Leonard Family Around the World Adventure

Thursday January 10, 2008 Up very early and on our way to the airport – we arrived by 3am. We took a picture with Mr Sing – I gave hime my contact information and got his – ecept for an email address which I hope he will send to me. I told him all of the amounts that we had spent to hopefully ensure he would get his commission. I have grown quite attached to him and hope to see him again someday. I had daydreams of helping fund his dream of setting up a spare parts store front. I gave him 100 US and 500 Rupees – I would have given him all of the rupees I had remaining but I am afraid to go anywhere in India without money – including the airport – who knows what bribe might be necessary – what unique tax might be imposed. We checked in and the ticket counter lady asked for more money – I told her I had paid last night and thankfully had the receipt. We were at the gate by 4 am. I was envious of Allysha's ability to curl up on the chairs and sleep. Pam and I made a couple of ca...

Wednesday January 9 th , 2008 Up early this morning about 5am. A busy day – the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and back to Delhi. I spent over an hour blogging. Still do not know if we have tickets for our departing flight. Got a couple emails – our house sounds like it is in a terrible state – the washing machine seems to have failed and even after the first cleanup leaked again. I wonder why they do not just turn off the water to the machine in the meantime? I try not to worry too much. We have to get internet access soon so we can figure out what is going on and what we are going to do. Hopefully tonight. We are well over a month on the road. I am looking forward to our upcoming Egypt segment – I just hope we can get internet somehow. I have not been able to work much during this last week and expect the same next week. I should be able to catch up in Italy where we can slow the pace. I am concerned about what our burn rate is going to be in Italy – everything has been more expensive than ant...

January 8 th , 2008 Tuesday Up early – I have been catching up the blogging entries over the last few days. I am writing this on Tuesday January 8 th at 5am so I am only a day behind at this point. This visit to India has been a whirlwind of sites and sensory overload. I have learned and experienced much. I can feel my perspective broadening with each day. We still had no confirmation of our tickets to Cairo – did receive an email from our travel agent (Shonne) that she had a backup plan so I am hopeful we will reach Egypt as planned. I am surprised at how difficult it has been to get internet access and to keep up with blogging. I think it is a by-product of trying to fit so much into this visit to India. Each segment from Delhi to Jaipur, Jaipur to Agra and Agra to Delhi is about 250km. That is about 6 hours of driving because of the road conditions. I actually work on some blogs on the road today. We travel through Rajasthan to another state – our drive pays a tax for oper...

Monday January 7 th , 2008 Most of the early morning hours were spent talking to America. I hate to see my iPhone bill. Still not clear what really happened but the Garrets and Wurtzs spent a lot of time at the house cleaning and drying. Our housesitter called our insurance agent Chad and he seemed to get things moving forward. An appraiser and clean-up crew seem to be being sent to the house. The electricity seems to still be out. What a mess this is and so hard to coordinate from afar. I am so grateful to our friends for all of their help. I heard that our neighbor was at the house checking things out – a lock box was to be installed to allow crews access to the house. I have no idea how much damage has been done and I am very concerned. We grab breakfast from out hotel – it is pretty good and our driver and guide show up at 8am. It seems we are in a hurry to get to the Amber Fort where we are to take an elephant to the top of the mountain to tour the fort. There are only 180 elephan...

Sunday January 6 th , 2008 Another fitful night sleep – I awoke to find an email saying that our roof was leaking, through the laundry room and into the kitchen. WHAT! The email was not even from the house-sitter – it was from Jake and Wendy – she had noticed the mess and then headed out of Town. It turns out our friends – what great friends we have we love you guys and thank you came through for us and said they would check out the house in the morning. There is not much more we can do and we are already an hour late meeting our driver. We grab some muffins to go and hit the road at 9am for the 260km drive to Jaipur. Endless peoples – roadside stands. Trucks, cows, camels, elephants all sharing the highway. Monkeys on the roadside. Everything is going pretty well until we come to a slow-down – there is road work being down and the oncoming lanes of the 4 lane highway are diverted into the fast lane of our side – we are driving along in this condition for a while until we come to a ne...

There was no safe in the room and there were signs posted saying do not leave valuables so we took 2 backpacks – one with our tickets, computer etc and one for carrying on our back. We ate a continental breakfast – nothing spectacular and met our driver promptly at 9am. We stopped at an ATM and I took out about 13000 rupees – a little over 300 American. What a wad of bills. We drove to our first destination where we were told we would meet our guide. We spent most of the journey interrogating our drive Mr. Singh (a Sikh). On the way to the hotel the previous night the greeter had asked an interesting question – what was so great about America. I had provided an answer but it made me think. I said our constitution was one thing, a secular society with freedom of religion and equality for all but neglected After briefly studying the history of India I was amazed at how bloody it's history was and mostly due to religions conflicts. It seemed that under each rule there ws progres...

January 4 th , 2008 We got out the door and caught the 5:30am shuttle. There was a man from Philadelphia on out flight. He said he came to Thailand every year to study woodcarving – it was his hobby. I gathered that he worked at an Oil refinery in Saudi Arabia – the biggest in the world. We checked our bags all the way through to India – even though we were switching airlines – crossed out fingers and hoped the bags would arrive. I did pack more intelligently this time ensuring all adapters; computer gear, medications and our India guide were in my carry-on. The security lines were a breeze – even the check in line was quite small – once we found it row W. We had to sit and wait for the check-in to even begin then through custom and we grabbed lunch, purchased some toiletries and books. I got a book about the 1997 economic meltdown in Thailand and a pleasure reading book – Koontz – The Good Guy. We were on the plane and ready to go about 30 minutes late. They served us peanuts,...

January 3, 2008 Today is our last day in Thailand – we fly out tomorrow morning at 6am for Bangkok and then on to Delhi. We ended up starting the day out with a river boat cruise in one of the Thai long tail boats. It was relaxing. At the turn-around point we disembarked for about 30 minutes and walked through a garden that had native plants, fruits and herbs labeled. We were also served fresh fruit and juice. It was nice. On the ride back we ended up talking to a couple visiting from Houston, TX. Their children actually were studying abroad – the father was a dual British and American citizen. We talked about politics and the education that our girls were receiving by taking this journey. They seemed to agree with our motivations and supported what we are doing. When we got back we decided to head to a food court near the night bazaar – it took a while to find it but the meal ended up being pretty good. From there we went to a Spa located in the night bazaar and got tradition...

January 2, 2008 Last night Pam and I went t a nightclub. We had a couple drinks and then decided to order a bottle of Whiskey. There was a live band and a number of singers. It was fun – nothing great but nice to see what the nightlife was like. We drank about ¼ of the bottle and gave the rest to the table next to us. The waiters would come around and fix a drink the moment your glass was empty. We headed back to the room about 11:30 – and hit the McDonalds across from our hotel. Went to bed and nobody in the family woke up until 11:30am. We lounged around the room and the pool. Pam and Aria – I went out to get Mexican food – it was interesting – Thai influenced mexican cuisine – I actually liked it. Allysha and I stayed in the room as her eye was still bothering her. Eventually the girls decided to hit the night safari – I was tired and my toe was infected and hurting so I stayed in. They said it was a very pleasant excursion and were back in the room by about 9pm – they al...

January 1, 2008 Happy New Year everyone! I slept in this morning until about 8am. I read for a little bit and eventually Allysha came knocking on the door in tears. She says she has something in her eye and it has been hurting her. Aria had tried to help her by washing her eye out – we did the same. We give her a painkiller and start her on her malaria antibiotic – this was the scheduled day for that anyway and she said her eye had been bothering her since Phuket and we are concerned about an infection. We probably should have given her some food first as she gets very nauseous and throws up – but she says she feels better. Aria soon joins us in our room. I blog the last couple days – and decide not to work. As it is approaching 11am here we decide to order a snack/lunch from room service. French onion soup, fresh fruit, clam chowder, fried rice and chicken satay - a nice snack. We watch the ball drop in Times square – welcome to the New Year America. I envision Santa Cruz wal...

I get up and pack – some of my things are still a little damp. I apply my lesson learn and my carry-on daypack has all of my medications, our tickets, all adapters and chargers, all electronics and our India guide (our next destination). We actually are downstairs with luggage loaded and a quick bowl of cereal for the girls and I had some fruit and on the road by about 7:05am. Everyone seems tired and the last 6 days really flew by. Allysha declares that she does not want to leave on the drive to the airport. We get to the airport and Pam has to search for some change to pay the driver. We check-in and find a pub to grab some coffee and Allysha gets a full American breakfast with 2 boiled eggs – it is funny watching her trying to remove the shell and eat them. Pam gets a club sandwich and Aria gets some French fires and a mango drink. I am not feeling great in my stomach and order a cream of mushroom soup. I get delivered a very very spicy curry Tom Yuang soup – I figure this ...

December 30 th , 2007 The end of the year is closing in and today marks the start of my youngest daughters Allysha's tenth year. I do not feel old enough to have a youngest child that is 10. We awake and I sing Happy Birthday to her and recount what I was thinking ten years ago when she was born. I remember being afraid of not having enough love or time for a second child – amazing how mistaken I was. As soon as I laid eyes on her my ability to love magically doubled. I look at her ow – she is really developing into an amazing young lady. I started reading Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 yesterday and finish it this morning. It is amazing – although written 50 years ago it is prescient and represents out some aspects of our current society – addiction to T.V. – a war against a nameless and nebulous enemy. I am disturbed and cannot quite put my finger on it. I feel the desire that comes into my life every couple of years to write a book and I renew my commitment to continue...

I awake about 8:30 am. I am still feeling very fatigued and just not right. I awake the family – we grab breakfast then I go back to the room to do some work and conduct an interview while the girls hit the internet computers downstairs and Pam heads to the roof top sunning pool. For the rest of the day I do not feel right – we head down to the beach – it is very crowded. We get some beach chairs (never approached for rent). Allysha rents a floating lounge for the day. We spend the afternoon reading, swimming and sunning. We purchase some ice cream cones from a beach vendor and Pam and Allysha purchase some sun dresses. Allysha asks about Jet skiing, parasailing and tubing behind a jet boat. I watch the parasailing to see how safe it is. The ocean is rougher than it has been – I think it is high tide and there is a little bit of a rip, but I still prefer it over Patong. Aria and Allysha swim out to the platform together. I head back to the room before the others – just not feel...

Friday, December 28 th . I was up at 4:30am – my dreams were mostly about work so I got up and started working. Also I was able to get some blogging done. Last night I discovered that when a VPN connection was available the internet here seemed to work much better – but the connection this morning has been very spotty. I thought about taking the notebook downstairs but ended up working in the dark. Aria occasionally cries out in her sleep. Not sure what is on the agenda today – I need to do some of our finances, check on bills etc. and have a work deliverable I need to complete this week. Hopefully the car is where we left sit. I cannot believe Allysha is going to be 10 in a couple days – I am trying to think of something very nice for her birthday. She has been a real trooper on this trip – hardly a complaint escapes her lips – very open to new ideas and experiences – very independent. I think she is a little homesick. I am so impressed by her. Aria too is hanging in there – I ca...

Day 22, Thursday December 27 th . I awoke early this morning and got some great work hours in. The internet connection is so spotty and acts very strange. I was able to finally get blogs posted by saving them in word 2003 format, copying them to a flash drive, taking them downstairs and posting them using the hotels computers. We ate breakfast and the girls did some school work while I continued working. The car was delivered; we inspected it – it seemed fine – but had no gas. The lady that delivered the car took it and brought it back shortly with ¼ tank of gas. The girls loaded up a day bag – I was immersed in work and the next thing I knew they were waiting for me downstairs. I hurriedly gathered my stuff and off we went. We negotiated the car for 4 days 3200 baht – wow just a single taxi ride last night had cost 600 and when we were trying to get to Patong beach the other night one way was 400 baht. The car was a Suzuki samurai – probably 10 years old – 1,000,000 miles? I...

December 26 th – Boxing Day. We sleep in until 8am. I get up and does some work – we all go down to the breakfast. The girls hit the internet and work on some school work, Pam inquires about a rental car and makes an arrangement for one tomorrow. I blog the last 3 days, the internet connection is acting strange not working as expected but I am able to check e-mail. We call Lea to say Merry Christmas. We plan on calling others, Pam leaves a message for Amy but it gets pretty late Pam was talking to Viki and came up to the room in tears – saying she made him cry. She was inquiring about the Tsunami – today is the 3 year anniversary and he told the story of that day and it made him cry. As Pam relayed it to me he was working about 9am at one of the tailors shops he owned (I gather he starts them up and sells them) at Bang Tao beach. He heard people talking abut water and assumed there was a sewage or water main break until he noticed water coming up to his shop. They locked up the ...

December 26th, 2007 This is the second time I am writing this entry – I went to hit save and word crashed – unbelievable – I am very frustrated with Office 2007 – I have never before lost so much work in word. Pam had come into the room in tears and I decided to hit save and a dialog came up saying the program had stopped responding – unbelievable – so I will try to recreate what I wrote earlier. After my bag did not arrive we checked the international baggage claim to see if it had been misrouted – no luck. I filed a report and the man taking the report had never heard of the Benyada lodge – an ominous sign. My bag had all of my clothes – except what I was wearing – shorts, the charger for the notebook – I cannot even imagine trying to replace that – Dell chargers are finicky and I have tried others – sometimes they will run the notebook but not charge the battery and finally all of my medications were in the bag. Another lesson learned – if I ever see my luggage again I will be more ...

Day 19 is Christmas Eve December 24th – It did not feel like Christmas at all. It was our last day in Bangkok and I am actually ready to move on. Pam met a family from Brazil that was living in Tokyo. They had hired a driver for the first day when they arrived in Bangkok and were using the same driver to return to the airport as they were off to Singapore. Pam was able to arrange for the driver to return at 11am and pick us up – he will drive us for our final day and deliver us to the Novotel in the evening. Our flight to Phuket leaves at 8am on the 25th. We had breakfast, went to our rooms and packed and downstairs to meet our driver – loaded up in his SUV and off we went. We had not really decided what we wanted to see so on the fly we decided to go the Grand Palace . We spent an hour and a half perusing the grounds. It was beautiful but because it was a Holiday many of the buildings were closed – but we did get to see the Emerald Buddha – awesome. Pam had on capris with just...

Sunday December 23, 2007 I awoke this morning and got some work done. Had a very productive conference call for a couple hours. The girls did some school work and Pam kept entering and leaving the room with a pained expression on her face. When I was done with the call I tracked her down in the girl’s room and asked her what was wrong. She was upset and frustrated – the hotel clerk had given her incorrect directions for the weekend market and the wrong street for the restaurant we tried to visit. She said she found the market in our guidebook and we had got off the sky train only one station too soon. She was nearly in tears – I gave her a hug and said everything was fine and not to worry – I think she needed that. I know milling around the room this morning was really us taking a collective deep breath before venturing out into the city again. We decided to hit a Sunday brunch at the Sheraton which was recommended in our guide book. Allysha had had breakfast earlier at the hotel...