Santorini, Greece

Opah! We made it safely to Greece where we met up with John and Faith (Matt's parents) and flew to the beautiful island of Santorini. We awoke to a gorgeous sunny day and had breakfast on the hillside terrace over looking "the caldera cliff." We are staying at a very cool hotel in rooms that are like house-caves dug into the side of the hillside. The walls are refreshingly white, domed, and let in the stark morning light. These ancient houses were once home to Greek sailors, while the hilltop villas housed wealthy merchants of the island across a marble road.

We spent the day trekking through the dry terrain of the hilltop, searching for the town of Thira (Fira) and a recommended taverna called "Nicolos." We managed to find Nicolas and his taverna, but not before sunburned faces, sore feet and hungry bellies. We hiked up five miles over steep terrain and daisy fields. John led us into many "paths less traveled" to get there.

We are warm and cozy in our adjoining little cave homes and are looking forward to three more days in this magnificent place.

More to come...
Teri & Matt

The Golden Triangle

JAIPUR - AGRA - NEW DELHI

These three cities make up "The Golden Triangle" of tourism in India.

JAIPUR, Rajasthan

Warned by our guide book that Jaipur was a hornets nest of scams such as dishonest "touts" (people who prey on naiive tourists), and potentially dishonest hotel managers, we were on our guard when we arrived at the airport and our taxi driver picked us up with a sign that read "Geiner." After he did his best to assure us that he was, indeed, our taxi driver he proceeded to take us to a different hotel, claiming that the one we booked was under construction (exactly the kind of plot our book warned us about). This was so suspicious that we insisted that he show us the original hotel and check his story of said construction. We checked the address, realized that he was telling the truth and that this is probably the first time that this kind of story turned out not to be a scam! In fact we got a better hotel, a better room, and a discounted rate for having been moved! It was great!

Rajasthan is the land of palaces, and it was very different from South India. After talking with our friendly driver, Bhati, we hired him for the next two days to show us around Jaipur. He was great! So friendly and honest--he even gave us money out of his pocket when we couldn't make it to the ATM.

The story goes that we were enjoying our introduction to the hotel when Teri started to feel sick. A bug bite on her foot worsened and she developed a fever. When her fever reached 103.7 degrees f, and she was shivering and her teeth were chattering, we decided to call the doctor to come to the hotel. Dr. Sen came around 1am and decided that she needed anti-biotics in injection form... in her bum! She got two shots and took some Tylenol and called him in the morning.

We spent the morning at the clinic where the doctor did a blood test and asked us to return in the evening. In the meantime, Bhati took us all around the "Pink City" of Jaipur, the Amber Fort, and a famous cenotaph. We saw decorated elephants and camels in the road, and a snake charmer with his toothless cobra. Still scary!

We returned to the clinic and he said Teri had an infection and needed another shot and more anti-biotics. We returned to the hotel and prepared for our 4am departure to the train station.

AGRA, U.P.

Agra...vating! Need we say more. Taj was cool. Everything else sucked. Even our guide had his shoes stolen while showing us around holy ground. Too bad we booked two nights here. Crap. Early morning departure, 3:45am, to train to Delhi.

New Delhi

Our favorite deli in India! No, really, we liked it here. It was such a contrast to the rest of India that we have seen. We stayed with an amazing family in an AMAZING house and met lots of other cool travelers who are working here, got married here, etc. We have met more Americans here than anywhere else we've been in India. We wanted to see "the city" life of New Delhi, so we skipped all the old stuff and sought out the hotspots of the "moneyed middle class," as the buzz phrase goes.

We found them jogging at Lodi Gardens, a type of Central Park. We loved strolling here and welcomed the feeling that we weren't so foreign here--there seemed to be lots of expats with families enjoying the green lawns and shady trees. We then went to a shopping center and purchased discounted designer glasses. We spent the night talking and laughing with the other guests here. The next day we went to City Center to try and buy tickets to a Bollywood movie, but they were all sold out, so we happily ate gelato instead. We walked around a giant mall that had familiar chains, air-conditioning, and coffee bars.. where are we?! We couldn't believe this was the same India we had been immersed in for the last five weeks.

We rode with a friend to the Red Fort, checked out a Jain Temple (complete with Bird Hospital), and poked our heads into "Old Delhi," before returning home to a home-cooked meal.

Overall, we liked New Delhi a lot but realize that our guest house probably set this positive tone. We are glad to be finishing our trip here and I'm sure we'll revel in the memories of all of the things we forgot to mention on this blog during our early morning flight back to Athens.

We're looking forward to meeting up with Matt's parents in Greece for some quality time on the island of Santorini.

Namaste,

Teri & Matt

Panjim, Goa

Umm... why did we leave the beach? We decided to err on the side of being too early for our flight from Goa to Jaipur (very unlike us) and we decided to stay in Panjim overnight because it is closer to the airport. What we didn't realize is that Goa is super small compared to Kerala and it only took us two hours to drive from Palolem Beach to Panjim. Panjim is only about 45 mins from the airport. SO we arrived early and decided to walk around this capital city... BIG MISTAKE for road weary travelers!

Within the first twenty minutes we realized that Panjim is not our favorite city in India. The traffic was relentless, the vendors were super aggressive, three out of four ATM machines didn't work, and the constant staring was starting to take its toll on Teri. Add all this together with uncomfortable heat, midday hunger (the restaurants were closed until 7pm), and two cases of lingering Delhi Belly and you get two very moody tourists! We decided to walk back to our hotel and wait it out until dinner time.

The good news was that our hotel was very cool and it was in a quaint little neighborhood called "Fontainhas"-- a colorfully painted Portuguese-style area with windy streets and small restaurants. We went to a small, family run restaurant in the neighborhood and then went to the open air patio at our little hotel for desert. We finally got to try the local coconut liquor called "feni" and it was great! We also ordered the local specialty for desert, which was a coconut based type of stiff custard, like flan.

Anyway, we hired a taxi for the day on Tuesday and he took us all over "Old Goa." We walked through great big churches built by Vasco de Gama and his Portuguese entourage, saw the preserved corpse of Saint Francis Xavier at the Basilica of Bom Jesus (Church of Holy or Infant Jesus), and retreated from the thick, midday heat in the Cathedral of Saint Catherine. It was fun to see these massive churches amidst the palm trees. All this AND we still got to the airport early enough to relax, have a samosa or three, and catch our quick flight to Jaipur.

More to come from the North!
Sincerely,
Teri and Matt

Palolem, Goa

Ahhhhhh the beach! I guess there is a reason Goa is known for its beaches. We arrived on a night train and quickly discovered why people had recommended we come to this beach--powder soft sand underfoot, long and graceful waves stretching from one end of this crescent beach to the other, beach front restaurants that let you linger in the shade while you sip fruit juice and read... We love it!
You have to come here with the understanding that you're coming to a tourist area and not "seeing India," but it is a great place to just be at the beach and relax. We decided to stay here six nights since we arrived so late the first night.
Here are some highlights:
- beautifully sunny mornings with crisp, turquoise water
- talcum powder sand outside of our bungalow in a palm tree forest
- monkeys swinging through the trees above us, hunting mangoes
- dogs curled up on the beach
- holy cows on the beach
- early morning boat ride in search of dolphins
- ayurevedic massage
- easy internet access!!
- body surfing
- finding a great book (If you like the show, "The Office," you should DEFINITELY read THEN WE CAME TO THE END by Joshua Ferris. We have been reading to each other and laughing out loud)
- enjoying the long sunset
- ICE CREAM!!! (Baskin Robbins has made it to Goa!)
- cold beer
- pulpy, fresh fruit juice
- Tiger cookies and frozen Twix
- working on our tans
- Matt is indulging in not shaving and has been growing a beard

Tomorrow we will head to "Old Goa" and then prepare for the last leg of our trip to Jaipur, Agra and Delhi.

Still no word from our airline so keep your fingers crossed that we will, indeed, have a flight back on the 14th.

Love ya,
Teri & Matt

Thrissur, Kerala

We accidentally left this out. Not because we didn't like the city, but because we were only there for one night. Actually, this is a pretty popular town during Puram, the largest festival in Kerala. Puram takes place on April 14th this year, so it wasn't really a tourist destination when we were there. It IS quite memorable, however, because as we walked around the busy town we suddenly realized... Hey, we're the only non-Indian tourists here!
It was surreal to sit and observe the seemingly crazed traffic, lights, cows, sari emporiums, jewelry stores, family parks, temple bells... of a typical night in an Indian city. It sort of felt like we had been let in on a secret as we sat with others in the wake of buses, tuk-tuks (3-wheeled mini taxis), and trucks in the nighttime cool of the cow friendly "green" at the temple.
We walked through a night market where vendors were selling fresh vegetables, fruit, spices, and other necessities. Since we already stuck out, we simply strolled through without taking pictures. We enjoyed our little "getaway" from touristdom, but... alas, the beach awaits!

Kannur, Kerala

This might be our favorite place so far. We got the tip to come here from some travelers we met on the way. They were raving about Theyyam -- a ceremonial dance that happens in this part of India. You will see the photos... It is a ceremony that lasts approx 20 hours, beginning at 6 pm. It reaches it's peak around 5 am with exhausted, dazed costumed participants "becoming" various Hindu dieties. (However, there is some debate about whether or not these dances predate Hinduism). During the trance, the participants are able to do "super human" things, such as walking on fire-y coals.

This was a high point, but what made it better was that we got to hang out with a family whom we adopted for 5 days. They were Marcel, Marisa (the parents), Aliena (age 11) Noe (8) and Gael (3.5). They were from Switzerland, but were on 3 months of travel, beginning in the Philippines where they visited family, and then all through Southern India. A lovely family whom we hope to see again!

The place we stayed was a guest house called Costa Malabari. We were served 3 meals a day of Indian food, which we were finally developing a stomach for again. During the daytime, we had access to a beautiful private beach, at the base of a steep cliff. Got a little sunburned.

Highlights:
-The family.
-Homemade mango ice cream
-Banana Coconut Lassi
-Swimming for 2 hours straight
-Meeting lots of friendly travelers who stayed at the guest house- even a couple from -Portland Oregon. Also some from New Zealand, UK, Colorado, and Austria.
-air-conditioned train ride!!

Low lights
-Never fly Gulf Air- they canceled our return flight from India when all we needed to do was change the return date. They have promised that we have a flight out, but we are still waiting for email confirmation.
-Hard to sleep straight thru tropical nights- either its too hot or or the fan makes ya too cold. Plus millions of bugs who's sole mission is to eat Teri alive.

Munnar, Kerala

Sorry it's been so long since our last post! Here are some updates of the places we've visited and some of our experiences along the way...
From Fort Cochin we took a four hour taxi ride into the beautiful mountains and tea plantations of Munnar... not a bad place to be sick! We loved hiking around the plantations with our guide, Kumar, and meeting lots of interesting blokes on their travels through India. We even spotted some elephants on a foggy, misty morning hike, five hours up a steep cliff and through the unseasonal downpour of tropical rain. Unfortunately, we got very sick in the mountains and were forced to stay an extra three days there, surviving on chicken stock and toast and avoiding anything curryesque. All in all it was a good place to be stuck for a while and we came out alive and ready for the beach! Here are some funny highlights:
- Looking forward to a quiet, relaxing mountain retreat, we were greeted with three loud speakers blasting clamorous festival music outside of our window! Fortunately, our host at Olive Brook allowed us to switch rooms to the much mellower building on the other side of the hill.
- We took a gorgeous walk through the village and the tea plantations, and were able to see the village people prepare for the night's procession through the mountains (the festival coincided with Good Friday and Easter)
- With Matt sick in bed, Teri took a very confused taxi down into the town of Munnar and learned a quick lesson in communication when the taxi driver, after agreeing to "you will stay here, right?" left her at the ATM while he drove off to find a newspaper. Lesson: never ask leading questions! You'll always get a "yes" response.
- Amazing bugs and birds in the mountains--one morning saw a bird of prey swooping, floating through the trees and zig zagging down the hill below us, hunting for some forest critter.
- Learned how to make various Masala dishes from the cook at Olive Brook (our hotel) during his nightly demonstrations before dinner.