Cosmos: Mumbai, India
We arrived in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) at 3:30am. We stayed with a family that consisted of a couple with a four year old boy.
We arrived in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) at 3:30am. We stayed with a family that consisted of a couple with a four year old boy.
After leaving our hosts in Mumbai, we took a 21 hour train trip to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.
We made our way to Delhi via a public bus, which took about four hours. We stayed at a quiet hotel in between Old and New Delhi.
We flew from Delhi to SIkkim, which is located in the northeastern part of India. It was an independent kingdom until 1974, when it became part of India.
After flying back to Delhi from Sikkim, we made our way around Rajasthan for 10 days. The first five days were spent visiting two national parks.
We spent the last few days in Rajasthan taking the train to visit the cities of Jaipur and Jodhpur. Jaipur is known as the Pink City and we saw the City Palace, Observatory and the Palace of the Winds.
An eight day trip to Costa Rica provided a great opportunity to view nature and take part in many outdoor activities, including hiking, swimming, kayaking and snorkeling.
We had some delays in reaching Costa Rica, but once we arrived there we enjoyed our time at Drake Bay, on the Pacific Ocean coast. We spent time relaxing in our cabin on the beach as well as taking a day trip to Cano Island, where we hiked and snorkeled.
The highlight of the second part of our Costa Rica trip was a day trip to Corcovado National Park, which provided some great hiking and nature viewing opportunities amidst the rain forest and ocean beaches.
This overview provides some snapshots of the five weeks that we spent in India. In addition to visiting the major cities of Mumbai and Delhi and, of course, the Taj Mahal, we also were able to experience the beauty of two national parks, a spectacular hike in Sikkim through the Himalayas and the charm of Rajasthan.