bye

This will be my last post from India. I've had a fucking blast. I hope everyone's enjoyed the pics. As I'm sure you've figured out by now, I never made it to Spain. I did learn a lesson about booking tickets on cheapo airlines though. Honestly, I dont' think it was meant to be. Since I've been here for four months I've had the luxury of really getting to know K's family. I'm positive I made the right decision.

K's sad to leave but also excited to get back. Her mom is coming in the spring so that is helping her not feel too sad. We are already planning our next trip back. I think we'll come for the festival season next year, which is in October. The weather should be a bit more cooperative then.

Anyways... adios.

Goa

 

 

 

 

Fyi the one of the decaying person is a photo of a photo of st. francis xavier. his body is prayed to because of it's unusual preserved state. they even put the body on display every year. he died in 1552.

K's family

here are some pics of k's family. one of her mom and her, her dad and max(the pug) then here niece and nephew. finally one of her grandmother.
 
 
 
 

just some stuff

My trip in India is nearly over and i realized I've severly neglected my blog audience. I wish I'd been more diligent in posting pictures. I have a long list of excuses why I did not but I won't bore you with them. Basically I just didn't get it done.

I spent the majority of my time in Hyderabad and Bombay. Hyderabad I will happily call my second home with my second family living there. Bombay was everything the guide books promised, a noisy city with everything under the sun. I especially enjoyed all the bazaars and museums. Btw I highly reccomend it as a place to visit.

I also got a chance to visit Himachel Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Delhi and a few other places. Goa was probably my favorite, this might shock some of you that know about my dislike of beaches. I really had a nice time there and enjoyed soaking up the sun and eating all the seafood i could. K was amazed at how white people turn red when they get sunburned. She was really freaked out by my lobstery legs and later the peeling process they underwent.

Kerala will go down as my least liked place. I'm not going to go so far as call it a waste of time but we definately picked the wrong time to go there. It was monsoon season and it was the anual Onam festival. K and I had been lucky with the rains till that point, but the bottom fell out on us in Kerala. Also, the Onam festival meant there were lots of seedy drunk locals with construction worker manners out on the streets. It was the first point I felt truly unsafe, with regards to the people, in India.

That's all for now. I'll try and post some pics soon. Hope everyone has enjoyed the pics. Adios!

Tabo II

Just a few more pics of Tabo. Kalindi and I really had a great time there. I love the pic of her eating the banana and chocolate pancake.


 
 
 
 

dhankar gompa

this is the dhankar monastery which is on the UNESCO list of most endangered cultural heritage sites in the world. link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhankar_Gompa



 
 
 
 

Tabo

Tabo was perhaps my favorite town in himachel. i LOVED it. there was a really nice 1,000 year old monastery there with beautiful scultures and wall paintings. unfortunately they didn't allow photography. here is a link if you want to read more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabo%2C_Himachal_Pradesh


 
 
 
 

Nako Lake

Here are some more pics of Nako Lake. The children in the area were really fun and always wanted their picture taken by the foreigners.





 
 
 
 

Nako

This was Kalindi and my favorite area. It is the desert part of the Himalayas. The landscape dramatically changed on our ride from Kalpa to Nako. The leeward side of the mountain receives 0 rainfall and relies on irrigation from various rivers in the area. The people in the area are buddhist and the food has a tibetan influence.



 
 
 
 

Kalpa Village

Small village in the Himalayas with beautiful buddhist and hindu temples. the town has a stunning view of kinnaur kailash peak.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinnaur_Kailash

this peak is shiva's winter home.




 
 
 
 

Shimla pics

here are some pics from shimla, it is a hill station in the foothills of the himalayas. really beautiful and clean place. the two of the monkeys were taken at the monkey temple dedicated to the god hanuman. again here is another link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman

sorry if i'm overloading you with wikipedia sites. i just figured some of you might want to read a bit more about all of these places.

also, the man with the monkey on his head was not pleased to have the rather over weight primate there and neither was his wife. the monkeys at this temple were extremely aggresive and went after anyone wearing a hat or glasses. the local docs even keep rabies shots ready for all the folks that get bite there. thankfully kalindi and i were able to throw them food and they stopped charging at us. :)

 
 
 
 

Delhi pics

here are some pics from Delhi. the first two and last one were taken at the Red Fort. click on the following link for more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Fort

the third pic is from India Gate and here is another link it you'd like to know more about this site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Gate