Welcome to 2011!!!

Hello Hello!
Yes, we are still in Hampi. But, tonight we board a "deluxe sleeper" bus to Gokarna, which is on the coast. Somehow we doubt that there will be much "deluxe" to the bus, or sleeping, for that matter but we'll hope for the best, huh?
So, last night was New Years Eve, and we spent the day climbing with Suvi and her friends who came from Bangaluru, enjoying some drinks in the evening, and then feasting on yet another buffet at our guesthouse. 

Then there were fireworks (some being lit by a small child...), and then the burning of the "old man".Yes, that's right, Burning Man India Style. Ok, not quite, but it was nice. There was also fire dancing:

Unfortunately, this morning JB woke up will a bad belly ache. Hmmm. Is it a small hangover? Is it lack of sleep from the late night fireworks? Or... is it explosive diarrhea on it's way? Please send good thoughts.  LOTS of them to at least get us through the bus ride. Ah, the joys of traveling.

In the past week or so we have squeezed in several activities into our busy lives. We squeezed 5 of us into a rickshaw (which is very few by the local standard) and headed out to the bear sanctuary.

 

It was especially fun to feel like a local celebrity as we drove through the small villages. Lots of little kids waving and yelling hello, and running alongside the rickshaw.

 See any bears? Yeah...neither did we. Oh, well Jeremy says he did... Anyway, still a fun adventure away from tourist-land and into a pretty, peaceful place.

Speaking of tourists, the local police department has put up signs to help us acclimate to the culture and dangers of the area. 2 of our personal favorites: 

We also rented a scooter and went swimming in the local lake. Jeremy got to practice his honking skills while driving around cows, through pot-holes, and dodging small children.

Alright, we sign off here. Sweat and dehydration are setting in. We miss you all and wish you Happy 2011!!

Climbing... And Frogs in the Toilet

Hello hello...

Well after just escaping Paris' snow storm of the season we hopped a quick flight to Delhi, India.

After a "rest" filled night in the Delhi airport we hopped a local flight down to Bengaluru, the "Silicon Valley" of India.

Jessica's friend Suvi lives in Bengaluru, and made sure to show us all the goods Bangaluru has to offer (re: another food tour). We feasted our way through the city, got some climbing in, and even took a day trip to Mysore. There is a great market there... and JB even got some flowers for her hair.

We are now in Hampi, after a lovely train ride. This is us in our comfy sleeper class "cages."

We love Hampi! Rocks to climb on, a guesthouse where the owner makes a tasty new dessert every night, hammocks in front of our room, a river, and a frog in our toilet.

Jeremy bouldering...

 Yoga/handstand extraordinaire

 India is filled with helpful signs.

This is the view from our hammock and room.

OK, off to breakfast. Don't worry, next time there will be more food pictures.
Lots of love!!

For pictures click me Now. PS These are the Bengaluru climbing pictures

A Stick of Butter, Lots of Cheese, and Some Pig

Welcome to Paris!
We arrived safely, one day later than planned, but good practice for getting into the true travel mode. The plane flight was easy, complete with champagne and some good sleep... the metro here in Paris is awesome, and we arrived at Justin's apartment with chocolate croissants waiting for us.

Naturally, we have managed to eat a lot. It seems that we are inadvertantly in a competition to see who can consume the most butter, cheese, and sugar. And wine of course.

I wish I had some pictures of the ham and cheese sandwich Jeremy ate yesterday. Oh yes, the pseudo-veganism has been put on hold for Paris. The concept of vegan and even vegetarian doesn't really work here.

Yesterday we set out with lofty ambitions to walk around the city and see all the sites... but then it started snowing so we were forced to sit in a cafe (and eat more) for a few hours. Life is hard these days. We did manage some exploring once the snow let up. Paris really is a beautiful city, very walkable, and lots to see even though we got a bit lost.

 That's the Eiffel Tower lit up. Pretty, huh?

That's Jeremy eating snow. I guess he was still hungry.

Well we are off now to play in snow, see the Eiffel Tower up close, and go see some art. So Parisian, right?