The recent bombings in Jaipur City have brought my trip to the area back to the forefront of my mind this week...

Over the last several years, I have devoured novels with settings in India - with such beautiful descriptions of its land and people, it wasn't long before I knew I had to see for myself what I had come to love in literature.In April 2007, my husband and I, along with three friends, traveled by plane to Delhi, then by hired car to Jaipur, in the land-locked and dry state of Rajasthan. After a few day trips by car to Pushkar and Agra, we flew to Goa, hoping for a cool breeze. We zipped around Goa by rented scooter for several days before we traveled on to Mumbai by train, where we spent our last few days..I had a total of three weeks in India - hardly enough time to adjust to the sweltering heat, the stifling pollution and the unfamiliar smells (not to mention recover from several concerning maladies). But, in that short time, we came to know and appreciate India as a wonderful cocophany of color and noise, and home to some of the world's most generous and hard working people.

Here is a reminder of the beauty of India.