Planning

November 1st 2008: -
Well I've started to plan the trip and have marked out a few ideas. Will be flying from UK to Mumbai (Bombay), hopefully in early January 2009, this should co-incide with my (new) special lady taking her own holiday so we shouldn't be apart for too long.
Once in Mumbai I will travel down to Colaba to see if there is any remnant of the old British Army stronghold. I'm not confident there will be anything there which could help me to track down a final resting place for Francis Essex, though I do intend to visit the old Afgan church which was used during earlier British Army times.This may be the best option I have here!
I intend to spend no more than 2-3 days there then moving on to New Delhi - I have no real reason to visit there but will use it as a transit stop on my way to my next important location - Amballa.
Amballa is located in the Punjab, in the north-east of India. I haven't been able to find out much about this town from the Lonely Planet book, so I may travel to Chandigarh and base myself there for two or three days. Amballa is only a few km south of Chandigarh so I should be able to get some transport there daily.
Amballa is where Harry Essex (grand-dad) was born. As the birth was registered within the army confines, I don't contemplate finding any local records - I just want to experience the feeling of the areas. This is, in essence what the whole trip is really about.
After sounding out Amballa I plan to diversify somewhat, and a visit to Agra is on the cards, notably the Taj Mahal, well, you can't go all the way to India and not see the greatest testimony to love in the world. (Mind, this wasn't my original intention, but the seed was planted by Flip, and grew as my feelings for my new love, Caroline, also grow).
I think this will be just as emotional as all the other areas of my trip.
From Agra the next leg of the journey will take me to Lucknow, the site of a famous seige in 1857. My Great Grand-dad George was not at this seige, but was there a good many years later. (As an aside, I really must visit the records office in Kew before my trip, as they have the army records for George Essex and might be able to shed a little more light ready for my visit).
Flip has promised to forward me a map of this area as she thinks she may have found the churhyard where George is possibly buried. It will be difficult to tell as the area has been left untended. The locals had no reason to keep the graveyard clean and tidy and their love of the British Army was not that great as to keep the churchyard in A1 condition.
From Lucknow I will travel on to Kolkata (Calcutta) which should give easy access onwards to Singapore, though the main reason I will take this route is to pay a visit to the Ganges, the holiest of rivers and the life-blood of the whole country. I seem to have developed some empathy with the Indians and I haven't even arrived there yet!