Still tingling

Udaipur offered more relaxation than I knew I needed. At no point in our trip were we not negotiating plans in order to mak a specified train time. Sure, we missed some of those train times but we have been working with some cushion. In Udaipur, we got to rest on that cushion.

On the morning of our first full day in Udaipur, we attended an 8:30am yoga class near our hostel. We met a nice fellow American after class and he told us about an amazing Swami who held an evening yoga class overlooking the beautiful lake. We made it to the class, had another 90 minutes of great stretching and awe led by Swami Sudhir (look him up on YouTube.

The next day, we went to Swami Sudhir for morning and evening sessions, stopping to have my measurements taken for new suit between.

After three full, wonderful days in Udaipur, we left more limber, more rested and with me carrying a great suit. We spent a night in Ahmedabad without being much impressed and then we boarded our 20 hour train to Goa!

We bought tickets ten days in advance yet had to share one sleeper berth. The trip was relatively uneventful. We managed to steal naps in berths while they were unoccupied and when the time came, we squeezed into our shared birth as others slept on newspaper beds and strewn across aisles. I felt lucky and surprisingly well rested when we arrived to the gorgeous state of Goa a bit after 6am.

Once we were finally able to check into our hostel, we headed to the beach and stayed at the beach. A nice Indian dinner and a nice sleep got us back to normal. Unfortunately, when I took a quick dip in the Arabian Sea, the ring that I've worn non-stop for over six and a half years left me. I found a similar ring at a Tibetan art fair but it's definitely not the same.

Today, Cheri and I rented a scooter and drove 30km to a spice plantation. We got a tour from a charismatic guide, learning about various spices that nobody could guess from seeing them in plant form. Even a good whiff kept us stumped in certain situations. I haven't driven a scooter since my days in Newport in 2005 but it came back pretty fast. Newport had nowhere near the number of huge trucks passing on two lane highways though. This trip was INTENSE!! I was cautious and conservative but couldn't help but feel a little rattled at times.

After making it through the 'Accident Prone Zone' areas we actually ran out of gas. It was my own fault as I inaccurately figured how long we would have with our non-functioning fuel gauge. Within minutes, Cheri was getting help on one side of the road while I had offers for help next to the scooter. One motorist gave us a few ounces of petrol so that we could make it to the next station. Full of laughs and gratitude, we made it off the highway shoulder only minutes after two moto-riders slid into a median. I am happy to be away from the scary traffic.

We leave on an overnight bus for Mumbai tomorrow night. I will have a little over 24 hours to rest up before interviews at 11am and 3pm with Duke and Michigan business schools respectively. Fingers crossed. I only hope my words will sound as great as my new suit looks.

Love to all,