My girlfriend will be in London at the end of October so I will be meeting her there for a few days / week from there I will go on to India for about 3 weeks. Then back home via London.

The way I am going to work the tickets is to buy round trip ticket from San Francisco / Oakland to London for the initial departure time and ultimate return date. Then another round trip ticket from London to Delhi. Looks like I can do it for about $1400 on British Airways.

Only thing I am not sure about is if I want to spend a day or three in London on the return or just a short layover at the airport...

I have two goals for my India trip this year.

First is to stay in one place for a more extended time. Jaipur is the natural pick since I have friends there. I'd like to get to know an Indian city much better than the typical 1-5 day stay allows for.

Second I want to take a side trip into southern Rajasthan and Gujarat. Although the most famous place in this area is Udaipur, I am going to purposely miss this romantic town and re-visit it with my girlfriend when we get the chance. The places I a looking into include:

• Bundi with a forts,Palace and stepwells.
• Jain temple at Ranakpur. Reportedly out of this world.
• Ahmedabad (in Gujarat) to see Gandhi Ashram and the Calico Museum (textiles) and whatever else there is to see in this polluted city.
• MT. Abu located in one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. Has an amazing Delwara Jain Temple.

We will see! More planning to come.