Hi,
well that was quite a trip to India..remind me never to try it....Glad all went well. The Taj Mahal is quite impressive and so were all the other pictures. Glad everyone is in one piece. Hope you kids are enjoying school....you are so fortunate to have had so many experiences, and with many more to come. It was so nice seeing all of you this summer - looking forward to another family reunion.
Love, Uncle Alan & Aunt Connie
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Time in India
Dear Friends and Family~
Uploading our photos was time consuming, but it seems that writing a few words is proving difficult. I asked that each of us write about part of the trip, or something interesting to share. No luck. I was the one that desired this "holiday," so therefore, I am the lucky narrator. We landed in Singapore, from Dehli, one week ago today, so it is about time for a little update of our adventure in India.
India, what little we saw of this huge and varied country, is hard to describe. Everyone asks if it smells? I say no, but my children may argue. Delhi and Agra are overcrowded cities; hot and dirty, with people living on the streets, peeing on the streets, sleeping on the streets, and even dying on the streets. There are not really any sidewalks. The streets have cars, buses, tuk-tuks, bicycles, water buffulo, goa, cows, camels and dogs in them. The vehicles with engines all beep their horns constantly. Although Delhi is becoming 'cosmopolitan,' it is very poor. We didn't see people walking around with cups of coffee, listening to i-pods. But Indians are curious about foreighners, and they love to ask questions and hang around you.
It was a relief to fly to Himashal Pradesh, to the mountain town of Manali. The air was cool, and we were surrounded by gardens, pine forests, and mountain views. We took a little 4km trek around Old Manali, which was wonderful. We walked through apple orchards, apricot orchards, farms and villages. We passed many beautiful people out working. All greeted us with smiles. Leah had a little slip, and dropped 15m straight down the side of the mountain. With the help of a pricker bush, and her grabbing onto the grasses, she was able to stop herself. Which was a good thing, because the drop just kept on going. She was bruised and scraped, but very brave. My knees were shaking, but we carried on, and I talked to God.
We began our 'jeep safari' further north. We left behind the lush green valleys to the barron and rugged landscape. The drive was long, tough and scary. The kids often cried out that they would rather walk all the way, than drive on these roads. One lane, no guard rails, straight down. Not for the faint hearted. The road workers earn US$2.50/day, work with their hands, carry stones on their heads, and the women often have their children straped to their backs.
Camping out was fun. It became very cold at night, and we were so exhausted from trekking that we slept pretty well. Ponies carried our tents, food and supplies. We carried our day packs, which were too heavy to manage, at times. We had a toilet tent, which was just a little hole dug into the ground. The girls managed okay with this, but the boys needed to find an alternative. There was a lot of bathroom talk during these five nights in a tent. One night I helped our guide gather horse dung (as there are no trees/sticks since we are so far above the treeline) for a camp fire after dinner. We did not have to cook over the horse dung fire, like the locals, and this, I thought, was good.
Our trek took us about 26 hours, at an average of 4500m. The land formations on this Tibetan plateau were amazing, the views of glaciers and peaks breathtaking. We had four (surprise) difficult river crossings. It was actually snowing during one of the crossings, as we were hip-deep in rushing himalayan water! But, not to worry. We were safely hooked to a cable held by sherpas on each bank of the river. Again, I talked to God.
We did have one day of trekking that was 9+ hours. But, not to worry. We did have two ponies to help us along, should anyone need to ride a bit. The saddles looked questionable, but Leah took a try. The terrain was quite challenging, so we encouraged Jane to take advantage of the pony as well. She was leary, but this terrain was hard, so she agreed. As luck would have it, the saddle did slip, and so did she. But she was strong, and held onto the saddle for dear life. The horseman was able to pull her up, and save her from the rock cliff with the raging river below. Her cuts are still healing. I did a lot more talking to God.
Finally, we end our trekking adventure and meet up with our driver on the side of the road! We are happy now. We aren't even phased by the road conditions as we drive over the second highest motor-able pass in the world, at 5360m! We are now in the high Himalayas, and the terrain is moon-like. We get out of the car to pee (on the side of the road, of course), and it is freezing cold.
Our time in Leh (Kashmir) was a bit more relaxing. We visited spectacular Monasteries, built into the sides of these mountains. Some are in ruins, some are surrounded by a village, some are alive with Monks. I sat in the prayer hall while the monks were chanting and praying...wow! The sound resonated in my chest, it was soothing, it was 'wow.' We shopped and ate good food. We showered and slept well in our beds. We played cards and watched TV. We heard news of the bombings in the west of India, of the 135 Hindu's crushed to death during one of their festivals in Himachal Pradesh, and of the Indian soldier shot and killed on the border of Pakistan. I thanked God.
Our thoughts of India are so mixed...beautiful, harsh, challenging, rewarding, depressing, exotic, frustrating. It is amazing how the human race lives so differently in our one world. Traveling in India was definitely an adventure, but we had the endurance, the patience and a desire for the unexpected. We ended our trip at the Taj Mahal. An awesome structure, so grand and elegant. Proof of India's contrast and diversity. A world wonder for sure!
By the way, we must have "good karma," as we were able to keep healthy. But I think mostly that God was with us.
Namaste~
Lauren
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Uploading our photos was time consuming, but it seems that writing a few words is proving difficult. I asked that each of us write about part of the trip, or something interesting to share. No luck. I was the one that desired this "holiday," so therefore, I am the lucky narrator. We landed in Singapore, from Dehli, one week ago today, so it is about time for a little update of our adventure in India.
India, what little we saw of this huge and varied country, is hard to describe. Everyone asks if it smells? I say no, but my children may argue. Delhi and Agra are overcrowded cities; hot and dirty, with people living on the streets, peeing on the streets, sleeping on the streets, and even dying on the streets. There are not really any sidewalks. The streets have cars, buses, tuk-tuks, bicycles, water buffulo, goa, cows, camels and dogs in them. The vehicles with engines all beep their horns constantly. Although Delhi is becoming 'cosmopolitan,' it is very poor. We didn't see people walking around with cups of coffee, listening to i-pods. But Indians are curious about foreighners, and they love to ask questions and hang around you.
It was a relief to fly to Himashal Pradesh, to the mountain town of Manali. The air was cool, and we were surrounded by gardens, pine forests, and mountain views. We took a little 4km trek around Old Manali, which was wonderful. We walked through apple orchards, apricot orchards, farms and villages. We passed many beautiful people out working. All greeted us with smiles. Leah had a little slip, and dropped 15m straight down the side of the mountain. With the help of a pricker bush, and her grabbing onto the grasses, she was able to stop herself. Which was a good thing, because the drop just kept on going. She was bruised and scraped, but very brave. My knees were shaking, but we carried on, and I talked to God.
We began our 'jeep safari' further north. We left behind the lush green valleys to the barron and rugged landscape. The drive was long, tough and scary. The kids often cried out that they would rather walk all the way, than drive on these roads. One lane, no guard rails, straight down. Not for the faint hearted. The road workers earn US$2.50/day, work with their hands, carry stones on their heads, and the women often have their children straped to their backs.
Camping out was fun. It became very cold at night, and we were so exhausted from trekking that we slept pretty well. Ponies carried our tents, food and supplies. We carried our day packs, which were too heavy to manage, at times. We had a toilet tent, which was just a little hole dug into the ground. The girls managed okay with this, but the boys needed to find an alternative. There was a lot of bathroom talk during these five nights in a tent. One night I helped our guide gather horse dung (as there are no trees/sticks since we are so far above the treeline) for a camp fire after dinner. We did not have to cook over the horse dung fire, like the locals, and this, I thought, was good.
Our trek took us about 26 hours, at an average of 4500m. The land formations on this Tibetan plateau were amazing, the views of glaciers and peaks breathtaking. We had four (surprise) difficult river crossings. It was actually snowing during one of the crossings, as we were hip-deep in rushing himalayan water! But, not to worry. We were safely hooked to a cable held by sherpas on each bank of the river. Again, I talked to God.
We did have one day of trekking that was 9+ hours. But, not to worry. We did have two ponies to help us along, should anyone need to ride a bit. The saddles looked questionable, but Leah took a try. The terrain was quite challenging, so we encouraged Jane to take advantage of the pony as well. She was leary, but this terrain was hard, so she agreed. As luck would have it, the saddle did slip, and so did she. But she was strong, and held onto the saddle for dear life. The horseman was able to pull her up, and save her from the rock cliff with the raging river below. Her cuts are still healing. I did a lot more talking to God.
Finally, we end our trekking adventure and meet up with our driver on the side of the road! We are happy now. We aren't even phased by the road conditions as we drive over the second highest motor-able pass in the world, at 5360m! We are now in the high Himalayas, and the terrain is moon-like. We get out of the car to pee (on the side of the road, of course), and it is freezing cold.
Our time in Leh (Kashmir) was a bit more relaxing. We visited spectacular Monasteries, built into the sides of these mountains. Some are in ruins, some are surrounded by a village, some are alive with Monks. I sat in the prayer hall while the monks were chanting and praying...wow! The sound resonated in my chest, it was soothing, it was 'wow.' We shopped and ate good food. We showered and slept well in our beds. We played cards and watched TV. We heard news of the bombings in the west of India, of the 135 Hindu's crushed to death during one of their festivals in Himachal Pradesh, and of the Indian soldier shot and killed on the border of Pakistan. I thanked God.
Our thoughts of India are so mixed...beautiful, harsh, challenging, rewarding, depressing, exotic, frustrating. It is amazing how the human race lives so differently in our one world. Traveling in India was definitely an adventure, but we had the endurance, the patience and a desire for the unexpected. We ended our trip at the Taj Mahal. An awesome structure, so grand and elegant. Proof of India's contrast and diversity. A world wonder for sure!
By the way, we must have "good karma," as we were able to keep healthy. But I think mostly that God was with us.
Namaste~
Lauren
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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