this place is funny

1. On Tuesday the painters showed up 3 hours late, and then 30 minutes later, they took a 1.5 hour lunch break. (and no, they were not working before they came to my house)

2. I took Reba on a walk in my neighborhood to explore a fort that is supposedly right next to my house. We stumbled upon heaps of human feces, peacocks and wild boars.

3. On Diwali, little children shoot fireworks - like the real kind. The kind your city shoots off. Yes, your CITY. Here, 5 year olds take care of that job.

4. Beginning this time of year, the weather forecast for Delhi says "smokey".

5. A cow diarrhea-ed on my leg in Goa.

6. Parties for 5 year olds consist of rented bouncy castles, trampolines, Indian puppet shows and balloon fun. AND, even though those in charge don't show up on time because they believe that the party is not until the next day, if you call them, they'll be there in 10 minutes and everything will be good to go in 10 more minutes.

Pictures!

pics of minicourse, McLeodganj and Goa in Picasa!

McLeodganj 2K9

Another trip? Why yes....Four 3 day weekends during the months of September and October made for some pretty good times. Becky, Thinh and I traveled to McLeodganj (Tibetan enclave in the lower Himalayas - home of the Dalai Lama) in September (Jon went to Bangkok...oh, and for the Goa trip, Jon was fishing. We don't travel together anymore, apparently. So, Jon, you need to write you're own blog entries from now on.) This was actually my second trip to McLeodganj. Goa and this hill station are 2 of the places that I would definitely return to in India. I totally dig them both. They both provide for a "vacation" and not just a touristy, sightseeing trip.

We took the overnight train from Delhi. I was geared up with my 2 hiking poles sticking out of my backpack, which helped me practically take out every individual in the Old Delhi train station. We were sweating something awful, but we were fully equipped with snacks galore. Ritz crackers and peanut butter, pigs in a blanket (yes, we can get those here), snack mixes, kit kats and maybe an apple. The train ride was fun. I had booked later than Becky and Thinh, so I had a seat in another car. Becky was kind enough to allow me to share her bunk, so we slept rather comfortably head to foot :) Those first class bunks are big!

The ride from the train station to McLeodganj is about 3 hours. On our drive, a lady standing on the right side of the road held a rope attached to a cow on the left side of the road. The rope rested on the road, out of harms way....UNTIL, the crazy lady decided to snatch up the rope just as we were about 15 feet away traveling at 45 miles per hour. Our driver slammed on his brakes and loony-toons smirked. what the heck? Everyone was fine. Just totally shocked.

In McLeodganj, I told Becky and Thinh that I wanted to do 3 things: 1. drink lots of ginger, honey, lemon tea; 2. hike up the mountain to Triund 3. take a momo cooking class. And because they are great friends, we did all 3, and it was fantastic fun! We walked through town the first day stopping frequently at various restaurants for tea, momos (tibetan dumplings) and french fries (hey, it's Becky's and Thinh's staple travel snack, and it was always pretty delish). We chatted a ton, laughed a lot, and told new and old stories.

On day 2, we hiked to Triund. The walk began with us deciding that maybe we would just walk part of the way. We were, after all, beginning 2 hours after our declared departure time. But, you know, once you start, you just can't stop. And so, 8 hours later, we had hiked to the top, and descended back down. It was tough, but totally worth it. Right, B and T?

On Day 3, we took a momo cooking class! It was the BEST! Such fun, and such good momos - holy cow, they were the best momos we had all weekend! Side note: I've already tried to make momos with my new skillz. Not as good, but still pretty yummy. The only bummer was that while the cooking course was only 2 hours, it took me pretty much all day to complete the process on my own. I think I need more practice.

Some of you may be aware that Richard Gere comes to McLeodganj quite frequently to hang with the Dalai Lama and practice Tibetan Buddhism. Well, what you probably didn't know is that he stays in the hotel that we stayed in...in a room that was right across from our room. So, Becky and I asked the receptionist if anyone was staying in "his" room, and if no one was, could we see it? Well, someone was staying in his room, but she let us see it anyway because the guest was out. Love that room security. Anyway, it wasn't anything too fancy. But it does have a sweet view of the town and the mountains.

That evening, we headed to the airport for our flight back. We were flying back instead of taking the overnight train because we had to be at work the next morning (or so we thought). As soon as we arrived at the airport, they informed us that the flight was canceled. Uh oh. What do we do? They gave us our options....well, option: hire a taxi to drive you back to Delhi. Should take 12 hours. Yuck, that sounds horrid. In the dark, on these roads, with crazy ladies lurking about? We'll never sleep. This will be awful, and bumpy, and scary. Well, I did not accept this as the only option and I asked them to call the train station and ask for tickets....we'll take any seat! Just get us on the train. Kingfisher airlines was actually super helpful and ended up getting us first class seats on the 10pm train! Woohooo! We have plenty of time to make it to the train station, we're getting first class, AND we arrive in Delhi at 6am...plenty of time to head home for showers and still get to work on time. So, we made the most of it, and continued to have a blast even while sitting on the floor of the Chakki Bank train station. We drank a bottle of wine (leftover from the weekend) and played Yatzee. Shall I mention that I got 3 Yatzees in one game?! Superstar, thank you. And, well, I should also mention that Becky got 2 yatzees in one game. Must have been the good energy of the weekend. Oh, and I think I made the cut. This was my first time traveling with Becky and Thinh, who travel together a lot. I think that they'll let me join them again :)

Goa 2K9

When the weather report said "100% chance of precipitation" for the next 5 days, I should have grabbed a poncho, an umbrella, a long sleeve shirt and possibly changed my ticket for another weekend instead of assuming that the weatherman was full of it, that I didn't really need any rain gear (hey, I'd be in my bathing suit the whole time!), that the temperature would still be 100 degrees, and that the "100%" merely meant that we would get some light mist every now and then. So, there we were in Goa at Bhakti Kutir (please see www.bhaktikutir.com so that you can see all of the stuff that we couldn't see.). And, why couldn't we see? Because the place is in the "jungle". And when the sky is dumping buckets and entirely gray and overcast, the many trees with their super large leaves shade us from any amount of white light that the sky emits. Plus, rain in India means that the power goes out. So, while we were in this super cute and lovely place, the option of sitting on our porches reading and listening to the rain and thunder was not even available. Oh, and did I mention that between the five of us, only one of us had a headlamp?

Luckily, our huts were not leaking, BUT the amount of water in the atmosphere provided for damp sheets, damp clothes, wet porch chairs and a temperature in the 70's or 80's - not warm enough to dry anything.

I was there with Becky, Julie, Kendra and Kate (some of my girls of India). We arrived at the airport at 8 pm. Bhakti was an hour and a half drive from the airport. On the way to Bhakti, we had the taxi driver stop at a liquor shop so that we could grab some wine and beer for the next day (Gandhi's Birthday - a dry day in India). Well, we arrived at Bhakti at 9:30pm, checked in to 3 huts, grabbed some more beer from the hotel and proceeded to gab and drink our way through most of the bottles that we bought and even some that we brought from Delhi until 3 am. It was a hoot, a blast, a super fun time. We then crashed with high hopes of many more evenings and days of fun times and fun in the sun in Goa.

We awoke to more buckets of water. And more. And more. So, we slept. And dosed some more. Finally, at 11am, Becky and I made our way to Kendra's and Julie's and Kate's huts to find that Julie and Kate were still asleep and that their bathroom had no roof and was therefore filled with 2 feet of water. It's dark, everything is wet, we practically have to row a boat from hut to hut and now from bed to toilet, and food is another boat ride away from our huts....oh my, can this get any funnier? Over breakfast, we looked at each other and thought about our options. Really? Is the Intercontinental the only option? Pretty much. It was either stay here and just sit and be soaked or leave for the only non-beach hut accommodation option in the area - the 5 star hotel. Nah. We talked ourselves out of it. Becky tried to pump us up. Julie and Kate asked for a new hut with a roof over the bathroom. To which the receptionist replied "roof?". Yes, please, we have 2 feet of water in our bathroom. You do?! YES! Well, we'll just build you a roof, she said. Seriously? Ok, fair enough. Julie and Kate are getting a roof. Becky found toilet paper for all. And I made a plan to take a taxi into town to find a poncho and a flashlight. This is going to be good. Here we go. We're psyched. Making the most of it.

Well, it didn't take long for the hotel peeps to figure out that they were not going to be able to build a roof during this torrential downpour. And we all quickly realized that even walking to a taxi would result in absolutely soaked clothing, which will never dry and which we were quickly running out of. Intercontinental? Done.

So, we packed up all of our stuff. The hotel called for a taxi. It's here! It's tiny, but who cares, get us the heck out of here! The driver stares at us dripping wet and says "You don't have an umbrella?". "Of course we don't! We're on our BEACH vacation....now, open up and let us in!" Bags piled on top of us, girls sitting on top of each other. Turn off the music! Turn off the A/C! We're drenched. Please just GO. Driver advances about 15 feet before he informs us that the car is too overloaded to make it all the way to the Intercontinental. Are you serious? yes, flooding. car won't make it. Um...Ok, Julie and Kate how about you get out and stand here? The driver will give you his umbrella. How about we don't give you any money or a phone and how about you just stand on the side of the road and wait for him to return? Um, seriously? Yes. That is how it went down.

But, alas, all turned out OK. All 5 of us did make it to the Intercontinental, where we enjoyed warm beds, warm showers, hot tea and cuddling :)

That afternoon, a whole other crew of AES peeps also packed up from their beach cottages (15 minutes from Bhakti) and moved to the 5 star. So, we celebrated our friend Scott's birthday. Good times. And, then, per typical Laura move, I slipped and fell on a puddle of water that remained when maintenance stopped by to clean up someone's spilled beer. I had a mojito in my hand which also came down with me, spilling and shattering the glass into many pieces. There went another outfit. At this point, I was down to maybe 1 dry piece of clothing. sweet.

We didn't last much longer...the next morning was full of more rain, and so we changed our plans and headed back to Delhi early. Bummer rain, but still a fantastically funny, good time.

Home...huh, who would've thunk it?

As we circled and circled and circled the Delhi area for an hour and a half waiting for the monsoon to cease so that our plane could land, I watched KLM's video clips of various cities from around the world. Cities of China, Brazil, Italy (to name a few) all showed off their great sights, cafes and sidewalks where happy people gallivanted from one cute spot to another. And I couldn't help but think, "why...why do we live here?", "where are the cute spots of Delhi that aren't ridden with human waste? Where are the side walks?" and other things such as "Oh, America, how I miss thee already...". Finally we land, and after another 45 minutes sitting on the tarmac waiting for a gate to become available, I was struck with the thought that this is year 3...3rd year in India. Dang. Time is flying...especially here, it seems. We grabbed our luggage and a taxi and as I entered India with all the noise, people, and our taxi driver who reversed down a flyover into oncoming traffic on the way to our apartment, I couldn't help but feel that it was nice to be home.

Anything is possible!

Becky and I decided that we really should take more advantage of the fact that "anything is possible in India...madam". Would you like a new tailor made shirt for $10. no problem. Tailor will meet you in your living room. Would you like 40 pounds of ice delivered to your house for your Saturday night party at 5pm and then again at 9pm... all for $12? done. How about calling the local market and asking them to deliver 110 pencils for the 9th grade student council project? for sure! Would you like to receive a massage every Tuesday in you own home by Yogesh, the master masseuse? Jon enjoys this luxury! Ah, India, the land of...any and everything.

Normalcy

The other day I was at the counter of my local chemist (pharmacy), and as I turned around to leave I was confronted by about 10 large cows that were migrating through the market. I was surrounded on all sides, and even had to take a step back to give them more space. I waited for them to slowly tread on until I could sneak around one and dart for my taxi where I found Jon laughing. The odd thing is, though, that I have to remind myself that cows at the pharmacy is just NOT normal (for a child of the USA).

Egypt is totally rad!

What a fantastic trip! We spent our Spring Break week checking out Cairo and Luxor, reminding ourselves of ancient Egyptian history that we probably learned in 6th grade, and all the while, we were totally awed and amazed. Here are some highlights and quirky stories:

1. Um, yes, the pyramids are all that they're cracked up to be. WOW. And, did you know that the Sphinx is neon green?! Just kidding...this is a photo taken from the "Sound and Light Show" at the Pyramids. So chessy, so fun. The Sphinx talks to the audience and tells the story of the pyramids and the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt (approx 2700-2100 BC) while fun lights shine upon the pyramids and broadcast cool scenes onto their surfaces.

2. I may have eaten at my favorite restaurant of all time: Andrea's (I say "I" because Jon, unfortunately, does not agree....). Spit roasted chicken, freshly baked bread and a slew of mezzes - pickles, salad, tahini, baba ghanoush, some kind of fantastic beans and falafel. All topped off with a massive, delicious orange. That's about all that is on the menu, and it's divine.

3. I visited the oldest continually open restaurant in the world (200 years) a couple of times...Once in the wee hours of the early morning with my friend Skye (she and her fiance, Matt, were also traveling around Egypt this week). We enjoyed being the only people there and watching the Khan al-Khalili (large, popular market in Cairo) slowly wake up - quite the late awaking city (much like India). And once with Jon on a Friday night where we enjoyed sitting among tons of locals and foreigners drinking mint tea, mango juice and smokin' da sheesha (hookah).

4. The Egyptian Museum is very cool, and yet, very disorganized. They have so much stuff that they don't know what to do with it...and apparently, they aren't the biggest fans of labeling items either. Nonetheless, it doesn't change the fact that walking through rooms and aisles of 4000 year old, very intact stuff is quite extraordinary. I mean, we saw the mummy of Ramses II among other notable kings (Tuthmosis III, Seti I - Ramses I's son) of the New Kingdom (1500-1000 BC). Pretty freaking cool. That is, if you are in to mummies and don't find it wrong to dig up dead people and look at them...an opinion which I respect; however, mummies were meant to last forever, which is totally trippy...why not take a look? Then, there are rooms and rooms of the amazing "loot" that was recovered from King Tut's tomb in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. Gold, wood, statues, coffins galore....it's all there.

5. Jon and I had way fun playing with photos. Here are some examples:

6. UNC won the NCAA Basketball championship (And, I won the bracket pool!). While I did not get to watch the game, I did get to see highlights on CNN, cheer in my hotel room, and celebrate by checking out tombs and temples in the fantastic, can't miss it, town of Luxor.

7. We visited a lot of tombs. very cool. First, there was the Valley of the Queens, where, well... the queens were buried. Then, we visited the Valley of the Workers, where the artists and architects of the queens' and kings' tombs constructed their own tombs for their burial sites. Next, we visited the Valley of the Kings, where you will find the exquisite tombs of Ramses I, II, III, VI, IX, King Tut, Tuthmosis III, Seti I, and many others (62 have been uncovered so far!). Lastly, we checked out the Valley of the Nobles, which houses the tombs of the priests and other religious officials (there are over 100 here!). For all of these valleys, the bad news is that you can't see all or even many of these tombs...many are closed at the moment due to restoration or just because they are not safe to wander into. The good news is that the reliefs (wall carvings) and paintings of many are still quite present and quite amazing. Each tomb is usually constructed with multiple rooms for storing items that were believed to be needed by the individual in the afterlife such as food, chariots and mummified animals (yes! such as pets - dogs-, sacrificial animals - birds, crocodiles-, and animals for food). After wandering down long hallways or several long hallways, you reach the sight for the sarcophagus and coffins (yes, plural...coffins within coffins). The amount of time and energy put into these tombs must have been one's lifetime especially considering the fact that many of these individuals did not live to be older than 40!

8. One of the coolest spots was Medinat Habu in Luxor. Best explained via pictures. This is also the spot where I dropped my camera...the drop of all drops. Bounce, bounce, crash, boom. Broken. very sad...we'll see what the warranty and Canon can do. Cross your fingers!

9. We went on a Hot Air Balloon Ride over the ruins of Luxor at sunrise, and it was great fun! Now, I'm not an experienced hot air balloon rider, but I don't think that it always takes 20 men to help launch and retrieve a hot air balloon. Well, in Egypt it does....and I think I now know why. At the end of the ride (which, by the way, took place in the middle of a sugarcane field - i don't think that was planned, especially since I watched the 20 men try to sprint through the tall canes only to get stuck inside), the crew hosted a "ceremony" which consisted of singing and, to be frank, dancing with the "white chicks". Ah ha! This is why they all want to work here! I, of course, sacrificed myself (I can never turn down a good dance). Now, before you get all up and offended by my comments, travel to Egypt and count the number of times you (western women) get holla'ed at. Yeah. Word.

10. The Luxor Temple and ruins at Karnak are amazing and Ramses II was totally obsessed with himself.

11.
Luxor Museum security guards love to help you find the spots where the security cameras won't catch you taking illegal pictures of the museum artifacts...for a little bakshi (tip), of course. Here we are sneaking some photos. Just a couple more...

12. We were followed by a guy named Assaf for 4 days. Day 1: We are walking along the Nile on our way to catch a ferry boat and all of a sudden Assaf appears beside us. He introduces himself and proceeds to ask us where we are from. Then come the statements about Obama, etc, etc. He follows us onto the ferry boat where he then asks if we need a taxi for the day on the West Bank (which we do, but we're not biting just yet). He uses his phone. Once we reach the other side, we try to free ourselves of his following and we turn to a man named "Mr. Kind". Great! Mr. Kind offers us a better deal than Assaf and so we hop in his car. Mr. Kind's phone rings. He talks. He hangs up and tells us that Assaf just called and wants to know why we chose to ride with Mr. Kind. Uh, sketch. whatever. Day 2: We have already arranged for a ride with someone else for this day. Again, we walk along the water to the ferry boat, and out of nowhere Assaf appears- dang, he's good! We tell him we already have another driver, and no, it is not Mr. Kind. We try to fall behind him, which we do, and we take a quick turn towards a smaller ferry boat. We rush down to the captain, get on his boat, and ta da! Assaf appears on the boat and is already talking to the captain. Assaf makes a phone call, and low and behold, we reach the other side only to find Mr. Kind waiting for us. He is angry with us that we won't be choosing his services for the day and asks us to return his business card. Dude, seriously? And what's up with you and your buddy? leave us alone already! Day 3: We leave at 4:40am for our Hot air balloon ride, but when we return at 7:30am, we see Assaf standing across the street from our hotel, staring at the entrance. Day 4: We leave for the airport at 5:45am, and who do we see sitting in the roundabout median right next to our hotel...Assaf.

13. I then had the following conversation with a flight attendant on my flight from Luxor to Cairo: Me - May I have some water. FA - yes. Me - thanks. FA- Your welcome. And?... Me - Um, thank YOU. FA - And....?. (Awkward silence and staring). Me - Uhhhh. FA - And....? How about some guava juice. Me - Oh, No thank you. (Moments pass, and then she hands me guava juice). Me - Oh! I said no thanks. I'm sorry. FA - But why not? It's so tasty! Me - Um, yeah, no thank you. FA - Oh, alright then. (She leaves).

More pics in Picasa! Peace!

Holi Holi Holi

As Becky put it, this Holiday is way more fun than Halloween - it may be a new fave. Holi, the festival of colors. A celebration of the return of Spring. lovely. bright. colorful. Few vehicles inhabit the road. It's eerily un-crowded like Sunday mornings. But groups of men, women and children walk along the road looking fairly normal except for their bright pink faces and the green and orange smears across the backs of their shirts. Families on bicycles (yes, bicycles, not motorbikes) ride down the street all covered in pink, red, green and blue powdered paint. Your taxi driver picks you up covered from head to toe, and cars drive by with splatterings of purple paint on their doors. And everyone is fantastically cheerful - Happy Happy Holi!

Jon and I geared up for our first Holi party (not sure what we did last year, but for some reason didn't participate in Holi-ness). I selected some clothes, which I have now deemed as my permanent Holi outfit, greased my hair in oil (some of my kids last year had permanently dyed pink hair for the remainder of the school year...), and wrapped a bandanna around my head. What a hoot! We tossed paint onto one another and shot water guns...a child's dream. Or, um, a child at heart? Can't wait until next year!


http://www.theholidayspot.com/holi/

"Can I capture you? Can I hold you?"

said the Indian 20-something men that approached me and Maggie at the Suraj Kund Mela. Um, excuse me? You want to capture me and then hold me? While this sounds somewhat romantic/totally creepy/borderline plain scary, I'm afraid that I'll have to pass. Sad faced 20 something men try again with smiles and a more aggressive approach as they actually begin to do what they so politely asked to do earlier....Indeed they do capture us into their camera phones and hold us with one arm wrapped around our shoulders as we smile for the tiny lense. I love being lost in translation....

India with the VanDykes!

Finally! Time to write about my parent's and sister's trip to India...

Mom, Dad and Kathryn were to arrive at the Delhi Airport 45 minutes after Jon and I were to arrive at the Airport from Nepal. I gave them strict instructions to remain in the baggage claim area in case they arrived before us. Reason being, if you walk out of baggage claim, you will stared at, called at and eventually find yourself outside with hoards of people...and, well, good luck at that point. Well, of course, our plane was late and their plane was early. Meanwhile, Jon was sick with food poisoning (it hit right after we got off the plane) and had run off to the bathroom after puking on the bus on the tarmac...sorry honey, I know you probably don't want that on the blog, but in retrospect, it was pretty funny when that little kid just about knocked over his parents while trying to run away from you. So, I carried on alone in search of family members, luggage, and a booze run (duty free is the way to go - much cheaper than the bootlegger). I noticed that the bags for their flight were almost entirely claimed...but where is my family? hmmm....? No family. No family. Oh dear. They're out in the mob! But just as I was coming up with Plan B, I saw Kathryn! Who did confirm that yes, they had left baggage claim:) But, this is India, and sometimes rules don't apply to everyone, so the guards let my parents and all their bags back into the baggage claim area. Yipee! They have arrived!

We came home to a great meal that Pomi had prepared for us. Thai food, vegetable, homemade bread. yum. My poor Dad just about passed out into his plate. We tried to keep him awake as long as possible, but 8pm was his limit. Oh, the jet lag.

The next day I took them to school and then to Humayan's tomb (the structure that the Taj Mahal is modelled after). My family got quite acquainted with the "Hello!", "One photo please", hand shaking Indians who love to talk to Westerners as a school trip of about 200 girls was also touring Humayan's tomb. It was endless...cuteness.

We ended the day with a trip to Sarojini market. I don't know if you've seen Slumdog Millionaire yet, but do know that the haggling, the super glued bottles of water, the beggars, the awful things that happen to orphan children, the traffic and the fake tour-guiding are all very true to life here...and my parents can confirm this as they repeatedly informed me during their first full day in Delhi that "this place really is just like the movie".

That night, we introduced them to the restaurant Punjabi by Nature - delicious (and spicy!) tandoori chicken and the best garlic naan on the planet. They were hooked! It would be a week of searching for more garlic naan. Right, Dad? :)

The next early early morning we boarded the train to Agra - first trip to the Taj Mahal for all of us! It really is extraordinary. In the afternoon, we checked out the Agra Fort, and we still had 2 hours until our train departed that evening for Jaipur....Yatzee time! We played on the ground of the Agra train station...hmmm...put it this way, my mom probably would have poured hand sanitizer all over the seat of her pants if I had let her:)

The train was late, the train ride was 5 hours of shakiness, and I arrived in Jaipur with a very unpleasant stomach. Yep, the curse of Christmas break struck again! (this is the 4th winter break in a row that I've gotten food poisoning). This time, I even thought I was in the clear...when Jon got sick and I didn't, I was convinced that my body was finally a beast of immune system strength (surely, it was getting stronger by suffering through those past nasty food episodes). Little did I know that the organism was just festering inside of me ready to release its full fury in what would be the most awful of the 4 year experiences. By the next morning, I was in a Jaipur hospital with 3 liters of antibiotics, nutrients, sugars and who knows what about to be pumped into my arm with an IV. I was there for the next 30 hours :( boo. On a good note, we (sweet Jon stayed with me the whole time) had good cable TV and it was kind of fun to unleash my parents and Kathryn out into India on their own.

They survived. They shopped and rode tuk tuks. They haggled prices. They learned about Maharajas and Rajasthani culture. And they ate lots of butter chicken and garlic naan.

I was able to join the crew the next day for a bit of afternoon shopping. By the next morning, though, it was time to jump back in! Off to the Amber fort and elephant riding! Little did we know that the elephants only work until about 10am. We arrived around 10:30, and the elephants were done carrying people up to the Fort. WHAT?! That's the sole reason Kathryn came to India! (Ok, not really...but, well, maybe...). We were looking forward to the picturesque experience of riding an elephant up to this:

Well, by golly, it was going to have to happen! So, Jon did some talking and we ended up with....drum roll....this!

Not quite as romantic, but riding elephants alongside of cell phone advertisements, convenience stores and buses is still pretty unique as well...

After cramming into an auto rickshaw,

We hopped our first overnight train to Udaipur. The land of lake palaces and...

jetlag? No...jetlag has passed by now, this is the sleepiness that results from an uncomfortable sleepless night on the train that blew cold AC on us all night in DECEMBER! (Yes, it is hot in India, but not in December!)

After a much needed nap, we found that Udaipur is lovely! Great, skinny, alleyway streets full of shops and cafes, friendly people, beautiful landscape...Just a really nice time. We toured the City Palace and took a boat ride on the lake. Kathryn and I got henna-ed up...
And after 2 full days we jumped on our next overnight train back to Delhi. This one was the long one...12 hours...or so, we thought. Trains aren't always on time and they don't always go as fast as they could in India...and so, 16 hours later we were back in Delhi. No worries, though, we had a day of spa going planned. Nothing could ruin that! My Dad had Jon's masseuse, Yogesh come to the house and give him a massage while Kathryn, Mom and I went to Asian Roots for Balinese massages, steam baths and pedicures. Wonderful!

That night we went out to dinner with our friends Luke, Paola, Troy and Sam and two of Jon's friends who were also traveling around India at this time as well, Pete and Cindy. We went to Hookah, and I just want everyone to know that I have proof of both of my parents smokin' da hookah:)

Sunday was their last day in Delhi. We went to the Lotus Temple, Raj Ghat (Ghandi's Memorial) and Paharganj ("everything street" - where you can buy all things India). After packing their multitude of shawls, scarves, textiles and handicrafts, they were ready for their midnight plane back to the states. But we definitely were not ready for them to leave :( boo.

It was a great 10 days, and we've got plenty of pictures to prove it! Check them out in Picasa:)

Birthday Cranium...

Jon and I had great intentions to go out to one of our favorite restaurants in Delhi with our closest of friends for a little bday bash...Well, what matured instead was even way better than Thai food. Cranium and Dominos pizza! Ok, so this post is kind of lame, but really, I just wanted an excuse to put this picture on the blog. This just about sums up the evening...

More fun pics on Picasa:)

Nepal!

Jon and I spent our first week of Winter Vacation in Nepal. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, we hopped our "puddle jumper" plane and headed to Pokhara, the town at the base of the Annapurna Circuit (a 21 day trek around the Annapurna Mountain Range). We, however, began a 5 day trek the next day after enjoying the cute town and all of its delicious food (steak, in particular!). Our trek began in Naypul. The first day broke us in with 3 hours of gradual up hill walking to the village of Tikhedhunga. There we stayed in our first "teahouse" (guesthouse lodge). I had the best tomato soup of my life, and we enjoyed the afternoon gazing at the view, playing yatzee and wondering what to do with our non-English speaking guide. Ah, our guide...sweet 21 year old dude, who really tried to take care of us, but what we discovered was that there was really nothing for him to do except pay our bills at the lodges (this was part of his job as we went through a guide company that was already paid in full). And because he didn't speak English, we couldn't really befriend him either. So, there he was paying our bills and trying to order our food at dinner time(a bit bourgeois feeling). Oh well, we were in the Himalayas and good for him, he's making some extra bucks taking a walk.

The next day, we hiked up and up and up THOUSANDS of STAIRS (yes, there are stairs all along the trail...very set up) to the village of Ghorepani. Here we were greeted with fantastic views! The original plan was to stay the night, wake up at 4:30am and hike up to Poon Hill (a hill in Ghorepani) where you are able to get a panoramic view of the gorgeous mountain ranges surrounding you. Well, Jon and I were feeling a bit saucy after some lunch and a game or two of yatzee, and so, we hiked up to Poon Hill that afternoon instead. The skies were clear, and no one was up there! We had the place to ourselves, which we learned the next morning to be a rare thing on Poon Hill. Most trekkers are advised to go for sunrise, which means a cool sunrise, but it also means 50 other people tagging along by your side. I dug the sunset:)

The following day, we hiked through woods (jungle as the guide liked to call it) to Tadapani - no stairs this day. This was the smallest of the villages we stayed in, and most crowded of lodges. There were about 8 other occupied rooms (including those for guides and porters). Well, one trekker brought her ipod speakers and bought rounds and rounds of whiskey for the Nepalese porters and guides...before you know it, Jon was squirming in his seat. Trekker girl busted out the 50 cent, guides and porters were hootin' and hollerin', and dancing on the table was looming in the near future. Now, while I was psyched to find that "da club" can be found anywhere I go, Jon was in trekking hell...it was cute:)

The next day, we headed down hill to Gandruk, where we stayed in the finest of guesthouses. We had our own bathroom, hot shower and a fantastic view from our window. Now, while I say this was the "finest", I must clarify that this "teahouse" trekking deal that Nepal has going on, is quite fantastic and easy. You hike from one lodge to the next (and don't worry if you change your trekking plans, there are always other villages to stay in along the way), where you can usually take a hot shower if you want (although, the hot may not last too long), you can order from a fairly large, decent menu, and you can purchase beer. What more do you need?

The last day, we hiked out to Naypul and caught our ride back to Pokhara. That afternoon, Jon and I received the BEST massages of our lives from 2 blind masseuses of "Seeing Hands - Nepal". No lie - a fantastic deep tissue massage given by an individual who was able to pinpoint the exact location of my stress, knots, tight muscles and who was then able to work them all out. "Seeing Hands" is a worldwide organization begun by a couple of British individuals. The great thing about it is the fantastic opportunity it provides blind people in Nepal, who are seen to have their disability because of sin in a previous life.

That evening, we also ate more steak...rare, very rare steak (foreshadowing...more later). It was tasty.

The next day, Christmas day, we flew back to Kathmandu and met up with Dhan, the head dude that arranged our trek for us. What a neat man! He began an organization called Folk Nepal. They sell handicrafts and give most of the proceeds towards helping provide medical treatment to villages that have none. He took us to lunch in a Japanese restaurant, and then after wandering around Thamel (the heart of Kathmandu craziness), he took us out to dinner with his wife and 5 children! What fun we had! We ate in this big family restaurant, we laughed and joked with the kids and we learned more about Nepal and its future.

On the 26th, Jon and I took a trip that I don't think we'll ever forget - we flew to Everest! Very cool. Small plane with one aisle of each side; big enough for about 18 people. The skies were clear, the range was stunning and Everest was just freaking cool to see. They let each of us go up to the cockpit one at a time to get some excellent pictures - again, super cool:) They gave us a certificate upon landing that said "I did not climb Everest, but I touched it with my heart"...aww, shucks!

(the peak on the far left is Everest)
That afternoon, we jumped on another plane and headed back to Delhi where we met up with my Mom, Dad and Kathryn in the airport! More on that soon.... For now, check out the Nepal and India pictures in Picasa:)