India- Unfinished Business

The title for this entry could also be "Colossal India" or "India, I owe you" but upon returning to this blog 6 years after the completion of this trip I have to give myself credit for assigning the title that currently sits at the top when I did. I knew then that this would be a difficult entry and knew very well that the longer it took me to type it, it wouldn't get any easier. So without further delay here it goes India…I owe you. Call me narrow minded. Call me an entitled child of the Western World. Call me ill-traveled. Even still, I have come a long way from the person I knew in college. Had it not been for a Rugby Club trip to Ireland I may have never been exposed to the attraction (or rather addiction) of foreign travel. For a somewhat sheltered American boy such as myself, Ireland proved to be a great travel gateway drug. They may drive on the opposite side of the road than in the U.S. but the people look like me (except with much larger and redder noses), they speak my language and culturally they're very similar. But so it goes, like any addict of pleasure and adventure, I began to lust a quicker high, an elongated high and an experience unlike anything I've ever before felt. For me, it was a slow set of uncomfortable switchbacks towards India, slowly building confidence in unfamiliar settings and learning to let go of some of the luxuries I took for granted as a Westerner. Costa Rica (now lil' America) was next on the international exposure list and upon returning I unwillingly became the friend people looked to for international travel advice. So I traveled with a friend to New Zealand to get an amazing trip in and somewhat introduce this friend to international travel via an obvious "travel gateway" drug destination. It was there that we learned of the frequently travel circuit in Oceania which put SE Asia on my list. Prior to venturing out that way, I was the ring-leader for a group of friends to Peru (great trip, as they all are). A trip to Tanzania with another adventurous friend and some trips to Europe in between. Then it became time to throw the hat in the ring for an around-the-world trip because I needed to detach myself from home longer and force myself to experience other cultures...The same way a tight rope walker may use less caution the more and more practice they have under their belt, an exploratory traveler will begin to envision themselves in more exotic cultures, politically hot zones, more misunderstood regions...you get what I'm saying, or maybe not. I guess, simply put, like a heroin addict. Once is just not enough and you build that tolerance always pushing the limits. The more foreign, the more opposite, the more backwards, the more the type of place that draws the response of, "why would you want to go there?" And sometimes, once you get to these destinations, as mentally and physically prepared one may think they are, the experience can be such a shock to everything you’ve already known or anticipated that your experience becomes very intense. Enter, India. Going to these foreign countries one cannot help but have preconceived notions, opinions or expectations of what they will experience. Whether it be facts obtained by any research or advice given by a burnt out traveler at the local library, there ARE ideas in your head of what lies ahead. It would be nice to go in with a clean slate. Sometimes throwing yourself into the most remote section of earth is a good way to really shock your mind but even still, the world is shrinking at a rapid pace and an abundance of information is so accessible out there for just about every where as the chances are, someone has already done what you're about to embark on. With that being said, my now wife and I made the conscious decision to spend 1 month in India. After researching and gathering travel stories from friends we obviously had our own expectations beginning to brew. I am not going to pretend that I know the history of India, as rich and diverse as it is, so I won't preface my self prescribed therapy with a long red carpet of impressive details that may help to explain what I experienced and why. It only makes sense to lay-out my experiences in somewhat of a blunt, unintelligible manner since my comprehension of each item at the time was entirely discombobulated, leading to reoccurring bouts of internal conflict. India is AMAZING for this reason. It challenged me on so many levels and is ultimately a great classroom for digging deep into who you are and what you actually think. head bob https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj56IPJOqWE So, I have come to make my peace with you, o gracious India. Please, hear me out...I may claim that I can be pretty rugged by telling camping stories, sharing slideshows of my trekking expeditions, and boasting that I can go weeks without showering...but no trip has ever worn me out, mentally, as much as our trip to India. Physically, it is no problem, but honestly I've never had a foreign country wear me down so fast and so often as India. In a nutshell it was an emotional roller coaster. I am pretty sure that I did it to myself by having high expectations. Not high expectations in the sense that we would be escorted around like celebrities but more in the sense that we could communicate sensibly, travel comfortably, and understand (the culture) easily. There is NO easy in India and for good reasons going back thousands of years. It was probably the most humbling experience I have ever had. There were so many constrictive aspects of the Indian/Hindi culture that made me feel like I could not breathe that as soon as we set foot on our flight to Kathmandu I felt like I could let out one large exhale (which is not the case, since Kathmandu is actually very similar to India). As soon as you begin to love it you get a reason to hate it, and vice versa. I am not immune to poverty and disease and the unfortunate but there are extremes in India like no other I have witnessed before. Some that…that if I tried really hard, would not allow me to sleep at night. One example was a man I saw sitting on a random street corner in a small town on the way to Rishikesh in what looked like a bunker made out of rubber car tires. I am not making fun of the situation but merely trying to find a way to describe him but he was like the “Oscar the Grouch” of tires but from in a dark mystical way. He himself was as black as the tires he sat upon, or was it in…or…there was no way of telling where the tires stopped and he began. And I just remember the contorting jaw and strained hands grasping at the air as if he were mentally disabled to an extreme degree. After the initial visual shock expired and I progressed towards making sense of the man’s situation with possible scenarios my heart went out to the man. But soon he was gone as the tuk tuk moved on. Religion and tradition help to make any culture unique but the aspect of public bathing and exploitation of natural river systems while knowing there is still widespread disease being spread confuses the heck out of me. Yes, sanitation infrastructure is often overlooked at home. I mean, how do I get fresh flowing water out of my wall and where does all the trash go? But it’s the 20th century, people shouldn’t be dying of the plague! People in India do not die of the plague, but the infrastructure can be improved. Why hasn’t it? I won’t pretend to answer that question as I’m sure it’s complicated but back to the bathing. When you do finally come to a river crossing during a ceremony all the accusations of “why, and how could one live like this” are dashed by the awe of inspiration and admiration for a culture that values some of the most simplistic resources we have access to as humans. There is certainly an innocence to India that is repeated over and over again. I forget where we were, I think it was outside of New Delhi but we visited a Hindi theme park and upon exiting their version of the Disneyland ride, A Small World, there were pictures of animals on the wall with the caption, “Don’t eat us.” Makes you think. How can 1 billion people think this way and how, when there are starving people everywhere, are there cattle roaming the streets as if they are made of gold? That innocence also included male companionship and affection. I have seldom considered the American culture as a male-dominated one with a lot of machismo as in school it was always the Latin American and Asian cultures that scored high on that scale but yes, the U.S. is definitely high up there too and holding hands with your best male friend on the beach would attract quite a bit of attention. In India, boys, men are physical affectionate with each other. The grown men often play as little boys. I mean, why not right? These are friends that can be as close as family so why not be comfortable with them. Again, it was something new for me to see and made me question why I thought it was weird. After the initial curiosity wears off it becomes the norm and I learn to appreciate it and respect it. Now, luckily we didn’t have any conversations with any resident Indians who knew of some of the emerging rape and spousal abuse epidemic so I cannot speak to that. That’s obviously unacceptable and at the same time, completely conflicts with the “innocent India” I witnessed. I have many faults and one of those is trying to make sense of everything. If you don’t try to then you try to reason by categorizing things into black or white, which can help your sanity at times but we all should know that NOTHING IS BLACK OR WHITE. And India is certainly not that; it is black, white, red, marigold, indigo, saris, henna, cow dung, flies, grime, head bobs, pride and nirvana…and it’s ALIVE. My wife nailed it when she described it as an “emotional roller coaster”. It is a great metaphor and one that holds true for life in general. India is Life, Life is India. Living is pushing yourself out of your comfort zone from time to time or whatever is necessary. Life keeps happening and if it doesn’t go your way, you have to be flexible and log those experiences in your default mode network and move on to the next. Life is crazy, India is crazy, you and I are crazy. Crazy to where sanity is essentially unnecessary. Get on with your bad self Prince! (never intended to end this blog with a Prince reference…buuuuut, he was a master). Thank you India and I hope to see you again!

The last three weeks...

So here's a quick recap blog post
1) We saw Everest in case you didn't hear - it's the picture of the mountain (duh) and it's the peak to the left not covered in the cloud.
2) We took a bath with an elephant and had the time of our lives as it sprayed us with water, knocked us off as we climbed back on, only to get sprayed again and knocked back off. Tons of fun and a great recommendation from Eric and Lorien!!
3) After Nepal we took the long trek (totally worth it) towards Italy where we munched on incredible food - actually we gorged - and spent a romantic four days in Amalfi exploring the coast and touring Capri like any good tourist should. We were in total bliss.
4) Then we met up with my mom and brother and family to celebrate my mom's BIG birthday (I won't name numbers) in Sicily. We stayed at a villa for the week in Porticello and enjoyed touring the big island and staying in one bed for an entire week. Ahhhhh.....
5) We then headed to Albania for ten days with my Aunt Barbara (see previous post). All three of us were constantly surprised with the hospitality and the beauty of Albania. I had only heard bad travel stories of the the place and besides that we didn't know too many people who had visited. The picture of the Sunset and the photo of my aunt and I are testaments to the incredible place we encountered. I can't wait to spread the word and let the world know what great people Albanians are, at least the ones we met. I would love to return there someday plus there is a neat beach we found with NO ONE on it!! My dream... Matt and I got in and swam in our underwear and just had the best time.
6)Off to Greece.... a long journey but for the economical side of things it turned out quite nicely. We were 2 of 8 people on a bus fit for 60. We made some nice friends two of whom must have felt sorry for us as one gave us some eggs and another bread and cheese to munch on. Once again, Albanian folks who spoke no English but wanted to lend a hand to the foreign travelers. We loved it....
7)We started in Delphi to visit the ancient ruins then worked our way to Nafplio (look at a map people!!), then Athens, the off to the Greek Islands! First Naxos, then Koufonisia part of the Little Cyclades, and now we are awaiting our boat to the party island of Ios who is also rumored to have nice beaches.

We'll write more on Greece after Ios but I thought I would post a few pictures. Lots of love and we'll see you all in about 3 weeks!!
xoxo,
H & M

Ode to Alex's iPod...

I have not mentioned in the past the savior that is my little brother's castaway iPod. It has helped me endure the 5 hour bus ride from Haridwar, India to Corbett Tiger reserve(also in India) when the bus was filled to capacity before the driver managed to fit an additional 30 people in the aisle and the road was so bumpy we hit our heads on the roof with every pothole and little hill in the road. Did I mention everyone was smelly and these two creepers were staring at me? After about thirty minutes I remembered the iPod in my backpack. I really had forgotten about it for the first month of our trip. I guess I was saving it for the most crucial moments. Well I put the headphones on from the back seat of the bus and sang as loud as I could for the next 4 hours to any and every song that Alex had programmed into that amazing contraption. People could barely hear me because the noise level on the bus was so high but it sure felt good. I did have some old ladies staring at me but I just closed my eyes and kept on singing.

Then there was the time when I was taking the overnight train from Corbett to Delhi and this guy in our cabin snored the whole night through and I had to hit his shoulder every 30 minutes just to get him to turn over and stop for a moment while I tried to force myself to sleep. Any of my friends who snore or snored in the past, Karoly, Arielle, may remember that I have zero tolerance for loud breathers and midnight snorers. Anyhow, finally when I thought I would have to sleep in the bathroom (disgusting)I remembered the iPod, popped it on and rocked out to Eric Clapton and Shakira's 'Grandes Exitos' until 6 the next morning while the horrible snoring man next to me slept peacefully.

As the weeks went on and the situations got more and more 'trying' as they like to say, I turned to the iPod with greater enthusiasm and each and every time it got me through the 12 hour bus ride or snoring man or crabby boyfriend or bumpy road or overnight train and for this I give many thanks.

So for a quick update, currently we are in amazing, fabulous, beautiful, undiscovered Albania. I love it. It is an incredible country with equally incredible and resilient people. The Mediterranean has nothing on Albania's coastline and the mountains are serene and peaceful and thirty different shades of green. We have been welcomed with open arms and after ten days it is just too soon to leave. We began after our ferry ride from Italy to Durres and then headed to Berati with a beautiful hillside castle and gorgeous old homes in the hills. Then we took the bus to Gjirokastra and stayed in the old village up in the hills. We also walked around their old fort/castle that was from the 4th century BC. The following day we hiked into the hills (that looked like a scene out of the Sound of Music) and mingled with the sheep, cows, goats, and townspeople. Incredible people with fabulous stories. These people have seen a lot in their lifetimes and they have managed to keep smiles on their faces and warmth in their hearts. After Gjirokastra we headed to Sarande a popular beach resort that was filled with 20 year olds looking for a good time. It was fun although we didn't spend much time at the beach. We instead headed out for day trips to Butrinti to check out their archeological excavations and look at old Greek theaters, castles (again, but Matt's in heaven), artifacts, old mosaics, and basilicas. After a couple of evenings strolling on the promenade in Sarande we headed to the incredible town of Himara where I am today. The water here is the best I have seen in a long time. Thailand has better sand and warmer water but I must say nothing I have seen in Europe in a long time or India, looks anything like this. The town is practically empty from tourists except for a few Albanians form up North. It is all locals and it is a small and perfect place. I am in heaven and will gladly soak up the sun for the next couple of days before we head to Greece.

Speaking of Greece we leave for Athens on Wednesday and we are debating whether to take the twelve hour bus leaving from Himara at 5am or the 12 hour bus leaving at 4pm. Either way I know I'll have issues sleeping and will probably feel carsick but I also know that I've got the iPod. Alex's castaway when the newer model came out. The little piece of technology that is keeping me sane during times of distress. I'm not going to guarantee that it will keep me rocking for the entire 12 hour ride but I do know that it will be a nice pick me up for a girl who does not do well on bus rides and it will keep me going when I need it and that is all I can ask for. Thank you Alex... I love you and congrats for almost finishing high school! 1 more month to go!
Lots of love!!
H & M

Italy is Like Home

Sine the moment we stepped off the plane in Rome I felt like I was back in the good ol USA. Dont get me wrong, I have loved every second of travel, but after weeks of dirty streets, smelly airports, and truthfully some scary people it felt like I was stepping into the cleanest place on earth (and mind you Im talking about a train stop!). Anyhow backtracking very quickly Matt and I were flying in from Kathmandu, Nepal (after a quick detour to the Doha airport in Qatar). Nepal was such an extreme between the crazy polluted dirty city and the calm serene and beautiful Himalayan Mountain range. We had gone on a 5 day trip tothe Everest region hiking through Lukla towards Namch Bazaar and Temboche (sp?) hoping to catch a view of the elusive Everest. We were seuccessfyul and saw some incredible views of the mountain as wells as views of the others 'greats' surrounding the big guy. We walked over the Hillary Bridge and through amazing valleys and gorges all the while climbing up to about 12,000ft a minor feat when compared to some of the other folks we met along the way. We stayed with Sherpa friends throughout the hike and really just enjoyed ourselves out in the natural world. I'll go into more detail later but for now the word magnificent stays in my mind.

After a few more days in Nepoal we headed the equally stunning, though for different reasons, Amalfi Coast where we stayed in the most perfect plac ein Amalfi with Italian tiles, delicious food and lots of relaxing time on the coast....

I feel like I'm refreshed and rested for the final month....
Cheers!
H

Swami Ram Dev Ji are you there? It's me, Hillary...

We are on to week three and a half in India and we are excited to FINALLY be staying in a nicer comfortable hotel with a clean bathroom and no bed bugs. I was attacked by them the other night and totally grossed out. We are now in Amritsar in Punjab a state that borders Pakistan in the North East. The food here is really good and the people seem much more sophisticated than in other areas of the country. There is a large mix of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims here so it is quite a diverse community with some really great variations on food that we have been eating elsewhere. 75% of the country is vegetarian but in this region there are many restaurants that also serve meet options which are nice for a change. We still opt for mostly veggie meals as the lentils and Paneer (a type of cheese used in curries) and Aloo Gobi (potatoes and cauliflower) are fabulous but the tandoori ovens they use here make the best Naans, chicken, and grilled veggies.

Last night we took the 6 hour train from Jim Corbett National Park in Ramnigar (more on that in a minute)to Delhi and then another 7 hour train to Amritsar. The first ride was so bad - I was bunked next to this horrible snorer. I spent the entire night pushing his arm to get him to turn over and clapping my hands to startle him awake in hopes that I could fall back asleep before he could. We are thoroughly exhausted today but excited to be in a new place. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Golden Temple which some say rivals the Taj Mahal (we visited that last week and made it for Sunrise which i highly recommend since it is less crowded then)and then take an afternoon trip to Attari the border with Pakistan to watch the border crossing a daily evening ceremony between the Indian and Pakistani border guards. You can check it out on You Tube - I think this link may work if you copy and paste it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ0ue-XGl9c

Anyhow, we also hope to find a drink or two while we are here since we have been in dry states and towns for the last 3 weeks and even though neither of us are big drinkers the thought of being denied a drink without even an option to sneak one in has us watering at the mouth. So, we may buy a bottle and just sit in our room tonight and drink, eat ice cream and watch movies - now that's luxury!

Moving on... Matt and i are excited that our time in India is coming to an end although we will surely miss it once we are gone. We met these fabulous people when we were in the Tiger reserve this last weekend (yes more tigers! !!) who are from Durango, Colorado but are living in Delhi currently working as engineers - I thought of you Whitney! These guys are total troopers... They are in their early 50's and moved here for work and live in India for an unknown amount of time which is nuts. It is such a tough place to be and those minor comforts of home start to really be missed by the end of the first month. Things like toilet paper, clean bed sheets when you stay at a hotel, nicely formed lines, and well organized national parks.

First off let me tell you that I LOVED this reserve. Although the entire process for gaining entrance is based on who you know and how much you pay them, once inside there is a lot to see and plenty of nature and fresh air to soak up. Matt and I were there for three days and saw our first wild tigers. There are 164 living in the reserve and we saw one on each of our morning safaris. It was the most incredible moment when we first spotted one. We woke up at 5:20 and were the first ones out before sunrise. It was just Matt, our driver, and our guide. About 5 minutes into the ride we spotted tiger tracks on the road and started to follow them into the trees. We then heard the sounds of the barking deer which is a signal that a tiger is near. We drove to a lookout point and waited for ten minutes hoping the tiger would come out from the dried river bed. Just as we were going to give up the tiger emerged and walked along the bank ignoring our jeep while out for his morning stroll. It was an incredible feeling and we were the only ones at the time so it was an amazingly private moment.

The following day we left from a different camp where we had stayed the night before and began our animal search. At 6:30am on Monday we came upon another jeep that was standing still and when we approached we saw a massive male tiger sitting in these rocks about 15 feet form the car!!! Now I know Matt and I saw the tigers in Thailand but these tigers were completely un-tamed and although they do see the occasional jeep they do not have a ton of human interaction. The moment was definitely intense and Matt was scared (you were babe....but i love it)but the pictures will show it was an animal of true beauty, ferocity, and depth. About 3 minutes after our arrival he (the tiger, not Matt) decided he had had enough and walked into the woods to stretch, take a poop, and presumably look for a new place to nap. We'll post the pics really soon. In addition to the wild tigers we saw herds of migratory elephants with their babies, spotted deer, the endangered hog deer, a group of long nosed crocodiles, wild boar and pigs, peacocks, and tons of other fantastic birds including the very rare great Indian Hornbill, the white throated kingfisher, the green bee-eater, and so many others Matt and I have now converted to bird lovers. Seriously they were the most fantastic I had ever seen in my life. The colors were so vibrant and all of the birds (there are over 500 in the park) had such distinct personalities. Our photos won't do them justice but I hope to show you all at some point. Anyhow, minus the complete total bureaucratic Bulls**t that we had to go through to get the highly coveted entrances to this park I recommend anyone who visits India to visit the park. Not only was it a great experience but really a fantastic break from the crowds and noise of the Indian cities.

I have so much to write about that I have to save the rest of this blog for later. I will say though that we also loved Rishekesh - the land of Yoga, meditation, and self-rediscovery (or so we hear). We just really enjoyed the morning yoga and the fabulous brown bread they served in the food shops near our guesthouse, that and we had the best room in the whole place for only $10/ night. Rishekesh is where the Beatles came in the 60's before they they wrote the great White Album to meditate and 'mellow out'. In Rishekesh we also did some rafting and hiked up to some great waterfalls with small pools underneath where we spent the day cooling off and relaxing. This place isn't for everyone though and they have a major fly problem on the other side of town where we luckily opted out of staying. Oh and I had my first experience bathing in the magical, mythical, spiritual *or so they say* Ganges River. Naresh if you read this it was so fabulous to meet you!! If you get a picture with Swami Ram Dev Ji I will be so jealous!!! I really liked him and he waved to Matt and I when we left the Ashram that night!!!

Ok, I must go but I just want to say that this crazy India place keeps hitting us with surprises. As soon as we are down and looking for the earliest flight out we find the most incredible gem that keeps us wanting more. I guess they say that in life the things we appreciate the most are those things that we have to work the hardest for. Well I'm not really sure who says that but I guess sometimes it's true.
Lots of love for now!! H & M

Corbett Stock Exchange (Corbett Tiger Reserve, Ramnagar)

If you're into throwing hip checks, jabbing elbows, and speaking broken uninteligible english with foreign tourists for 8 hours a day 6 days a week all for the love of extra cash-in-hand, then you're just the man/woman for the job. Step right up, congratulations! You are now in charge of Indian-Foreigner relations at the reservation office in one of the most amazing parks in India. Unfortunately though, in order to be eligible for those extra $20 bucks a day (enough to pay for your well desired stress relieving massage)you will endure 48 solid hours of hell in extreme heat and utter chaos.

All we wanted to do was see tigers.

What we got...were, actually...tigers.

What we had to deal with in between however, was like I mentioned...unorganized chaos. I don't even want to go into more detail but I can tell you that Friday night a fight broke out at the reservations office and the police had to come break it up. Can you believe this happening at The San Diego Zoo or even Disneyland? The main reason for this shameful process is that all the official reservationists accept bribes...and a whole hell of a lot of them.

So for I guess what was a 3 day/2 night trip (we actually never knew we could get into the park until that actual day) we saw a lot. Not only did we have to wait for roughly 8 hours for our "tour operator" to get us in, I had to let Hillary beat me about 11 times in a row in Uno. With the frustration of Indian ticket line politics on your mind, losing the most simple of all card games 11 times in a row does not help your mood.

So this needs to end...I'll attempt to tell you what we saw, since most of our "compulsory" (our new favorite Indian/English term) English speaking tour guides spoke limited English...here it goes:

Bengal tiger, woohoo, got that one!
Indian elephants- on a roll
Long snout crocodile
Mugger Crocodile
wild pigs (boar)
osprey
peacocks
all sorts of deer- spotted, samber, hog, barking
great indian hornbill or orange beaked hornbill?
kingfisher bird
nutheaded something or other bird?
black nbipaimnc ??
blue upiunz'cms ??
red wipuacnpn with mohawk ??

Well worth the trip in the end. Gotta go, the bell on the exchange floor has sounded. P.S. photos still to come

Wait, Are you speaking English????

So we were told how wonderful it is in India because everyone speaks English. Well I"m not sure if I just don't understand their version of English or if they just don't understand mine, but I sure know I have tried to converse quite a few times at this point with 'an English speaker' and there has been absolutely no communication or message being transmitted. My point is there are over 40 dialects in this country and I think there are just as many 'versions' of English. Don't get me wrong, some of the people here have fantastic English skills (some even better than Matt's!! - kidding babe) and we have had plenty of great conversations about politics, religion, and of course food. But when you go to a place to eat and ask what ingredients are in the food item you are interested in ordering or you need directions or a bottle of water and the answer sounds something like - 'odfndofnongfsdongob' and then you ask again and they say 'dongownbongboig' and then I ask 'Do you speak English' and they say 'yes' in perfect English and then I ask another question and they say 'afgnbofegnbo', let me tell you I want to just pull my hair out.
Moving on.....
I finally just recovered from what they may call Delhi Belly. Around my 6th day in India I had my first run in with a bug. Not sure what kind, or where it came from, but I do know my body didn't like it and told me the 15 times I had to run to the bath room at least 8 of them to hug the toilet face in the bowl. No need to add any more details except to say as the night wore on I must have rubbed off on Matt because at about 2am I heard him run to the bathroom and begin his own 'hugging session' in the bathroom. Two days later and now we're in Delhi staying at my friend Nitin's house and I feel great and have finally moved back to solid food. Matt is recovering a bit slower and I'm hoping his banana split for dinner tonight will give him the energy he needs for the train ride to Jaipur.
This last week has been an eye opener for both of us. India is all that I have heard it would be and more. The food has so many different flavors and variations and smells. The people are smiling and happy and sad and sweet and scary and fantastic and some not so fantastic. Everyone is curious about us and some even think I"m a celebrity. I"m not kidding I have had about 50 people ask to take their picture with me and another 100 or so just stare and take pictures from afar. I"m not sure if it's because we are foreigners or if it is because we look like someone they know but I have never encountered such curiosity. There are other westerners here but we have not seen many and so we cannot tell if this is normal for all or if this is unique to us. Matt has this little mustache thing going on and someone said he looked like an actor because of his mustache. I have a feeling his ego liked that one so we have the 'stache for at least another week. Anyhow, Nitin and his wife Sofia have been the most amazing hosts in Delhi. They gave us their driver for the day so we toured the city weaving in and out of the rickshaws, the horse drawn carts, the buses, the cyclists, the walkers, the dogs, the beggars, the cars, the motos, and of course the occasional cow and goat. It was great fun visiting the spot of the first Muslim mosque built in India, driving through the hectic and a bit scary streets of Old Delhi and stopping for lunch in the middle of it all, walking through the India Gate's tribute to fallen soldiers, bargaining at Janpath Market for some scarves, and learning the lessons of love and acceptance at the Hindi Akshardham Temple part of the Swaminarayan Group with the most ornate ceilings and pillar carvings. That last stop was like a mini Hindu Disneyland including an It's a Small World-esque boat ride, a mini movie, and a water fountain music and light show. Anyhow... I must go to bed for the early ride to Jaipur and then we're off to Agra. Lots of love as always and we miss you all and love the emails. xoxoxoxo