I had intended to blog about each country separately, but then I got to India and promptly fell deathly ill, so …
Thailand! Loved it! David and I are going to retire there, and I encourage all our family and friends to join us. I didn’t really know what to expect from Thailand, and I was overwhelmed by its natural beauty. Chiang Mai was charming, our hotel was beautiful, and the Doi Inthanon National Park was stunning. Plus, elephants!
If we had to do it over again, we definitely would have scheduled more time in Thailand, both in Chiang Mai and our next stop, Phuket. In Phuket our resort was RIGHT on the beach — like, walk off the patio onto the beach. I loved that! And the beach was gorgeous. The beach experience was slightly marred by all the garbage that rude, asshole tourists left on it and by the fact that we couldn’t go very far into the ocean due to riptides. But the pools were good and our beach massage was the best. I could have stood to do another day or two there.
On to India, where we still are. I had low expectations for India because of the heat and my intolerance of spicy food. But, after my near-death experience (I’m channeling Stephen Suess right now), India has been amazing in a lot of ways.
We started in Delhi and had dinner with two truly lovely people who Stephen connected us with. We had dinner at a nice Indian restaurant and I gamely tried every dish (except an extra spicy sausage). I also had a virgin Pina Colada. Not sure if it was the food or the drink, but I became very ill during the night. I was constantly nauseous for the next two days. I slept for about 36 hours — a record, even for me — and couldn’t eat anything at all. Very sadly, this forced me to miss the Taj Mahal. :(. But I clawed my way back from the brink of death (good, right, Stephen?!) and have been able to participate since Jaipur.
Parts of India are truly beautiful and parts — sometimes the same parts — are depressing as hell because of the poverty. So many people living in deplorable conditions. But the history is fascinating and the forts, temples, and palaces are stunning. We’re in Udaipur right now, and its a pretty city, much more lush this time of year than the area to the north. And our hotel is wonderful — it’s has a very Indian/British colonial vibe. Here’s the view from my window of part of our hotel.
Other than my 36-hour stomach tumor, the only real problem has been the heat. One hundred degree tempuratures plus menopause? Not pretty. Not at all. I’m sweating buckets. Between all this sweating and starving, I BETTER have lost some freakin weight.
David has done a great job blogging about our activities and I won’t repeat all that. He and Zoe have also taken some amazing video and photos (the photo of the kids with the water jugs on their heads was not posed at all, David took it literally as we were driving by!). Here are some of my other favorite pics from India so far.
Beautiful Zoe, blending in 
Our sweet new friends in New Delhi 
Zoe, the movie star — everyone wanted a pic with her! 
Wish I had been there š 
In Agra 
In Jaipur 
In Jaipur 
In Jaipur 
Front of our hotel in Udaipur 
Indoor hotel pool
We have one more day in Udaipur, then on to Mumbai.
Jackie so delightful hearing your perspective. I totally can relate to the illness! While in Istanbul I thought I would die until the military showed up with machine guns (long story) and I was instantly healed! Iām just glad you are feeling well now. Anyway I am loving ātravelingā the world with the Suess Family! This is such an amazing experience for all of you and one I have always wanted to do! I have always told your dad if he should ākick the bucket before meā; Iām calling 411 instead of 911 to contact an agency for an around the world excursion! ???
I love you guys so much and look forward to the sharing. Stay safe and continue the fun!
You definitely need to call 411 for the world tour! ? And I want to hear about how the military scared the illness out of you in Istanbul!!
So glad you like our blog ? Love you! ??
Thanks for the shout out Jackie! Love reading about your experiences and sorry you got sick (my guess is the Pina Colada, the only times I got ill in India were when I ate/drank something western in fact). Glad that you are still trying to experience it all.
Great post, Jackie! Love hearing your observations.
Weāre living vicariously through this trip.
I echo the request for an entry from Max.
So good to hear from you Jackie!! I miss you!! Thanks for your thoughts and photos. So beautiful!
“I’m just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUfq1YMXd8E
So glad you survived your near-death experience! (But seriously, being sick while traveling is the worst.) Good for you for trying all the food. Are you sure you didn’t have 10 regular Pina Coladas and just don’t want to admit it to us?
David’s commentary is informative and entertaining, but this blog needs more Jackie. And will we ever hear from Max?
We miss you here in Room 416, but are looking forward to following along on the rest of your journey.
I miss you guys, too! Weāre all looking forward to the next parts of our trip ā Africa and Europe!!! But I was just explaining to Zoe last night that itās ok to look forward to being home, too ā home is another great place:)