Home

30 something hours of travel later we are safely in amarillo. Brandon has a high fever and I feel overall terrible. We are going to the minor emergency clinic this morning when they open. Everything feels strange in my stomach, including plain crackers and campbells soup.

my neck is ok. it just feels like i got a swift punch to the jugular, but the swelling has stopped and even gone down. we never made it to the clinic, because the next morning we woke up with cydney feeling terrible. sore throat, upset stomach, and her entire body hurting. the only thing going for us was no fever or chills. so, we spent the day in bed trying to rest and restore our bodies. she is feeling better today, most of it gone except the nausea. our flight is not until 5:30, and she will be resting in the room until it is time to go to the airport. hopefully she starts feeling better or this is going to be an even longer journey back home.
ok, just wanted to give you a little update.
love you guys, and see you soon.

More imagery

Will arrive in amarillo on 22nd of November, notice brandon getting an awkward massage as a cow watches.

We arrived safely in kolkata after a very long night train. Varanasi was fascinating, but we are thrilled to be away from it. Congested with cars, bikes, motorcycles, people, pollution, cows, goats and dogs the city was suffocating. The tiny narrow alleyways were confusing and littered with rubbish and terrible cow diahrea landmines. You cannot imagine the smell. The cow-considered holy- roam the streets of urban varanasi eating whatever they can manage to find (mostly trash and plastic). Sadly and ironically, the cows/buffalo are dying a slow painfull death as the plastic strangles their digestive tract. The holy ganges river is the place of excitement in this city. Millions of hindus come to varanasi to die and end the cycle of rebirth. All day people come to the river to do laundry, bathe, wash their buffalo, and cremate their relatives. The most affecting were the burning ghats where up to 130 cremations a day take place. A giant platform of wood is completed with a corpse that is doused in butter and lit on fire. Seeing entrails and bone of burning corpses was an image worse than the latest horror films. Not all are cremated-children under 10, lepers, small pox, sadhus and a few others are simply caste into the river (more recently tied to a slab of concrete).

The holy ganges has no free molecules of oxygen-making it septic, and is 1.5 million times the amount of fecal-coliform considered safe to bathe in. Everyday sewege and trash flows freely into the sacred waters. People drink the water eagerly as they bathe.

Yesterday, as we were eating lunch brandon was again complaining of a sore neck (as he had been for several days) and upon closer inspection, deep within his beard was a tick that had been feasting since our time in the jungle. We returned to the hotel to get tweezers and the ganga fugi family looked on in horror as I touched a blown out match head to his face. The little sucker came out but he still has a sore neck and a little bit of swelling. We will probably go to the health clinic to make sure its nothing serious tomorrow morning. Anxious to be home, we miss you all very much.

Kolkata-Delhi- 5pm
Layover
Delhi- Chicago- 1am (10hours)
Layover
Chicago-DFW-8am
Layover
DFW-Amarillo- arrive 12:40pm

Backtrack

From the park we took a 4 hour rattleing shrine on wheels to the border of nepal where we got on another 5 hour bus/ rattling honking light up shrine on wheels to Gorkhapur, where we got a train for the next day to varanasi (7 hours). We are worn out tired of traveling and not wanting to spend any more money than we have to so we are coming home. The airlines will charge us 600 dollars to fly from delhi, but if we go back to kolkata (even though it is an extra flight) they will only charge us 100 dollars. So back to kolkata it is on a 14 hour train in the next day or two, then home in time for thanksgiving and some real food.

To Varanasi

Sorry it has been so long since the last posting, we were unable to find a reliable internet source in the jungle or near our new hotel. My (cydney) email account with WT has changed and I am not able to access it until I call (long distance) and set up a new address. Email brandon at motomobile2k@gmail.com . We reached varanasi and took a boat down the river this morning at 6am to see the ghats. It was not as enchanting as we were led to belive and could hardly see anything due to the amount of tourist boats. We have a clean room here with a nice family that owns the hotel. The bathroom is shared but has hot water. From Pokhara we took an air conditioned bus for 7 hours to the Chitwan park. Upon arrival we were mobbed by touts who's job is to get you to a speific hotel (but with inflated rates to pay the middleman). We ignored them and walked into the tiny town from the bus stand. We found the crocodile safari lodge with very helpful owners who helped us plan our entire day at the park. The rooms were hut like with grass roofs and mosquito nets around the bed. We began the next day at 6 with a canoe down the river (a dug out tree that I was sure was going to dump us in the croc infested waters). We made it to a bank down the river and were about to proceed on our jungle walk when our guide paused and gave us a quick briefing. " Now if rhino charges, climb 6 meter into tree, if you cannot climb tree, run around tree-keep between you and rhino, if there is no tree run zig zag. If Bear we make group and make loud noise. If tiger we pray, there is nothing you can do. With a new sense of anxiety we began our walk and found a peacock, a large group of monkeys and spotted deer. Our guide suddenly stopped, crouched low to the ground and peered into the bush, nothing. We kept walking and I stopped because on the road were perfectly shaped giant paw prints-Tiger! Left not too long before we came. Our guide had stopped earlier because he could "smell" a tiger. Fortunately that was as close as we got. We did get to see a giant marsh mugger croc on the bank of the river- they are very aggresive and known to eat people. The term "mug" comes from this prehistoric animal as it sneaks up and grabs people- no lie! Upon reurn we wanted to participate in an elephant bath where we thought we could get closer to these giant animals. Little did we know it was us that would have a bathing. We climbed on top of the elephant from a plaform and it sprayed us with water from its trunk and we fell into the river. We climbed on again-this time from holding the ears and being lifted by her trunk up onto he head. We had more fun-and got lots of pictues. Later we took the elephant safari and got to ride an elephant into the jungle. We were able to see even more wildlife because the elephants disturb it less than people walking or jeeps. Coming to a clearing we came upon a lone rhino grazing peecefully-it was really incredible- we were maybe only 50 feet from the thing! Our overenthusiastic guide took our picture and insisted on making our elephant move quickley (and rather uncomfortably) to cover more gound. We finished the day worn out but pleased with our journey.

In the Dark]

So in recent news the fish I ate made me really sick and I (cydney) spent all of sunday with a really bad stomach ache amoung other things. . . It's sad to think that my body is rejecting meat now that it has been so long not having it. On a brighter note, yesterday brandon and I walked through the city of pokhara on our way to find some caves. About two hours of walking around in the hot sun we found ourselves lost and took the next taxi for about 2$ to the caves. Finding your way around in these cities is difficult even with a map because there are no street signs. Mostly we walk down a street until we find a sign that is in english that maybe has an address. Lucky for me, brandon typically has an amazing sense of direction and has navigated us through these crazy cities with very little error. Upon arrival to the first cave entrance we were greeted by Krishna who insisted upon being our guide (for a fee of course), and axiously took us to see our first cave which was lit by small bulbs and popular with indian/hindu tourists. The next cave was totally different and we were led down a small black hole into a pitch dark cave. Fortunatly having krishna and his torch we made our way deep into this cave, at times crawling on our hands and knees, to a broad opening in the center of the cave. Krishna shone his light upwards and we were amazed to see thousands of horseshoe bats hanging high above our heads. Continuing we crawled up through a small tunnell and into the daylight. Our trusty guide had another cave to show us that he said was about a forty five minute walk. We agreed to go and followed his rapid pace on footpaths through fields of wheat that the women were harvesting by hand. We passed small houses and stables and were led down into a gorge where we crossed a creaky bridge and were led up about a million stone stairs before decending into the mouth of a well hidden cave. This cave was spectacular and had large stalactites and stalagmites created from the small drips of water coming down from the top of the cave. Some of the formations looked more alien than the typical peaks we would imagine, and tiny crystals sparkled in the limestone when hit with light. Climbing out into the sun we began our journey back with aching muscles and hungry stomachs. Another couple of hours and we were finally back at the guest house to clean up for dinner. Tomorrow we begin our next adventure and will take a bus to the royal chittwan national park in south central nepal. The park has over 50 species of animals including tigers, leopards, rhinos, monkeys, sloths, deer, crocodiles, and freshwater dolphins.

for your eyes

Invasion!

After a very long time spent waiting around at the airport we made it to Pokhara. We are staying at a small guest house where the proceeds benefit a child welfare organization. The shower has warm water from solar panels on the roof, and we were super excited because the place had two guest towels in the room! What a luxury! Sadly, upon returning from a very long day hike to the world peace pagoda (an 1,100 meter climb), we discovered a colony of sugar ants that had invaded our room. Brandon killed most of them and left their tiny bodies as a warning to the others. . . Currently we just finished dinner at an amazing place where I had fish from the lake (the first meat I have had in at least a month) , and mashed potatoes and broccoli. Probably the only balanced meal I have had since we have been here. The meat markets have been enough to make anyones stomach turn and I am refusing to eat red meat until we get home (at least) The poor animals get tied up outside of the market stalls unknowing of their fate, and nothing is ever refrigerated much less free of flies. If someone put a steak in front of me I would refuse to eat it.

24 revolutions

we made it to kathmandu (just incase you were wondering. sorry it took couple of days to post).
tuesday was a long day of traveling. cydney got super carsick on the way down the mountain, and im sure that she was ready to kill me for not letting her out of the jeep. we got the worst seats (the very back, facing sideways), and the roads were filled with potholes, very narrow, lots of speeding up and slamming on the breaks. it was not good. but we made it, and she doesnt hate me anymore (and next time we will get the front seats). karma has a way of coming around, and i spent this morning with every "valve" in my body open. possible from the tibetan-mexican food from yesterday. who knows...
the first day here we spent walking around the city. Mostly temples/gompas/etc. and we were impressed to see giant trees that had burst out of the shrines. We visited some of the oldest areas of the city and ducked down a small alley and down under a small archway to find a large courtyard of women shifting grain (a form of meditation, similar to zen gardens). Walking on we found durbar square an area totally packed with over 50 temples. People go there to worship, to sell produce and in our case to model their photogenity. (A religious man wearing bright orange with dreadlocks to the ground and some crazy facepaint.) he insisted upon our need for photos with him and we obliged. After brandon started feeling better we spent today walking around then went to a bollywood movie. We lasted about an hour and a half before deciding to leave at intermission. Afterwards we had some of the best pizza at a restaurant down the street complete with chocolate cake and icecream (in honor of his 24 th birthday, and my love of cake). Tomorrow we will fly to pokhara where things supposedly move a little bit slower. Its a small town in a valley by a lake. Supposedly has the best views in nepal. We will write again soon.
love,
cyd and a very old golden boy

Travel, Toilets, and a Critter

Our time in darjeeling is coming to a close and we will be leaving for Nepal on Tuesday. First we will take a share jeep to Silliguri (2 hours), and from there another share jeep to Nepal. After boarder crossing and getting our visas, we have a plane for Kathmandu (1 hour flight), then several days later another plane for Pokara (20 minutes by plane). It is possible to take a bus, but the journey can take up to 30 hours due to construction and road conditions, and despite the cost flying was the only way I (cydney) agreed to go. After our 14hr train ride (complete with tiny roaches in the bed) , I want to hold off on super long public transportation. Also, on the train, brandon failed to mention the toilet situation. Indian toilets are totally different and are known as " squat" toilets. True to their name you squat over a hole with your feet on either side, which proves to be quite a feat on a moving train. Also, you have to supply your own toilet paper (even at hotels) and there is no flush. The hotels usually have "sit" or flush toilets as it is the western travelers preference. Oddly our room has a curious looking combo-toilet with foot pads under the seat on either side. . . Fortunately our room here has a hot water shower for an hour and a half in the evening (kolkata did not) but it is also much much colder here. Our room is nice and has wood lined painted walls and a large window with a view of the hills and the himalayas. Fortunately we invested in nice sleeping bags because the room is not heated and gets quite cold at night. We recently went on a mission for a hairdryer so that I can wash my hair and not freeze all night. The hairdryer looks like a toy, but has proven to work sufficiently for four dollars.
As we were laying in bed the other night I heard some scratching and shuffling coming from the corner of the room..."Brandon. . .'yeah' . . .I think there's a critter". No response. "Brandon did you hear me? I think there's a critter, can we turn on the light?" Brandon gets out of bed turns on the light and begins to look under the bed and my stuff. He found a hole in the wall and shoved a water bottle into it assuming the amimal had left. He continued looking for holes and suddenly jumped 3 feet in the air as a little blck mouse lept from underneath his backpack and ran into the bathroom out the drain.
We shut the bathroom door now.

Happy Duwali!!!!

Darjeeling is unlike any place I have ever seen. The rolling hills, the beautiful view of the himalayas; we are at the same height as the clouds. There is a peacefullness about the people here- they smile, sing and take life as it comes, mostly due to the strong buddhist influence. Dogs roam freely here as they did in Kolkata, but rather than being skin and bones they all look fat and well taken care of. The ponies here are much the same way, but passing by the stable I was surprised to see a sorrell pony eating a breakfast of green vegtables and slices of bread. We spent a rainy afternoon at the botanical gardens where we saw giant wisteria vines that were over 128 years old, along with a greenhouse filled with rare orchids and plants. Went to check out the missionaries of charity here, but although they said they would have work for us, upon arrival we had little to do there. Clipping fingernails and spending time with the patients (all were mentally handicapped in some way) was how we spent Wednesday morning, and again we felt discouraged. We are still certain that we are intended to be here but are still waiting for God's plans to reveal themselves.
On a brighter note Brandon and I went to the zoo yesterday where we saw bears, tigers, wolves and red pandas. The zoo was impressive and is known to be the best in the country. Currently we are in the middle of the Duwali festival which is a five day hindu holiday known as the festival of lights. Similar to christmas people light candles, hang lights and give gifts. The past few days have been one crazy street party with small children lighting giant firecrackers in the street from 6 at night to 7 in the morning- sounds like a gun battle is going on outside of our hotel room. We plan on leaving for Nepal in a few days.

darjeeling

we made it. sorry it took so long to post/update.
the train ride was an experience in itself. we got the nicest class (2AC). meaning there were two levels of beds, and it was airconditioned. the train left at 1:35pm, and we were not to arrive until 3am the next day. 14 hours on a train. wooo hooo! once we got to DJP (the tainstation) it was still another 2 hours by jeep to darjeeling. they are scheduled to leave until 6, but we found someone willing to take us, who hooked us up with another "press" jeep (it delivered newspapers) that was leaving soon. it was a total change coming from the overcrowded and polluted city to the foothills of the himalayas. the drive of was full of switchbacks (we climbed over 1000m in about 40miles) and was beautiful.
darjeeling is a small mountain town (slightly warm in the morning and cools off at night). it is also very friendly (another opposite to kolkata). we found a good room that was much bigger and cleaner than what we had before(with hot water. cydney was pleased), and it even has a nice view of the himalayas. then we went and ate at a cafe that served "filtered" water. well, turns out "filtered" wasnt good enough. i drank more of the water than cydney, but later that day i started to feel it. so, the past couple of days i have been experiencing what they call "delhi belly". it could be worse, and for the most part i am better now. cydneys only lasted a little more than a day. we have been doing a little exploring, found some good places to eat, walked alot (everything here is either up or downhill. it will be good exercise), and found the tibetian refugee self help center. there is also a missionaries of charity here, so are next step will be to get into contact with them.
we are missing home, and its not even been two weeks.
we love all of you
brandon and cydney

Hindu Temple

Spent the day sightseeing yesterday and went to the Kali Temple on the other side of the city. We were greeted by a Brahman priest who instructed us to take our shoes off and follow him. He gave us flowers, incense and painted our foreheads with orange dots. The whole process was really strange. To our great fortune we had missed the morning goat sacrifices where each person brings a goat to offer to the god. I (cydney) was not thrilled to be in this temple with no shoes or socks and sanitized my feet with hand sanitizer (I'm wishing we had brought the big bottle) After the temple we went to the contemporary art museum and were amazed at the work they had there. Today we leave for Darjeeling and I cannot wait to get away from the pollution. Supposedly it is twice the level of world emission regulations. We will write again soon.

krazy kolkata

this is one crazy city. it is unlike any place we have ever been before. uganda was poor, but it mas more rural and hopeful. brazil had its poor and rich, but there was a somewhat of a division between the two. kolkata has the poorest of the poor thrown in right next to the rich. it is all thrown on top of each other and scrabbled up. we knew this to a degree before we left, but it is nothing like seeing it up close. and it is actually quite disturbing.
we went and "registered" with the missionaries of charity, which meant getting details on where to go and what to do. the mother house, where everyone meets for mass and breakfast, is about a 25min walk. so, the first day we wanted to go check out mass (1st time for both of us). we left at 5:30am. mass was from 6 to 7. way different than mosaic or fbc. breakfast (tea, bread, and bananas) was from 7 to7:30. then leave to get to our chosen locations by 8. for us, that meant catching the 202 bus. an indian bus is not your typical bus. the inside has wooden floors and benches, some of which are for women only. guys and girls dont sit together. its about a 20min ride, then 5min walk across the bridge we just came across (its probably better it wont stop of the bridge). we chose to work at a large facility (200men, 200 women that are separated) for the disabled and mentally ill. our duties started with doing laundry, by hand (just imagine the load for about 400), then the guys washed the outside patios and walked ways, the girls took the laundry to the roof to dry, then we interacted with the patients. doing things like shaving, massaging, and just talking to and touching people. everyone seems really grateful. then we serve them lunch and do the dishes. then we leave at 12:15pm by taking an auto rickshaw. which is an experience in itself. since we were with big group of white people they did their best to fit as many as possible into this 4 man vehicle. we had 7, one of which was a relatively large sicilian. then we go barreling though the streets, never slowing down for anything, and just blaring the horn in something is in the way. while the whole time the driving is super proud of his large haul of foreigners. all this makes for a long morning that calls for a much needed nap. we have done this the past two days. it is not quite like what we were expecting. all the tasks, although they seem simple, are mentally toiling. and being in this city is doing the same as well. the chaotic streets, the pollution (which gives you black goo for buggers), the poverty on top of wealth, is weighing on us.
so, we are getting out of kolkata for now. tomorrow we will take a train up north to darjeeling. it is time for us to see other parts of this country before this one makes us go crazy. the train ride will take about 9 hours. putting us there wed at 3am (we are about 9 1/2 hours ahead of you guys). we should have internet there also, so as soon as we find it we will write again.
love,
brandon and cydney

Visitor

Woke up around 9 and went in search of breakfast, we found a small cafe down the street that caters to foreigners and were excited to find they serve coffee, milkshakes, grilled cheese, burgers, chinese food, italian food, and of course indian. I had honey butter toast and brandon had a bananna crepe. The coffee was some of the best I have had. We went on foot to tour the neighborhood and were able to buy toilet paper and a washcloth. The room isn't fancy, but is clean (no bed bugs at least) and on a safe and relatively quiet street. We have our own bathroom for a whopping extra dollar a night, but no hot water or sink-just a shower and toilet. The bed has about a two inch mattress on a wood frame and some of the hardest pillows we've ever slept on. Oddley we've been sleeping very well. Today brandon hung a clothes line in our room so that we can hang up our towel and wet clothes. The fan keeps the room relatively cool considering the no air conditioning thing. As we were taking a nap today we had a visitor come check things out-(a gecko). But he soon left us as we are short on bugs. We found the sisters of charity and will go tomorrow to check things out.

greetings for kolkata

we finally made it. after two days of travel we arrived in kolkata.
for the 10 hour layover in chicago, we took the train into downtown. we walked around and saw the mocp (museum of contemporary photography). then went at ate some pizza. how could we not eat pizza in chicago? then we hung around in a barnes and noble to kill some time before we headed back to the airport. are flight was for 7:15pm. in the airport, we ate our final portabella burger and got on the plane.
for the most part we both sleep really well. and the 12hrs went by rather fast. once we landed in dehli we had to claim our bags and go through customs. no problem there, but i (brandon) just started headed out of the airport and missed the turn for us to go to the other terminal. so after getting redirected, we made it back the bus that was to take us to the right one. our next flight was not until 6am the next, and it was only 9:30pm. so, we decided to get a room for the night and paid way too much staying close to the airport. but it was better than sleeping in the "waiting area" they had. and we had to start check in at 4am (ridiculous). once arriving in kolkata, we got a pre-paid taxi and headed to sudder st. this was our first real glimpse of india, and wow. it is not at all what we were expecting. so far everything seems crazy. it is hard to piece everything together and know exactly what is going on. we are overwhelmed and trying to get our bearings. so, right now we have found a decent room for a good price, a place to change money, small market with water and snacks, and an internet source. next is food. which, wish us luck, cydney doesnt care much for indian food. so, that is where we are at right now. we will keep you posted.
love,
brandon and cydney