I've gotten behind again on this blog, but as luck (?)would have it I've been given lots of time. We are sitting on a train somewhere between olyantatombo and Machu Picchu, not going anywhere. Apparently there's been a land slide up ahead and no one's going anywhere and there's no internet service. In the meantime I can catch up and write about yesterday. We started the day on the bus at 8. I was out much earlier to enjoy the beautiful setting of Villa olyantatombo. The flowers, the birds, and being surrounded by the Andes is so peaceful. And besides there's only internet outside the room. Our first stop was along the road. Raul had us all get out to talk about the flowers and fruit trees. There were avacado and pear trees. We stopped into ... read more

Writing this as I pack up to leave Lima. We're flying to Cuzco in the morning. We've been here for 4 days and I've really liked the city. Our OAT tour group under the very able leadership of Raul has started. Only 5 additional people, 4 of them women, and all seem very easy going and friendly. We did go on the big tour bus yesterday to get to Central Lima but we've also traveled on public buses and trams, which has been fun. Buses in Lima always look crowded as are the roads. Too many people for the space in this city. So what did we see and do in Lima these past 2 days? A good bit of sightseeing: Took public bus to Huaca P to see pre Inca ruins. Amazing that this mud ... read more

As we head back home, 17+ flying hours, I thought for the sake of my memory, I'd put together what we did the last 2 days. The pace definitely slowed down after the Ganges experience. That same day we spent the afternoon in Sarnath, place where Buddha gave his first sermon 2500 years ago and where there is a stupa on that spot, and excavated ruins from Buddhist temples. This was the center of Buddhist learning under the emperor Ashoke. We went into a Buddhist temple that is currently in use. Kapil talked about the history of Buddhism and some of the beliefs. We also drove around the Varanasi Banaras University, the largest residential university in India. Wherever we drove we saw children flying kites, part of the festival day. There are competitions where they try ... read more

Early start... Breakfast at 6 and on the way to the train station by 7:15. Taking the train to jhansi and then a bus for 5 hours to Kajuraho. Kapil tells us that people will offer to shine our shoes and fix our bags while waiting for the train and they did. Beggers, very disabled, one with elephantiasis, are regulars at this station. Guide said he's been seeing them for 12 years here and they make more than poor farmers do...Still sad to see. Train was decent...We had reserved seats. The trip was slow, even though this was a fast train.. Instead of 2 and a half, the trip took 4 hours. Biggest problem? The bathrooms..One look and I knew I'd be waiting until we got to our next destination! In total we traveled for about ... read more

I didn't think today's road trip would be blog worthy....Just a long uneventful bus ride. But I was wrong. We left Jaipur after a buffet breakfast, of course, first stop was a beautiful Hindu temple, all white marble. Kapil is a Hindi and gave us an intro to the basics of the religion. We got lucky and were there during the morning service. A curtain came up on a gilded, lit up statute of Vishnu and his wife. There was music and fire...At the end water was sprinkled on the worshippers. Beautiful! Next stop, the small village of Abhaneri in northern Rajasthan. Here we saw an amazing step well, a water reservoir built in the 10th century. Next to it there was a Hindu temple. Met a group of Indian girls who are all nursing students, ... read more