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