February 29, 2012

Never Before Have I....

Hey there,
Since we are leaving India today Lish and I have been playing this game we created called "Never before have I..."
Turns out it's a little more difficult for me after our time in China, I'm sure you understand why!!
So here's a few of our favorites...enjoy!!

Never before have I...
- seen so many women wearing such brightly colored saris and men wearing skirts
- seen traffic jams full of pedestrians, rickshaws, tuk tuks and cars unable to move
- heard so many horns blaring unnecessarily I think my hearing has been permanently effected
- eaten so much dirt in my cornflakes
- seen people eating with their hands then ferociously licking them clean as if it was a delicious dessert
- seen camels overloaded as work vehicles
- been in a tuk tuk which is about to collide head on with a group of cows sitting in the middle of the road
- seen such beauty and such filth combined in the one landscape
- seen people jumping out of the way of cows running through the street
- seen such cruelty to animals
- seen a dead body wrapped in a blanket carried through busy streets
- had the pleasure of viewing a young boy standing on a fence taking a poo
- had so many people putting their hands out for money rather than getting a job or going to school
- seen so many people manipulating others for a free hand out
- been around so many stray dogs laying on roads and roofs
- seen an Indian woman urinate standing up and only holding her sari slightly off the ground then leave without wiping or shaking!!
- dropped the standards of food I am willing to eat to a ridiculous low
- shared a naan with a cow at the train station
- been surrounded by so many men who do nothing but stare and ogle at me
- been viewed frequently as a dollar sign
- seen people bath and wash their clothes and dishes in dirty river water where rubbish and body parts are dumped
- watched a body burn on the side of the Ganges River and feel like I've taken an ash shower
- enjoyed watching movies I couldn't understand a word of

Going Batty!

Dear Emma:


Things have been a little "batty" around here lately.  


First off, we had a really heavy snow!  It was pretty but wet and it only lasted for a few days.




Then we celebrated Grandma Kapfer's birthday.  The next day Chelly and Jaron got engaged, and that leads us to now...


Last night Paul and I were supposed to get a lot of edging done.  We are having a paint party tonight with his parents and my parents, so that we can have the kitchen and living room all painted and awesome by the time you arrive next week.  In order to keep up with Paul's painting plan we needed to get that edging done.  Well anyways, Paul was down in the basement getting our rollers and pans and then suddenly I heard him running up the stairs... "There is a bat."  "WHAT?!?!? AHHHH NOOOOOO.... should I call my dad, should you call your dad?!?!"  Paul armed himself with a broom, gloves, and a plastic bag and ventured downstairs.  He hunted that bat for almost two hours to no avail.  I even had to stomp around upstairs hoping it would motivate the bat out of hiding... it didn't (and let me just tell you that the stomping hurt my tailbone... I forgot to tell you I fell down my stairs when I found out that Chel was engaged and I have a bruised tailbone).  


Finally we gave up on the bat for the night.  We decided to run to Taco Bell for some quick food since our night was going so horribly wrong and when we got back to the house we shut our house key in the garage and were locked out in the rain.  Luckily Paul's dad came over with the spare key and we made it into the house.  


I am so mad at that bat!  


Can't wait to see you!  1 week and 1 day!


Love-Anna



Varanasi and the Ganges River

Hey hey,
I had been super keen to visit Varanasi ever since I saw a documentary about it starring famous Australian Andrew Dado back in his prime.

Varanasi was our last stop on our three month adventure. I think if we had of visited here first we may have been on the first planes out of India. It's a very confronting place to visit with death and the dying really in your face. Varanasi is situated on the Ganges River which is considered by the Indians to be Holy. To me there is nothing holy about a black river where rubbish is dumped and people bath and wash their clothes (hopefully not ours!!) but we all have our beliefs.

The Hindus believe that if they are cremated here they will go to heaven regardless if they have been good or bad in this life. However there are some exceptions for example children under five, pregnant woman, victims of snake bites and those with diseases are not cremated they have weights tied to their body and are thrown in the Ganges.
Cremations are done around the clock in public at either two Ghats along the river. There is a podium which those of a high caste are burnt and those of a lower caste are burnt along the dirty banks of the river. We watched a body wrapped in white resting on a bamboo stretcher ducked in the river then after about half and hour placed on top of log fire. Only the men attend the cremation while the woman wait at home.
The smell of flesh burning, the intense smoke and the foot painted red poking out from flames are permanently pressed into my memory.
If this all wasn't confronting enough there were dogs poking through the rubbish and chewing on things I can only assume to be body parts from the fire.
We walked away nauseous, stunned by what we had witnessed and covered in ash very eager for a shower.

From a distance Varanasi and the Ganges River look beautiful especially at sunrise but when you look closely it's filthy. The water is disgusting housing hundreds of diseases, the ghats and nearby streets are full of rubbish and poo from cows, dogs and goats. To walk without your eyed glued to the ground would be disastrous! Like many other places we visited there are constantly people putting out their hands for money rather than getting a real job or being lazy in the job they had. We had to yell at a boy to row our boat at sunrise. It seemed more apparent here or perhaps India had finally just taken it's toll on our patience.

So now we are in Delhi eagerly awaiting our flight to the UK...I'm so happy I get to spend some time chilling out with you before I start a new job.

Love E xx

February 28, 2012

Sikkim

Hey A,
We recently visited the protected area of Sikkim in the north of India. We were required to obtain a permit to enter this particular area. Unfortunately we were visiting at the wrong time of year so we were unable to see the view we had heard was spectacular due to cloud and fog cover, as well as ride the rope way which we were excited to do as this was closed for maintenance.

We decided to visit Tsomgo Lake which was about a two hour drive from Gangtok where we were staying, along the side of a mountain and insanely bumping roads through extreme fog. It had recently snowed so the lake was frozen and covered in gorgeous white snow. I rode a Yak through the snow and Lish and I had a snowball fight with our guide. It was a really fun day and definitely a highlight of India for me.

We spent a couple of days in Gangtok the capital of Sikkim as well. We felt like we had left India as the people look Chinese, Napali and Tibetan but still spoke Hindi. Their city is surrounded around a mall, not the malls you know though but what we call a mall in Australia. It was a street closed to cars with shops on either side and benches, gardens and a fountain down the centre.

Our final stop before our flight in Delhi was Varanasi. To get here we had to catch a shared jeep for nearly six hours followed by an overnight train. Of course our train was delayed!!!

But more on Varanasi next time.

Not long now.....:) E xx

February 26, 2012

Sri Lanka Part Two

Hey A,
With all the excitement over my birthday I forgot to tell you about some of the places I visited in Sri Lanka.

After about six days of soaking up the sun and eating amazing seafood we headed to the hills of Kandy. We hired a driver for the day and headed to Sirgirya which is about two hours from Kandy. It's also called the Lion Rock and one of the kings built a palace and a swimming pool on top of a massive rock with beautiful gardens and caves surrounding. One of the caves has some pretty raunchy artwork inside!! Haha
The climb up the rock proved to be only a small warm up for our next adventure...Adam's Peak.

Adam's Peak is a mountain Buddists climb as a pilgrimage. We woke at 2am to start climbing at 230am so we could see the sunrise. It was seriously tough work for that hour of the morning. 5200 steps later we reached the top along with thousands of others. It was heartwarming to see the elderly being carries up and down by their children and grandchildren and parents carrying their young. It really is a family ritual for them.

Amongst the masses at the top I managed to loose the girls. I basically ran down that mountain it was that or be pestered by the locals, one in particular kept telling me to look at the sun..very strange!
So I arrived back at our guesthouse an hour before the girls so was lucky they had some super cute puppies to play with.

I think it took my body about four days to recover but it was definitely worth the hard work and the very early morning.

Only 2 weeks til I see you...can't wait!

Love E xx

February 21, 2012

Exciting News

Dear Emma:


Yesterday was a rather exciting day for me.  I had the day off (it was President's Day) and I spent the morning chatting with you on gchat... That was fun in and of itself, but you told me some pretty exciting new that changed the course of my month...  you are coming to visit me!  FOR THREE WEEKS!  (in two and half weeks which is very soon!)  




The last time you were here was for my wedding... it was a really busy time and though we did manage to cross Iowa off our list of states, we didn't get to do much else besides go tanning, work-out, and hit your local favorite restaurants.  


With the wedding behind us and your guestroom all set, I cannot wait for March 8 to get here (on top of if I have more vacation days than previously thought so what say you we bang out a state or two?!).  


I know you are looking forward to the simple things like running water, good food, and television, but I have some adventures planned (yes, I started planning the minute I found out you were heading my way!).  I have also alerted the troops and set a desperate painting plan into motion so that the living room and kitchen will be in ship shape when you arrive!


Enjoy the last few weeks of India, soon we will be spoiling you in the USA!


Yours with love- Anna 

February 18, 2012

Birthday Postponed

So the rest of my birthday...
After I slept for a much needed 12 hours we headed to the famous bakery and restaurant Glenary's for breakfast. It's best not to have any expectations when ordering food in India especially when trying a restaurant for the first time. Glenary's stood by it's reputation and I was served a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and butter toast. Usually the bread is really sweet in India but we were greeted with delicious fluffy fresh bread that actually tasted normal.
After breakfast Lish had organized a piece of chocolate cake with two candles and also chocolates as a birthday treat...thanks Lish!!

I was very excited about going to the zoo here in Darjeerling as it is renowned for it's breeding programs so we headed there to check it out. Compared to the Beijing Zoo which is a disgusting and should be shut down for cruelty to animals (i'm sure you remember) this zoo had good enclosures with plenty of space, with lots of food and different levels for the animals to be amused. It was my first time seeing the various Leopords, Snow Wolves, the Black Bear and of course a Bengal Tiger so I really enjoyed it. Although I had seen the Red Pandas before in China I was still captivated by them they are totally cute! I of course sat on a bench and waited while Lish looked at the birds...stupid bird phobia! We even dressed up in local attire and had some photos taken, we look pretty funny.

We walked back up the hill to the centre of town taking in the views and hoping for clearer skies tomorrow and ran some errands before we headed back to Glenary's for dinner (the restaurant we wanted to try out was closed after we took an hour to find it.) My American favorite of Mac and Cheese was on the menu so I was pretty pleased. We then headed back to our room and toasty fireplace to chill out.

My postponed birthday was alot less drama and stress free than my actual birthday...thankfully!! Isn't it great to be able to postpone your birthday?!!!?
I miss you and hopefully I will be celebrating with you next year xx

February 17, 2012

Life begins at 30....really??

Hey there,
Well my 30th birthday is one I will definitely never forget. The original plan was to spend it on the luscious beaches of the Andaman Islands snorkeling, tanning and having a few cocktails however flight cancellations and lack of available accommodation had made it impossible so we took on plan B..head to the mountains of Darjeerling.
 
Two hours out from Kolkata our train stopped and all the passengers from our carriage were told to move into the next carriage. There were quite a few police with torches the size of watermelons and others with large guns searching just our carriage however at this stage we were unsure of for what. We watched on concerned and confused for sometime until I overheard a conversation with two guys in Hindi the only word I recognized was "bomb". I took a few minutes to process this then asked him to clarify. He told me it was dangerous and we shouldn't be on the train at all as someone had phoned the police and told them there was a bomb in our carriage...WTF!!!
Turns out the guy was traveling with his band and two of the guys could speak English. We stood on the platform in the cold (I was only wearing a t-shirt and obviously couldn't go back for a sweater) with spots of rain for nearly 4 hours until 2am. During this time the police brought in dogs from the bomb squad and searched the entire train while we made friends with the band. The situation would have been a lot worse if we didn't have anyone to translate for us so we were lucky in that respect. Although the Indian police did their job as I am still alive to tell the tale, their work was seriously sloppy. They didn't evacuate the train or close down the station and other trains continued to pass and even stop. We were not told to keep a distance from the train (we did though as we actually have common sense!) and other passengers gathered around the train watching the dogs in action while others returned to sleep in the suspected carriage. No one was searched when the green light was given for the train to continue to it's destination although the dogs had been walked through the crowds of people (this provided me with some comfort) but if someone was carrying a bomb on them they could have easily avoided the police. Before I would reenter the train I made the police inspector promise the train was safe and I wouldn't be dying on this train...All the Indians were pretty amused by this!!

After a few hours sleep (somehow) we were confronted with another interesting situation. A transvestite boarded the train and was threatening men in our cabin to expose themselves (which is extremely embarrassing to the Indians) if they didn't give 'it' money. Of course the men obliged rather than facing the embarrassment but I was shocked at the lengths people in this country go to to scab money from others. This was then followed by another incident later while we were in a taxi when a crazy lady stood in the middle of the road holding a large piece of wood threatening to smash in the car unless the driver gave her 2 rupees. She made some signals with her hands indicating she was crazy but I was again disgusted at the lengths people go to for money rather than getting out there and finding a proper job.

So I turned 30 while standing on a train platform while my carriage was searched for a bomb!! Who would of ever thought...

So after all the excitement and drama of the day and massive delays we reached Darjeerling six hours late hungry and tired. No thanks to our driver who stopped three times during the three hour journey up the mountain. On the third stop I actually got out and yelled at him that I wasn't paying him to eat I was paying him to drive. Harsh I know but it had been a seriously long 24 hours. Yelling proved to help the situation and we didn't stop again. 

Lish shouted me pizza and fries for dinner (which was breakfast and lunch as well) and then we built a fire in our room (so grateful for a room with a fireplace in this weather) and I fell asleep soon after. We decided to celebrate my birthday properly the next day....TO BE CONTINUED!!!

From your happy to be alive however over the hill best friend xx

February 16, 2012

E's Birthday!


Dear Emma,


Today is your birthday!  Happy birthday to you!  I hope you are eating lots of cake and getting to open presents... or at least getting a decent meal and a warm bed.  


Love and miss you, birthday girl!



February 14, 2012

Valentine

Dear Emma:


Happy Valentine's Day!  Things have been really busy around my house since I hosted my first annual Valentine's Party over the weekend!  




I spent all of my free time making delicious treats such as cake batter truffles and raspberry cheesecake cupcakes (you would have adored them!!).  




(and also decorating my house with all the lovely flowers my amazing husband brought home for me!)




I hope you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day across the world!  Miss you heaps! 


Yours with love- Anna

February 08, 2012

Sri Lanka

Hi there,
Do you recall the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that hit Sri Lanka after a massive earthquake in Indonesia?
When arriving in the south coast area of Sri Lanka it's really apparent life here has seriously been altered from this natural disaster. Graves border the coast road with signs along the streets recalling the number of lives and houses lost.
Today we went to the Dutch Fort in Galle and walked along the shore to the lighthouse and back through the old buildings and churches. Our tuk tuk driver from Galle back to our hotel in Anawatuna spoke like it was just a few months ago how the area we were driving through had been devastated by the tsunami with the entire waterfront going under water. All the buildings we were seeing were brand new. The tragic result was the loss of 4000 lives just in Galle with tens of thousand in Sri Lanka as a whole. Our driver had been lucky and been on higher ground at the time.
Life along the coast here survives on it's fishing and tourist industry so it's amazing to see how it has bounced back even though after chatting with the locals it seems like yesterday to them.
Sadly the beaches aren't what they used to be and now a narrow shoreline remains. None the less it's still a beautiful area with some very lovely locals.
Miss you
E xx

February 06, 2012

Memory Monday [5]

I have been thinking a lot about what we were doing around this time in 2008.  About now we were in Thailand in an area called Sukhothai...




I picked a guest house kind of out in the middle of nowhere, but is didn't matter much as we spent our time riding bikes through the palace ruins.  




It was like we had the whole place to ourselves!




What was I thinking with that fanny pack?  I mailed it home after I saw how it ruined these pictures haha...




Oh, and the green curry was soooooo delicious!  It took us quite awhile to catch a bus out though... it was like there was no schedule... a sleepy little town with no need for set times (much to the irritation of us organized backpackers... we were sitting at the side of the road waiting for that bus for what felt like eternity).  


May all the buses you need today be prompt!

February 05, 2012

Going Bananas over Seafood!!

Hey Anna Banana,
I'm in banana country!! It's so tropical in Sri Lanka and there are bananas everywhere so I'm reminded of your nickname.
Also so much seafood, which Im loving. I've been indulging myself with a few of my favorites including golden fried calamari, prawns and of course fish and chips.

We had heard some great reviews on a restaurant called Hot Rock which is located on the rocky edge of Unawatuna Beach. The Old Fashioned Prawn Curry is their most popular dish and I was not disappointed. A bed of fluffy rice with a sea of yellow curry with delicious prawns. YUM!!!

The seafood here definitely beats what I tried in both Nepal and India. I had grilled King Fish in Goa which was very average and the fried fish I had from the lake in Pokhara, Nepal was terrible...looking back I should have really taken a look at the lake first!!

Your pizza looks delicious, I'm excited to try when I get there (minus the olives please!!)
Love E xx

February 01, 2012

Pizza

Dear Emma,


I hope Sabrina is feeling better, it is no fun being sick when you are away from home!  It was really nice getting to talk with you on the phone (and via chat).  This time zone is much better for us. 


Last night Paul and I had this amazing pizza...




It is from a place called Papa Murphy's.  They make the pizza for you and then you bake it at home in your own oven.  Since our oven is an antique and doesn't work the greatest we decided to take advantage of the fact that we have been house-sitting Paul's parent's house.  Chicken Alfredo pizza with spinach and green olives!  Yum!  


That reminds me of the last time we had pizza together... you were here for my wedding and we were in Galena at Benjamin's.  




That was a fun day-trip (remember we went to the winery too?).  


You are heading to Sri Lanka right now... safe travels!  Can't wait to hear about your next adventure!


Yours with love- Anna