Off to India to keep an appointment with a friend, a colleage and maybe a snake charmer

After several months of planning and preparation, the day is here that I finish packing, sleep in my own bed once more, and kiss my family goodbye for a few weeks. I'm off to India on business (my first international trip). Let the adventure begin!

To think that I've wanted to visit India ever since I was 16, it gives me pause. Of course, this will be two weeks that are jam packed with business meetings, team entertainment and night-time work to catch up with email and the going's on at Neudesic USA. Yet, along the way I will visit the Taj Mahal, see three major cities in India (New Delhi, Agra and Hyderabad) and get one weekend to spend as I like. I plan to squeeze every bit of culture, local cuisine and fun that I can out of this trip (when not glued to my laptop). Who knows? Maybe I'll meet a snake charmer and get to ride an elephant. I hope to challenge the Neudesic India team to a "spice off", representing the U.S. team in spice handling. Hyderabad would be the place to find just the kind of people who might be able to take me down!!!

My traveling companions from the US are: Mark Purnell (our analyst), David Barkol (our super-star developer/architect), Jim Gaston (our visionary customer) and Ashish Agarwal (our India Regional Director). Ashish has already made the flight from San Jose to New Delhi, and awaits our arrival. We'll arrive in Delhi Friday night (9:30 PM IND), he'll take us to our hotel for some dinner, and then we'll each shower, nap and get back on the road at 4:30 AM IND to head out for Agra (Taj Mahal). It will be a full day of driving, sight-seeing and nodding-off in the car before my head hits a pillow at around 10 PM IND on Saturday. I'll try to blog a bit about the day, and upload at least a picture of the Taj Mahal, but I can't promise anything that first night.

A note about the time difference: From pacific standard time zone (PST or GMT-8), to find out what time it is in India, simply add 13.5 hours (GMT +5:30). As I write this entry, it is 12:15 AM PST on Thursday, so it is 1:45 PM IND on Friday.

I'll post as many pictures as I can, and attempt to keep this blog updated daily once I arrive in Delhi. Please feel free to post comments on my blog. I look forward to hearing from family, friends (and maybe even fellow travelers).

Cheers!