Where are We?

Kanazawa to Kyoto, Japan

2007-11-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

Continuing fun in Kanazawa with Kate has made me excited, and a little sad, to travel on to Kyoto. Once a great capital of Japan, Kyoto has more to see than I could possibly fit in. This will be another semi-extended stay, I can tell. Although I'm excited to move around a bit, I can't pass up the things it has to offer.
I was excited to have gone to Onsen (the public bath) with Kate. There are many tubs at different temperatures, and some benches, rocks and chairs with hot water running down them. Everybody in Japan goes to Onsen. With about 60 naked Japanese men, teenagers, and children, running around, you'd think the tubs would be crowded. But, miraculously, every tub I got into was suddenly vacated. So I often had them all to myself. That was so nice of them!
The weekend before I left, Kate, her friends and I crammed a lot in. We saw Ninja-Dera: the temple with the trap doors and escape tunnels. It was quite impressive. Many hidden rooms, attack techniques, deceiving doors, and even a tunnel from the bottom of the well that led to the castle. Sadly, because it is a temple, there were no pictures allowed.
We also saw shishiku, a museum of the dragon and lion heads used in parades, as well as some large puppets that are carried around for the fertility festival. Kate and her friends saw them in action just a few weeks ago. Men run around carrying these puppets and large fallic symbols, and get free sake and beer. There was a video at the museum of everyone dancing very drunk and loud. Looks like fun!

We saw Nata-dera, an outdoor garden temple, Daijo-ji, another, smaller temple, and walked along the Asanogawa river where the cherry blossoms are extravagant, when they bloom. There are Blue herons and Koi living wild in the river. It's a beautiful place.

Kanazawa, JAPAN

2007-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

So, with very little trouble, I was able to make it to Kanazawa. Katya was at the train station waiting for me with her friend Yuko, who drove us home. She has to work everyday, but that's fine, because I have the time to see all the cool things that Kanazawa has to offer.
I got totally lost three times the first day, and found out that, although I knew where TOWN was, and how to get there, I had no idea where I was. So it was much further than I had thought. My legs are still sore. But I did manage to get into town to see the Kenroku-en garden. It's definitely Kanazawa's pride and joy for a reason. They say it's one of the 3 best garden's in all of Japan. They are setting up Yokitsuri(elaborate rope support on trees to protect them from snow) on their favorite trees now. This black pine is extremely old(planted from seed by the 13th Lord of Kaga) and has about 400 ropes on it, although they're not tied up yet.
It has become obvious to me, that if I don't learn at least a few things about the language, I won't eat, and I'll have to walk everywhere. There's some english at the heavily touristed areas, but they don't assume you are interested in anything else. I feel like I'm getting a hand on things though. I can read enough to know where the bus is going, and recognize a few meals, and things in the grocery store. And yesterday I made a yoyaku (reservation) for 3, but it was a struggle for both of us. For a few days when someone offered me a pamphlet, I responded "this" instead of "no thank-you."
I saw the Geisha district, and tomorrow, the ninja house with trap doors and hideout passages. There's a lot to see, but most things close on Wednesday, so I spent the day just walking. I saw Kanazawa-jo (the castle), a million shrines(I keep forgetting to cleanse my hands), a bunch more gardens, and a small area of the Honda museum. The best stuff is, of course, everything else. I saw the Omicho fish market in the morning(sadly, no fish throwing, but plenty of yelling). Big squid, fish, and a bunch of gross green stuff. It's snow crab season, and, like melons($10), they are given as gifts on evergreen leaves, so one can cost $250. Mushrooms in the same style, can go for $650 for about 5 'shrooms. I just bought a bouquet of orchids for Kate for $3.50.
Today, perhaps I will go to shamisen no fukushima shop(a shamisen is the traditional instrument we all think of in old japanese music) where they will let me play them.
The evenings I chat with Kate (after being nearly silent all day) and we walk around. Beer is expensive, but sake is pretty cheap....depending on what you get. I'm having a blast! Although I think small cartoon girls have to beware of shadow people at night. This is an actual sign from the bus stop.

2007-08-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

KJ's last night in Tahoe

Monika and I in Genoa for Jonelle's bachelorette party

Chris and I at Jonell and Willy's wedding

Tahoe, CA

2007-03-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Keeping ourselves busy in Tahoe isn't so hard to do...

We finally got a bit of snow...and skied our booties off. And are now watching it melt away to quickly.

So we have found other things to keep us occupied...Team Fun!

Went to see the Mutaytors at the Crystal Bay Club....

SLT, CA

2007-02-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

February already? And still no snow!!! But considering we haven't had snow in a month, the conditions are surprisingly good. Chris and I took an avalanche class last weekend, which was a lot of fun and interesting besides the fact that we didn't have much snow pack to look at. But we haven't given up hope yet...the Sierras are know for their late snow falls.

Its Superbowl Sunday! Go Bears!!! After 22 years, we're back!!! And ready to kick some Colt's ass!! Going down to Brian Polkow's house to watch the game...nothing like being around crazy Bears fans to liven up the game.

San Fransisco, CA

2006-12-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

Had a little house warming party which included rum balls and lots of powdered sugar. Wendy was even down from Humboldt.

Last weekend, we went to visit Linda and Tom. Had a great time; saw Taj Mahal at Yoshi's (a sushi/jazz club in Oakland), cut Christmas trees with Dave (Chris' cousin) and his family, and even got to stop in Folsom to see Matt on the way back up to Tahoe.

South Lake Tahoe, CA

2006-11-16T12:56:00.000-08:00

We moved. Can you believe it. Its nice to be able to stretch out a bit. Teo loves it. She has her own doggie door and a big back yard. So I just wanted to attach a few pixs of recent. The first is of Chris and our roommate Dave, the second our house and the third Lemmon and us in Desolation.

Napa Valley, California

2006-09-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

In Napa for my 30th!

Tahoe, CA

2006-07-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

So I thought that I would keep adding pixs to the blog....

This is where we have been living for the past couple of years ...I was realizing the other day that I didn't have any pixs of the house, so I took one.

Aunt Bev, Uncle Wally, and Aunt Deta on a visit to Tahoe.

On the lake with Karla and Jim, our Oklahoma friends.

Up at Angora Lake with Rashid and Aaron.

New Delhi, India to London, England to Chicago, IL to Tahoe, CA

2006-07-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

So it has been about a month and a half since finishing our trip... and we are back to the grind.

It took us 4 nights of waiting (and getting bumped off of flights) to finally suck it up and buy a ticket out if India. Figuring we had a bit of extra time, we detoured to London and spent a couple of nights there. Did a bunch of site seeing ... Buckingham Palace, tower of London, Camden, Piccadilly and basically wandered around till our feet hurt. But the best was getting a pint of beer that wasn't yellow and tasteless.

We spent 2 weeks in Chicago. Jammed it packed with fun stuff and still didn't get to do everything. Although, we did get to get Chris to his first Cubs game (first pro ball game for that matter). The Cubs lost and we got rained on, but such is Wrigley Field. Saw Spamalot, a play based on Monty Python's Holy Grail. And did a lot of other fun stuff.

But now its back in Tahoe. Couldn't ask for a better place to have to go back to though. But of course, our next trip is in the works.

Varanasi to Delhi, India

2006-04-26T01:04:00.000-07:00

Varanasi is an incredible, very old city with tiny, twisty little alleyways that are too small for traffic ... but motorbikes, cows, and 10 million people don't seem to care. It makes for a cramped space with lots of cow poop (most of it the runny kind that isn't fun to step in), but they offer a lot of shade from the blistering sun.

They call it Shiva's city (Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction), and it is home to the Ganges which sprouted from his hair. It's one of the holiest cities in India. There are Ghats (stairs leading down to the water from temples above) lining the river, leaving no room for anything else. The most well known of which is the "Burning Ghat" where people from all over India bring their dead to be cremated in open fires amongst many other burning piles, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Huge wood piles surround the ghat ... it takes 250kgs of wood to creamate one body. Any part that doesn't burn (mostly ladies hip bones) gets tossed into the river. People drink holy river water, next to a dead body being cleansed, next to 100 people bathing and laundry being done. It's quite a sight.

We are going home soon, so we are in full scale buying mode. Anything we might want, we tried to pick up in Varinasi so we didn't have to spend any more time in Delhi than we have to. Although, as it turns out, we are stuck in Delhi due to the flights being full. And we might even end up in London before we get to Chicago. But we should still have a couple of weeks in Chicago before we finish our trip, so their will be a couple more blog entries before the end of this travel maddness.

Delhi to Agra, India

2006-04-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

We finally made it out of Katmandu ... ended up having to fly. The buses weren't going on the day that we left (I still don't think they are running). But, other than that, we got to Delhi with minimal hitches. Our flight got in 2 hours before my parents and after a bit of confusion we finally all met in the bar of our hotel for a well needed drink.

My parents got us a room at the hotel where they stayed ... which was quite a treat! I think Chris and I enjoyed the hot shower the most (although the flat screen TV was a close second). In Delhi, we visited the Red Fort and Dana's parents got a taste of real Indian food for the 1st time. Inevitably we ate too much. Also visited Jama Masjid a day after the bombing. A bit of a sobering experience. But make sure to keep your eyes on news ... we were all interviewed by a few different local channels asking us for comments.

The next morning, we introduced them to the wonders of the Indian railways and all of the smells that go with it. But everyone survived and we made it to Agra. We had a big day and saw Agra fort and the Taj Mahal for sunset. Dad bought a beautiful inlaid soapstone box which he used his impressive bargaining skills to obtain ... he's a natural!

We hired a car to get out to Fatehpur Sikri (an abandoned Mughal city) the next day. While not quite as impressive as the Taj, it was still very interesting and relaxing (after you are able to slip past the throngs of guides that accost you at the front gate).

After too short of a visit, they left back to Chicago. And we head on to Varanasi.

Katmandu, Nepal

2006-04-13T03:58:00.000-07:00

Made it to Nepal after 3 mind numbing days of overnight trains and
buses. We got into Katmandu and the next day were on a 9 hour (but only
75km) butt numbing bus ride on a road that looked more like the Rubicon
Trail than a national highway. Well, we made it, and hiked into to
Langtang National Park the next day. The 2nd day we reached Kanjin,
right in the heart of the Himalayan range. The next morning we woke up
early to hike up Kanjin Ri (4500m) where we were rewarded with
spectacular views. It snowed a few inches the night before which did
wonders for the visibility (April is known to be a very hazy time).
We were pressed for time, so we did 6 days worth of hiking in 4 days...
but then Chris got sick. Not sure still what it was, but it had all the
symtoms of altitude sickness, so we were weary about heading up any
higher (although we were only at 2500m). Now we think it was those
great stomach bugs striking again. On the plus side, the family that
owned the guest house we stayed at was great. We taught the boys Go
Fish and they took Dana up to see their grandparents in a nearby
village. After a 3 day rest, he was able to continue, but we had to
cut our trip short. I guess it gives us another reason to head back to
Nepal.
We are back in Katmandu and have plans to leave tomorrow. Things here
are a bit up in the air because of the nationwide strike. No buses are
running. We were lucky to make it back to Katmandu. If it wasn't for
a few Israelies that were dead set on being in Katmandu for Passover,
we would still be in the mountains! They arranged a tourist bus with
all the proper governmental stamps and signatures allowing us access to
the closed roads. One way or the other we will be in Delhi on the 15th
to meet Dana's folks!

Jodhpur to McLeod Ganj, India

2006-03-24T02:50:00.002-08:00

Jodhpur was really nice... they call it the 'blue city.' In the past, the Brahmin (the priest caste) families were the only ones that were allowed to paint their houses blue, but today it is common. It's supposed to keep the houses at a good temperature all year round with the added benefit of repelling mosquitoes! We went on a tour of Merherangarh (Majestic) fort, above the city. The views were amazing, a mosaic of blue. The fort itself was very well preserved and our entrance fee included an informative audio tour. Leaving the fort, we met a Peace Corp Bangledesh Volunteer, Craig, who we ended up hanging out with for the rest of our time in Jodhpur. It was interesting swapping Peace Corps stories and hearing a bit of a different perspective about the region. He taught us that we don't have to pay extra for refrigerated beer (we have been getting taken this whole time!).

And now we are in McLeod Ganj. The home of the Tibetan government in exile and H.H. the Dalai Lama. We arrived in McLeod Ganj after the scariest bus ride that we have ever been on. We were whipping around blind mountain-side turns at 40mph at night while our driver was paying more attention to his friends than to the road. Our protector on this ride was a colorful blinking Christmas light version of Shiva, the god of destruction, posted at the front of the bus. Not exactly what you might call comforting. When we arrived, we came to find out that there were no hotels with free rooms... not what you want to hear at 11pm after traveling 27 hours to get there. The reason was that the Dalai Lama was teaching. So the inconvenience of finding a room was worth the effort. We have been able see him teach a few times already. The area is beautiful ... our 1st time in the Himalayas.

Jaisalmer, India

2006-03-16T00:22:00.000-08:00

Six days, Five nights, Three camels and Two guides... The Thar Desert treated us well at some times and poorly at others. We opted for the "non-touristic" safari, which was great: we only saw one other group the entire time. Even so, the first several villages get the most passers-by, and so we were bombarded with: "hello- one rupee" and kids asking for everything from pens to chocolate (in the desert...a melty mess that would be) to the shirts on our backs. Literally. With 5 villages like this in the first day, we weren't sure the trip was going to be all that "Non- Touristic." But as the trip progressed, we started seeing more desert, and fewer villages and nicer people.

A few days later, we found ourselves in a desert hail storm with more lightning than we've ever seen. For over two hours, four people huddled underneath a 2 meter tarp with holes in it. Wet and cold. The rain did subside though, and dinner (chai, desert style chapati, rice and dhal) was awesome.

Things changed for the better the next day, and we celebrated Holi (one of the largest Hindu holidays) in a small, welcoming village. The 14th was relaxed. There was a bonfire and desert moonshine. The 15th was a big party- whiskey, chillums, and... color! Everyone was covered in colorful powders that the children threw, demanding "rupees or color." The whole village looked like Joseph's Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Anjuna Beach (Goa) to Mumbai to Pushkar, India

2006-03-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

So, we have been on the go lately...

We were in Goa for a few days... long enough to be there for their Wednesday market which was about as sprawling of a tourist market that you can find. We got lost in the maze of brightly colored tapestries, clothing, jewelry and the such... whatever you wanted to buy in India, you could find at this market. Other than that, Goa was a bit overdone and we are super glad that we decided to stay in Gokarna for a bit longer... but we did treat ourselves to a pina colada for sunset after a long day of relaxing in the sun.

Mumbai was a whirlwind ... but quite an interesting town. We spent the majority of it wandering around. We went to the locals night spot... Chowpatti Beach. Getting on to the bus from our hostel (The Salvation Army... the most expensive place that we've stayed yet on this trip!) we met the nicest Indian who walked us around the beach. Traveling around makes you put up your guard towards anyone who randomly comes up to you, but we've come in contact with so many friendly Indians who are genuinely interested in us and showing us part of their country ... it has made for a wonderful experience. Chowpatti beach is known for it's bhel puri, a spicy Indian snack and this man took us to the best shop for it (there are about 20 shops within 50ft that all sell the same thing). It was so good that we came back the next afternoon and had some more. We also sent a package home from here... what an ordeal... it took about two hours to get it packaged up correctly (including getting it checked by customs before having it wrapped in fabric and wax sealed) before we could send it... gives us a little glimpse into the buracuracy and red tape that is all we hear and read about in India.

And we finally made it into the state of Rajistan. Most of the things that you think of when you think of India, are from Rajistan. Turbans, mirror-work fabrics, camels, dome topped buildings...all are the wonders of this state. Pushkar is a holy city, and also a touristic highlight of any trip to India...although, Chris and I are finding it too touristic...most of what there is to do in this small 1 street town is shop. And considering we just sent stuff home, we arn't in the mood to stuff our packs full again. So we are heading to Jaisalmer tomorrow where we plan on doing a camel trek for a few days. Should be a bumpy ride!

Gokarna, India

2006-02-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

All we have been doing since we got here is relaxing. It is so nice to be on a warm beach soaking up the vibes here. We are at Kudle beach...a 20 minute walk over a headland from the nearest town...no road. It is a small little traveler/Hindu pilgrimage area. The town is getting ready for Shivaratri (on the 26th), a large celebration of Shiva, one of the most worshiped deities in Hinduism. We are going to stick around for it...they are building some huge wagons with flags and carvings all over them for the festival.
In the meantime, we are practicing with our poi and staff on the beach (poi are 2 wicks on the end of a chain that you light on fire and dance with; and the staff is the same on either end of a stick). By the time we get back to Tahoe, we hope to be good enough to light them for our friends.
Guess that is all to write at the moment. We have been really taking it easy here... if only everything in India was this mellow.

Kollam to Amaritapura to Alleppey to Cochin, India

2006-02-12T04:10:00.000-08:00

We've been on the move this last week, and are finally settling down for a few days. We took a 3 hour boat tour along the "backwaters" of Kerala (the province), which took us to Amma's Ashram. They call her the "Hugging Mother" and she is considered "one of the world's most influential spiritual leaders." Unfortunately, she began traveling 3 days before we got there (she travels 5 months out of every year), so we didn't get to meet her. On the plus side, 400 devotees from the ashram are traveling with her, so it was relatively quiet there during our stay. As you can see from the picture of the pink towers, this ashram is big...it is not abnormal to have 4000 people there in a day. Although we missed her in India, she will be at her ashram near San Francisco, CA shortly after we get home. How ironic.

The next day we continued on our backwaters tour, ending in Allepey, a small, transitional town on our way to Cochin. Now we're here enjoying the plethora of culture, arts, and entertainment it has to offer. Dana has been enjoying all the fresh seafood that can be bought right on the water next to the Chinese fishing nets. To complement this, restaurants have sprung up right in front of the fishermen ready to cook whatever you buy. Quite a symbiotic relationship.

Along with seafood, Kerala is known for Kathikali dance. A type of drama-dance that involves intricate costumes and dance movements that are a type of sign language. You actually only go to see a portion of the drama...the entire play takes about 9 days to perform. The one we saw was about a demoness who tries to seduce a god by changing herself into a beautiful girl...a Hindu story.

Instead of leaving Monday as we planned, we bought tickets at a local art cafe to see Pandit Ajit Singh, a sitar player. This town has so much to offer and we are trying to see as much as we can before we head on.

Madurai, India

2006-02-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

So we are wasting time waiting for our overnight train to Quilon. Today we just relaxed ...well, as much as you can relax in a chaotic city with no parks and an over touristy temple where touts abound.

We added a picture of Chris modeling his new suit that he got tailored in Pondicherry (the town next to Auroville). Lookin' good.
Dana felt jealous so she got some things made in Madurai. Its a semi- traditional outfit called a salwar kameez (the orange long shirt in the picture and a green pair of pants to go with). Madurai is known for its fabrics and has a market filled with tailors that are busy sewing anything and everything. What ever you order, you can pick it up a few hours later. I should do all of my shopping this way!

Sadhana Forest to Madurai, India

2006-01-28T02:01:00.000-08:00

Just under that roof is where we stayed for our 2 weeks at Sadhana Forest. Chris stands outside brushing his teeth, trying to hide the fact that being sick made us finally break down and treat ourselves to a little non-vegan contriband...Cookies! Unfortunately, cookies, or more specifically sugar is not the best thing when trying to deal with amoebas...they love sugar. We ate mostly rice porridge. After feeling better, we still couldn't kick the end of our illness, so we resorted to those good 'ol western drugs. Those drugs gave Chris a UTI (urinary tract infection), which was quickly cured, but the fight for health goes on.

The work with the biological waste treatment was slow going. Many Aurovillians were helpful in giving us what knowledge they had, we just had to piece it all together into a workable system. By the time we left, we were finally hammering out the final details of a pretty comprehensive and feasible plan. Matt, another person staying at the forest, helped with the research, and we have entrusted him with continuing the project (Go Matt!). We hope that we will get pictures someday of the completed system.

We are now in Madurai. We wanted to break up the trip across the southern tip and Madurai was smack-dab in the middle. It has a famous temple that is known for its touts. But we braved it anyway. The colorful sculptures on the gopuras (tower entrances) would take a year to fully appreciate. They are exploding with carvings of people, gods, animals and everthing else. We are back to eating the normal Indian diet...thali. Most are served on banana leaves and eaten with the RIGHT hand. In India, left hands are only used as toilet paper, and it is rude to shake/ eat/ accept or give money with the left. This is proving quite a challenge for left-handed Chris.

Mamallapuram to Pondicherry to Auroville, India

2006-01-28T00:49:00.000-08:00

Mamallapuram is known for its artisans that carve marble, so we were able to get some things made from designs that we created. Through this, we became friends with the artist, Pasipatti (the one working in the picture), and all his friends.

While we were there, a classical Indian dance festival was being held. The dancers were very impressive, and, as an added bonus, we met a Tamil (South-East Indian province) guy there, named Moorti. The next day, he took us to visit a famous temple in the area which was on the top of a hill, giving an impressive view of the surrounding area.
Along with the dance festival, the Pongal festival (harvest celebration) was still in full swing. Between the two, Mama- llapuram was a busy town...but the beach was absolute craziness (note the picture!).

We are now in Auroville at Sadhana Forest. Auroville is an "experiment in international living." The town was started in the mid 1960's. It is similar to the ashrams (kind of like communes, but they have spiritual leaders) here, but this is actually a whole town based on the teachings of "the Mother" and Sri Aurobindo. It is an interesting place focused on sustainability, and cooperation. They are involved with many interesting projects including compressed bricks (similar to adobe in that they are not fired, but the compressed bricks are much stronger), organic farming, spirulina harvesting, and biological waste water treatment (using plants to clean waste water). We are staying here for 2 weeks to help out in whatever way we can. We chose Sadhana forest because it deals with reforestation and when we emailed them, they welcomed us openly.

The farm is vegan and meals can be a bit redundant, but last night we had a fantastic Mediterranean meal accompanied by accordion and Hebrew songs courtesy of our Israeli hosts. Unfortunately, Chris' stomach is tied in knots, and Dana definitely has some stomach bug but we are treating both with homeopathic Neem leaf powder that is supposed to be good for all stomach worms and bugs and comes highly recommended. The forest is not exactly what we expected, but we are utilizing our time by designing a biological waste filtration system for the farm, which currently has nothing in place in the way of a septic system. We are being helped immensely by several local experts. We are learning many things, and it is good to use our brains again. It takes almost all our free time, but we are finding it's worth it.

Chennai to Mamallapuram, India

2006-01-14T07:34:00.000-08:00

The train ride was actually really relaxing ... got a bunch of reading in and Chris got a chance to sew his man purse. Chennai isn't that exciting, but we have mastered Indian buses ... unfortuately they pretty much lead to nowhere today because of the holiday Pongal (a Hindi harvest festival). The only thing we got to see of this holiday is the sand drawings that the provence is known for. Other than that, we did get to see a TV show getting filmed at a studio...not quite PBS quality, but entertaining none the less.

We have been in Mama- llapuram for the past few days. We have been relaxing at our 1st beach town in India, but are ready to head on. This place is by far has the most tourists we've seen ...and not just foreigners. For the last day of Pongal, the beach exploded with Indian tourists. I mean crazy crowds! But things have settled down a bit in the last 2 days, which has been nice.

Chai. It is sold on every corner, on the train, at every restuarant ... everywhere you can think of. It is always served hot with milk and over abundance of sugar. Not how we ever drank tea in the States, but we've adjusted ...and loving it. Lily, it rivals your beloved Thai ice tea.

Bhubaneswar to Konark, India

2006-01-12T05:08:00.000-08:00

Heading on down the coast, we stopped in Bhubaneswar to give us a break from the train. We weren't expecting much from the town, but we found that it had beautiful temples with amazing bas relief. What a treat wandering through theses small streets and happening upon these treasures from the 8th to 11th century.
In other news...It was crazyness getting our train ticket booked...the train station said that the train we wanted to take was booked for 2 weeks out (so we found out after 45 minutes in line), so we bought a ticket to somewhere closer (but still a 17 hour train ride because it wasn't express) putting us into the station at 1am. After all this maddness, we talked to a travel agent in town and he was able to book us a ticket for the original train we wanted (at a 50% mark-up). Something about tourist quotas, some other rules and loopholes and possible bribes...we are utterly confused, but we got our trip!
So with the extra time, we went to a tiny town named Konark. Getting there was quite the jouney...35 seat mini bus, 80 people. No joke! Sardines is an understatement. Not to metion the little boy that almost puked on me while he was trying to push his way through to a window. But the Indians made sure that us tourist got the first seats available and we were able to sit for about 1/2 the ride. They really took care of us. All was worth it. There is nothing in Konark except the exceptional Sun Temple. but this temple rivals Angkor. The relief were of amazing quality. Most of the carvings were taken from the Kama Sutra. They really had imaginations back then...some look like acrobatics.

Kolkata, India

2006-01-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

We took our flight to India, and it was good. 24 Hours later, we have experienced so much (such is India-the opposite of Laos). For starters...Urinals are anywhere you please (for men, but a toilet is impossible for a women to find), we participated in a protest march (we don't know for what), we've seen 2 goats sacrificed to appease the bloodlust of the Hindu goddess Kali (she apparently requires that 50 get beheaded everyday), got tikka's (the Hindu forehead paint), took pictures of Sadhus, or Hindu ascetics (one with an exposed pierced penis with a chain attatched and slung over his shoulder), walked around barefoot in the grossest place imaginable (we had to-it was a temple), experienced bus rides and the much less daunting human-powered rickshaw, saw a kid pooping in the street, walked around the world's largest Banyan tree (it's 450 meters in circumference, and 48,800 square meters in area), saw cows in the city and played our first cricket game. This does not count the monuments, markets, and other things we actually PLANNED to see. So many more days to come; so much more to see.

Luang Prabang to Vientiane, Laos to Bangkok, Thailand

2006-01-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

For the 1st sunset of the new year, we were treated to a slow boat trip down the Mekong River by a friendly Pittsburg couple. What a relaxing evening...such is Laos.

We were able to take a night bus, so the next day we had time to visit these amazing waterfalls about 40 minutes from Luang Prabang. We climbed to the top of the 35 meter falls and were able to stand in the falls at the very top. The river had a lot of minerals in it, creating a stone covering over everything, even the wooden planks that were used as an old walkway.

In Bangkok for the forth and last time...heading to Kolkata early tomorrow morning.

Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang, Laos

2005-12-31T21:40:00.000-08:00

So we are today recovering from our new years celebrations. The most I think that we are going to do today is to catch sunset on the Mekong River.
The last week and some have been a blur. Laos has been relaxing and beautiful. We meet up with a couple of friends from earlier in the trip and they convinced us to skip Vientiane (which we are going back to tommorow) and head straight to Vang Vieng. Such a good choice. Their isn't much to do in Vang Vieng except relax. We tubed down a lazy river next to the town. You have a tuk tuk drop you off a few miles from town and just float. The river is littered with bars on the banks that have big swings and zip cords over the water. Float 10 minute, stop at a bar, float aother 10 minute...bar...float...bar...truely enjoyable... can't get any better.
I wish we had more time in Laos, but alas, we have to head to India so we are on our way out of here and back to Bangkok.

Bangkok, Thailand

2005-12-19T23:12:00.000-08:00

Back in Thailand. We are stuck in Bangkok waiting for our India visa...it takes 5 days at the embassy. We got a flight to Kalkuta on the 6th of January...a bit later than we wanted, but it saved us a bunch of money to wait. We haven't yet decided what we are going to do until then, but I'm not to worried about it. The picture is of Regina and Aynur a couple of travelers that we met hung and out with in Bangkok.

Phnom Phen, to Sihanoukville, Cambodia

2005-12-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

After leaving Siem Reap, we spent about 5 days in Phnom Phen (the capital). We visited the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. But the Royal Palace is never open for tours, so we were stuck wandering around it and the Silver Pagoda was a bit of a let down. It has a sliver tiled floor of which each tile supposedly weighed 1 Kg. The tiles, except for a 20ft x 20ft patch, was covered with carpet. The area that was exposed was very tarnished and the tiles were lifting up around the edges so bad that they duct taped them together. The one place in Phnom Phen that was very interesting, although extremely sad, was S-21. That was a detention center use for torture and interrogation by the Khmer Rouge. The building was an old high school that they turned into a prison, so on the outside it looked eerily normal.
We are back at the beach. The sand here squeaks! We arrived on Saturday and it was busy. Many Cambodian that live in Phnom Phen come down for the weekends because it is only about a 3-4 hour drive. It has chilled out considerably since the weekend finished. So we have been 'busying' ourselves with relaxing on the sand and, at least for me, eating tons of seafood. There are women that roam the beach selling lobster and BBQ squid (which they actually cook in front of you) (picture to come). We got massages the other day done by blind Cambodians (they say the blind give the best massages) at a place called Seeing Hands which is actually an NGO that helps train people and get them started in the trade.
From here we are off to Bangkok!

Siem Reap, Cambodia

2005-12-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

So our 3 day pass for Angkor finished yesterday. This morning we tearfully dropped Lily off at the airport in Siem Reap. What to do with our time now?
As for Angkor, again the temples were amazing. Definately something that We're glad we got to experience. We saw this small temple named Banteay Srei which was about 30 minutes outside of the rest. The drive itself was worth the trip. The road we drove down was lined with houses and rice paddies. Very picturesque. The temple itself was tiny in comparision to most, but the bas reliefs were some of the best. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see half of them. This small, out of the way, temple was the only one in Angkor that had portions of it roped off for preservation (kind of like we do everywhere in the States). Even at Angkor Wat we could climb anywhere we wanted.
We learned bunches about Hinduism. The temple guidebook that we bought helped us decipher the carvings that were everywhere about the temples.
Did you know: that apsaras (celetial beings that were sensual rewards for gods and heros) were created as a byproduct of the 'churning of the sea of milk.' The 'churning of the sea of milk' is from the Mahabharata. The devas (gods) and asuras (demons) tug on Vasuki, a naga (5 or 7 headed snake), who is rapped around Mt. Mandara, supported on the back of Kurma (the turtle or 2nd avatar or incarnate of Visnu) in order to create amrita or elixer of immortality.
By the end of our 3 day temple tour, we finally had a bit of a grasp on the most famous of the Hindu stories.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

2005-11-30T03:21:00.000-08:00

So we finally made it to Cambodia...dragging Lily along to see the temples at Angkor.
Our bus ride to Siem Reap (the town outside of Angkor) was a nightmare. We caught a bus in Bangkok at 7:30am that drove us to the border...of course, stopping at a restuarant with a bunch of other tourists to get our visas that we were told we could get at the border, obviously we couldn't. We then passed through the border only to wait about an hour to get a mini bus to Siem Reap. This was a mini bus from hell. The seats were made for someone that was max 4 feet tall. And we were on this bus for 6 hours. No aircon, no lights, no toilets, but a lot of bugs. And, of course, they dropped us off at a guesthouse of their choosing (think commission) considering that it was 10pm and no one was going to look for their own place (at least it only cost us $2 per person).
We woke up early to experience sunrise at Angkor Wat (note the first photo). It is really hard to put into words. It truly is a wonder of the world. We also went to Angkor Thom (which is actually bigger than Angkor Wat), and Phreah Kahn (which is in the process of being renovated at the moment). There were many Cambodian children trying to sell us postcards and the such. They would follow us all the way down the road asking us where we were from and telling us the capitals of any state in the US along with the population (they were pretty good with country capitals too). We rented a Tuk-tuk for the day who waited for us outside all of the temples. Talk about convienence.
We bought a 3 day pass, so we are heading back to do some other temples tommorow. Can't wait!

Bangkok, Thailand

2005-11-25T07:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving (a day late!). We forgot about it until a couple of hours ago.

As for the trip...we headed to Bangkok on an overnight (Linda - note the neck pillow!) bus that stopped to change buses twice and also for a rest break (at 1am) for the driver to eat. But we made it! We have been occupying ourselves with wandering around and visiting Note. Note is the one in the picture that is giving Lily a traditional (Sak Yan) tattoo by bamboo. Oh, and Chris got in the spirit too and got his lebret pierced...it looks great...pictures to come!
Tonight we got a new camera after a bit of a search...but necessary none the less. It was weird being in this huge American-style mall with Starbucks, Guess, The Body Shop and the likes. A bit to expensive for our budget these days! We'll stick to the local markets for our clothes and such. Speaking of, we are heading to the enormous 'weekend market' tomorrow. There are supposedly around 15,000 stalls. Talk about overwhelming!

Enough for tonight!

Ko Lanta, Thailand

2005-11-19T23:58:00.000-08:00

We made it back to the other coast (again near Krabi) on the island of Lanta. A sleepy island that is quite enjoyable although it has been raining since we got here. Chris and Lily are planning on going diving in a couple of days. It is suppose to be great around here...I on the other hand, can't due to the burn I got from the motorbikes. Life isn't fair.

Our camera died on us the other day. So we haven't figured out what we are going to be doing about that yet. We are still hoping that it will miraculously fix itself yet if we leave it alone for a few days. Cross your fingers.

So we are heading back to out bungalow and relaxing in hammocks for the rest of the day. Life could be worse.

Dana

Krabi, Thailand

2005-11-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

Made it to Krabi from Kho Pha Ngan...we have to wait till tomorrow till we get to Ko Lanta (a small island down to the south a bit...a 2 hour ferry ride from here). Another full day of travel. Tonight we got a bit daring and decided to try some fried bugs...grasshoppers, grubs, and even a cockroach. Well Marlon tried the cockroach...the rest of us were not that susceptible to peer pressure!

As for the full moon party...it wasn't all we expected, but there was a bunch of great fire spinning to watch. We all ended up staying out and dancing until around 5am...early night. The music ranged from trance and techno to Elvis and top 40 MTV hits. We saw someone flailing as if drowning in a foot of water and then proceeding to wash his cloths and do the breast stroke (all in the same foot of water). Not as great as the guy that decided to reuse his drink bucket for his puke bucket...recycling Thai style. Hundreds of people peeing, puking, having sex all right next to each other in the water. quite a interesting scene...at least we weren't one of them.

late night...ready for bed.

us

Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand

2005-11-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

So here we are on the night of the huge beach party. There have been 'warm up' parties the last couple of nights (pretty big in themselves) but they say tonight is craziness. We are sitting in a bar watching 'Simpson's' episodes (Chris is in heaven) before heading to the beach. They have these drinks called 'buckets' here in Thailand, and which are extremely popular on this island. A bucket is a combination of a flask worth of some kind of alcohol (whiskey, rum, vodka, whatever), and a soda (which could be coke, sprite or something of the sort). The never changing ingredient is the Thai version of 'Red Bull.' And they serve them, as it sounds, in a small beach sand pail. Potent stuff. Notice picture. Also you will notice the picture of Brent, our Canadian friend diving through the 'ring of fire', 'let 'er rip.' During which he dislocated his shoulder. And the picture of Chris' new 'faux hawk' courtesy of Dana...she's still working on Lily's hair.

We rented motorbikes today. Quite an adventure. Lily ran into another bike (don't worry, they were stopped and no harm done), and I ended up with a nice burn on my leg from the exhaust pipe while Chris was trying to get down this slick downhill. We visited this waterfall that until we were told that we were looking at the falls, we thought was just a little river. But they called them falls.

Well, the episode is over and I think that everyone is going to motivate down to the beach. Must get going!

The pics are from the night before...one of the pre-parties that were about the same as the actual full moon extravaganza. And the 3rd picture is of Chris's new hair cut care of Dana...Mark, be scared!...I'm taking over your clientele!

Koh Tao, Thailand

2005-11-12T00:41:00.000-08:00

So Chris and Lily are right now on their 1st dives!!! They seemed to enjoy the pool bit, so it's off to open water. I am taking my advanced course and have 1 dive to go...a night dive, which are always fun! one of the guys that I was diving with took a couple of pix of my underwater, so as soon as he sends them to me, I will post them in this entry. Kinda funny, I've never seen myself underwater before. Chris and Lily will get a chance to see themselves under water tonight. They film the open water course's 1st dives and play them on a big projection screen that night. Should be fun! We are off to Koh Phan Ngan tomorrow for the full moon party. The picture is of the group they got certified with.

Ton Sai, Thailand

2005-11-09T03:18:00.000-08:00

So we have been a bit out of touch the past week...in a good way! We have been in Krabi province on a little headland (that seems like an island) called Ton Sai. It took us 2 days to finally get there...From Chang Mai we took and overnight sleeper train to Bangkok where we hung out all day with another traveler (Brad) that we met on the train (a bit of testosterone for Chris after being stuck with Lily and I pretty much exclusively beside the trek). Then an overnight bus to Saret Tani where we were stuck at 6am for 2 hours while we waited for a mini bus to pick us up and finish off the last 3 hours of the trip to Krabi town...but we weren't done yet! We then had to catch a taxi to Ao Nang (only about 20 minutes) and then a longboat to Ton Sai (another 20 minutes). Needless to say, we were ready to hang out for a while when we got there.

We fell in love with it! it is beaches surrounded by huge cliffs...a big climbing area. We met this kiwi named Stacy (she stayed in the bungalow across from us) the first day. She has been there for about on and off for the past 5 months and she introduced us to tons of people around the area and took us to a couple great climbing areas (one of which we got harassed by monkeys, note the picture, for about half the time). The views from the tops of these climbs would make Tahoe jealous (and made us want to stay for a lot longer than we had time for)! We even convinced her that she needed to come to Tahoe because she was already considering going to Yosemite with a friend in June...what's an extra week if you are traveling all that way, right? So the last week has consisted of just about that...climbing, relaxing in our hammocks reading and listening to the waves.

We are in Saret Tani right now waiting for a night ferry to Koh Tao where Chris and Lily will start their diving courses in the morning (cutting it close getting there). If I get motivated I might go for my advanced certification...we'll see.

wish you could all be here,
Dana

Heifer

2005-11-03T04:32:00.000-08:00

Moms and Dads...
Thought that you might appreciate this picture of an actual heifer project at work!

Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Thailand

2005-11-01T19:51:00.002-08:00

So here we are in Thailand! At the moment we are in Chiang Mai. We just finished a 3 day trek in a jungle about an hour outside of the city. We took an elephant ride and went bamboo rafting along with staying in the hill tribe village of Karen. We are now wondering around Chiang Mai looking at different wats (Buddhist temples) and are on the quest of getting Lily a Sak Yan tattoo (given by monks with either bamboo or a long metal stylus). We head back to Bangkok tomorrow and then straight down to Krabi (where there is supposedly some great climbing). The people have been really nice and we have only fell into one of their little tourist scams (but it didn't cost us anything). Well, enough of this emailing...off to explore!

Tahoe, California

2005-10-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

We leave in 13 hours! Finally got this thing set up so that we could tell everybody what in the world we are up to. Hopefully we find that we can post and add pix from over there.

Well, back to packing!