i have returned from india after falling deathly ill
just 4 hours before flying home. I have felt no fury
like the delhi belly, but i survived after a shot in
the ass and a few extra days for recovery. the sky
never looked so blue, the grass so green. it's so good
to be alive.

there are 2 galleries for your viewing pleasure.

top 40 for just a taste
or
all 800 for the entire feast

i wrote a 45 minute email wrapping up the trip, but
the power went out in delhi and it was lost. It went
something like this.

We left the east coast along the bay of bengal and
flew to Kerala, the west coast along the arabian sea.
I tried an ayurvedic massage and have never been so
well oiled in my life. You could make french fries
with the amount of oil used in one of these sessions,
but truly relaxing. We enjoyed the sun and practiced
yoga in the evening overlooking the ocean.

We headed north and spent thanksgiving on a thatched
roofed houseboat that was a converted rice hauling
vessel. All day we slowly motored through lazy palm
lined waterways into the backwaters where we dropped
anchor for the night. Our feast consisted of pooris,
rotis, curries, and naan. happy thanksgiving.

From there we headed into the western ghats which is
the mountain range running through southern india. We
visited the Periyar tiger reserve and set out to see
the widelife. Your best chance of spotting anything is
by taking a boat out onto the lake. We climbed aboard
and our captain fired up the engine. It was a diesel
engine that sounded a bit like 12 harley davidsons
running straight pipes down the las vegas strip. It
was commical, and the tigers eluded us.

We visited tea and ayurvedic herb plantations and
headed back to the coast to the port city of cochin.
We started shopping and bargaining and didn't stop til
delhi, and we were done.

The trip blew away all expectations. We had so many
moments, from the tuck-tuck driver who wanted to take
us home to introduce us to his one year old son that
he had named . . . Ronald Reagan, to the Swami who i
had hoped would give some sort of panacea for my
shoulder, when instead he simply lifted his shirt up
over his belly revealing a two foot tire track scar
across his stomach from being run over by a car just a
year before. Things could be worse, and life goes on.

India should not be missed.

namaste.

stephen