Hello again, Blogonauts! The last few days we have been high in the Himalayan foothills, in the former summer seat of British India's government, Shimla, in the state of Himachal Pradesh. We climbed to this lofty height via a narrow-gauged railway that took us from the valley floor town of Kalka on a slow trudge through hundreds of tunnels and over hundreds of bridges. The train was crowded, there was no additional provision for luggage, and so movement within...

Hello again, Blogonauts! This will be a quick entry, mostly to point you to the photo album of Amritsar and the Golden Temple. Amritsar has seen more than its share of tragedies (slaughter at the Jallianwala Bagh at the hands of the British, the mass murder and displacement during the partition between India and Pakistan, and in the 1980s, attacks against the Sikhs by the Indian government). Yet it is a joy-filled and generous place. The Sikh Golden Temple fee...

Hello again, Blogonauts! Before I hop aboard a flight from Delhi to Amritsar, let me alert you to several photos I took yesterday while winding my way through the streets and bazars of Chandni Chowk, a cacophanous shoping district near the Red Fort, in New Delhi. This is the festival of Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. In celebration, some folks are dousing themselves and their friends in vibrant colored powders. MOST of the time it is voluntary. I have a ...

Hello again, blogonauts! Blog postings will be slightly out of order, just so we don't slip too far behind. So on Wednesday, I hired a driver and a guide to take me from New Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It was worth the trip, albeit the journey lasted about twice as long as everyone suggested. They should have consulted Google Maps, which predicted it precisely. The Taj Mahal is the India world wonder. For the most part, they are very proud of it. And ...

Hello again, Blogonauts! Sunday was the day to investigate some of the spiritual buffet that is on offer in Mumbai. We began at the Haji Ali Dargah, a mosque and tomb whose claim to fame is that it is almost six centuries old, and that the only access by land is via a long, narrow pedestrian causeway. Today, the swarms of crowds and vendors suggested this is a top destination for devout Muslims...and those who want to scour the rocks exposed during low tide. F...