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.
P.S. Post some more pics. when you get the chance! These are so great.
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