Trishuli & the Taj

This time the Himalayans were visible from 32k feet, the view would have been better from a window seat... at least we were on the 'viewing' side of the plane. We landed in Kathmandu, from Delhi, for the 2nd time in two weeks. We were greeted at the airport by a local man holding a sign bearing the names. "Aaron/Jacquelyn Studdlefield". Oct/Nov is peak season in Nepal... monsoons have passed and the weather is ideal for trekking so we sat outside our guesthose with a pot of Nepali milk tea and met our friend, Samuel, for dinner.

Our bus for the village of Trishuli departs in the morning. for 12 days Jacque and I will be working at a school for 90 kids of various ages all under 8 years old... some are orphans. We will play games with the children, teach English in the classrooms and meet with the teachers in the evening to assist them with their conversational english speaking skills. Basically, we will ask them a bunch of questions about themselves and help them through their responses in English, when necessary. I think we'll stick to the traditional, orthodox style of teaching English to kids... hangman, nursery rhymes and bingo. We have no expectations going in, only the reality of entering into a culture and way of life that is completely unfamiliar to ours and our daily habits back at home.

Also cold showers and no internet in Trishuli... and our guesthouse is $4/night.

about Delhi briefly... we wrapped up our stay with a visit to the Taj Mahal, the structure is mind-blowing and we will post pics asap. I need to let Jac will blog about her experience since she was the celebrity. Trip would have been paid for if I would have charged 30rs per pic with her. Not stretching the truth, old, young, men, women, children all wanted a pic with her... they were literally lining up at one point. I had to be rude on her behalf, it was too much towards the end. I was invisible but happily endured the neglect. With her it's inevitable though, I have a beautiful wife.

We love you guys and miss everyone.
Aaron

So long Shillong...

After two refreshing weeks in Shillong, it came time to say our good-byes and continue on our journey. It was hard to leave the place where we felt most at home. We met so many amazing people who welcomed us into their lives and treated us like family. Most meals were prepared for us, transportation was arranged, and we were escorted through the city… it was a real treat to be there. Some of our favorite memories in Shillong were hanging out with the students, Aaron got in a few games of basketball and I enjoyed shopping with some on the girls at the local mall. We will miss them all very much.

Last night we arrived in Delhi after 6 hours in the car and 3 hours on a plane. We were quite exhausted when we got to our hotel but we wrapped our day up with some domino’s pizza, which of course made it all better! I was the one who insisted on ordering it; sometimes you just need some good American comfort food. We will be in Delhi for 3 more days until we head back to Nepal to work at a school for 2 weeks. As Aaron just wrote about, today is one of the biggest holidays in India, Diwali. Due to the pre-celebration fireworks last night, the air is already smokey. I can’t imagine what tonight will be like. It should be fun!

Tomorrow we plan on visiting the Taj Majal, so we will post some pics of that. We miss you all very much! We finally booked the rest of our trip and will be heading home Dec. 15^th. Can’t wait to see you all and share our experience with you!

Jacque

 

Happy Diwali!

We managed to hit Delhi on one of the biggest festival weekends in India, Diwali.  It marks the New Year for all Hindus and there's about 1 Billion of them in India, literally.  They celebrate with a lot Fireworks and sweets... like New Years and Halloween combined.  We're told the entire city is black for three days as a result of the all the air pollution from smoke.  The actual day hasn't even started and our hotel walls are vibrating every 5 minutes from what sounds like dynamite going off in the distance... what kind of fireworks do these people have access to anyway???  Tomorrow should be interesting... our goal is to find a high viewing point in the city and perhaps a gas mask. Jacque is a bit anxious about it all... I can't wait!!!  Pictures to follow...

Trekking, Curry and Naga's

Sorry for the lag in updates.  Nepal and Northeast India aren't exactly known for their lightning fast broadband access... if the google logo isn't visible within 2 minutes of clicking the IE icon, I give up.  

It's been almost two weeks since I last updated from Pune.  I am now sitting in a quiet guest house in Shillong (far northeast India).  It's morning here and Jacque is still asleep.  Our room is perched above a quiet street across from one of the most prestigious Universities in Meghalaya (the Indian state we're currently in).  I can hear car horns, the faint conversations of street food vendors and the occasional thumping of Hip-hop music blaring out of a passing taxi, apparently Khasi's love Jay-Z.  Shillong is the state capital of Meghalaya and was referred to as the Scotland of the East by the British who once occupied this land.  The city is built on hills, and has a moderate climate, similar to Northern California.  Jacque and I took a day trip last week with a few locals to Cherrapunji, dubbed "the wettest place on earth".  The region is home to the 4th largest waterfall in the world among many other natural wonders.  Our favorite part of the day was walking, or crawling, through a cave 150M in length, it was otherworldly.  We left Cherrapunji quickly after realizing Julia Roberts was in town with an entourage filming "Eat, Pray, Love".  I won't witness a beautiful, untouched region of the world be vandalized by a hollywood production, haha. 

Let me back up and recap what has happened these past few weeks, for my sake too.  We flew from Pune to Delhi and Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal in late September.  The lack of heat and humidity made Kathmandu immediately welcoming.  We met up with Loknath (one of the most interesting people I've ever met and a good friend of Gary's) and some of the other THI folks. Meeting locals in every city has made this trip better than expected.  We spent a night in the city and took a flight to the mountain town of Pokhara. Pokhara is breathtaking, it's the city Nepali people take Holiday, I assume.  From Pokhara we hopped on a 2 hour bus ride to the beginning of our trail head to start our 3-day trek.  I should devote an entire blog to our trek, as those of you who have experienced understand.  In short, we trekked for 6 hours on day 1, up-hill for the last 4 hours.  Eight hours on day two and 3-4 hours on the final day... for a total of about 26 Kilometers.  The Annapurna mountain range was in view, including "Fish Tail"... I will post pics.  We strolled through countless villages, saw children playing and working.  Jacque and I stopped to rest and talk with some of the villagers when we could. I learned about 6 Nepali phrases from our porter, so communication was limited when a translator wasn't present.  I will let Jacque further describe the trek on her next blog but it was 4 days we will never forget and we're planning another trip back to Nepal on the 16th of Oct to work in a school 50 miles north of Kathmandu... we might take another trek on our own, this time on the Everest side.. still planning though.

We left Nepal for Calcutta, spent the night in a transit room (rooms inside the airport), then left for Shillong the next morning.  You don't actually fly to Shillong, you fly to the city of Gwahati and take a 4 hour taxi up the mountain to Shillong.  It was a long journey but we love this place, which is why we decided to stay for two weeks.  We have been hanging out with the students at the Schools here and have had meals with some of my Dad's good friends.  Eating and spending time with the locals has exposed us to authentic Indian culture... listening to their stories and seeing how they live has been eye-opening but I will go into more detail later.  

I played golf last week with Ray, the son of a my Dad's good friend.  Golf was classic!  18 holes, a set of rental clubs, a caddie and a ball boy... yes, a boy who actually runs up the fairway before you hit to make sure you never lose your ball, he even improves your lie, removing the guilt of having to do it yourself.  All this for 500 Rupees or the equivalent of around $10 USD.  I don't think I've ever had more fun.  We tipped our caddie's 300 Rupees each; earning them more in 4 hours then they do in two weeks, they couldn't believe it. 

Today Jacque is going shopping at the local mall, Police Bazaar, with a few of the students we met yesterday.  They know all the good shops apparently and will bargain for her; shop owner prey on westerners.  I am playing basketball and getting some much needed exercise.  We sill don't have anything booked outside of India yet but Israel and Jordan are looking like our next destinations... then to Italy to see some friends, hopefully.

Jac will probably write her own update later today or tomorrow... so look for that.

We miss you guys!

Love,

Aaron

Pics below...

Pic 1- Me and my caddie, Gotam, analyzing the break in my next putt.

Pic 2- Local Bazaar in Kathmandu, Nepal... Jac is wearing my backpack.

Pic 3- Jacque and I on our trek with a small view of the Himalayan Range in the back.

Pic 4- Rickshaw'ing through downtown Pune - I am sitting behind all those bags.