Last Post from India

This is my last post from India.

The weather was unbearably hot today, but we stuck to it and visited the zoo. I finally saw a tiger! It's been a pretty boring day, though.

I'm leaving in eleven hours. I absolutely can't believe it. I have been here for nearly eight months!

Thanks for reading. It isn't over yet.

Oh Goodness

I spent four, fantastic days in Kashmir with Asif. The boys left early day three, but that was ok. We met up in Delhi yesterday.

Asif must have shown us all of the Kashmir valley. His family lives in the capital city of Srinagar, which is the biggest Muslim area. And it is a very, very Muslim area. Very, very, very. It was like going back in time nearly, except for all the promotion of recycling and conservation.

We went up into the mountains, saw snow, and froze our butts off. We saw a Hindu temple, the only one left in Kashmir outside Jammu. We spent a lot of time with his family and a lot of time just driving through the absolutly breathtaking scenery of Kashmir. I have never been to a place so beautiful. The mountains, the foot hills of the Himalayas, are stunning and so huge.

It was a really fantastic trip.

I am now in Delhi, where it is 110 in the shade. This very well may be my last post from India, unless I post tomorrow, as I am going on Friday. Which I still can't believe!

Oh Goodness.

A Whole Lot To Report

It was a long, nearly 24 hour, hellish slog across most of Punjab and a lot of Rajastan to get to Amritsar. But now I am in Amritsar.

It is everything I hoped it would be.

I went to the Golden Temple today at noon and it was fantastic. Somehow very peaceful, despite the crowds and terribly, terribly beautiful. The guards all seemed terribly worried everytime a tiny piece of my hair showed. Almost all the other women had their heads just casually coveredm but I was repremanded three times for my scarf slipping and exposing three centemeters of my hair!!! I also got some dirty looks when a little boy who was supposed to me kneeling down praying wouldn't stop staring at me.

I also saw the place where a really big massacre durring the independence struggle happened, and the Pakistan/India boarder crossing ceremony.

The ceremony, while very interesting, was somehow quite macabre. There was something so sad about the one-up-manship of the partying before hand. It was like summer camp; the boys vs. girls or cabin vs. cabin shout out contests. Except it was two countries. With armies and weapons pointed at each other. So it was just, weird. Terribly, terribly weird.

On a brighter note, I am off to Kashmir and Asif tomorrow. Well, tonight actually. I am very excited. If I don't post for a few days, don't worry, because I am not sure of the internet situation.

Goodnignt and good luck.

Not Much To Report

I don't have much to report of the last 27 hours. I climbed up to the town fort, the name of which escapes me, and the view was fantastic. Unfortunately it was the middle of the day and so very hot. It must have been close to, if not above, 100. But that is the mistake of going to India in the middle of the summer.

So this whole trip just has less happening because nothing can happen in this frightfully oppressive heat.

Melting away in India... Signing off.

Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodpur... pur

Jaipur was fantastic. Very beautiful but a little too crowded and a too few tourists. So the attention of the salesmen was only on us.

The evening we were there, we climbed up the Amber Fort and were able to watch the moon rise and see a bit of the sun set. The door was locked so we could see the whole thing.

The next day in Udaipur, I just spent most of the time in the pool. I did go for a walk, where I was followed, harassed and miserable. So I went home. Later that evening I bought a winter coat. The town in on this hill in the middle of a swamp/lake surrounded by other hills. It was very beautiful.

Now I am in the blue city, Jodpur. It is blue, well, because the entire old city is painted blue. It is fantastic and the view from our hotel roof is, well, I can't put it into words. Just simply fantastic and mindblowing.

Off to Amritsar tomorrow.

Signing off.

Chennai and then Gone Again

I think my last post was in Pondicherry.

I left the next morning to Mahabs to go see Asif, my Kashmiri friend and then ended up staying over with him because all the buses were too crowded.

I arrived in Chennai and was met by Tamilselvin and Tejaas. I got to see Shakila's new house. It is really fantastic. Much nicer than their old one. I took Tejaas and Oviyaa out for ice cream on Monday, which was really fun. Tamilselvin had invited an old school friend over, so we had a really nice party that night.

The next morning was a different kind of party. I've been having some lice problems and so I decided to get Shakila's help in removing them. And we removed tons. Probably a hundred lice. And about fifty eggs. It was horrible, embarassing and just no fun. But I think I am clear now, at least I will be when I use the stuff one more time, next week.

But I did have a good day. We all three went to the old neighborhood and took some of the kids out for ice cream (a very popular activity) and then had lunch with Leela, another teacher, at my favorite resturaunt. After that we went back to Shakila's, did mahendi, had a nice goodbye and headed off to a 36 hour train ride to Jaipur.

So I'm in Jaipur now. I got here this morning. It's nice, but a very dry hot. We are going to a movie at 12:30 at the most famous theater in India. We head tonight to Odipur.

France

Here I am, back in Pondicherry!

It is beautiful, clean and terribly, unbearably hot here. But the clean and beautiful make up for the hot. Almost.

I saw the sunrise in Kayakumari and it was amazing. We went to a water park to kill time before our bus left. We then got on an '"ultru delux- video coach" to Pondicherry. It was filthy cramped and we kept having to get up and move out luggage about. Every muscle in my body is stiff from sitting and my knees hurt because there was not enough room for my legs. But being in Pondicherry, thinking of my black coffee and crousaint (sp?) tomorrow morning is helping.

Pondicherry was the last and really only, as far as I know, French outpost in India and the evidence is everywhere. The streets still bare their old names and the buildings look like Paris. Many Indian people here learn French before English which is kind of annoying for me. It is a very nice spot to spend a few hours or even days. But I've already spent five days here, at Christmas, so tomorrow morning I am leaving the boys and going to visit Asif in Mahabs. We are all meeting up in Chennai at Shakila's tomorrow.

I can't wait!