India Recap, Part One: Mehendi and Pooja in Pune

I'm all set to launch into my India recaps! We had a whirlwind trip filled with a wedding in Pune, New Year's Eve in Mumbai and four days of rest and relaxation at the beach in Goa. We had no time for jet-lag and thankfully recovered from the long journey just in time for the festivities to begin.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting for my first trip to India, but I absolutely fell in love with the parts of the country that I was fortunate enough to experience. India is an overwhelming destination, but certainly not inaccessible, especially if you are fortunate enough to travel with friends and family members who can guide you through the sights, smells, sounds and culture of this fascinating (and exotic!) country.

It took us more than 24 hours of travel to reach our destination, and the 13.5-hour time difference was not easy on the psyche. We caught a 10-hour flight to Amsterdam, and from there jumped onto a nine-and-a-half hour flight to Mumbai in the state of Maharastra. Once we arrived at Mumbai and cleared customs (nearly an hour later), we immediately set out on a three-hour car ride to meet my in-laws in Pune. We finally arrived at our destination a little after 3:00 in the morning, just in time to crash and wake up with the sun a few hours later:

   {Mr. Cool after 24+ hours of travel from California, view of Pune from our hotel}

After a little less than four hours of sleep, we packed up and headed to another hotel in a more central part of Pune. We settled in and had breakfast at the new hotel before heading back across town to attend the bride's mehendi. I was excited to have henna applied by a talented Indian artist:

 {It took the artist less than 10 minutes to decorate both of my hands}

{The longer the paste is allowed to dry, the darker the design will be}

The bride's mehendi was applied before we got there, and was even more beautiful and intricate than the designs applied to her guests' hands:

The mother of the bride and my mother-in-law also got in on the fun:

{Mother of the bride}

{My mother-in-law, Mr. Cool's mom}

After the mehendi, we visited Mr. Cool aunt in another part of Pune before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the next wedding festivity, a pooja (religious ceremony) held in honor of the bride and groom at yet another location in Pune:

A large part of the ceremony was in Sanskit, so we spent most the evening soaking up the colorful scenery and warm, balmy night:

{Candid shot of the groom's brother, the bride's sisters and the bride's cousin}

We had a great time visiting with relatives and greeting my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and brother-in-law's parents, who had just flown in from New Delhi earlier that day (they arrived in India a week before us to take a tour of the north):

The pooja and dinner ended around 10:00, and we were more than ready to call it a night after that! I was pleasantly surprised that my jet-lag didn't affect me too much, but that's probably mostly due to the adrenaline rush of having finally made it to India nearly six months after booking our trip this summer.

Next up, the wedding and a fun night out with Mr. Cool's cousins that live in Pune!