Thursday, October 1, 2009

hello - namaste!

Just a quick note to let you all know we are safe and staying very busy seeing so many wonderful things. We never quite knew how a trip like this would feel - being constantly on the road and missing those luxuries from home.

After almost 10 days of travel I can say that we've been distracted enough to not miss home too much yet. Missing people is another story, so keep those emails coming to let us know how life is where you are!

We started our trip in India with visits to New Delhi, Jaipur, and of course Agra for the Taj Mahal. Some days we had a 5 hour drive, but it was really nice to see the city outskirts - even though we really weren't prepared for a lot of what we saw. I think our driver said it best, 'Money - big problem'. Social issues always stress me and I think I take them on as my own, so this hasn't exactly been a relaxing get away. Even so, I wouldn't have it any other way. People here are very grateful that we come to their countries and that we have an interest in their cultures.

It's still taking a lot of time to process, but thankfully Stefan and I are going through this together and can talk about it all. I have to say I have one amazing partner in crime.

Right now we are in Kathmandu, Nepal where were are taking in another culture and at times sweltering our lives away with 90F / 32C temps.

There is so much to see and the sites and colors here are absolutely striking. I still can't get over how welcoming everyone has been.

I will try to get some photos up soon. Working on a tiny netbook does make me miss my Mac. I completely have to relearn how to use a PC, which I should have done before we left!

5 comments:

N said...

Glad to hear you two are safe and keep posting about your adventure!

Take care.

Reannon said...

Wow, you did that all in 10 days??? Wow, you travel FAST. How did you like Jaipur? I wasn't a big fan...I thought people were kind of hostile there. But that's also the city that I got robbed and attacked in so that might have something to do with my opinion of it. I did like Nepal though...not so much Kathmandu, though because it was dirty and intense. You should check out Pokhara if you have the time! It's pretty far by bus but worth the visit. It's an excellent spot to go treking!

Make sure to to the Kali temple while you're in Kathmandu. It's a temple where people bring make animal sacrifices to the god, Kali (at least I think that was her name). If you can stomach watching buffalo and goats get decapitated, it's a pretty interesting experience.

I'm so jealous!

Loddelina said...

It is nice to hear from you, I'm glad the trip is going well!
Can't wait to see some pictures!

Abritta Sülzbach-Bjorklund said...

sounds like your having fun!
any interesting honeymoon destination suggestions?

Emily said...

Bluefish...
I'm trying to get better at posting and responding!

Reannon...
We definitely had an action packed beginning of the trip, but thankfully things have slowed down.

Jaipur was interesting. I can't believe that happened to you! Unfortunately everyone there seems like a salesman / con artist. It's an odd sense of not knowing who to trust for the most mundane things.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to go to Pokhara, but Kathmandu gave us some funny experiences. I will avoid that airport like the plague, athough that should be easy.

Loddelina...
I'm still working on photos. It might be a while, but it will give me plenty to do.

Abritta...
Oooh! I have tons. I think it depends on what you want.

Beachy and lazy = Maldives (I am bias, that's where we went for ours)

Outdoorsy = Iceland

Adventure = Cambodia

I'm really wanting to get to the Greek Islands too. I bet you'll find something fantastic and memorable. How exciting! I hope the wedding plans are going well.