As the school year ended (Ayaan is going to 5th grade and Ariana to 4th), the kids were super excited to spending part of their summer in India visiting family. Unlike our usual travels, we didn’t book our flight until about ten days before the trip. We also had no plan except to get on a one-way flight to New Delhi to visit Sonil bua, Ravi uncle and Sid, and at some point catch a flight to Mumbai.

Our journey to Delhi turned out to be a mini-trip on its own. Thanks to a missed Delta connection in Atlanta, it took us 4 days including 3 nights in Atlanta and Denver (yes they made us fly back west), and a bag that arrived 11 days later. None of us are keen on flying Delta anytime in the future, but we most of our time including a visit to the World of Coca-Cola. Ariana is particular loved trying sodas from all around the world including Thumbs Up from India.

We spent a relaxing 5 days in Delhi at Sonil buas amazing farm where the kids were deeply engaged in driving the golf cart, playing with the dogs (Sushi being their favorite), cooling off in the pool, and enjoying Indian food. Highlights included an escape room that we solved, bowling and arcade games, and clay pot making. The weather surprisingly turned out to be great with overcast skies and cool mornings and evenings. Sid and Sonil were amazing hosts, thank you!

After a wonderful stay, we made our way to Mumbai to see the grandparents who happen to live in the same neighborhood! The kids were so happy to be pampered with love, attention and great food. It was also their first experience of the gorgeous Mumbai weather in the monsoons. Ariana joined a gymnastics class, and Ayaan basketball, ping pong and tennis classes at our country club CCI. They also enjoyed connecting and playing with our friends’ children, while we enjoyed some adult dinners and night outs with their parents.

Anjali and I took advantage of having the grandparents, and did an overnight trip to Lonavala in the rains, staying at the Fazlani Natures Nest wellness resort. It’s a beautiful property overlooking a lake with a wellness center, farm, birds, flora, and lots of nature. We had a fantastic retreat focused on yoga, meditation and relaxation. From Lonavala we reconnected with Nani and Ayaan in Pune where we stayed at the Sheraton Grand. The goal in Pune was to attend an event with children from three slums to whom Ayaan was donating his savings. We enjoyed answering questions from the kids, Ayaan played soccer with them, and the kids engaged in painting. It was Ayaan’s highlight of the India trip. We also visited Nani’s place of worship, and spent time at the hotel pool and playing ping pong and squash.

After a few days in Mumbai, we took a 5 day trip to Kerala with my parents. Anjali and I have spoken about going to Kerala ever since we got married so we were thrilled to finally make it there. We rented an SUV with a driver Abhilash, who was fantastic, and it made a difference when we’re driving 15 hours over 5 days. We spent our first night in Kochi and spent the following morning visiting the area Fort Kochi with its Dutch, Portuguese and British history. The highlights were the Chinese fishing nets, the St Francis church where Vasco de Gama was initially buried, the Dutch museum, and the Jew town. In the late morning we set off on a long 4 hour drive to the mountain town of Munnar. We stopped for lunch for some traditional thali on a leaf at Rasa restaurant, visited a spice and Ayurvedic garden, and a couple of beautiful waterfalls on the way.

We stayed at the new Taj’s Scenic IHCL hotel in Munnar with beautiful views and an amazing pool. Kerala had a strike the next day, but luckily it didn’t interrupt our plans of visiting the Tea Museum, seeing some Tea estates, and visiting the stunning Eravikulam national park. We hired a golf cart / buggy which was a great way to see the park and me stops along the way to see mountain goats, bison, waterfalls and the scenery. This park is a must visit for anyone planning a trip to Kerala! We ended our day with a relaxing traditional Abhyanga massage, including for Ayaan and Ariana!

Our final adventure of the Kerala trip was perhaps our highlight of the month long stay – an overnight private luxury 3 bedroom houseboat from Xandari riverscapes cruising through the backwaters near Allepey with an onboard chef. As soon as we got on the boat, we were so relaxed appreciating Kerala’s beauty navigating through narrow rivers, canals and lakes dotted with coconut tree coastlines. We took a canoe ride through the very narrow canals through a small town only accessible by boats where many of the houses were partially submerged due to the recent floods. We stopped to buy some crabs, prawns and lobster that the chef prepared along with some delicious food. Kerala has some of the best food I’ve eaten including appams, puttu and Malabar parothas. We wish we stayed another night on the houseboat, but it was time to head back to Mumbai. We stopped at one of the beautiful beaches before heading to the airport. Kerala is truly God’s Own Country!

Back in Mumbai, we continued to enjoy family time, CCI time, and friends time. Ariana became very close to Anjali’s friend’s daughter Rhea and they had a couple of sleepovers and all day play dates. Nani celebrated Ariana’s upcoming 9th birthday with a really fun birthday party at her home with 5 other children participating in games and dance. We celebrated Big Dada’s upcoming 80th birthday with Sonil visiting Mumbai. Anjali left a few days early, and when it was our time to leave the kids really didn’t want to and were already planning a trip back soon. A great summer month in India!