Viva Centro America!!

Hello Hello Hello! Bienvenido a Guatemala!

 Flying into Guatemala City is quite a sight to see.  Mountains, volcanoes,  and greenness everywhere.  So lovely.

Well not so quickly though...It was quite an adventure to leave India.  We spent our last few moments with our Indian Mama, Rohini, and of course enjoyed her amazing home cooked food.  When we got to the airport, in traditional India style, the officials wouldn't let us in because we didn't have our ticket printed out. Classic. After some navigation we broke though the barriers and boarded the first of many flights back around the world.

Here is what we had ahead of us: India-Paris...with a 6 hour layover where Justin Biddle was meeting us with a bag of our clothes and some fresh Parisian treats such as warm baguettes with veggies and goat cheese. Thank you Justin!!!

Next flight: Paris-Los Angeles...with another 6 hour layover where Jess' folks met us with items for the next leg of our trip, and took some items we no longer needed.  It was quite nice to take a shower in a proper hotel bathroom, eat some food, upload some songs to our ipod and get ready for Guatemala.

And the next flight: Los Angeles-Guatemala City...oh wait, the flight has been over-booked... Would anyone like to give up their seats for $400 (each), a hotel voucher and food vouchers? Yes, please! We didn't hesitate.  We took the goods and in typical J&J fashion we also asked to be bumped up to 1st Class for the next flight.  Yay us!  We did the same thing again the next night, and were able to have dinner with Josh and Adira who were in Los Angeles.

If you look closely you can tell that Jeremy's smile is non-existent.  That is because India left him with a staph infection just above the lip and below the nose.  Nothing a trip to the local LAX clinic, a shot in the butt, and some antibiotics couldn't cure.


 We arrived early in the morning, hopped a shuttle to Antigua and started to soak in the goods...yes we mean food.  You can see our "small" nachos and one of many mango-heaven stands that Jessica has become so familiar with day in and day out.

Antigua is a cute city; it has a strong colonial feel, with cobble stone streets, many churches and volcanoes surrounding the landscape.

 Ever wonder what happened to you school bus? No need to wonder anymore.  Once US school buses reach 10 years old or 150,000 miles they get auctioned off.  Many of them end up here in Guatemala as the public buses.  Of course they are retrofitted OG style.  Pimped out engines (6 speed), larger tires, bigger seats, luggage racks, and of course some quality paint jobs.

 We liked hanging out in the plaza while enjoying street-food snacks.  We also ran into our friend Jordan F. in the plaza as he was taking a group of college students around the city.  We ate dinner with them in the town next day.

 Just above Antigua is a wonderful avocado farm that also has A-frame and tree house cabins.  All of the staff that work the guesthouse are foreigners (like us), but they are volunteering in local schools.

 Good beer + volcano view = GREATNESS. We spent a few days at Earth Lodge, recovering from jet-lag and hiking around the hills.

Just yesterday we returned from a trip to El Paredon Surf Camp.

The "road" leading to the beach.

From our stretch of beach we could see the sunrise (this picture) and the sunset over the ocean.  It was an added bonus that every time we saw the sunrise and set, we also saw a full moon rise and set.  Yeah, go Earth/nature/God/life!

The surf was nasty, but the mangoes were plentiful. It was a one horse town, no roads, just sand, and lots of mango trees for our visiting pleasure.  We wandered "deep" into town, maybe 4 blocks from our beach shack, and came across a house with mango trees.  We were quickly invited in to harvest more mangoes than we could carry.

Behold, Mango Mama in person! We returned on our second day and brought some friends with us from the surf camp.  Mango Mama greeted us by saying, "I've been waiting for your return!".  She never asked us for a cent, Jessica's perma-smile at the site of so many amazing mangoes in our bag was payment enough.  

In order to get mangoes from the trees one has to use a 30ft. bamboo stick to knock them loose.

Jessica with her mango bounty

Ok, we know you only read this blog for pictures of food. Here ya go:

Typical meal at the surf camp, cooked by Dina, and delicious.  This plate has fresh tortillas, chili relleno, rice, and fresh salsa.  Yummy x 10.

"Desayuno Tipico" includes frijoles, agucate, platanos, queso, tomate, huevos, pan, y cafe.  With a mango appetizer of course.

Guatemala so far has been a world apart from India.  We miss the sensory overload, the spiritual intensity, the constant connection with EVERYONE we encountered, and the uniqueness that can only be characterized by saying..."Incredible India".  Here in Guatemala we have experienced a new level of cleanliness, and a warmth and patience from people that is ingratiating and beyond welcoming.  Travel from place to place feels calm, the world seems quieter, and the nature a bit more green. The next leg of our journey takes us north-east to the ruins of Tikal, and then back south to Lago (Lake) Atitlan where we will settle in for Spanish school and connect with Jeremy's sister, Michele and her boyfriend Joe.


We miss you all tons and thanks for sending all of your love... We can't get enough!

Adios India

Hello friends! Sadly, it's our last day in India...though we can't complain too much as we will soon be on our way to Guatemala.

We are in Delhi now, but had a wonderful two weeks in the mountains of McLeod Ganj. We were also fortunate to meet some great people, and got to experience the town before the big tourist season starts. This truly is a special place, and often felt like a different country from the rest of India. MUCH cleaner (people even used the trash cans!), quieter, and very peaceful. Here are a few more mountain pictures to add to those from the last blog:

 It was cold, rainy, and sometimes snowy out, but there were a few days of blue sky. The mountains were incredibly beautiful.

Can't beat this view from our window... 

Unfortunately we missed the Dalai Lama by a few days. He will be making a political statement at the temple in McLeod Ganj on the 10th.  Still, we were able to enjoy the beauty of the Tibetan Buddhist culture.

 Prayer wheels and "Mani walls" abound in McLeod. Each has a mantra ("om mani pad me hum") written on them.

We also did a day-long course of meditation at a beautiful Tibetan center called Tushita. This Buddha watched over us as we continued on our path to enlightenment!

Our local friends....

 Food. Yum.  The food in McLeod was so good! These are momos, little Tibetan dumplings steamed (or fried) and filled with veggies. Amazing and cheap street food. We were very loyal customers.

We had lots of soup to keep us warm. This Tibetan soup is called Thenthuk.

We don't remember the name of this delicious treat, but it had so many amazing flavors and textures! Party in our mouth, thank you very much.

Fun fact about beer in India: The alcohol content can vary (between 3.25%-5.25%/!!). Hmm. Not so surprised...Sometimes looking for logic in this country is a futile effort.

 OK, we had to include this fun sign.

 Loser was meant to say "Losar," the name of the Tibetan New Year which was March 5th. Classic! But what else can you expect from a "club" named Black Magic?

We were randomly upgraded to first class for our last train ride in India. Look! No trash or insects or people sleeping on the floor! The doors to the cabin even locked. It was very comfortable and definitely a treat.

Needless to say, India has been an incredible experience. It's not always an easy place to travel, but every day was an adventure in itself. Thank you "Incredible India", we will be back!

Covering Some Ground

Hello again! It's been some time since our last entry... We have covered quite a bit of ground since then. We ended up staying in Varanasi for 2 weeks. We made our little room quite homey, complete with flowers to enhance our views over the Ganges River.

 Varanasi was hard to leave, especially when surrounded by such delicacies as huge lassis (yogurt based drink) so thick they had to be eaten with a spoon. The ceramic cups are fun too, cause when you finish the drink you get to smash the cup.

 Nap-time for one of our local Babas (holy man)....

If anything could motivate a big travel move, it would be India's only Surf Ashram.

3 nights, 2 trains, and a rickshaw ride later, we found ourselves in a little paradise. It was more than worth the long trip! The ashram was not only peaceful, clean (yes! clean!), and beautiful, but the people who run it have big hearts. They immediately made us feel at home, fed us home-cooked meals, and got us in the water soon after we arrived. JB caught some waves, and JL definitely perfected a headstand while on a wave. For real! Unfortunately we don't have action shots 'cause in order to get to the beach we had to paddle across a big river. More surfing to come from Central America!

The ashram was also amazing because it was at a beach with NO ONE else on it. Let me repeat: NO ONE. This is amazing for surfing, and unheard of in India. There are always people in India...but in this little sliver of paradise, the only other people there were also from the ashram. Needless to say, it was peaceful, relaxing, and very special.  We were also able to bike around the sweet little village, take out kayaks, play ping pong, and watch some surf videos. This was a pretty hip place...and of course the sunsets were awesome.

We stayed at the Ashram for 3 nights...just enough time to rest up for the big trip back up north. This time it took us 2 rickshaws (a cross between a taxi/motorcycle/buggie), a bus, 2 trains, a taxi, and a bit of walking, but we got ourselves back up north to New Delhi, where we stayed for 3 nights. The first night we were fortunate enough to stay with a wonderful friend, Rohini, who made our time in Delhi easy by welcoming us into her warm home. We hope to see her again before we leave!

From Delhi we took a day trip to the Taj Mahal. Look how Indian we have become!!!

Well, almost. OK fine, here is a real picture of us:

We also visited the Agra Fort, also built by the same man who built the Taj.

It is customary for women to get henna on their arms and feet.  Here is JB with a "simple" design on her hand.

Indian cities are a bit much, and after just a few days we were ready to head north and breathe in some fresh Himalaya air.

We found a great room in the town of McLeod Ganj that overlooks the valley and into the foothills of the Himalayas.  These pictures are taken from our balcony.

McLeod Ganj and Dharmsala (the closest city) are the home of the exiled Tibetan Government and H.H. Dali Lama.  Tibet is currently occupied by China and has endured their own Holocaust in the struggle to remain free and autonomous.  India has received the Tibetan refugees with open arms and support.  We are just steps from the Dali Lama's home and temple here in McLeod Ganj.  The Tibetan population here embodies the compassion and warmth that the Dali Lama stands for.

We encourage you to read more about the Tibetan struggle for freedom.  Free Tibet (Click Me). 

Winter is ending and Spring is showing throughout the country side.

We are looking forward to another 10+ days in the mountains and we will continue to hope for warm and dry weather, so please think good thoughts. We plan to spend our time doing yoga, becomming professional Tibetan cooks, and walking through the woods.

 After our time here we will begin to transition to the next leg of our journey...Central America!  Lots of love!

Breathing easy(ier)

Dear Kolkata,
We really tried. We tried to love you, and have you love us. We even thought we would stay a few weeks, But it didn't work out, did it? Instead you got us sick, and clogged our lungs with smog and our ears with honking, and really tried our patience with the traffic jams... so bad that we had to get out of cabs and walk instead. So we had to leave you... we still had a good time, and appreciate the good that was there. But we are happy to be in Varanasi instead!


Yes, we ended up leaving Kolkata after being there for about a week.. the traffic and pollution was getting to us! However, Kolkata is one of the last places that still has man-pulled rickshaws. One more thing on the road to add to the taxis, cows, goats, people, motorbikes, regular cars, dogs, and bicycles.

We still managed to have some good times in Kolkata, despite both of us getting a bit sick. And naturally we found more great places to eat, and sit around and drink lots of chai, of course. Dosas are one of our favorites.

We also went to volunteer at the Mother Theresa Mission. It turns out that they have so many volunteers in January that we were only give 2 hour shifts working in a home for hospice patients.

Before leaving, we took a motorbike tour of the city. Among many temples, holy ghats (with goat sacrifices), an artist village, the biggest banyon tree in the world, and the flower market...

This picture is so "India!" Heaps of flowers at the market, clothes hanging on a line to dry, a great example of the classic Indian squat, and a cell phone for good measure.

 We also saw Garbage Mountain.Yes, that hill is all garbage.

40,000 people live and work around here, collecting "all" of the garbage from the city and then breaking down what they can, even composting to fertilize the farms below. This is only a small section of the mountain, and apparently there are 4 or 5 of them! Soooo, seeing as how this was a tour "highlight," we decided it was time to leave Kolkata.




Varanasi is another world entirely. It's a city that epitomizes why India is often referred to as the "Land of Contrasts." Chaotic yet calm, very dynamic,and colorful. Somehow it also feels peaceful, even among the dogs, cows, goats, chai stalls, flute players, snake charmers, snack sellers, and babas. It's a holy city on the Ganges River, where Hindus come to be cremated before their ashes are put in the river... the same river where people bath, pray, wash clothes, swim, wash their cows, and brush their teeth. We have spent our days drinking chai while watching locals play cricket next to the river or the kids flying kites, walking up and down the ghats (steps leading down to the Ganges), taking a sunrise boat ride, eating amazing food, and even squeezed in massages for JB's birthday.

B-day boat ride

These are placed in the river as an offering at sunrise and sunset

View from the boat

Samosas and other fried goodies at one of our favorite eateries

Behind the river is the old city, filled with small, winding alleyways that are littered (literally) with temples and small statues built into the walls of buildings. Making your way through the alleys is an experience in itself, winding around cows (and their droppings), motorbikes, kids, vegetable sellers, and banana peels thrown by monkeys.

 Every night along the river there are several huge ceremonies complete with music and singing, and priests offering flowers, incense, and candles. The productions go on for over an hour!

Showing off our Indian flag sweatbands, which we wore for the Republic Day holiday (also JB's birthday!)

We will be in Varanasi until Monday, and then are off on a cross country surf mission. That's right, if surf exists in India, Jeremy will find it. We will travel in style on a train south, and then another train west to Mangalore for a few days, and then head back up north to see the Taj before going up to the mountains. Living the dream....!