At the tender age of 68, I'm starting a travel blog to share some of my experiences traveling the world for 50 years. I'm retired and my wife and I have been to all the continents, and are still going strong. I'll relate stories about our travels in no particular order, but here is a start.

Last November, we traveled through India for the first time. We'd wanted to do this for a long time and there were many highlights. We landed in Delhi on an American Airlines flight from Chicago (ORD) - a long one of about 16 hours over the Pole. We spent the night in Delhi and flew on to Mumbai (Bombay) the next morning to join our tour group. It is one of the main cities of India with about 18 million population. It is sometimes called Bollywood because of the many movies made here each year. It is also the main financial center of the country.

We like to travel independently most of the time, but for China, India, SE Asia, and some other areas of the world, we would recommend group travel. You have guides which speak the local language, know the customs and taboos and they can be indispensable is some areas of the world.

We stayed at the opulent Oberoi Hotel, not far the Taj Hotel. The doorman at the Oberoi was a handsome man; a Sikh with an impeccably trimmed beard and his Turban and an immaculate white uniform with a very colorful sash around his waist. He was very courteous and friendly and is important to my story which I'll get to shortly. We visited all the icons of the colonial period like the Prince of Wales Museum, the Train Station, and the Gateway of India, a monument near the Taj Hotel which was built in 1911 to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary.

We also visited a very interesting museum called Mani Bhavan, which is a two story home in which Gandhi stayed when in Bombay. It is dedicated to his life and works and contains some very interesting photographs and history.

A visit to India is one of culture shock to most Americans or westerners in general. One of the unique things in Mumbai is the unique and colorful outdoor laundry, Dhobi Ghat, which words simply cannot describe. An incredible place with masses of workers and it works. Thousands get their laundry done here and it is amazing.

The next day we took a cruise to Elephanta Island to visit the 6th to 8th Century caves carved into the hillsides. They are up high and the stairway climb is difficult and you can ride a sedan chair for a small price. The stairway is lined with merchants with small shops selling a wide variety of souvenirs. These caves were inspired to be carved by the worshipers of the Hindu Sun God, Shiva. On our return, we disembarked at the pier near the Gateway to India, and departed that afternoon for a flight to Udaipur, the "City of Sunrise".

Remember the two hotels and Gateway to India; they are important and I'll tell you why at the conclusion of the upcoming blogs on this trip.