SUPRISE!!!

well for those that dont know, WE'RE BACK!!  thats right.  we arrived on thursday evening after a long flight.  from Bangkok at 2am to Seoul for 10 hours... oh man while we were there we saw this sign "Free Korean Crafts"  the word that stood out for us was FREE!  that along with 10 hours to burn in an airport, we figured what the hell!  turns out that they set you up to make these tiny desks, about the size of  a tea cup.  with wood, glue and paint and little gold stars that i think were supposed to be handles on the desk drawers.  well in the middle they asked if this videographer could film us working, we figure 'what the hey we let about 100 people in india take our picture.'   Well it wasn't the type of camera shooting you'd get at home, sam described it as Crazy Asian TV Shows filming,  where they hold the camera about 3 inches from your face and angle it to the side and then move it away and then back into your face (again 2 or 3 inches)  all while rolling the camera back and forth from one side to the other, almost like Sea Sick TV.   Well when we finished the videographer woman asked the english speaking host of the event to ask us to say some things of camera, things like "one word to describe your feelings about the activity and what we thought of it all"... all while waving the mini desk at the camera in an equally sea sick motion.  That done, i guess your feelings and thoughts weren't hip enough so they started asking us to repeat them, she asked me "say, i think this is a very interesting way experience korean culture in a short time while in the seoul airport" (or something like that i still cant get it right without sam)  well i couldn't get out the first 5 word without blankly staring at the camera (till 2 inches from my face)  sam got it right away and kept saying it for me, but they really wanted the skinny white guy to get it right (well not white anymore i was turning a lovely shade deep red)  after 6 or 7 botched attempts they reluctantly filmed sam and her memory brilliance for the line. then came the korean, i was a little better at that "say, durga durga durga" (or something i cant remember now)  and wave the desk in the air.  then they got us to do a long quote she claimed it to be "i love korea" but while shouting it, seriously shouting it, in a quiet airport at at 9 in the freaking morning after a flight with no sleep, and no coffee yet, she wanted us to "make a heart" thats when you, hold one arm over our head so together we make a heart shape, all while the camera is doing the sea sick thing and im getting redder my the second.    so if anyone has korean access television the program will air on the 15th of this month.   

wel after all that i was a hop skip and a jump back to the states for a quick sprint session to catch another flight and then we were back in canada.  after surprising  my family we went to sam's house and surprised them all for sams grand ma's 90th birthday.  it was pretty cool.  no one had a clue and everyone was floored.  some of the best most authentic smiles ive ever seen. very cool.  lots of tears and screams and a little spilled wine one walls in the basement.  

we'd like to thank everyone for following the blog and hope you've found it interesting and a little entertaining.  this wont be the end, just as we keep telling each other this isn't the end of travelling, its just the end of this trip.  we miss it already, it took sam one day at home to decide that she wishes we were getting on a plane again right away.  we'd really like to think everyone we've met along the way, and thank them big time for they're hospitality,  elveria and terry and the kids, we miss you guys and especially rainbows and ponies, and look forward to your next visit to calgary.  Joan, Rochester, and Juroska we miss you guys so much and thank you a million times over for your help and guidance, im sure we'd still be stuck in a mumbai train some where, wedged and unable to escape.  All the lovely people at the ashram in durban, you are still in our thoughts frequently and you can expect another visit someday (hopefully sooner rather than later)  and to everyone else thanks a lot.  the trip wouldn't have been the same with out you. 

much love

hello hello! so were in chang mai and its hot. wow is it hot. i think about 40. but at night it cools off nicely... and we splurged for an AC room and are quite comfy. the city hasnt changed much since i was here last and thats great. chang mai is awesome. people are great and almost in slow motion and the food finger lickin. we took a cooking course yesterday so were ready to make our own... when we can eat next... We ate like 7 meals each yesterday! and all between 10am and 2pm. ugh. i was stuffed. but it was good stuffed.

so we actually climbed! TWICE!! once in the gym here and once out side. it was great to be back on the wall. only we are sore, crazy sore. like from 3 days ago i still have trouble holdign the throttle on our bike. and to make matters worse, on the way out to the climbing crag, at the very end we had to drive up this steep hill that was all loose gravel... cutting to the point our bike went over and sam burned her calve on the exhaust pipe, so now with the sore muscles and she has a big ugly burn mark on her leg and gravel size bruises all over her legs and but. good thing she wont be in a bikini for a little while! but the climbing was great, and we both are stoked to get back on it again.

well anyways thats all for now. were going to a snake farm today, sams been talking about it every since we heard of it, so it should be sweet. oh! if any of you get a chance, the movie crank 2 is freaking sweet. now we may be television deprived but we thought it was the best movie weve been in months... only movie weve seen in month... but still, non stop action and senseless nudity is always worth a gander.

take care

LUKE

hello everyone. how are things? well were finally at a cheap email place so this will be better and less rushed. down on the beach its so pricey, you'd get into a panic trying to get the writting done fast, but its like like an eighth the price here so thats better.

well after a long long trip from the beach were up in chang mai. pretty sweet. our trip here consisted of 13 hours on a bus that rocked like it had hydrolics! serious, began to think we had some mexican gangsters driving, the way it would bounce. sounds fun but on an over night its not super condusive to sleeping... well not for me, sam on the other hand gets all hopped up on gravol and no matter how hard her head bounces on my knee, shes still out cold! and to make matters worse these drivers were freaking nuts. the entire NIGHT ride, they didnt turn on their head lights once! not once. on high ways and everyting. and when ever other tourists went and complained they would scream and shout in thai at them till the tourist ran away! seriously! i think they were drunk! well then we got dropped off in bangkok at 5am and we hung out till 5pm to catch a train to chang mai. that was pretty nice. compaired to the last trains we were on, this was delux! no maimed beggers trying to touch your legs, no clown walking up and down the aisles screaming in a high pitched voice "CHAI!!! CHAI WALLA CHAIIIIII" the iiiii on the end was drawn out till he was out of breath, no matter what the hour (he was selling tea) no constant fear that we'd get jacked or robbed at any time. it was great. i slept like a baby. sam didnt take any gravol so she didnt sleep to well. but ya. two long days and were all good. went to the sunday night market last night and that was cool. its huge! and today i think were going to rent a scooter and cruise around town. when i was here last i stayed for like 5 weeks, so its pretty cool being back in this town.

anyways. hope your all great. im putting more pix up on flickr, sorry for such a delay. its been hard tryign to get them on. take care everyone.


http://flickr.com/photos/31168733@N02/

much love to everyone

hello everyone. this will have to be super short cause email on the beach is 4 times more expensive than elsewhere so ill write short. we are on railay beach and its great. the sun is hot, water is warm and the cliffs are high and steep. beautiful. but we are NOT going to climb! haha. (for those that dont know railay is preemo climbing) a couuple reasons. first, we have no gear and rental is silly. (i think we have moral quams against renting climbing stuff) second, deep water soloing is pricy to rent a boat for the day, and third, i accidentally kicked a step and got a big gnarly flapper on the tip of my toe. so all and all, we are just going to chill and snorkel. oh and we found this slack line out over the water between two islands that you have to swim to and ive been trying that. holy crap i havent gotten my ass kicked on a line ever that bad. like everytime i land head first in the surf, then you have to swim back to the island and climb up the ropes and barnicalsto try again. after 8 attempts you're just exhausted! while ive been landing head first and floundering in the water, sam has been focusing on the sun and relaxing on the beach. wow its paying off. shes like 14 shades darker on the Sam Dark Scale! (trust me is alot) while shes getting browner our buddy joel from joshs work seems to be getting redder. man i feel sorry for the guy. 5th day in thailand and hes had to spend the last 2 in the house cause of the burn. shitty.

anyways things are great. thinking about heading south to koh phi phi and chrecking things out down there but well see. love you everyone. take care.

LUKE

hey everyone how are things? were doign great.

we met up with josh and ali the other day and then met up with joshs buddy from home, yesterday. we arrived n bangkok and have been loving it. alot like i remember from six years ago. even the smell was the same. i love it. foods great, people are great, ITS great. so were leaving for krabi tonight on an over night bus and should be on the beach climbing in the next day, which we are all stoked for. i was talking to some climbers the other day and it sound like deep water soloing is pretty feasible there so i think we might bve doing that alot this next little while. for those that dont know its when you rent a boat and get brought out to a rockface, and you climb out of the boat and on to the rock and when you fall you dont fall on rope or a pad you in to the ocean. and its all about how gutsy you are and how high you want to climb. should be great.

anyways, hope your all great. ill write again when we get to the beach. take care.

LUKE and SAM

hows it going? well i tried a couple time to write on the blog since the trek and each time the computers connection dies. here we go again!

so were in katmandu! the trek was amazing. loved it. first day was ALL UP! ugh. not even kidding. i counted 3704 steps. it was like switch back stair cases! oh and in the rain. we arrived at the top, shivvering and shakin. cold and exhaustion. only to find that the power was out so there was no hot water or fire (wood was wet) that sucked so we went to bed under a foot of blankets tried to survive. we woke the next morning to suny skys and sam with the sniffles and a sore throat. after a couple cups of chai and boiled eggs, we hit the trail. it was a slow day (more up) but luckily we didnt have far to go. we wanted to stay in a village called gorpani. we arrived at about 2pm. we were just in time as it started raining right away. well it rained and rained all the day long until dark came and then it started snowing. luckily we found a nice guest house that had a giant indoor fire and we didnt move more than 4 feet from it all day. we woke the next mornign to the bluest skys we've seen since canada. blue blue blue. amazing. full sun which made the snow blinding. i got sunburnt, even though i had 2 bottles of sunscreen in the pack a meer 4 inches from my head. funny it reminded me of laughing at my dad when he shows us picture of him climbing some glacier in africa, squinting into the camera, with sun goggles on his fore head... he went snow blind for almost week. haha. well anyways, that day was AMAZING! we agreed it was definitley the best day of the whole trip. just increadible. the fire from the day before, cleared sams cold and the short day left us rested. after a couple hours we arrived at the peak that we were heading for and were shocked! huge mountains! the himalayas! these are mountains. and still not a cloud in the sky. well we continued hiking and it was great, so good we decided to keep going and to tomorrows hike today. good idea at the time. i think around hour 8 we stopped looking at the forests and views and started staring at the ground, desperate not to break an ankle. haha. but it was worth it and it was still an amazing day. the last day was pretty uneventful, except for the sorest legs you could imagine and miles of downward stairs to climb.and when we finally finished we jumped on a bus (on the roof, cause thats the most fun) spent the next hour dodging low lying power lines and tree branches, until it started raining agian and we got wet and cold. anyways. got home hot shower and that was the end of an amazing trek. loved it and are stoked to come back some day and do a bigger one! with a jacket next time!

now were in katmandu for a day or two and then we fly to bangkok to see josh and ali! that'll be fun. anyways, love to all. ill try to get picture up tomorrow. computers seem pretty good in kat.

love you all

hey everyone! whats new? im sorry if this whole, me not blogging regularly is getting old. its hard to blog! you have to write about your days, all the time and remember not to offend anyone, write but not about your feeling (cause thats gay!!)... oh, well so much for not offending anyone. oh and blogging is like writing to a friend that never write back, if that makes sense.

so we did it! we are not in india!!! thank freaking god! we were soooooo burned out on indian the end. now i know, in four or five years ill be talking fond memories about it, but holy crap india is exhausting! but we made it and are now in nepal! nepal, for everyone who hasnt been, is mellow for the most part, the food doesnt make you feel like your going to blow up everytime, and the people are beyond kind. soft spoken and polite. and they dont stare like they're expecting monkeys to fly out of your butt at any minute, ok im done. this blog has nothing to do with any friend we had or we made in india, you are all great and we love you all. it was just the rest of india that had it in for us. we got in to katmamdu a few days ago and that was a tonne of fun. a little pricey but still great. now were in pokhara. arrived this evening and its beautiful. wrapped around this great lake with a buddhist temple (i think its buddhist) on a mountain top on the far side and a hindu temple in the middle of the lake on an island.

were planning a five or six day trek starting the day after tom and that should be great. get our ass's handed to us on the hills and our knees on the down hill. but ill write when we get back hopefully be full of stories and such. oh and ill try to get soem pics up. these computers dont seem to like my memory card still.

love to all
LUKE and SAM

hey everyone hows it going? sorry for the delays in the blog. im begining to suck at it. its just that the computers suck in this country... well especially in calcutta. i tried the other day and the computer kept freezing and stalling. like 4 times. and any of you that know me,might know i have short patience for computers. and before that, this stupid key board kept falling apart. my sweaty fingers (they usually sweat alot) plus the gummy keys (some clown tried taping hebrew letters to the keys and it all fell off, except for the tape glue) made the keys keep sticking to my tips and comming right out of the key board. it was weird.

so here it is. finally found a computer place that doesnt frustrate me. as you might have guessed were now in calcutta. from the last post sam and i went from rishakesh (after some very shitty days. sam got blasted by a fire hose and i almost my ass beat up my a david hassalfor wanna be, just to start). so we left rish and headed to delhi for a couple days, which was really nice. went to the zoo and saw bengal tigers, and leopards and cows... yes they had cows in the zoo! cows that were exactly the same as the cows on the street, outside the zoo, eating garbage! i dont know dont ask. oh and it was the holi festival. that was crazy. for those of you that dont know thats the festival where the police turn a blind eye, and from morning to 2pm sharp, all hell breaks loose. the idea of the festival is to smeat paint on eachother and have fun. it really was a lot of fun. we were warned against going to delhi for it, as they get quite rough, but we had a flight to catch. so, it was crazy. we went out for about 20 minutes and came back with thick paint, head to toe all over. wet paint, powder paint, paint in water balloons, paiont in water guns, everything. it was nuts. most the locals were either piss drunk, or high as a kite and stumbled around laughing and hugging eachother and everyone. it was crazy. sams head actually looked like a rasta flag, she oozed green even after showering and shampooing, over and over. only problem was the locals got a little frisky and inappropriate and tried to cop a feel from sam. i think at one point she had two guys down on their knees holding them my the back of their hair. funny... kinda. they would pull the, hand full of paint smear from the side of the head down the cheek and neck and "accidentally" grab her boob. those guys were actually sneaky. other knobs would just grab her boob. thats when she went king foo on them and we headed home. but luckily, at 2pm the cops came out and started hitting everyone with bamboo sticks (that seems to be their solutions to most issues) who tried anyting. it was funny, at 2pm everyone not participating seemed to just come out of the wood works and start business like it was early morning. but the colors in the streets were very cool.

so now were in calcutta. pretty cool city. an old colonia city, with beautiful buildings and architecture. we went to mother teresias grave yesterday and that was very cool. today were going to explore the city more and maybe boogey down to this very impressive old grave yard from the 1790's. great big mausoleums. very sweet. anyweays. well try for pics soon. but not promising anything. these indias computers seems to eat photos off the memory card. were heading to nepal in a few days and gonna trek and suck for 2 weeks, then thailand! very excited. i think were both burning out on india so it'll be great to move on and eat lots of momos and tea.

anyways. lots of love to you all.

oh and new pics are up. i put up one of a cow/cat! serious. so sweet.

hello everybody. i trust everyone is well. things are going well here also. today is my last day of yoga and i feel great. my body hated yago around day 4 to 5 and a half, but now i love it. i can actually put both palms on the ground and am inches from touching my fore head to my knees when bending over forward! solid... dont worry sam has safely extricated herself from the wall. we started our massage course yesterday and that was also fun. now its revenge for us afetr he massaged us. im pinching the shit out of the teachers feet and sam got 8 fingers in HIS crack!! hey hey. the massage were doing is auyvetic massage. its a traditional indian healing practice originating from kerela way down south. the massage, essentially, is like having dr J Fox give your an active release session ALL OVER YOUR BODY!! ettienne will know what i mean by this. its the worst pain you can imagine for his 15 minute lessons, only these last almost 2 hours. but when you leave, holy cow its amazing! your looser than you ever thought you could be! you like jello! in the practice the teacher massages a buddy of his, then samand i massage him, quite funny cause he has a little smile and repeats "YES" in his deep indian accent. then him and i massage sam then me. only, he squeezes too hard, as i do, so poor sam lies there in fits of agony. neither one of us will let up becasue we assume its the other making sams face contort like that. and when i get massaged, he squeezes the hell out of my left side and sam the right, now sam is super gentle, so when we leave sams limping and im walking in circles! but its great and well both be experts so sam can massage all of you.

much love

LUKE and SAM

Don't Touch Me!!!

Okay so I thought that getting stuck under my legs was bad the other day - but then last night came and I got imprisoned between my legs and a wall ... so yoga is gooooood. I can't feel anything below my earlobes but I've heard all that stuffs overrated anyways ... (Luke says to tell everyone that new pics are up ... please view - hee hee) Life here is very nice. Learning lots about my body and how to be aware of all my parts ALL the time. At the moment I am 'aware' that I cannot sit up straight or look over my right shoulder - - but I think I'm well on my way.

Love Love ...

hello everyone, hope you are all well. sam and i are doing great. we are both getting our yoga on twice a day in rishakesh. the days are flying by. we each have 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. we are both more sore than we've been in a very long time. honestly every part of either of us hurt. kinda sad actually. but its great. havent felt anyting but the hard seat of a ghetto bus ride in a long time so a little butt kicking was far over due.

when we're not in yoga, here in rishakesh, sam and i spend the hours reading, walking, getting custum pants made, and a lot of drinking chai in shaded streets under the towering mountains, watching the sadus, and cows walk by... the cows are much more interesting, they actually have personality here, they beg for food, come up behind you and sniff you if you're buying street food and hope for a snack. very interesting compared to the cows of home. the cows here have free reign. they are holy and they know it. they'll lounge in the sun, actually pulling off a very convincing cat impersonation, and make the cars drive around them, usually with an angry indian shouting some hindi swears at the before roaring off. quite nice days. anyways, thats about all for now. take care.

Good evening and Hello ... Luke is off being bendy in a yoga class right now and since I don't bend I thought I'd break away from the snacking in our hotel and catch up on my correspondence ... correspondAnce ... (I shouldn't use words I can't spell ...)

So I can't believe that tomorrow is MARCH!! and that we've been in India for so long now. This has been that part of the trip for me that I have was very anxious for and truly wasn't sure if I was gonna make it out alive! But here we are and still enjoying ourselves thoroughly. The town we are in at the moment is called Rishakesh and (as I think Luke mentioned) is where Yoga orginated. We joined a class a few days ago together however since it is more of a power/strength class as opposed to a flexability class I wasn't really taking from the class what I would describe as the 'entire experience' - so I respectfully declined the remainder of the week ... and will start an Ashtanga class tomorrow which I am very excited for.

Hmmm ... turns out I have not so much to say ... back to the snacking I suppose - will write more soon I promise ... Much Love

oh and new pictures are up

http://flickr.com/photos/31168733@N02/

hello everyone! First i'd like to appologize for such a long delay in the posts. We've just been travelling lots and haven't really had a chance to email anyone or anything. But we hope to get back into it again. So since we last left off in hampi...

Hampi was great. We had lots of fun climbing, slack lining and chilling out. Unfortunately Sam got sick our last few days and had to stay in bed for the last bit, but she got over it quick and is stronger than ever. We're looking at sammy 2.1! But seriously.

So we left hampi, took an over night bus to goa, then jumped on a flight to Jaipur. Jaipur was very awesome. We had a great time. Shopping, eating, drinking. great time. Although some of the people were a bit much... for example, our first morning walking to coffee we looked up and right in front of us, in the middle of the street, there was a litlle boy about 4 or 5 years old, pooing... ON THE SIDE WALK! screwed our morning right up. Before coffee!! Later that day a taxi driver says to me, "hello, are you from canada?" i was like "what the hell, yes, how do you know?" to which he responded "because you smell like it."!! Again, what the hell? he didnt get into it or explain, or anything only went on to tell us jokes like, "no wife, no life" "no honey, NO funny" then finished off with "no kitchen, no chicken!" and sam shouted over the rickshaw engine, "that doesnt rhyme!" lots of odd balls in Ragistan. We met lots of people that just wanted to hang out. Some times to the point where we were a little creeped out. Like this guy, who found out that sam tutors kids and i like music, and... oh my god, he teaches music to little kids! we were meant to hang out. He found out because his brother was our taxi driver two days earlier. so all of a sudden we're best friends, and this guys starts showing up, EVERYWHERE! Im serious. The first time at 8 am we were walking down this quiet street looking for tea, and this stranger runs across the road and is like "hello, are you from canada?" so of course i immediatley went to thinking that i need a better shower or to buy some cologne. But it turns out his brother described what i looked like. Tall and white. Pick that out of a line up! Well the guy continued to show up randomly over the next few days, on streets, restaraunts, memorials. Always wanting to hang out. Sounds sweet and innocent i know, but the guys approach creeped us out. And besides first thing he said (other than the opener) "was your canadian? ive been to europe! lets hang out!" well this all went on right up until valentines day, where he showed up three times that day and each time i had to explain that it was valentines day and that it was a day for couples to spent together, and "look into each others eyes over a candle," as another indian kid put it (they know what the day means, its bigger here than at home. there was an article the day of, describing how the govt is taking steps to cut down on puplic affection). Then he got a sad look on his face and said, "well, what do people who have no one do on valentines day?" haha i would have laughed right there if it wasnt a little sad. Anyways. As ive said. Jaipur was great. Lots of fun there. Random elephants walking down the street with face paint. Great markets and crazy temples.

Next on the list was a bus to agra, home of the Taj Mahal. The Taj was built in the mid 1600's. The emporer at the time was devistated when his second wife (who gave him 14 kids) died. He then built the Taj Mahal (her first name was Mahal)... over the next 20 something years, with the help of over 20, 000 workers and artists from all over Europe, Asia and India. Let me just say for all of you who havent seen the Taj Mahal. Every pic you see of it doesnt do it justice. You honestly CANT take a bad picture of it. Every picture you take makes it look like a faery tale image. Its really unbelievable. Sunrise and sunset. Even with the crowds, just breat taking.

From agra we went to Delhi. Now last time in delhi, i hated it. I think it made me hate india a little. But the change thats gone on there is amazing. I didnt recognize anything. The city is clean, theres grass that you can sit on! It was great. We spent 4 days there, lost in book shops, narrow winding streets, and crazy spice markets. One day we were walking back from the spice market and happened to walk down a pretty sketchy street, where Sam was whistled at, hooted at, kiss noised at, until one idiot drove slowly by and said "excuse me miss, can i have a kiss" and he and his three idiot friend erupted into laughter and giggled like little fancy pants boys (there are alot of them here) well Sam clicked, and emptied an entire litre bottle of water on them, and inside their car, that stopped them in their tracks, and then threw the bottle it self at the driver. Then we were the one doubled over laughing. Sam then went and bought a bottle a orange crush soda, and waited until the next horny goon came buy, this time it was a bike rickshaw driver (for those that dont know, rickshaw drivers, whether auto or bike, are the low point of most cities) he drove by and made a kiss noise from 2 feet away. Sam let it all out. The look of shock was priceless, i wish i could have had a picture for you all to see. Highlight of delhi

Well that takes us right up to now. We are in shimla. North of delhi and about 2200 - 2500 meters above sea level, and were freezing. Were wearing everyting we own and my hands are still numb and in the morning its like those really crappy camping days crawling out of you sleeping bag, and 4 blankets and trying to put on freezing pants. Ugh. Not pretty. But the views and sights are amazing.

Well anyways. Ive been ramblimb for a long time now. Ill stop. Hope you all great. We miss and love all of you.

hello everybody.

hope your all doing well and the weather is great for you. we are now in hampi. great to be back here. i was here 6 and a half years ago and this is the first time for the others. i cant believe how much it has changed since i was here last. its wild. when i was here years ago, i would be the only climber out, maybe me and who ever i found at the guest houses that were here for the same reason. now, theres a whole guest house for climbers! when we go out to climb there are dozens of people out. and chalk EVERYWHERE! i cant believe it. and thats only the climbers every morning, where ever you look, you'll see somebody out on a rock with a camera waiting for sunrise, of some body doing yoga on a boulder. its crazy. there used to be monkeys and sadus out here, now just stoned climbers and yoga'ers with indian drug dealers looking for the next same. a little dissapointing but still pretty cool. its a beautiful and that cant be taken away.

the climbing is really nice. feels great for all of us to get soem exercise and muscle strain. climbing from 630am to about 900, then coffee and reading during the day and usually slack lining from 200 till 400 and then maybe more climbing. pretty nice lifestyle. but oh man. 2 and a half months of hot weather and high humidity and no climbing has made all of our fingers like a babys bottom. josh has been pissed cause we'll seriously get 6 climbs in and then our skin will be SCREAMING!!! haha. doesnt help that he doesnt get coffee till were climbing. haha. but as the days go the skin gets used to it again and the sessions last longer and longer. sams cousin juroska met up with us in goa and travelled with us to hampi and has been trying her hand at climbing. think shes enjoyed it. shes leaving today for bombay, we'll miss her.

so thats about it for now. just climbing and relaxing. probably leave her in the next week... for where? were not sure yet. oh! my camera has bit the dust! sucks. wont even turn on! so no pics for a while. at least not till we find a new one some where. anyways. hope your all well. lots of love to everyone.

LUKE

JUST QUICKLY

Luke and I just found out last night that Madagascar is now in the full on throws of a civil war!!! A CIVIL WAR PEOPLE!!! Can you believe that we left there only 20 some odd days ago?!?!?! Nobody is going in or out. Apparently the centre of the conflict is in Antananarivo - the one place where we felt safe and "at home" ... 23 (or so) bodies in the streets - and the four major cities are all off limits and very dangerous ... quite preposterous I might say - -

Just hard to believe is all ... xo ... xxx

Hello Hello From GOA!!

So far my favorite part was the mystical train ride into this province at 6:00am yesterday morning. There was a low mist that covered everything outside of 50 feet from the train and the quiet beaches on the perimeter of the tourist areas were serene and cool. Peaceful actually and the perfect way to enjoy them was from the doorway of the traincar with Luke by my side. Moving in a bit more to the town - as in most of the outskirts of the cities we have seen in Both Africa and India - lies the lower income/no income areas - I find these to be some of the most beautiful parts of the countries we've had the privilege of visiting. Houses ... Homes really to those who live there ... made from mud, rusting tin, hay, beer bottles, garbage bags OR sticks ... and if they are really lucky a combination of any of the afforementioned. I haven't asked Luke to post any of the pics of the shanty townsships or ghettos that we have come across because I can't even describe in a blurb at the bottom what they are about - yet somehow I keep asking the boys to drive by them numerous times over just so that I can get a shot of the intricacies that weave those fragile, yet hostile, communities. The lesson I have learned is that no photo will do any justice to the aura that hangs so precariously among the residents of these places. The best way to describe them was spray painted across the common latrines on the outskirts of one of them in Cape Town which read ... "GHETTO BEAUTY". I find them intriguing - as I suppose most people find that which they cannot touch and struggle to understand ...

Whoa! Sorry I got caught up in my constant wonderment of what I would have to say is my most favorite part of our travels so far ...

So Goa - yes - My thoughts on it so far is that (shhh ...) "this is not India" ... but don't tell all the people here who are so dead set in the idea that they can stay here for ages and then go home and tell people they have travelled in India. I feel a little like I have falen out of India into a Hippie Psychadelic Drug Induced version of Banff .... tourists, tourists, tourists as far as the eye can see. At one point yesterday we counted more foreigners on the street than Locals ... HUH???Anyways - It is nice here I suppose. Very thankful for the opportunity to have visited such a world renowned place in my lifetime - I just feel like I got here a couple decades too late. Many of the towns are overrun with Tourists and people who like to take advantage of tourists ... I might have set my expectations a tad high and sadly, to my family, I would have to say that this is not the Goa you all remember from your childhoods.

One thing that I do think is very cool are the names of shops and places that I am seeing which bear the names of people we know so well at home. LOBO Restaurant, BRAGANZA Cashews, ALMEIDA Curios and FERNANDES, FERNANDEZ, FERNANDES ... Ha ha ha!! It's great - like the CanOrients Homeland!!

Today Luke and I rented a Scooter and headed inland to check out - and we both agreed on my Familys behalf (so this ones for you guys ...) the mortal remains of a Patron Saint who has played an important role to my family for decades now. We scooted over to Old Goa to visit the Bom Jesus Basilica and were able to visit two very beautiful churches there. The first housed the tomb of St. Francis Xavier and was ridden with ... you guessed it ... Tourists so it was a little frustrating but we managed to get some time in nonetheless. The second Church that we went to was the Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assisi. He is the Saint who means (of the two) the most to me as his prayer has been taught to me my whole life and he was the named Saint of my high school. Anyways ... I consider myself very lucky because as we entered the Church ... it was silent. One visitor was exiting the building and I (we I think) were in awe at the beauty held within its walls - and we were alone. The tiled archway and the intricate gold interior was nothing less than marvelous augmented only by the gravestone floor. It was quite. It was peaceful and it was prayerful. Two wishes for the day according to my Daddy - I knew I was a lucky girl when I knelt down as the only one, in this church of my familys Patron Saint. It was perfect really ...

Oh my goodness I just realized how long I've been writing for and thank those of you who have read this far. I'll go now - but just wanted to say it was a magical day filled with meaning in a place where so much is unfamiliear all the time that I struggle daily to find the meaning in things ... All my love and peace - -

Aurangabad!

hello hello! hope your all doing well. we are great. as you could guess from the title, were in aurangabad, you have no idea how long it took me to figure out how to say that let alone spell it... actually sam had to spell it. shes a spelling bee wizz by the way!!

its nice here. hot during the day, but good. to get here we had to catch the 0625 train. that means we had to get up at 0400! ugh. And thats after we were up till 0100 finishing packing after dinner. But thats nothing compared to rochester, juroska and joan who got up earlier to wake us, and for rochester to accompany us to the train station. after helping us get loaded up to the train, it started moving before he could get off... haha and to all of our great surprise it didnt stop until leaving town and arriving 20 minutes some where else. thanks alot rochester. and sorry again. haha. the three of us find ourselves floored over and over again by the generosity of the rocha family. thank you, thank you, thank you.

the train ride was good. only we were all pretty bagged. sleep wasnt likely, but the other two tried. beautiful veiws. only got touched once each by lady men, begging for money and figuring making everyone uncomy enough to pay them to go away was a good tactic... it was and we paid.

now in town its pretty nice. went to a grocery store that was more like a department store than a grocery store but none the less. (the three of us always seem to feel at home in grocery stores, if that makes sense) but the caves near by are the attraction. they are these ancient caves carved out in the 6-8th centuries. amazing. caves with pillars, and statues carved out of a mountain. just amazing. cant talk to do it justice. very impressive.

anyways there are some new pics up on flickr
http://flickr.com/photos/31168733@N02/
check it out.

hope your all well. take care.

hey everyone. just a quick note. WE ARE IN INDIA!! finally. its been a long trip. but were here. were all very excited and eagerly soaking onslaught of smells, sights, sounds and feeling.

luckily we were picked up last night by juroska and cornell late at night. like 3am!! crazy kind of them and joan and rochester for staying up so late to welcome us. today after a nice sleep in, went down town. holy cow, how ive missed india! we had a great day, great food, great beer. and we found hookah! josh was giddy. and now were home again and going to relax tonight with a movie and hit up some markets tomorow. so ill write more a little later. hope you all well. just wanted to say were here and very psyched.

we would like to send a thousand thanks to elvira and terry. we miss you guys already and really hope to see you guys again. either africa or in america. take care and give the kids hugs for us.

much love luke sam and josh.

hokey dokey. sorry every one for the delay in the post. havent had tonnes of chances to get one in in the last week. but here we go.

we got to nairobi last week and luckily enough met up with my dad and rachelle! totally skookem. it was great to see them, like a taste of home, mid-trip. we actually got them to take this enormous climbing pad home that we have been dragging around the last two months, so that was a huge load off. when they took off we headed to some of sams familys place. thats where we've been for the last week, they were kind enough to take us in and let us recoup. its been great. like a second taste of home in the last 2 weeks! elveria and terry have two kids, maria (six year old girl) and carlo (2 year old boy). the kids are absolutley adorable. maria zips around in her healy shoes and carlo close of her heals. while terry treats us to tantalizing meals, and elveria seems to orchastrate the house hold and make sure everyone is happy and comfy.

yesterday we had a great day. we went to this safari orphanage, where they have tonees of animals that have for obe reason or another ended up staying at this zoo. we saw, pigmy hippos (not nearly as scary as the one that chased me), a giant rhino, albino zebras (white and cream in color), leapard, lions and the highlight, a cheetah. we befriended a zoo keeper inside that eventually asked us if we wanted to see the cheetah! we were like 'see?' but when he said see, he meant see, up close! we went right inside. the cheetah, when we first touched it, made thsi growling noise that at first we were like '... oh shit, crazy ass just put us in a cage with a cheetah!' but it turned out that it was in fact purring!! holy crap, the cheetah was purring to our touch! then after a few minutes, started rubbing against us and leaning on sam. then it took turns licking us (sam right on the face, chin to temple!). it was an extremely sweet animal. we were crazy stoked. josh had the good sense to avoid touching it, due to his allergies to cats, but much to sams surprise learned that shes allergic to cheetahs! kind of a cool allergie if you ask me. much cooler than hay and shrimps.

and other than that we've been preparing for india... well that and litres of coffee everyday. nairobi has lots of great coffee. my favorite is the kanya java house. cafe beano quality!!

so for now thats all. but once we arrive in india im sure we'll have too much to say. and im sure sam will grace the blog with her presence.

much love to all. miss everyone lots.

LUKE

hey every one whats shakin? things are good here. back in antana now. it was a long haul to get here, consisted of waking up at 0430, getting a boat to mainland from our island, then a bus ride to tomatave ( big shitty city), then another bus ride (after waiting for a few hours in the sun) to get to tana. woke up at 0430, got to the city at 2000. such a long day. and to top it off, josh and i had an angry stomach for it... luckily josh was worse than me for it, haha. he diodnt even get a coffee in the morning!!! nothing scarier than the boy sans cafe all day.

so for the last week weve been on this little island, ile honet, which is south of an island a little bit bigger called st marie all on the west coast. it was pretty sweet. ile honet was, im guessing about one square kilometer. little bigger than chinook center in calgary. pretty sweet. lots and lots of snorkeling, so much snorkeling that josh had to learn to stretch out his hamstrings under water, sam got sea sick while swimming (poor sammy figured she was motion sick from dec 30 through to jan 5. between bus rides, sea sick, and swimming in a rocky ocean), and i started swimming with one leg cause of cramps and almost got stuck in a coral tunnel under water. but all and all it was great. eating the freshest sea food your could imagine. sam actually got a calmarie steak the size of her hand! new years was fitting. after lots of bus rides and motion sicknessess and bumbly bellies (joshs words) we went to bed at 8pm! haha... only to re-awaken AT midnight by the 35 degree heat to night with super humidity. haha. but on the bright side we celebrated homes new years at 10 am with a great cup of coffee (we actually watched this little old lady grind the beans with an enormous morter and pestle).

had a lot of good times and angry times out there, got screwed by this little puss puss driver (like a rick shaw, a guy pulling you on a cart) he mumbled the prices, deux and dix mille. but on the bright side, we saw him later that week, and warned his next victim against him. one small victory for canada amongst many losses in madagascar. haha. oh man its so hot. like 35 degrees, high humidity, and no wind. you actually feel disgusting. shirts feel like theyre made of waxy oil. and we couldnt find anyone to do laundry for a long while, so we resorted to doing little bits out selves and wearing next to nothing (josh and i, anyways) and sam had to mcgiver make a pair of undies from t-shirt sleeves. haha. something to see.

but all and all, snorkeling and eating and incredible beach walks were worth it. it was a great time. now were getting ready to get a flight to kenya to meet dad, which were really stoked for, then INDIA!!! very stoked for that too.

anyways, hope your all well. love and miss all of you. thinking lots about all you.

LUKE, SAM and JOSH