Trek to Everest Base Camp...

We will be trekking for the next 26 days in our pursuit of Everest Base Camp (5,545 meters/18,192ft) and the beautiful valley of Gokyo in the Khumbu region of Nepal. This nearly month long journey will be without internet, clean clothes and hot showers. We will have roofs over our heads as we sleep in "tea houses" or lodges that accommodate the many trekkers that will be doing the same journey as us. However, these lodges are no more than four cold walls, a roof and a hard straw mattress. The only thing that will keep us sane will be the majestic snow-capped panorama of the highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas.

Our trek for the first 6-7 days will begin from Jiri and end in Lukla. This is where most trekkers fly in from Kathmandu and begin the EBC trip. We wanted to acclimatize and gain strength with this first trek before attempting the difficult altitude climbs further up the mountains.

We will be joining our friend Caleb in Lukla on April 9th. All three of us will be accompanied by a guide to take us the rest of the way. Our flight back to Kathmandu from Lukla should be 15 days later.

Wish us luck and stayed tuned for some amazing photos when we get done!

Who knew there was a jungle in Nepal?

We crossed the Nepali border and headed straight to Chitwan National Park. This is a forest famous for the Bengal tiger, one-horned rhino, sloth bear, leopard, elephant, crocodile and over 500 species of birds.

The morning after we arrived, we departed on a three-day, two-night jungle trek accompanied by two awesome guides from the lodge we were staying at. We began with a three hour canoe ride through the grasslands of the jungle in a hand-carved canoe. We spotted many species of birds (which our guides were uncanny in their ability to recognize a bird from hundreds of meters away or from call alone). Also we saw many crocs sunning on the banks of the river.

After the canoe trip, the four of us walked a total of 23 kilometers through grasslands and through thick, dense forests. Our guides took us through the jungle on major trails and those that we blazed ourselves. Our only protection from the tigers, rhinos and bears were the bamboo sticks our guides carried! That first day we saw many deer, wild boars and a handful of rhinos and a sloth bear. In some areas we got extremely close to the wildlife (pics above)!

That night and the second night we stayed at homestays in small, remote farming villages on the border of the jungle. The second night's village was so friendly to us foreigners. They were amazed by our appearances and our camera! The children surrounded and asked for photo after photo. We also sat and watched our meal being prepared over an open fire. Our chicken started out alive and clucking next to us, and ended up skinned and in a pot of curry!

We saw a total of 23 rhinos, 5 sloth bears, over 100 deer, 10 wild boar, a mongoose, over 25 crocs, over 150 species of birds (our guides remembered every instance of sighting after returning to the lodge!). Unfortunately, no jungle cats.

We also did a two hour elephant safari where we were able to get very close to a rhino and some deer.

The baby elephant was three days old and was at the local elephant breeding center. He was so cute he could hardly walk under his own power.

We are now up farther north where the mountains are. Getting prepared for our Everest trek in a few weeks!

Taj Mahal Closed... End of India

We traveled all the way to India to see the Taj Mahal (kinda), and of course the only day we had in Agra to see it, the Taj was closed! Every Friday it's closed for any non-Muslim who isn't there to pray. (If only we checked our guide book's fine print a few days earlier!) Our extremely hard-to-book train ticket left that same night to Varanasi so there was no way of staying an extra day. However, since the Taj is symmetrical on every side, we were able to get great sunset views from the other side of the river. The only thing we didn't get to see was the reflecting pool in front of the main entrance where most Taj pictures are taken. Oh well, it still was spectacular. And we met two Canadians who were great and we passed the day in Agra together. In the end it all worked out, and we are left with a unique story about coming all the way to India and not able to enter the Taj!

Varanasi is the oldest continuously-inhabited city of the world. And it is one of the holiest for Hindus. It borders the very holy and important Ganges River where there are these "ghats" or step-like things leading down to the water. Every 50 meters or so is a "separate" ghat, but in reality they all are continuous. Every morning, Hindus wade and jump into the extremely polluted and filthy Ganges to ceremoniously bathe and wash clothes. Also using the Ganges to bathe alongside the people are cows, water buffalo and dogs.

The Ganges is notoriously polluted. Sewage, garbage and dead bodies fill up the banks of this river. By dead bodies I mean corpses that are "buried" in the river after being sunk with stones.

One of the ghats specializes in the removal of human corpses. It is called Marnikarnika Ghat and there are people who have for generations performed the ceremonial cremations and river burials of Hindus. The cremations are public right on the banks of the river where over 20 fires burn at a time. The newly dead bodies are wrapped in cloth and special sheets and dunked into the Ganges to be cleansed. They are then placed on a fresh pile of logs (prices for logs depend on the type, quality and amount) and set ablaze. The special Ganges cremation is supposed to end the Hindu cycle of reincarnation so it is obviously very popular and sacred. Only those who die of natural causes such as old age are allowed the cremation. Children, pregnant mothers and those who died of snake bites do not get cremated but are sunk into the Ganges with heavy stones.

We went to the Marnikarnika Ghat today and watched the activities for about an hour (no photography allowed). It was quite the sight to see as white ash covered our clothes and hair. We walked around burning corpses where the fire was so hot we had to step back. People were milling around watching, and cows were walking and eating ceremonial flowers that had fallen onto the ground.

The experience was a surreal way to end our India adventure. Tomorrow we take a train to Nepal and brave a whole new world. Namaste.

Camel Safari and Jaipur

Very bummed... no photos for the safari because our first memory card has a virus. Luckily the photos are still there and we can view them on our camera so not all is lost.

The day before our safari there was a big Hindu holiday appropriately named "Holi" where people painted each other with bright paints and chalks. The whole of Bikaner was closed down for a day and men got drunk and had massive paint wars in the downtown. We stayed in and around the safer streets of the guesthouse with the women and children who played a much gentler version of "Holi" without the drunken rowdiness. Matt walked outside where a few of the neighbor woman painted his face... pretty harmless compared most others.

We came all the way to India to see a desert? We just left one in AZ...

Just got back from a two day, one night camel safari outside the city of Bikaner in the desert state of Rajasthan. The safari consisted of three camels - one pulling a cart with our supplies and crew, and two riding camels. The other tourist in our group was a 72 year old man from the US who is "backpacking" around India, but we think he is secretly on vacation from the North Pole (wish there were photos because he IS Santa).

We thought we would be seeing massive sand dunes like in Aladdin or Arabian Nights, but the desert around Bikaner was unfortunately similar to the Arizona deserts (minus cacti). We did camp next to a small dune at night and we toured some small farming villages with their surrounding fields and animals. The best part of the trip was riding the camels and watching our guide make meals using a camp stove powered by a twig fire. Sleeping under the stars and full moon was also neat, until we couldn't sleep because of how cold it got.

Now we are in the city of Jaipur, the pink city. Yesterday we shopped in the massive bazaars known for textiles, gems (many shop owners mentioned going to the Tucson gem show!), jewelry, and many other odds and ends. It was madness. Today we hired a tuk tuk for the day ($8) and he drove us all over to the major sites. In the photos above, you will see: the monkey temple where we fed the monkeys peanuts, Amber Fort and palaces.

We stay here for another day and half - tomorrow we will probably go see a Bollywood movie. After, we go to Agra for the Taj Mahal for one night and then to Varanassi. Then on to Nepal! Cannot believe it has almost been one month!

New Delhi/Old Delhi

We forgot how populated India was while being down in the little towns of Palolem and Hampi... then we landed in Delhi.

Our sickening taxi ride from the airport to Old Delhi was an hour of holding on for dear life as our driver seemed to take great pleasure in seeing how close he could come to hitting other drivers and pedestrians. It actually was quite impressive how he maneuvered, swerved and slammed his brakes all while holding his horn down.

Our first hostel was located in the "Old Delhi" part of Delhi and overlooked Jama Masjid, the biggest mosque on India (capable of holding over 25,000 people!). As it was a busy Friday evening, our taxi driver let us out on the opposite side that our hostel was to avoid the traffic jam of people, goats, mopeds, bicycle rickshaws, beggars, food vendors, ox-drawn carriages and whatever else you could think of. The scene was madness and as soon as we began to walk, the crowd swallowed us in its massive current and it was all we could do to pull out of it when we spotted the sign for our hostel.

We thought Mumbai was a dirty, smelly and polluted city. Delhi, especially Old Delhi is way worse. The smell of urine is everywhere as you walk around the bazaars. Garbage is pilled everywhere as if there is no central trash collector (actually have not seem a trash truck here yet). We have given up looking for trashcans on the streets and do as the locals... litter. In Mumbai (at least where we stayed in the nicer southern area) the streets were congested, but traffic flowed. In Old Delhi, the cycle rickshaws, push-carts and goats clog up the roads. Also, many of the roads are bazaars with all kinds of goods for sale with people spilling off the much too narrow sidewalks and onto the street. It is chaos.

I hope the photos posted will do justice to this chaotic and marvelous city. There are treasures on every street - from Kashmir tapestries to car and motorcycle parts. The street food smells, looks and tastes amazing. We tried chicken tikka - basically chicken kabab from a street vendor and also ate at a very famous Mughlai restaurant called Karims (photos for both above).

The past two nights we moved locations in Delhi to a more touristy area called Paharganj. Since our first hostel only had a bucket showers and a toilet that was a cross between an Indian squat and American (very difficult to use), we decided to upgrade and spend a little more for some luxury. For about $10 each/night, we have access for the first time to hot water, consistent electricity, clean sheets and room service! It has been paradise and really has rejuvenated our spirits for the travel we have yet to do.

Tomorrow we leave for the Thar Desert of Bikaner, Rajasthan. We plan on riding some camels and taking it easy in a smaller town.