I would like to take a break from the routine to recognize India's road ways, especially the children and adults, locals and foreigners, humans and otherwise, who spend time each and every day throwing caution to the wind by entering the chaotic frenzy found on the streets of every city and town in this massive country. Driving, or even just riding as a passenger in a vehicle ... hell, just trying to walk across the street ... is an experience unique and to itself in India. First, the rules of the road: Always stay in your lane. In India, cars are [View Full Entry]

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After my whirlwind tour of India's famous Golden Triangle, I was off for a two-week tour through the State of Rajasthan (literally, the Land of Kings). This arid state in western India was once a land of independent areas/cities ruled by royal families with Maharajas (kings) and Maharanis (queens) who lived extravagant lives in palaces in the security of stronghold forts. The modern state of Rajasthan was officially formed when India gained its independence from the British, but the royal families in each famous city still have a presence to this day. Over the two weeks, I visited the citie [View Full Entry]

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India's Golden Triangle: Delhi, Agra & Jaipur Once again, I'm playing catch up with this blog, recounting some of my travels from the past few weeks. Like the last entry, my true location is different than the one I've listed above, as I'm actually in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan on the edge of the desert, having just returned from an overnight camel safari! But since I'd like to discuss prior events, I'm allocating this entry to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal as I highlight The Golden Triangle I also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that I've been gone a month [View Full Entry]

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Ten Days in the Indian Himalaya As many of you know, I took a mountaineering course from NOLS (national outdoor leadership school) just after graduating from college in 1998. The course dramatically impacted my life and set me on my current career path working in outdoor education. So last summer, when I discovered that NOLS was offering an alumni trip to go trekking in the Indian Himalaya, I bumped up my departure schedule from the US and signed up. This would be my second visit to the Himalaya, having trekked around Nepal's Annapurna range for nearly a month in the s [View Full Entry]

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Greetings from Jaipur in the India State of Rajasthan! I've been out of the U.S. for 19 days now and it's officially time to get this blog off the ground! First, what is this blog all about? In answer to your question (I guess it was actually my question) ... this is going to be my online journal for maps, photos and stories while I travel in India for the rest of the year and throughout 2007, when I'll be living and working in East Africa with the Jane Goodall Institute. I'd say it's mostly for me AND mostly for you. [View Full Entry]

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This isn't a real blog entry. But I just noticed that if I include an entry from Thailand, my overall world map will include Bangkok. And since my first 27 hours of the trip were in Bangkok, I'm adding this retroactively (it's actually the 14th of April 2007 and I'm dar es salaam). But I'm not including Tapei, where I had a three-hour layover at the onset of the journey. One of these days I may actully go back and write up something about Alaska from July-August 2006 as well. [View Full Entry]

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