Cousins

This post has been a long time in coming. So my cousins, John and Heidi, came to visit me in India. It was so much fun having them here. Other than stomach issues, travel issues, and general tiredness, it was a wonderful whirlwind of a week.
I got on the train to Delhi on Friday afternoon, set to arrive at 11am on Saturday. I planned to get fresh and take rest (yeah, I'm now Indian) at our guest house before going to meet them at the airport at 8:15. But as trains go...I should have expected the late arrival to Delhi. I got off the train at 6pm, had enough time to drop my bags at the guest house and rush over to the airport. At least I made it there before they did!
We spent the next day in Delhi, shopping and visiting Red Fort (apparently I can visit the same fort 3 times in one year!). Monday morning we took a bus to Corbett Tiger Reserve. We stayed there for 2 days (our longest stay in any one location!) Tuesday we had a safari. It was a lot of fun, even though we didn't get to see any tigers. I think I'm destined to not see any big cats on any of my safaris. :( Oh well.
Wednesday night, we took a bus to Dehra Dun. The plan was to visit Mussoorie, but stomach issues foiled our plans. Kudos to Heidi for enduring that 8-hour bus ride! We returned to Delhi on Friday and met up with Liz, Priti, and Priti’s cousin, Suku for shopping.
Saturday morning the 6 of us boarded the train to Agra. We were among the 500 people who did not have confirmed seats, so most of us had to stand for most of the 3-hour ride. I didn’t mind so much. Standing on a train is infinitely better than standing on a bus!
Once we reached Agra, we visited Agra Fort (known also as Red Fort) and eventually made our way to the Taj Mahal. John, Heidi, and I hung out there until sunset (Priti, Suku and Liz had train tickets back to Delhi that night). We visited a few shops before having dinner on the rooftop of our guest house.
Easter morning, after watching the sunrise over the Taj (our guest house had a great view), we took the train back to Delhi, had lunch, and went to the Gandhi museum and visited Raj Ghat, the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi. In the evening we enjoyed killer samosas. By enjoyed, I guess I mean that I enjoyed them. John and Heidi had a bit of trouble with theirs! I guess there’s a reason they say you shouldn’t eat street food until you’ve been here for 2 weeks.
After the samosa incident, it was time for them to head to the airport. I was sad to see them go, but it was so good to have them here for the week! After seeing family again, I don’t feel like I’m so far away from home. India’s not that far away from Ohio, right?