July 11, 2012 - Nagpur and Cochin

Left Mom’s house at around 7am to make the 2 ½ hour drive to Nagpur.

Picture of Jess and I in car on way to Nagpur:

Today we are flying to Kerala – another state at the southernmost tip of India. It borders the Arabian Sea.


Here is that Indian map again for those of you interested in our geographical location: (note –this map doesn’t outline the states)

We are flying from Nagpur to Hyderabad (where we will have a short layover), and then on to Cochin (or Kochi) where will be staying the next 5 days. Cochin is in the state of Kerala.

I have mentioned this in my 2009 postings, but Vinay lived in Kerala with his Grandmother for about 8 years of his life. We will visit her first thing in the morning and then spend the rest of the days having “fun” and actually (hopefully) vacationing. As Vinay says, visiting Chandrapur is not a vacation for him – it is visiting family and taking care of business that has been neglected for a year, and attending to this or that. Usually his trip home is quite stressful. However, we planned (or at least hoped) on having a bit of vacation these next 5 days.

 

We left early in the morning, not because our flight was so early, but because we wanted to do a little shopping in Nagpur. Our plane didn’t leave until 3pm.

Apparently Nagpur lies at exactly the geographical center of the country. [1] It is also known as the Orange City and Tiger Capital of India. It boasts a population of about 2.4 million people, compared to the 373,000 people in Chandrapur. Norman, Oklahoma (for comparison) had a 2010 census count of 110, 925. Here are some pictures of us shopping in Nagpur.
Just the busy shopping streets of Nagpur (Jessica even took a video):

Jackie & Jessica walking the streets of Nagpur:

I'm checking out the bangle vendors: (hoping for a larger size - which I did find here):

Jackie and Jessica checking out the bangles as well: 

We stopped for bathroom and tea at a hotel - Jackie decided to pose in front of the sun - which was hanging inside the restaurant:

We were checking out some Salwars:

Vinay at a bakery picking up some sweets:

It was about a 4-5 hour flight to Cochin (including the layover in Hyderabad). By the time we arrived, we were ready to crash in the hotel. Joy, a family friend, and our driver for the duration of our trip, picked us up from the airport. Over the next few days, we would really fall in love with him. J He was a great resource and very patient with us crazy American girls.

Three of us at airport waiting:

We stayed the night in a hotel called White Forks.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagpur