Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Onwards in India..

These past holidays have been full of travel, festives and a little family..
It was super great to spend the Christmas and new years day with Anja and her Ben.
We lounged on the semi-tranquil beaches of Palolem, Goa and celebrated Christmas with a delicious fresh grilled Red Snapper and many cold Kingfisher beers and some duty free Gin.. ahh what better way to spend the sun drenched days of Christmas?
After a relatively short 12hr train journey on my birthday night up to the "glittery" city of Mumbai. We celebrated an Indian/Russian wedding of a friend of Anjas in a shortened version of an Indian wedding; only one full day!! The whole process was pretty cool with all the traditions and the food was spectacular but no booze!!
Anja fell ill on New Years Eve, so Ben and I whooped it up in an all inclusive bar called Polly Esters! Checking out all the upper middle class Indians shaking their booties and learning the hard way about some of the indian customs, like no single men on the dance floor?!?
Anja and Ben flew home and I trained it up to cold Delhi to meet Lonna at the airport, helping her with her lost luggage.
Air Canada sucks!!!
Our first days together were lost in room service, jetlag and a few sights around Delhi.
Again onto the train and eventually a bus that brought us to the little Portuguese city of Diu, on the southern tip of the province of Gujarat to meet up with Greg and Christie.
They were on their last days after a month of kayaking and adventures in the northern areas near Rishikesh, paddling, among others the mighty head waters of the Ganges...
The four of us soaked up the sun and shared stories from all the different adventures and experiences that India gives. Relating experiences from an incredible book called Shantaram, which is a must read for everyone, especially those traveling in India.. On the same quality status as Pappillon.
From here Lonna and I are on our way to Hampi, which is famous in the climbing world for its bouldering and 3000yr old temples.
Peace to all
Jupiter

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