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:)