To get to Kathmandu, the most common route by land is through Sonauli. If you're coming from Delhi, take the train to Gorakhpur (for info on trains, see blog on trains in India), and the buses going to Sonauli are on the street across from the train station (perpendicular to the train stn). There are many buses and it takes 3 hours to get to the border (there's a lot of info on the internet and in guide books about this). When we got to the Indian customs office, an Indian official told us that the Nepali immigration accepts only US dollars for their visa and we have to exchange money here (to get US dollars) which was a complete lie! He also said that the 500 and 1000 Indian Rs bills are illegal in Nepal ... read more

There was such a huge difference in vegetation as soon as I got into Kerala. the forests were so green, and of course, there were coconut trees everywhere (Kerala = land of the coconuts). I took the overnight train from Goa (Thivim) to Kannur on March 21. I got off at Kannapuram as my host was in Taliparamba. His family is Christian (he has a wife and 2 daughters) and they took me to church on Sunday morning. Except for the fact that everything was in Malayalam (the language of Kerala), the mass was pretty much like any other mass in a catholic church. the church had all the stained glass and ornaments but everyone sat on the floor as there were no seats. In Kerala, there are 57% hindus, 20% Christians and 23% muslims. There ... read more

The idea of relieving poverty by simply giving has become quite evidently the wrong thing to do. It's the old adage: "give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him how to fish and he eats for life." The problem of giving (aid and relief) is most evident in African countries where foreign aid has existed the longest. People are realizing now that their approach has to change. check out Dambisa Moyo's www.deadaid.org. In brief, I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the most obvious problem is that certain villages in Africa are so used to aid that they are expecting it. Especially the young ones who grew up with foreign aid for the past 20 years or 30 years, they think that it's a way of life. Villagers don't know how ... read more

The flight from Mumbai to Dubai was only 2 hours but I didn’t eat or drink anything because everything on board the Jazeera Airways costs money, even the water. This is because Jazeera Airways is really cheap and has minimal service, such as, they don’t do baggage transfers if you have a connecting flight. The flight from Mumbai to Dubai was only $100, everything included. The return flight cost the same. I stayed with a friend who is from India but works for a company in Dubai. He recently moved to a hotel apartment because it’s actually cheaper than living in a regular rental apartment. In the hotel apartment, there are people that come and clean everyday. They change the bed sheets, provide soap, shampoo, towels, toilet paper, etc. just like in a hotel. But since ... read more

I’m here in the village of Savarsai, about 75 km south of Mumbai (just outside of Pen city). Apparently, this Child Haven (CH) home has a better location than some of the other homes: we are surrounded by the countryside with a nice view of the hills and farms on one side. It is also the smallest home with only 32 kids at the moment. I absolutely love the kids, they are great to be around. They range from age 6 to 15 (grades Jr KG to 9). I teach mostly English but intend to do a lot of music and art as these are subjects that seem to be lacking in their school and in their environment in general. The difficult part is that most of them are tone deaf. I don’t know if that ... read more