Fatehpur Sikri

the legend is that Fatehpour Sikri is a city that was built outside of Delhi, and then abandoned due to lack of water. Now its a fantastic arena for kids to run around and of course, climb! there were great views and we had a great time, minus the creepy people trying to take pictures on Miles and Sammy! The real adventure though happened outside the monument. First we all had to use the toilet, and for us to agree to use a public toilet in India, you MUST be desperate. Second, we learned you must pay to use the toilet, and the rates are different based on whether you are going to go #1 or #2. Sadly I had to ask my son if he was planning to poop before he went to the bathroom! Also, Sarah and I decided to use the public toilet so we approached with our own toilet seat covers, wipes and our own toilet paper. After we figured it all out in the dark, the attendant would not let us leave without paying. We had no money, and so finally he accepted a US dollar, and we were allowed to leave.

We thought it was funny that the sign implies equivalence between stables, sara and a harem (sara being my sister in law)

Great pic of Dave and Elizabeth

Sammy on the roof

Of course jason found lots of places to climb

Exhausted crew

...and this is what we looked like after the Agra fort on the bus. Actually this is what we all looked like every time we got in the bus!

Agra Fort

We went to the Agra Fort today which was where Shah Jahan was imprisoned after he built the Taj for his deceased wife. He was captured by his youngest son, Aurangzeb after he killed his 2 older brothers. His prison cell has a very clear view of the Taj Mahal, for added torture, Its an amazing fort and we had a blast running around!


I tried to take a picture of this monkey opening a pack of ciggies but then it went after Jason who had a lollipop in his mouth!

Typical scene, Dad on the cell phone making arrangements while we sightsee

mmmm.... drinking water from a bucket!

The best part of the Red Fort visit was Travis had his try at bargaining. He spotted a small wooden chess set that he wanted on the way into the fort as we were attacked by all of the street vendors. S as we left the fort Travis, Dad and David set off to go buy one and bargain for a good price. david successfully got the price from 800 rupees to 300, and then he asked Travis if this was okay. Travis replied, "I would have paid 450!" And then we learned that Travis would do NO more negotiating for us on this trip. It was funny! He got his chess set by the way, as David jumped in, solved the problem, and we paid 300 rupees.

What a difference a good nights sleep makes!

Its like we slept in a Holiday In Express and now can perform surgery! What a difference a night at the five star Trident makes! We had a great dinner and all slept a full night's sleep and look how great we all looked in the morning! Sammy even had hot chocolate while we enjoyed our first cup of real coffee in DAYS! The hotel had ping pong which was a hit with the kids, and we even got some family pictures!

Behind the scenes

So much has happened in the last week, and I haven't been able to write about the massive comedy of errors, good luck and bad luck we have had. Our vacation plans are constantly changing as we are at the complete mercy of others here in a foreign country where only one of us speaks the language. Some have been trustworthy and completely dependable. Some have not been.

When we arrived in Delhi, the driver of the party van we had arrived was already ticked because we had changed our plans due to our 2 day delay in newark. That, ,and showing up at midnight with the most ridiculous amount of luggage did not for a friendship make. The next monring when our trip from Delhi to agra took longer than expected he started complaining about our plans to go to Jaipur that night, driving late and then getting up early the next morning again.

So we left him and spent our fantastic time at the Taj. Knowing we still had a 5 hours drive to Jaipur tonight, we crammed ourselves (yes all 11 of us) into an auto rickshaw and stopped at a western style hotel for dinner. None of the wait staff spoke english and I spent the first 30 minutes washing Sammy's glow blanket out in the bathroom sink as she had thrown up on it too. We ordered, and then waited. Nothing . After 90 minutes the waiter came back to out table and asked if he could substitute all of the chicken we ordered for mutton. We said no. My brothers then got involved. We ended up just paying for our beers and leaving the restaurant. Hungry, starving and a little drunk we walked back to the party van knowing we had a long trip ahead and that we would be eating snacks for dinner. When we got there, the driver refused to take us to jaipur, which is where we had a hotel reservation. Instead he dropped us at a hotel in Agra and David and Brian used their charm to get us 4 rooms here at the Trident. I am pretty sure David's mustache played a role in this, but we ended up at THE MOST LUXURIOUS hotel ever! The staff immediately took our dirty clothes and washed them for us - returning them to us hot and pressed! There was a potter sitting in the breezeway that let my kids try their hand at throwing pots. There is a sitar player here, and... a fantastic restaurant... with PIZZA for the kids.
So, in all, this was a blessing as we all got a full nights sleep which we havent had in days and a good meal, and some good wine. Not sure what today brings but I am sure it will be an adventure.

I have noticed that people here are fascinated with us - specifically my nephew Miles and Sammy. Maybe because they have blond hair, maybe because they are cute as shit, but people take pictures of us, and continue to try and touch Sammy and Miles' head. we have been keeping them in the stroller as much as possible but truly its unnerving. I cant tell you ow any times we have posed for our own pictures and people just jump in and start taking pictures of us. Its funny but also envokes the mama bear reaction in me aggressively protecting my kids!

We should be bak in Delhi tonight at Harry's bed and breakfast so I am sure I will have moe pictures and more stories tonight!

Taj Mahal, Agra

Miles LOVED the Taj Mahal!

bargaining - tghis time about price of pictures the guys take of us without our permission

The kids were fascinated by intricate hand work!

We woke up early this morning after a solid 3 hours of sleep, packed up again and got o our 20 passenger party bus to head to Agra. Our day started with the amazing idli and sambar yum! The bus ride which should have taken 3 hours, took over 5, and resulted in cranky adults and poor car sick sammy, who decided to puke all over me. At one point our driver randomly pulled to the side of the road, turned off the car and got out and walked away. As we were looking out the window a monkey on a stick popped up and made the kids laugh so hard, we had o give the guy a few rupees. Of course that started a landslide of begging culminating in one mane so aggressive as to wedge his hand into the window of our bus to prevent us from closing the winndow! Finally we arrived in Agra and headed straigh to the Taj, after a quick wardrobe change for me, we hopped on the horse rides to take us to the gate. Obviously this was one of Sammy's favorite parts of the trip.

Not sure how this worked out but we put Travis and my kids in one buggy on their own. three white people in a buggy unattended = a huge target for selling stupid souveniers and beggars. At one point Travis asked what to do, I said, " say no and dont make eye contact!"

Alas we finally arrived to the Taj. After early 40 hours straight of travelling, we were there. sarah, Elizabeth, Mom, Sammy and I got in the girls line which of course moved much faster than the men's line. Probably b/c women are just more effecient. just sayin' After going through security and having my orange confiscated we were in! But, then we had to wait for the boys so we took a few pics waiting. It was at this point i also noticed people staring at Samy as they passed by and even touching her!

Then the men arrived and we were ready to rock and roll.

So we spent the next 4 hours wandering around the most fanstastic monument and man-made wonder of the world. I have to say this is the 3rd time I have been there and it still takes my breath away!

The Bhutafamily has arrived!

This is a picture of just our carryon lggage. We needed 12 carts of luggage filled to the max for everything.

As we waited for our luggage, miles tested his new backpack!

So we landed in Delhi at midnight, got through immigration and customs just fine. Then we all decided we needed some bottled water, so of course we had to negotiate on the price of water! Yes we negotiated and fro 2 dollars US got 15 bottles of water.

We then climbed into our insane disco party van and went to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before heading to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. many more pictures to follow.

Dont you love it when a plan comes together?
On sunday our flight was cancelled and we were practically stranded at newark airport in a b;lizzard until we found an off-duty cabbie who said he would take all of us back to our hotel. It required 3 trips and he couldnt even get to the hotel due to blizzard conditions! Bfeore we left theairport, the airlines told us there was no way that we were getting out of the US until thursday. Then, the creation of the Bhuta War room began! We set up 4 laptops, 4 phones and lots of people in charge and worked out a deal where we could get out to amsterdam on tuesday at 6:30. Of course we were still in newark, so tat meant renting 2 minivans and driving frokm newark to dulles at the crack of dawn. Once we got to dulles, we saw our flight was on time and then the intense negotiations began! My parents literally spent 2 hours arguring and discussing with the agent how to get the best seats on all flights. It was absurd.

This is the 2 hour scene as we were checking in. Most people take about 15 minutes to check their bags for an international flight. the Bhuta family takes 2 hours. We documented the scene, and I took a picture of elizabeth taking pictures!






Miles didn't seem to care - he was just happy that his cousins were slipping him some chips! After we got through security, we rushed to the charging stations to chage up all ipods, kindles, laptops, phones, and cameras!


So, the plan worked the flight took off on time, and has a smooth transition in amsterdam, and landed in delhi on time!

Dec 26th - Falling in Love with Newark - not!

Travel Day - we woke up early in Newark in the airport to learn that most domestic flights wwre cancelled sue to blizzard like consditions. May parent quickly rode over to the riport to see if there were oter flight options while we had greakafast and swam in the hotel pool.

The all the bhutas united and checked in at once. It was a mad house with all the luggage and true sigjht to be seen!

David's moustache is indeed real, even though Sammy tries to pull it off everythime she sees it!

So, this is what we are looking at as we wait at the gate. Hopefully our flight will still go, but in the meantime, we decided we needed a few drinks to tide us over!