Our Holiday Season: Intensity in Northern India and then Southern Beachy Indulgence

Before we get into any blog entry....... congrats Carley and Geoff!!!!! Quentin is a beautiful baby boy. We can't wait to meet him on skype and in real life. Hope the next few days go well with your new family of four! We send all the love and pride for our new nephew that we can muster from the other side of the world. xoxoxox

And now for the most recent blog entry... India continued:

India. A beautiful diverse country we long to understand. Every answered question brings up 5 more. Through challenge after challenge (even posting this blog has taken us 2 weeks to accomplish!) we attempt to come away with a tiny fraction of understanding. There have been times when every nugget of learning has been hard to come by and times when new realizations about Indian culture rains down on us in something equivalent to a monsoon.

From Amritsar (where we left you last) we took a whirlwind tour of Rajastan and then over to Varanasi. The time we spent from train ride to train ride was thrilling and exhausting. When we dropped into Goa for Christmas and then meandered down the coast to Om Beach in Gokarna we were ready for the much needed R&R. I will leave the intro short as there are something like a million pictures to come.

Jodhpur in Rajastan - The Blue City

After a bit of a stomach bug in Delhi we caught the train to Jodhpur where through stomach pains we found our new love - loungey hotels with rooftop restaurants!!

Here is Claire in a loungey corner of our hotel in Jodhpur

From our rooftop patio, here is the view of the Jodhpur fort.
After our stomachs healed we managed to take a tour of the fort. Claire and I are modelling the newest Jodhpur fashions.... headsets!
These hand prints were left at the fort gates as the widows left to be buried with their husbands (supposedly burned alive).

This is one of the boxes at the fort that women of royalty would be carried in by servants.

Claire, Chris and I simultaneously pressed start for all voice recordings at the fort so we were always in sync.
If you asked this guy nicely he'd give you a little hashish. We weren't nice enough.
One of the spectacular rooms inside the fort.
Looking out over the blue city from the fort. Supposedly the blue houses all showed that the Brahmins lived there and the indigo used to paint the houses also worked to keep mosquitoes away!
more fort.
Jodhpurs in Jodhpur - what could be more perfect?!?
Another shot of the blue city.
Jodphur at night from our rooftop.

Rajastan - Jaisalmer: The Golden City

This cow, like many we saw is wandering around inside Jaisalmer fort.

Claire at our first lunch spot from the edge of the desert fort.
More Claire, more fort.
Chris over the desert city.
Me in Jaisalmer.
Claire and I chilling out against the Jaisalmer fort wall just before sunset
Streets of Jaisalmer
Claire and Chris about to enjoy our rooftop sunset.

Claire and I REALLY enjoying the rooftop sunset. And then... the sunset.
Jaisalmer fort at night.
On our second desert day we rented motor bikes and biked out to some epitaphs out in the middle of the desert.
More epitaphs
All around Jaisalmer there are windmills which are privately owned and the power is sold back to the grid. They surround the epitaphs.

Rajastan - Jaipur: The Pink City

We were starting to feel the burn of one night on a sleeper train and one night in a town and we took it so easy in Jaipur that we actually missed our train to Agra. Our favorite part of Jaipur (other then their rooftop patios) was Jantar Mantar, a medieval Indian astronomical observatory. Check out this giant sundial. It can tell the time to the accuracy of two seconds!!

Rajastan is known for its colorful clothing. Even the poorest women are dressed in bright colors. My red kurta and scarf are also in Rajastan stylings.
Another shot of the huge sundial. Claire thought it looked a bit surreal like a Dali painting. We agree!
This device casts a shadow to tell you what astrological sign you are in. At the time it was Sagittarius.
Outside the Jaipur palace the crows fly.
A Bullocks Cart in the streets of Jaipur.
These are the covered windows where women who couldn't be seen could observe the daily life of Jaipur totally concealed.
Ganesh at an outdoor market.

Uttar Pradesh - Agra: The Taj

We did eventually make it to Agra, by bus instead of train. We were starting to feel like we were over sight seeing but it turns out the Taj could blow anyone's mind. Here is a small fraction of the millions of pictures we took there. Most of these pictures are self explanatory.

This picture taking "tout" managed to reel Chris and I in to make a little extra cash and show us where all the best cheesy shots were taken.
This was the least cheesy of the lot.




More beautiful clothing.




Streets of Agra by night (we found ANOTHER rooftop restaurant. It would not be our last).

Uttar Pradesh - Varanasi: The City of Light - The City of Shiva

Varanasi is a place for Hindu pilgrims to come and wash themselves in the ghats. It is also the most holy place to die. If you die in Varanasi you have instant enlightenment. In looking for accomodation the first Ghat we came across was the ceremation Ghat which set the stage for our solomn visit. Walking through fire after fire with backpacks on we couldn't help but feel a little humility. The cycle of life and death was more tangible in Varansi then any place we have ever been.

Claire loves this picture (actually we just put it up to torture her... she hates drooling cows). Check out the painting of Shiva in the background.
Sari's drying on the steps (the ghats) right outside our hotel.
The view from our favorite (you guessed it) roof top restaurant.
Claire working on her best "chai!" impression. We love it when chai's are slapped down with style!

All along the river you are continuously greeted with "HELLO BOAT?!?!" as men try to get you to take boat tours with them.


me waiting to get my pants hemmed at a hole in the wall shop.


As the sun sets the Hindu ceremonies (puja) of worship start up along the water. They are amazing to watch. Brahmin perform rituals in unison.


Crowds gather to watch.
Many props are used in worship such include flaming candleabras, something that looks a little bit like an elegant feather duster, and a conch shell.

Goa - Where you can party forever

After misty Varanasi we caught a flight to Delhi and then down to Goa to meet friends for Christmas. Claire, Chris and I felt like we couldn't be in the same country. Gorgeous beaches overrun by westerners, parties on every beach, pizza and pasta... I think we went from one type of culture shock to another.

Here is a beautiful child at sunset from a restaurant (Curlies) on Anjuna Beach after the famous Wednesday market.

Claire and I at Curlies. At night the restaurant turns into a club with a packed dance floor. If they pay the cops enough money the parties can run all night long.
A restaurant at Vagator Beach where we rented a house with a group of 7. Here are Kyla and Elena (who you may remember from our Bangkok pictures).

And here is the henna we all got earlier in the day at the Anjuna market, from bottom to top, Elena, Claire, me and Kyla.

Mark (a fellow Flow Yogi) and his friend Eric who also lived in our little Goa house.
CHRISTMAS! Claire was amazing enough to "find Santa" and bring him to our Vagator house. Unfortunately I had a rough case of food poisoning for Christmas and boxing day. Luckily Claire saved the day with thoughtful gifts and stinky socks.
Our "Christmas Dinner" two nights later when I was feeling better.
Claire chilling out with the cows on the beach. Don't look too closely, I think she's about to scream with fear.
So.. we had also planned to have a Bollywood Christmas which everyone was nice enough to postpone until I got better. Here are the ladies dressed up in their finery frightened of the evil maharajah - Eric.

Chris getting the finishing touches on his mustache from Claire.

Chris, Mark and Eric. This works as a story board for many many creations... make up your own.

Claire and I in our sari's in a sister head lock.

Karnataka - Gokarna: Om Beach
(an hour south of the state of Goa - 5 hours from Vagator Beach)

After much trance and much sickness, we decided to flee Goa to expose Claire to beach with a little more Indian flavour. We found it in our beautiful Om Beach.

Chris and Claire in matching outfits. Jaisalamer sholder bags included.
Love on Om Beach..... (obviously Chris isn't writing this blog - so corny!)

Claire left a legacy on Om Beach. Rum in the coconuts. This was our favourite coconut man.

His masterpiece (after we drank out the coconut rum).

Claire lovin' the beach.

New years eve we spent the whole evening at a beachside cafe (we didn't actually have anywhere to sleep that night) and at about 4am we were enjoying our salty chow mein a little toooooo much.

A couple enjoying Om Beach as much as we do.

Claire and Chris at the place with the best "indian food" on the beach. We like Chris' planetary halo.

On Claire's last night she worked on re-tracing her henna from Goa. Her artwork was MUCH better then mine.

I put Claire's initials on my ankle with a tear drop because I was going to miss her so much. I still do! TEAR :(

Claire left and then the gang from Goa came down to meet us so we weren't lonely for long. They brought a new "7th" - Erics friend Annie. This is Elena and me on nearby Kudlee Beach.

On our hike to Gokarna town, a lovely stone wall.

And another stone wall, left to right: Me, Chris, Annie and Elena.

In town Eric and Chris decided to get a shave.

Eric's tattoo in the barber chair.
Overview of Om Beach, check out the shape just like the Om symbol.

Sunset with cow and dog on Om Beach from our guesthouse convienently named Nirvana.

Another nearby beach (Half Moon), Chris is so lazy he can't pick up his rum coconut.

Elena and Mark having a serious beach game of chess!

Me, dorking out with my coconut.Self beach shot, right out of the water.

Although we LOVED Om Beach, 9 days after arrival we have moved on. We are currently en route towards the beautiful southern province of Kerala. We are excited to keep moving again but are missing our family and friends with Claire's departure and the beautiful arrival of Carley's new baby boy.

We leave you with a last picture of the whole gang we are traveling with right now. From left to right: Annie, Elena, Chris, Mark, Me, Kyla and Eric. We already miss our beach!

Namaste!