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While in Jaipur, I bought a Mughal-style miniature painting from an artist at the City Palace. I intend to frame it and include it with some of the other Indian handicrafts I brought home in a small display. I stopped by Michael’s Arts and Crafts a couple weeks ago to start looking at frames and mats, and Kate (At least, I think that was her name…) helped me pick out something decent. I took a couple pictures to share, so I could get some feedback before dropping $160 (which is actually a sale price…) on the deal.

While I chatted with him, the artist also sketched a personalized note with the outline of the elephant and a message to me, which I also plan to include in the frame. There will be about 2½″ of mat between the frame and the artwork, and the same amount between the two items, for a total size of 14½″×13¼″.

Over the past couple days, I’ve been going through the process of getting the utilities at my new place switched over to my name. While switching the water, I ran across this water quality report at Iowa American Water, my new water provider. It reminded me of a couple water-related things that happened to me in India.

While drinking a bottle of water at lunch one day, one of my colleagues asked me (in all earnestness) whether I had similar water restrictions in the US. (If I remember correctly, this was a colleague who had actually spent a couple years living in New Jersey. Other than the obvious joke about that lovely state, I don’t know how this confusion came about.) I told him that no, the US has municipal water systems that deliver high quality—the equal to or better than, in fact, many bottled water products. The idea that the water from the tap could be clean and delicious was one that was very difficult to fathom.

Well, I successfully made it out of India. (I know some of you had your doubts…) My last few days were fairly uneventful, consisting mainly of packing, visiting my favorite restaurants one final time, and ensuring my colleagues had full knowledge of the systems I developed while working in Pune.

Earlier this week, some of my teammates took me to dinner at Deccan Harvest, a restaurant nearly across the street from our offices in Magarpatta City. Some of us had been there before, to enjoy some cold Kingfisher and some Indian starters, so we did basically the same thing, only with more of the team. Siva, Sudhanshu, Bharat, Chinna, Nitin, and I enjoyed some various kabobs, spring rolls, and, of course, the aforementioned Kingfisher.

On my last day in the office, we had another little going away party, during which my host management and teammates shared some lovely sentiments about my contributions and personality, and I shared my gratitude for getting to work with such excellent people. We had a snack of potato chips and soda, and they presented me with a small statute as a parting gift. They also presented me with a ridiculously large card, out of which I got a kick (The syntax here is in honor of Kelly and Winston Churchill.).

I went to The Ship for dinner for the first time a few days ago, and was only disappointed that I waited so long to do so. It quickly became one of my favorite places to eat in Pune, and I went again last night to try another one of their excellent fish dishes.

Over my first weekend in Pune, when Nathan was visiting, my driver took us to The Ship for lunch. Unfortunately, since we were coming from a cricket match, it was getting into mid afternoon, and (as I now know) most Indian restaurants are only open briefly for lunch, reopening around 7 p.m. for dinner. So, thwarted in our attempt to dine there, we ate at McDonald’s instead, and I hadn’t thought to return since.

On my visit last week, I ordered Spicy Crab and Prawn Bruschetta, followed with the Maguro Tuna, and finally a walnut brownie with vanilla ice cream for desert. Many of you will know that tuna filet is one of my favorite meals—I am wont to order it in preference to even prime rib or filet mignon.

On Monday, my second day in Jaipur, I took a day trip to visit Ajmer and Pushkar, two smaller cities in Rajasthan that each are widely known for their religious temples. Unfortunately, “widely” did not, in this case, include me, and I had no idea what I was visiting.

Tuesday, my third day in Jaipur, consisted of relaxing at the hotel where I was staying—lounging by the pool, enjoying the hot weather with some cold beer. 

After an uneventful journey to Jaipur via Mumbai, I enjoyed a day in the city. After picking up my guide, we visited the incredible आमेर किला (Amber Fort), followed by Jantar Mantar (a zodiac observatory) and City Palace. And, of course, I rode an elephant.

More pictures are, as always, available in the gallery.

Tomorrow I’m flying to Jaipur for a short vacation. I’ve wanted to go to Jaipur since my first trip to India, when I stayed at the Le Meridian hotel and watched their hotel travel channel incessantly advertise the glory of the queen of Rajasthan. (Incidentally, the highs in Jaipur are supposed to be about 43°C—109°F—for the duration of my trip…) 

Unfortunately for me, the “Airport Authorities of India Employees Union” plans to go on strike tomorrow around the country. Our travel department tells me that the disruptions at the airports through which I’ll be flying will be minimally disrupted, since they’re not run by the government, but it’s still lovely news.

As I’ve excitedly announced to the world, I have booked my tickets home.  Check out this excellent itinerary:

It’s not so much that I’m excited to be leaving India as I am excited to be back in the US. I miss the little things, like being able to drink tap water and eat raw vegetables in restaurants. I’m also psyched about visiting Tom in Scotland and seeing a bit of that country.

Our corporate travel team booked a trip to Jaipur for me this weekend, which is something to which I’m definitely looking forward. I was originally scheduled to leave Thursday, April 30, flying through Mumbai. Unfortunately, Mumbai is holding their poll day on the 30th, so I was asked to shift my travel plans.

Despite the fact that the travel agents suggested the dates and, in my opinion, darn well should have known that April 30 was not a good day to be traveling through Mumbai, I am still stuck paying the change fees of ₨750 per flight. Granted, that’s only a total of like $30, but it’s the principle. What am I paying them for if it’s not to know in advance about this type of thing? How am I, as a foreigner, supposed to know when election day is in any particular area of the country? It’s ridiculous.

The rest of my trip to Aurangabad didn’t go quite as planned, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and was very happy to have made the trip. After enjoying a lovely pizza in the hotel restaurant, Avdhut took me to the Ellora Caves. On our way back to Aurangabad, we also stopped at Daulatabad Fort.

You can find more pictures in the gallery.