HI EVERYONE!
Sorry to end the blog on such a serious (angry) note last entry... as you may have noticed I was very affected by the people and stories of Cambodia. Simply stated, GO THERE. I promise you will be moved... and more.
From there (Siem Reap) we went to bleach-blonde BALI, INDONESIA. Talk about a shift in culture from the "have nots" to the "haves"! Overly excessive commercialism to the max (literally - Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Hard Rock right next to eachother, across the street from the beach! Eiww!) Kuta is the town - we stayed there, at a laid-back hotel, for a few nights before hiring a car and putting my life in Matt's hands as he drove us (very well, despite the crazy roads and drivers and pedestrians and motos....) all around the island, before heading to a few others. I will write more later, but quick highlights from the non-internet weeks in Indonesia include: a sunrise trek up and on the narrow ridge of Mount Batur (we hiked a total of three craters + the active volcano), diving the USS Liberty wreck, diving with sharks and crazy current in Komodo National Park, catching a rarely witnessed battle between two female (Komodo) dragons on Rinca island... and staying at our favorite hotel to-date, the "Mangrove Beach Sanctuary" in Sanur.
We arrived in India 12 hours before Barack made his acceptance speech from Grant Park as our next President. HOW SURREAL to witness that! And to read/watch so much coverage and images of Chicago... from all the way here in Mumbai (Bombay)!! He has inspired THE WORLD. Seriously...
We came face-to-face with a TIGER yesterday at Kanha National Park! He was HUGE, and less than 10 FEET FROM US!!! It was awesome. Sadly, the bush he was resting under prevented the "National Geographic" shot I was hoping for. But I will never forget the sound of him grunting... GOOSE BUMPS!!!
Today we spent the afternoon at the Taj Mahal. IT IS AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU'VE HEARD; well worth the trip to Agra. We leave in the morning to explore Jaipur, Pushkar and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan before heading to Delhi. I cannot believe I wil be saying goodbye to Matt in just over a week! Then, I will go to my ashram retreat in Rishikesh. Yes, the spirit of George Harrison lives on.
OK - gotta go have some chai on our hotel rooftop and enjoy the nearly full moon over the Taj. Wait! I almost forgot to mention. After making our Pushkar plan, we realized that their huge CAMEL FAIR is going on while we're there... culminating with 200,000 people doing some holy bathing in the lake under the full moon (with dolled-up camels all around?!) should be a trip... I'll tell you ALL about it.
Love to you all. GO OBAMA!!! WHOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
~steph