Welcome back....the world's attention turned to India last week, and not in a good way. Thanks to everyone who wrote and thought of us. Rest assured, we were far away from the horrible events at Mumbai (more on that later). At the same, we realize that security is a state of mind, whether you live in Mumbai, New York, London or anywhere really. To travel is to live life. No terrorist attack can change that. Ater one last weekend in Ludhiana with Babloo and old school friends, we travelled to Delhi with Jaspreet's mom and Babloo. We said our goodbyes to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Back into civilization, and apparently just in time for wedding season in India. We felt presentable after a few more showers and finally washing our clothes, which took more than 10 buckets of clean water. Ewww. First stop was Dehra Dun and a family friend's wedding. [Itay apologizes for not remembering certain names and titles in advance. And a further apology for regional confusion: Dehra Dun is not in Punjab, but let's pretend so in the spirit of better story telling.] The wedding reception featured all vegetarian cuisine, and unfortunately no alcohol. No problem. Itay was u [View Full Entry]

---

---

A warning before we begin: if Part 1 was short and sweet, then Part 2 is anything but.... Day 4 was election day back home. We camped the night before at a high altitude meadow, so the walking was mostly downhill towards our next destination, the village of Pana. We made it to camp at sundown, but luckily our crew had set everything up and greeted us with tea and hot soup ( a daily feature by now). The village, 500 feet below, disappeared as night set in. No electricity here, or hardly anywhere else on our hike. ----- We woke [View Full Entry]

---

---

We are back in civilization! It's hard to sum up the experience in words, but two hyphenated ones come to mind: life-changing and life-affirming. We endured a week with no cars in sight, a tent for a home, and a bucket of water for a shower. But then again, 8 guys took very good care of us: our guide, Prithvi, who grew up in the region; a shepard and two assistants who led 6 donkeys carrying all our supplies; two cooks, who prepared hot breakfast and dinner each day, not to mention packed lunches and soup and other snacks; and for [View Full Entry]

---

---

We woke early Monday morning and took the Shatabdi Express from Delhi to Dehradun. Itay got to see the real flavor of India along the train tracks. The scenery gets more beautiful once you leave the city. Included in our ticket price was a thermos of tea, option of veg or non-veg (eggs) breakfast and choice of 5 newspapers. We ate, napped and finally made some friends from the Czech Republic who decided to book the same hike and we will spend the next 10 days with them (more on that later). Upon arriving at the Dehradun train station, we were [View Full Entry]

---

---

After much needed sleep, woke up to first digested meal in India. As Borat would say, Success! Truth be told, our hotel is french owned and on the fancy shmancy side. Breakfast included fresh squeezed lime-OJ, masala omelette, crepes with nutella and fresh jam, all enjoyed on the outdoor terrace. Then it's off to explore the holy sights. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and the Ba'hai. They've all got a home in Delhi. All this religion can make you thirsty. For alcohol, that is. In the afternoon, we made our way to the Imperial Hotel (thanks for the tip, Lisette and Jean-Pierre!), one [View Full Entry]

---

---

All it took was 3 flights, 24 hours, and more airport bathrooms than we'd care to view. First off was a long stopover in Frankfurt, which gave us enough time to enjoy some European fine dining: cappuccinno and sausages, with apple tart to go. A brief stop at Mumbai airport, the third customs check (how many times can they inspect liquids?!), and then we finally landed in Delhi, 9 am local time. To the uninitiated (ie, Itay) it was quite a slap in the face. Every conceivable form of trasnposrt, the smog, the humanity! We checked into a lovely B&B in [View Full Entry]

---

---

In our attempt to figure out this blog, figured we should take a stab before leaving. Yeah, that's right, you no longer have to hear about our trip to India. Only read about it. Liftoff is Wednesday, October 22. From that point on we'll do our best to share the ride, especially for those of you personally invested in this trip. So many moments to capture, from the elephant ride and couples massage, to all the sherpas lugging our bags up a mountain (thank you again Krisha, Jacob, and Claire & Brian). Let's test out the water with a few clips [View Full Entry]

---

---