Join us on our journey to India and Sri Lanka

We are about a week away from embarking on our long-awaited holiday in the Indian sub-continent. We have done as much planning as we could, but still there is a sense of many unknowns, maybe mysteries, about what we might see, experience and feel over the next few weeks.

We are excited about the trip and are anxious to have you join us through this blog. This, we hope, will allow us to share stories, images, impressions with family and friends wherever you are.

As we have been sharing our plans with folks, we are usually asked a number of questions. I will use this second blog to answer some of these.

Typically, we are asked about our itinerary. So here it is.

We leave next Thursday morning with stops in Toronto, Brussels, Mumbai and finally Chennai, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu. We will visit friends in Chennai for the following eight days. On the June 30 we fly to Colombo, Sri Lanka for 11 days, where we will be hosted by a friend from Cintra's days at University of Saskatchewan.

On July 13, we leave for Kerala, where we will be hosted by a friend we met during his visit to Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church about seven years ago. We will be there for seven days, then we fly to Delhi for the rest of the time until August 3. However, from Delhi we will take a Golden Triangle tour to nearby Rajasthan, where we will visit Jaipur and Agra, the site of the Taj Mahal. We will take in a number of other popular attractions on that four-day tour.

Also from Delhi, we will fly out to Amritsar, known for the Golden Temple and other beautiful sites. In Amritsar, we will be hosted by family of friends we met in the Regina Multi-Faith Forum.

We are also asked what will the weather be like. We are told it will be ghastly hot. I am not a lover of heat, so I will be dreaming of AC wherever I go. Although, the mountains and rain in Kerala may be a welcome relief.

We are asked if we have ever been there before. The answer is no - this is a lifetime dream for us -- our bucket list. There is an emotional connection, because our ancestors came from there many generations ago. Visitors to Saskatchewan from India often invite us, but we think now is the time.

One of the coincidences of the timing is that as of this weekend, Cintra will be retiring as a full time pharmacist and store operator with Pharmasave. So this will be our first holiday as retired folks, and a chance for Cintra to redirect her energy and focus.

We probably have many questions of our own and hope the answers will come soon. We are thinking about how to pack appropriately, what we should or should not consume, and how Cintra will cope following her recent back surgery.

This is a new world for us and we are counting on your continued prayers, love and support. Please stay tuned to this link and send us a note if you can.