Cincinnati

Well we are back in Cincinnati, however not for long, with my sister getting married in Oct, we come back to the UK for a month. We are doing pretty well here, with Dave picking up his previous job of installing solar panels, hes on a boys, sorry..mans weekend, where they all hang out it in a cabin in the woods for the weekend. Im a bit bored but hoping to get a job when I return to the US in November, Im very excited about the wedding though, in particular the masked ball. Will definitely have to post some pictures of that one!

England, Short stop in Paris then the Nati

We had a wonderful couple weeks in England, visiting some of our friends and family. We went camping in the lakes, which was lovely and we picked a tonne of raspberries! mmm

On the way back to the US, we had a days layover in Paris, so we took the train into the city centre, saw some sights and enjoyed a very tasty picnic, and some French Profiteroles.

Turkey

We had a fantastic time in Turkey, visiting all the historic sites, a week of sailing and a week relaxing in a villa with the family. One of my favourite discoveries was that Turkish Delight is actually not minging but really delicious!

Time is coming to a close!

Well we have only five days left in Ooty! Early Saturday morning we take a three hour taxi to Coimbatore and then a last thirty hour train ride to Mumbai. We have a few hours there, so I was hoping to stock up on some beads before catching our flight home to England.
In these last few weeks, Dave has been doing different projects for Freedom Firm, such as building a fence around the horse pasture, working on the school room and doing a few DIY jobs in the girls home.
Ive been doing some of the above and also teaching the girls crafts for a few hours every afternoon.
Dave and Fio and I took the girls swimming the other day. They had so much fun..none of them can swim, so they would jump in and then we would have to go and 'rescue' them!
We also did a three day camp with around twenty five girls from all the different homes around India. It was a lot of fun, we played lots of games, did crafts and had lots of singing around the fire. They had some pretty intense stories, so it was emotional too. Dave got giradia (unfortunately for me, because he smelt like sulphur and rotten eggs!), but hes better now!

Anyways our time here has gone pretty fast. We have made really good friends with the other volunteers, so are going to go out for dinner with them on Wednesday. We've had a great time here but are looking forward to the newxt few weeks of cream teas in London, Swarmas and hookahs in Turkey and then sailing and the Lakes, before finally going back to Cinncinati!

Hard Work in Ooty!

Well since we've gotten back we have been really busy working. Mala has a tonne of projects she wants us to get done including building a huge fence, a barn, landscaping a garden, painting a school room and just redecorating the craft room..we've just about finished the last one! ..and hopefully will get at least a couple more things done before we go..Travis and Liz we need you back!
In a couple weeks we are taking the girls and a number of other people..I think around 40 in all, on an outdoor adventure camp. Should be a lot of fun, Fio is coming out for this as well so it will be great to see her.

With Gibbs and Joy in Rajasthan

And more Rajasthan

More Rajasthan photos

Some favorite photos

A Plan!

Well we have had a nice time in Darjeeling, spending most of our time reading, playing games, and sipping on hot drinks. The weather here has been cold and damp..we have literally been in a cloud the whole time. Not been able to see more then a hundred feet because of the fog!
We visited a couple Bhuddist monastries, but enjoyed the hot tea afterwards better.

We have found a way out of Darjeeling. First a bus to Siliguri, then a train to Calcutta, then a flight to Bangalore, and lastly a bus to Ooty! We leave this afternoon, and arrive tomorrow night. Not to bad really.
Another couple months in Ooty trying to help as much as possible..hopefully working on a vegetable garden with the girls. This has been a fantastic trip!

Darjeeling

Well we made it overland from Kathmandu to Darjeeling, but now are a bit stuck...granted a nice place to be stuck in! Two and a half weeks ago when we decided to do this trip we tried to book train tickets that were from just South of here all the way down the East coast to Chennai where we could catch a short train and then a bus back to Ooty...However, the train was fully booked with a huge waiting list. Our only option was to wait untill 5 days before we wanted to go, when they release a batch more tickets at 8am. This is for foreigners and last minute travellers and is called TATKAL. Unfortunately again, we were in Nepal 5 days before we wanted to leave and nobody in Nepal knew what Tatkal was. We decided we would have to wait a couple days and book tickets in Darjeeling. We have arrived to find that the Darjeeling Train Station is on strike.. for at least a week, and the travel agents are not so helpful and assure us there are no train tickets available for weeks! Daves been researching all morning, and says we could make our way to Calcutta and then fly to Bangalore and then take a long bus home! We are not quite sure about Calcutta as its at least 24 hours by bus! Ha ha..I'll stop boring you all with travelling adventures... Darjeeling seems nice, and full of good food. I think we may go to the zoo today, which has a good reputation and then sample some teas. We're just leaving to have breakfast and decide on the best plan of action, I think a pancake and a mug of Horlicks sounds pretty tasty.

Trekking in the Himalayas

Well after Chitwan we took a bus to Pokhara, where we spent three days with our cousins Phil and El, and their gorgeous daughter Evey...who took a certain liking to Daves beard and was always asking for Unka! We had a super relaxing time, and even found an authentic English restaurant that served fish n chips! We ate there twice.
Phil and El were really hospitable and looked after us so well. They even set us on a trek providing us with directions, map, water filter and T shirts! We had four wonderful days trekking in the Anapurna National Reserve, where the views of the mountains were so beautiful and we were trekking a lot of the time through Rodhedendron forrests. We were making fun the whole time, imagining what Elsie and Penny would be exclaiming about how gorgeous everything was!
On one of the mornings we woke up at 4:30am and climbed to the top of Poon Hill, this had the most amazing view of several huge mountains including Anapurna 1 and south, Dalaghuri and Fish Tail. We watched the sun rise, cuddled in a yak wool blanket eating a Cadburys Fruit and Nut bar! Well worth the hard hike up there in the dark!
We had one night back in Pokhara, where we rested our incredibly sore legs, and then hopped on the bus today to Kathmandu. We'll have one day here, shopping and visiting some temples and then onto an 18 hour bus ride to the India Nepal border before catching yet another bus to Darjeeling! Not sure if Im ready for that trip yet!
We had a really nice Italian dinner tonight though and are feeling so blessed by the wonderful experiences we have been given. Hopefully we will be able to upload some photos soon and maybe even a video of the elephant rodeo!

Royal Chitwan National Park, April 13th

What a day, what a day, still hard to describe all we did and saw in one 16 hour period. We began by taking a dugout canoe downriver with our guide Kumar in the early morning. We passed people fishing, and saw some birds and long snouted crocs lazing in the mud. We landed on a sand bank and before setting on in to the bush on foot Kumar gave us a little pep talk. You see rhino and he charge, climb little tree, no little tree, run around big tree, round and round, no tree anywhere, run very fast, throw your clothes and bag. You see sloth bear, every one get together, make very big, much noise, scare bear, he keep coming, i hit him on head with stick. I was liking him more and more by the minute. "You see tiger, you freeze, maybe make eye contact and back away slow, you see tiger with baby, close eyes, say namaste and start to run, nothing you can do". great. Here we go in to the tall grass where you can't see more than 15-20 ft and their are all sorts of great predators around. We stalked for a while wandering around looking at birds, when kumar's eyes popped out and made some danger motions. There in the trail in front of us was a big rhino catching a snooze. We backed off and came around for another look, only about 25 ft away, but he woke up and shook his head and we lit out quick. Kumar said, "that one chase me twice all ready". Back at the river we had a lovely refreshing drink at a cafe and then the elephant washing rodeo started. The elephant guides bring their charges down to the water(about3-5ft deep) and then get you to climb on their backs and then they go beserko and try and chuck you off. You can't imagine how much fun this is. Again and again suzie and i climbed on and held on for dear life as they bucked and plunged. I have to say we did quite good compared to many others. We stayed in the water for over an hour just loving to be so near such wonderful animals. If you ever get the chance wild bucking elephant rodeo riding in water is well worth the $3 tip you pay the driver. As if this day couldn't get better, we set off in the late afternoon on elephant back for a couple hour tour through the forest. We were in a little wooden howdah(saddle) with two others, actually really comfy. We're all talking in the first few minutes saying , we probably won't see any rhinos but this is fun anyways. We come around a tree and there is a mom and her baby right in front of our elephant. Mass panic in our howdah as everyone tries to take a pic at once and after a few secs they disappear in to the brush. We think that was awesome but wish it could've lasted. A few seconds later we come out in a field and there are 7 rhinos grazing along with another baby, absolutely amazing. We saw 6 more in the next hour, they were bathing in a mud hole and returned to the riverside amazed at all we had done and seen in one day. Chitwan you done us right.

Welcome all ye sardines

People, masses of people, a vast swarm of brown humanity crowding on to concrete piers waiting for their "ships" of steel to come rolling in. India like i always imagined it would be: turbans and saris, businessman and beggars, huge piles of goods waiting to be pushed and shoved in to any available space on the waiting train, rats dancing on the rails, samosas frying in hot oil, and the smell, ah, the smell, one minute a delight of savoury and spice, the next the stench of the dark water flowing out of a thousand slums. Train after train flows into New Delhi station packed to the brim and somehow more people manage to cram themselves on, a literal sardine factory. I don't know quite what i was thinking, but it was something like, surely our train will be better, everything will be has its been before, nice, orderly, and our seats will be waiting to welcome our tired butts in to them. Ah, the ignorance of Delhi trains. Suz and I pushed and shoved our way on to our carriage only to find 15 people sitting in what normally accomodates 8. Somehow the number swelled when it came time to sleep and i kid you not 21 people were sleeping in, on, and around 8 bunks. Suzie and i slept head to toe and the chain holding our bunk kept digging in to my calf and i tossed and turned all night as people brushed my head as the passed. But God is still good, he stilled suzies stomach so that neither of us had to go for 14 hours. Suz did try once but their were 10 people sitting on the floor outside the toilets. Their were even people sitting in between the carriages on the outside of the train. So if you ever find yourself needing to leave Delhi on a train, pay the money and sit with the other white folks, otherwise, sardine city.
The rest of the journey to the border and on to Royal Chitwan National Park passed with relative ease. The people of Nepal smile more often, are more relaxed and there is just generally more space everywhere, very therapeutic. A lovely guy named Kumar met our bus and whisked us off to a great hotel beside the park.

Delhi and the Belly

To make up for our relative health when traveling in Rajasthan, Delhi struck back with a vegenance. But before that we were once again treated royally by our friends Dave and Nancy Byrne. Their lovely driver Khan picked us up early in the morning at the train station and whisked us off to the extreme comfort of the Byrne's. We had a couple more great meals at an italian restaurant and the embassy, as well as a dip in the swimming pool. Then the belly kicked in and Suz, Joy, and Gibbs all felt its wrath, not so nice. Gibbs and Joy headed to the airport and we to the New Delhi train station on the next leg of our journey. Again, so much thanks to the Byrne's helping us to navigate the chaos of New Delhi.

Tigers in the Wild!

Agra and Jaipur

Udaipur

We have had a great time in Udaipur, eating out, shopping and playing cards. We had 2 lovely days of horseriding to celebrate Daves 29th birthday. The horses were super beautiful Marhawaris that wanted to gallop all the time. The first day was not so good for me...I was riding a rather surly horse. We now have two days of relaxing here before heading back to Delhi.

Colour Festival- Painted Up!

We travelled from Bundi to Udaipur, making a very worthwhile stop in Chittaurgah for a few hours. When we arrived at the station there was a crazy thunderstorm and then a hail storm with stones a cm wide! Madness..we've had rain everywhere and the monsoons aren't supposed to start for at least 2 months!

We hired a rickshaw to take us on a tour of the old city and fort where there are palaces, monuments and 130 temples. It was the gruesome site where over 14,000 women commited Johar (burning themselves alive) in the 16th Century. Their city was being overtaken by a foreign army, their men all rode to their deaths in battle, and to save their honour the women, led by their Queen, chose death rather than becoming the wives of other men. This mass suicide heppened three times in Chittaurgahs history! The fort had beautiful buildings, including many Jain temples which had incredibly raunching sculptures carved all over them!
We came to Chittaurgah on the festival day Holi..the festival of colour. This is the day when everyone goes into the streets throwing paint powder and water over each other. We were very sad to find out that the chaos had already happened that morning before we arrived, but enjoyed seeing the after math. Tonnes of multi coloured people riding past on scooters smiling and waving, the roads had colour splashes, and the drains ran pink.

While stopped at the fort, a group of 9 guys dove up and decided that we needed to be included in the festivities..dousing us in paint and water. Haha..we looked a state, pinks, silver, green, blue, purple and gold..much to everyones amusement who passed us! Unfortunately the colour is not so washable and in fact when you try to rinse, the colour becomes richer and covers your whole skin in a deep shade of pink! We travelled this way to Udaipur on the train recieving smiles, waves and shouts of Happy Holi! After 2 showers, painful scrubbing and much soap, I am now almost the right colour..my hair however and the pearl in my wedding ring might take a while longer! Dave says I look like a Swedish Punk Rocker..he doesnt look much better!

Kipling's Kingdom

From tigers we went to Bundi, a small, quiet town where Rudyard Kipling wrote much of Kim and the Jungle Book. We had a really nice time here, the fort and palace were huge, and beautiful but not very well looked after. Half the palace was entirely given over to monkeys. In fact monkeys played across the whole town- you walked everywhere with a big wooden stick to ward them off! Being here it was easy to see Kiplings inspiration for the monkey palace, as they sat on our hostel roof, swung along the telephone lines and tumbled down through trees and along the fort walls.
Dave and Gibbs tried pan, a leaf painted with lime and calcium filled with sweets, cardamom, fennel, peppermint and a load of other things, all wrapped into quite a sizable pouch, which you shove in your cheek and eat. They said it was pretty strong. I had a taste..it was nice, but the whole package would have been way too much!

Jaipur and Rathembore

Jaipur was not as nice as expected..it was very busy, most of the shops were closed and the Palace of Winds had a nasty new paint job. However the fort was nice and we had a lovely, pretty genuine tasting, Italian meal. We did not make it long stay though and took a train then bus to Rathembore national park. We stayed in a beautiful hotel with a very refreshing pool. At six the next morning we were picked up in an open top bus jeep thing, which was going to give us a tour of the park. After an hour of driving around picking up the other passengers, including some rich, drunk, Indian business men we finally arrived at the entrance. Our driver picked route number 5 from the bag, we had heard 3 was the best, and proceeded through the gate. However there seemed to be a problem and the business men got out of the car. And we waited...the weather was getting hotter, and the sky lighter, and we were becoming more irritated..all the wildlife would be disappearing! There seemed to be a problem...and we drove back out of the park! We waited and finally everyone piled back into the bus, the business men looking very smug. We later discovered the route had been mysteriously changed to 3...in India they call it Baksheesh..bribery.

Finally into the park we go, chances of seeing wildlife greatly diminished and all a bit skeptical of seeing anything. Not 5 minutes into the park we see a tiger coming towards the bus. Freaking awesome. It just stalked down the road for about 40 metres before heading into the underbush. We were amazed. Unfortunately I had the camera and was so excited that all the photos are shaky! It got better though. We had about an hour and a half solid of seeing tigers...and some got really close to us. We could have spat on them. We saw four in all and saw them multiple times.

We also saw crocodiles, parrots, peacocks, monkeys, birds, deer, coyotes and a black tailed mongoose. Inside the park was also an old fort, a perfect back drop for the animals. It fulfilled one of my lifes hopes...seeing wild tigers up close.

The Sights...and 'possibly' even better... Steak Dinner!

Well, we met Joy and Gibbs, who unfortunately had their bags lost. TII ( Daves phrase from Blood Diamond)- This is India!
We went out to the American Embassy where I had Ceasar Salad, Bourbon Steak, French Fries and a chocolate mousse...was very very excited as you can well imagine! Then we did a bit of sightseeing, and shopping in Delhi, was crazy expensive, but found a shop that sold French bread, Camembert cheese, Haribo gummi bears and sour strips...again we were very excited and have been enjoying our buys!
A short train brought us to Agra, and this morning we went to see the Taj Mahal..it was obviously really beautiful and worth the short stop over. We take another train tonight, getting us in to Jaipur which has some beautiful forts and I think great shopping! Another super nice thing is that mango season has just started...mmm!

On the trains...Again!

After an all too short time in Ooty, 8 days, we packed up again and took the long bus/train journey back into the North. We are now in Delhi, which has, we were amazed to find, such things as Baskin Robins and Dominos pizza! We are staying with some of Daves friends who live in a beautiful house and are treating us royally, they are really hospitable. Joy and Gibbs come in to the airport in 2 hours and then we'll go out for dinner.
Tomorrow we head to Agra, to see the Taj and from there two weeks more travelling.
Possibly 4, we are not sure whether we can resist going to Nepal and Darjeeling when we are this close!

Quick stop in Ooty

After taking a series of trains, Jalsaimer to Jodhpur, Jodhpur to Ahemebad, Ahemebad to Mumbai the 24 hours from Mumbai to Calicut, then a bus, jeep, bus, rickshaw......we finally made it back to Ooty..where it seemed the monsoon hit early!
We took the scooters up to the new girls home one day to do a bit of demolition, meanwhile the rains had turned the only road going home, literally into a river. We had to ride down the hill in a foot of water, praying we didnt fall into a pot hole, which there are plenty. There was a total block of traffic so after a quick scout decided to take the scooter onto the shopfront walk. Rode a bit like maniacs for a while and then had to get it back onto the road. Dave made me get off and push, knee deep in freezing muddy water I might add, until we got the bike going again. It was only afterwards when I commented about my cold feet...and wern't his feet cold, that I found out he'd never even gotten into the water. Apparently he was 'supporting' the bike from the sidewalk!! Well needless to say, especially as Dave left his only two jumpers locked in the cottage at the top of the 'river', we both now have colds!

Another fun thing happened in Ooty- 40 teenagers from Hebron came to Farley on a field trip. We made 2 huge tubs of bread dough, each kid got some and wrapped it around the end of a stick, cooked it over the fire, then filled it with a number of tasty options. They loved it although I wish I had a taperecorder to play back some of the classic conversations about dying in the woods and how to act around girls!
The rain held off long enough to have dinner but the plan to sleep in the woods had to be scrapped. The next day, Dave and Travis and I led some games for them all. That was a ton of fun and we got invited back to the boys dorm that week to watch ManU play Liverpool.
Theres also talk of hanging out there more when we get back.

Jodhpur then into the Desert!

The fort was fantastic. Train. Jalsaimer. Here there is a fort, which is fully inhabited and then a small city spreading around the outside. This place looks like a giant sandcastle from the outside but the inside is full of ornate carving, temples and Havelis.
Travis, Dave and I went on a desert camel safari for the last two days. It was really beautiful. A mixture of dunes, scrub and rock. My camel was called Molly and arroused plenty of passion from the male camels..particularly Mr India, who every hour or so would stick out his tongue blow it up and waggle it, making a disgusting sound while slobbering everywhere in an attempt to win her affection.
We got adopted by a lost baby goat as we plodded along. It got so scared by the dogs in the night that it stayed under the covers with me and Dave...much to Daves chargrin...as the goat several times in the night crawled over him, bleated in his ear..and pooped in the bed..twice! I loved the sweet little thing!
Now we are back in the fort city and have two full days of shopping..also not so much for Daves enjoyment..although to be honest he has bought more than I have on this trip!
Then we take the long trip back to Ooty!

Into the North

Well the train journey went well... we arrived in Udaipur healthy and unscathed, our packs only slightly heavier from a bit of shopping done during our layover in Ahemedebad! Udaipur is a magical place with a beautiful lake and stunning architecture. We only had a few days there but managed to cram in a whole tonne. Dave and I did a miniature painting class... one of the main arts in the city..I painted an elephant and he a camel.
We took a cookery course and thouroughly enjoyed the results after. I learnt how to make leather journals and how to imprint and stain them, we took in some sights, went to the palace, and did plenty of shopping. And possibly one of the funnest things was an afternoon riding the most gorgeous Maharawi horses who were just ready to gallop..which we did. We passed through lots of little villages with all the children following us yelling Namaste and giving us their hands for high fives.
Then early this morning onto a bus ( which we had a double bed in, for a dollar more) and a six hour ride to Jodhpur, some lunch when we arrived and a trek through the busy market..Dave got head butted by a cow and I almost got ran over by a man pushing a cart..he just wouldnt stop even though I had nowhere to go! Crazy!
The buildings here again are just gorgeous and overlooking the town is a huge fort on a hill top..only once conquered in history...by two armies combined..who managed to hold it for all of two days! It is certainly formidable and we visit it tomorrow.

Rajasthan

The five of us are heading off for a small adventure into the north of India. Its a three day train ride to get there, and a three day train ride home..in between we are going to visit the historic desert cities of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur. We hope to fit in some shopping, a desert camel trek and some good sights of forts etc. The whole trip should be about two weeks, weve been busy packing today and baking all kinds of sweet treats to take on the journey! Anyways hopefully we will have a really fun trip and be ready to tackle the new housing project when we get back to Ooty. Thats all for now

We Can Talk!

Hello Everyone..Just a quick note to let you know we have a new skype account.
Our skype name is dave.kretzschmar

Ooty Passtimes

Work and Play - Jollyworld Tea Cups

Last Night in Goa and on to Ooty