,000 deaths in each. The USA is now the epicenter with 300,000 cases but fortunately only 8,000 deaths so far.  Australia looks to be in reasonable shape.

The Australian Government has introduced mandatory, supervised self-isolating for all incoming arrivals; the Army is helping. Strange seeing army uniforms on TV - most unusual for Australia.

All around the world hospitality and travel industries have been crushed; many people working from home; schools closed; the list goes on and on.

In Australia people aged over 70, the most vulnerable group, have been told to only leave home for essential activities (shopping, medical). Gatherings of more than two people have been forbidden.

In the USA 10 million people lost their jobs in the last two weeks. Commentators are saying that the economic impact of CV-19 will be much bigger than the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09.

India is in a 21 day lock-down (we got out just in time!) - chaotic scenes of untold thousands people trying to return to villages.  I am so impressed that Prime Minister Modi has taken this bold step -  didn't believe it possible in such a huge, diversified federation - extreme measures are required to break the vicious cycle of infections.

...

I'm not sure when I will do another post - there is very little happening in our lives at the moment, and for the foreseeable future.

In the meantime, best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Saturday, 4 April 2020.