Calm Oman, Crazy Dubai

"The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is to at last set foot on one's own country as a foriegn land."
-G.K Chesterton (May 29th, 1874 - June 14, 1936)

A few weeks ago the Muslim world celebrated the Eid Al Ahda holiday. The Eid celebration marks the annual Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. This journey is one of the 5 pillars of Islam and a lifetime goal for many Muslims around the globe. Rather handy for us, it also creates a week long holiday to go exploring. As you may know, in a few weeks Tina and I are getting married so we made the money-smart descision to spend this holiday around Oman.

For a month or so, we had heard rumours that there was a track would allow us to cross the Wahiba Desert from north to south along the coastline. Apparantly, this track leads through the sand dunes but adjescent to the brilliant coastline of the Arabian Ocean. We decided to head out on a 5 day camping trip to find this track and meet up with friends farther south.

Sure enough we found this track and it lead to a stunning drive. The giant powder white sand dunes soared to our right as the evening sun lit the shimmering ocean to our left. Along the jouney we passed through tiny, desolate bedoiun fishing villages that combined the hardiness of both desert living and living off the sea. It was an absorbing mix of cultures. As the sun fell on our first night we turned to the sea and set up camp along a hardened sandstone area that dropped into the ocean.

As the morning light spread it's colours over the ocean waters we were treated to a giant whale trolling for fish along the beach (less than 70 meters out). There is something serene about these massive creatures as they plod through otherwise calm water. It all happened too quickly to reach for the camera.


The desert sun warmed us as we continued travelling through the dunes the next day. On this day we saw a tow truck that had literally been swallowed by the sands. We had been warned about this as several drivers had smashed the tow of the truck as the rest has been consumed by the desert. Of course, the day had its moments of digging and being pulled out of sand but it really was a great new area for us to explore. After we got back to a paved road we were treated to the local haggling practices. As we drove along a one lane road a Bedu pickup truck screamed up beside us. Fearing for this trucks safety (and ours) we were shocked as he rolled down his window to try to buy the kayak off of our roof or as our neighbour suggested 'perhaps it was for Tina?'. All while travelling at speeds upwards all 120km/hr in the wrong lane. I love this place.

That night we met up with some friends in a beautiful area named Khaluf. This location has a calm bay that backs into rolling sand dunes as far as you can see. We've seen flamingos, dolphins and sharks at this location in previous visits but not this one. We took the kayak out a few times and enjoyed the relaxing nature on the area. We finished up our camping adventure by meeting a few other friends farther south on the white sandy beaches of Ras Madrakah. A few more tough days of turquoise water and soft sands and we were headed back to Muscat.

After we had cleaned up in Muscat we headed out for the second part of our holiday - the Rugby Sevens in Dubai. As stated in previous posts I am no fan of Dubai, or the consumerism it promotes, but the chance to see this wild event before we move from here was too much (also it was my birthday gift from Tina).


This is the 40th year of the event held 30 km outside of Dubai in the desert. Amongst a desolate landscape they have created this rugby oasis complete with a 50,000 seat stadium and 5 other pitches surrounding it. I wonder why they're going broke eh? The 16 best Sevens nations are invited annually. Additionally, this is the expat thing to do in the region and thousands of Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans,Scotts, etc descend on this place full of beer and national pride. It's sold out every year - 100,000 over two days. Crazy.

As Tina said the players are as big as doorways and unbelievably fit. The games are short, the action fast and the crowd in full roar for two straight days. An absolutely great time.

This blog got out a month or so later than planned so we have actually already arrived home from the winter vacation. In a few weeks we will update our blog with stories and pictures from our wedding.

All the best and belated happy holidays.

Breaking news...

"Them's the breaks"

- Chuck Nelson (said several times to his boys between the years of 1986 - 1994)

The quote above was often used by my father to explain the "breaks of life". The context of the message clearly indicated that although this is the way it is at that current time pull your socks up and get going. So we did.

A few weeks ago I was playing a manly game of ultimate frisbee and I dove for a disc. Not only did I come nowhere near the disc, but I also broke my hand in the process. Worse yet, it was the bone in my hand that connects to my pinky finger. Them's the breaks. Some men have battle scars, others tattoos and still others brandings. I have a broken pinky finger. Tina was proud.

Surgery in a developing nation is always exciting and I had an Omani doctor with a scottish accent prep me for surgery while still wearing the traditionaly disdasha (long white gown) and kuma (embroidered hat). Good show I must admit. I woke up hours later with my arm tied above my head to an IV cart. They put a plate and three screws into my hand and sent me on my way. Certainly not the Monday evening I was hoping for.

Given the healing time of the surgery we have been forced to do some different things with our time. We took an excellent day trip through two coastal wadis that we had not explored yet. We linked two wadis - Souway and Dayqah through an off road route and were shocked at how wet these wadis were. These valuable water sources were guarded by several impressive ancient watchtowers. The wadi edges rose dramatically on either side of us and changed from reds, to oranges and shades of brown. As we drove on through dry patches we would soon reach another deep green oasis. As long as we've been in this country it still is amazing to see people reaching into the depths of the earth to harness the water needed to exist.

Additionally being our last year in Oman we are taking in events that we otherwise have not attended. One of which is our school's formal Ball. It's an event attended by local bigwigs, embassadors and important people like us. We put on our best digs headed to the swanky hotel and had a good time.

Last year you might recall that Oman rocked to the beat of the Arabian Gulf Cup. The Omani soccer team won the event and the country went nuts. This year the national team had the opportunity to host two major international matches in the same week - the first against Australia and the second against Brazil. It was a great week to be a soccer fan here. The Bazilians played all of their stars except the guys that play in Brazil. Kaka played as did all the first team players available. Oman didn't fair as well this year going down 2-1 to the Socceroos and 2-0 to the Samba Boys.

In a little over a month Tina and I will be celebrating our marital bliss. With that in mind our colleagues here have gone out of their way to help us celebrate with them in Muscat. There was a wedding shower held in Tina's honour. About 40 ladies attended dressed all in white for an evening of cocktails and appetizers. Quite classy I must say. Not to be outdone, some fellas got together and we threw around a football, drank a few beers and headed to a low-brow local establishment. Not nearly as classy as the ladies. Next weekend we will get our final send off event as the families throw us a "this is your "future" life party". Their kids will be encouraged to run amok, they'll all look exhausted the whole evening and constantly tell us what a great decision we are making. Should be fun.

This coming week is our Eid holiday. We are looking forward to a 5 day camping trip going through the Wahiba Sands and ending up in two of our favourite coastal camp sites. The second part of our holiday will be spent in Dubai at the world famous Dubai Rugby sevens championships.

The Magic of Oman

"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hands of man".

- Author unknown

Having lived in this country for the past two years we occasionally find ouselves driving by sights, people and events that previously seemed so exotic to us. We have officially confirmed with our school that this year will be our last and we are determined to take none of this time for granted. Although the title of this blog is inspired by our most recent camping experience we have always felt this way about our host country. It has been a busy month and this blog attempts to recap it.

Earlier this month Joel finally hiked a trail we had heard of through friends. The hike is called "The Chains" and is named quite literally for the chains found on the hike that are used to climb a small rock face. This worried me as the last chains I used involved locking my bicycle up in the 2nd grade. Waking early in the morning a couple of vehicles set out and reached the starting point a few hours west of Muscat. The walk took us through the base of a Wadi and consisted of short undulating portions followed by sections filled with water. Additionally the nesessary use of the chains added to the uniquenes of the hike. A team of middle aged men struggling over rocks and wobbling up chains surely must have been hilarious to any villager passing by.

Having heard of a beautiful wadi that we were yet to explore deeply we headed out to Wadi Tanuf a few weekends ago. At the mouth of the Wadi sits the ruins of a mud bricked city that was bombed out in the mid 1940's. As it was still roasting hot we decided in our wisdom to hike up the side of the Wadi until we found a cool enough altititude. So we hiked up and in late evening we found a cave that previous shepards had cleared out. Well, this looked perfect. We set up camp and revelled in our stunning view. As the sun fell and the darkness surrounded us so to did the mosquitos. The buzzing swept over us on all sides and we were done for. Swelteringly hot and covered in mosquitos we tried to escape but it was too dark to climb down. So we sat, sweating and itching waiting for our bright idea to end. On a positive note there are a swarm of mosqutos fat and happy on our blood. You're welcome.

This year we decided to spend our Canadian thanksgiving at home and help spread some Canadiana around Mucat. Having attended a thanksgiving dinner on Thursday evening we hosted our own on Friday. Sadly, no Turkey was available so our dinner meat consisted of Rotisserie chicken. I gamely felt that it would be appropriate to slaughter a goat for such an occassion but I was wisely overruled. All the other fixings were present so our patient guests looked past it.

This past weekend we just got back from a fantastic trip down the coast. Our friends Keith and Pat had not seen the nesting Green turtles along the coastline. We were interested in going again and wanted to find a new location we had heard about. As we got to the sparsley populated coast we consulted our directions - follow the faint tracks to the left 12 kms after the turn. Nice. We followed the tracks and they lead up and up and up over the rocks towards the ocean. Sure enough we wound our way to a beautiful lookout point but well above the beaches we had intended to find. Two fishermen were tying their nets nearby so we approached them for directions. In my broken Arabic they understood what we wanted to find and hopped in their truck and lead us to a stunning beach hidden behind the cliffs. At the beach we met a few kids that assured us (again using shamefully poor Arabic) that this was a beach that Turtles frequented.

To say this was a great campsite would be an understatement. The white beach was entirely surrounded by red sandstone cliffs and filled with deep bunkers dug by nesting turtles. At one end sat a sandstone ledge overlooking the sand a mere 2 feet below. We set up on the sandstone and anticipated the evenings activities.

In the early evening we sat at the edge of the shoreline as the waves rushed to our feet. There was no moon, and a blanket of stars covered us. The water was filled with phosphorescence that created a glowing, illuminated body of water that crashed brightly lit, gentle waves towards us. We sat contemplating the beautiful view as giant shadows began to emerge from the water. The 500 pound turtles crawled up at a distance from us and began digging their nests for the night.

* Turtle photo from previous spot

We sat there taking in this strange beach, in this little-known country, watching a flourescent sea crash at our feet, under a stunningly star filled sky surrounded by giant creatures climbing ashore to lay their eggs. We couldn't help but think that this may be the only place in the world where we could have an evening like this all to ourselves. At any rate, we will convince ourselves that it is and attribute it to the Magic of Oman.

We are looking forward to taking in as much as we can in the time we have left in this special place.

Eid Mubarak - Southern Arabia style

"For this cruel land can cast a spell which no temperate clime can match"

- Wilfred Thesiger (first European explorer to cross the Empty Quarter)

Here in the Middle East, and around the Muslim world, the holy month of Ramadan has just concluded. Following this month of fasting during daylight hours and focusing on prayer comes a festive holiday period called Eid Al Fitr. For Omanis it is a time spent with family and for expats like us an opportunity to travel. Coming with a week off of work, this is quickly becoming one of our favourite holidays!

This year we decided to head down south with our friends and neighbours Tom and Julie to the Dhofar region of Oman. As mentioned in previous blogs this area is unique in the country in both its people and its geography. During the summer months (June to mid September) Dhofar is hit with the "Khareef" (winds of plenty)- Indian monsoons bringing high winds and tremendous rainfall. The resulting lush landscape is in complete contrast to the arid conditions stretching from the edges of this area to the shores of Muscat a thousand kilometers to the north. We have travelled to this area many times but have never seen this phenomenon.

As we drove the 10 hour journey through the Hajar mountains in the north, then the sand dunes of the eastern deserts, and finally the gravel plains of the center of the country we openly mocked the pictures we'd seen of the green mountains and flowing wadis of Dhofar. Everytime we'd been to the area it had been brown and dry and we expected possibly a subtle difference at best. But as the road finally dropped from the high plateau towards Salalah we were shocked by the immediate change of our surroundings. It looked more like the lake district in England complete with green rolling hills covered in mist and not the desert landscape of Arabia. There we were taking pictures of grass and rain. How embarrassing.

The first full day was spent in the glorious cool rains at the tail end of the Khareef. Coming from hot days in the mid 40's a cool rinse was welcomed. Thankfully Tina stopped me as I was carrying my towel and bar of soap outside. Classless.

We drove up into the mountains to see the Jebali people and their environment. Walks through lush, water filled wadis filled with fish, cattle and bird-life couldn't have been more different than the Oman we knew. After a short picnic with a few friendly Jebali men we took back to exploring the mountain. The young Jebali fellow had told us of a thousand camels on this hill. We accepted this with the knowing nod you give to a child with a vivid imagination. Again, we were shocked as we rounded the corner and saw more camels in one spot then could be imagined. We sat for several minutes as the camels blocked our path and a friendly jebali gentleman tugged at the Kayak we had tied on our roof while a "less-friendly" herdsmen gathered rocks to heave at our vehicle. We'll consider that a mixed signal maybe. Our vehicle emerged unscathed, and the camels remain lumbering along that mountain in the hundreds.

The road continued along until it reached a sign that read "closed". That obviously only applies to other people as we drove around the sign and continued along the perilous mountain route. The road was a sloggy, muddy wreck from the rains of that day and other idiots driving this path like us. We slogged our way through until we reached a group of men stuck on the hill with no chance of making it either way. As we got out to help one might figure that the worst place to stand is behind the back tire right? In hindsight I would agree but that's exactly where I placed myself for the first push. Covered in wet mud we continued on our way. On the path shortly after we came across the Balbob tree forest that we had been familiar with from Africa. We trekked into the forest and found a tree that was about 10 meters in diameter. Chopped and bundled we were ready for a campfire for the next month. Just kidding.

The next day we took off for an area of the region that had intrigued us all. In the far south east corner of the country was an area none of us had been to and had no dirt track connecting to the northern coast. Off we went and were greated by a 3 hour drive with white sand beaches and tourquise water to our right and sheer rusty cliffs immediately to our left. The drive must rival some the greatest drives in the world. When we reached as far as we could manage we were greeted by a herd of 50 camles and pitched our tents for the night. The area was once prosperous through small ports trading in Myrr and Frankinsence. In more modern times it was prosperous again through the fishing of Abolone. Now that that the stores have dried up it is back to a coastline of sleepy fishing villages and stunning scenary. Much more recently this area has been again the center of attention as a micro-organism believed to be the oldest form of life ever found was discovered in the hills of this coast.

We launched our kayaks shortly after our arrival and a 40 minute paddle around our immediate vicinity resulted in seeing 10 giant turtles coming up for air around us. Turtles in this area include the Green, Leatherback and Loggerheads. Sadly our confidence in our kayaking abilities did not allow us to bring the camera along.

Rising in the eerie fog the next morning we moved back down the coast exploring various small towns that once prospered as ports of varying degrees during the heyday of frankincence trading.

As we headed back north towards Muscat we ventured towards another point of interest on our trip - the lost city of Ubar. Leaving the lush green hills of Dhofar behind we headed into the desert at the Southern tip of the Empty Quarter. It is here that the legendary city of Ubar is thought to have existed. As the story goes Ubar was a very rich settlement on the caravan route of Arabian goods (frankinsence, myrr, gold) to the rest of the world. Life there was lived in excess (think Vegas) and was punished by Allah and vanished into the desert. Reaching its peak in 3000BC, there is evidence of people as late as the 12th century AD and perhaps beyond. Many adventurers have looked for the existence of this place and through satellite imagery it is believed to be at this active dig site. Very cool.

Now that we are back in Muscat we are already looking forward to our next trip in Oman. Even if we don't return to Dhofar again it has left us with many good memories and we will recommend it highly.

Home

"You can never go home again, but the truth is that you can never leave home. So it's alright".
- Maya Angelou

We have never fogotten how much we miss our family and friends in Canada, nor had we forgotten how beautiful British Columbia can be but it is always nice to be reminded. This past summer we were reminded again and again as we spent evenings with those close to us, traveled throughout our province, attended two fantastic weddings and remembered just how fortunate we are to have such a place to call home.

The first few days were spent catching up with our friends and family in Vancouver. Although seeing everyone was a highlight meeting my nephew Brady for the first time and reaquainting with my young Godson Jaxson again was precious. Over a few cold beers we got caught up. Sadly, I have been trying to get Jaxson to recite my name with little prodding but all he keeps asking for is "Tina". That's the last round I buy for the guy.

After a couple of days we headed up to Kelowna to see Tina's parents as well as out to Tina's brother Cory's house in Pritchard. The land is in the beautiful rolling hills overlooking the Thompson River. Despite the presence of a few Great Danes and several horses the unmatched highlight was meeting meeting both Hayley and Kyra the women in Cory's lives. At about 7 months old Kyra had mastered cute and we relished getting to spend a few days with all of them. It was a very meaningful trip.

Following a few restful days in Nanoose Bay with my Aunt Judy and Uncle Roy, Tina's Stagette on Saltspring Island (thank you girls!) we headed to Toronto for our first wedding of the summer. Trying to make our money stretch a little we opted for the budget route : drove to Seattle, flew to Atlanta overnight, flew to Buffalo in the morning, grabbed a bus and arrived in Toronto the next afternoon. Ridiculous. It was our first time in the Big Smoke and we were both pleasantly surprised. Tina's friends Alex and Dixie showed us around town and we were impressed with the different enclaves around summer patios.

A few days later Joel's brother Matt and his girlfriend Alisa arrived in Toronto fresh off a year of travelling the globe. It was great to see them again and we all hopped in a car and headed to Tobermory in Bruce Pennisula National Park for Paul and Sandra's wedding. Paul and Sandra are a terrific couple that Joel met years ago while teaching in Seoul. We have kept in touch ever since and we are always glad to see them when we do. As unique as these two are their wedding suited them perfectly and we got our first taste of 'cottage life'. It was a very meaningful event for all that attended.

To end our summer in Canada we planned to attend Tina's friends Kath and Ryan's wedding in Whistler. Set in a stunning location at the edge of a small lake surrounded by towering mountains it was another grand affair. After a couple of fun evenings of festivities we left at 4am in a bid to drive to Vancouver and fly back to Oman. 36 hours later we walked through our front door in Muscat and back to our life in Arabia.

Although we are always happy to be back in Oman our summer back in Canada will always stand out as a memorable holiday. Thanks to all we saw, and to those we didn't we look forward to seeing you soon.

Tick tock, tick tock

"Don't worry because it is over. Smile because it happened"

- Dr. Suess 1904 - 1991
(adaptation)

Since our last post we have obviously been very poor at getting another entry up. Many apologies for that of course, but soon we'll be able to beg forgiveness face to face to those living in B.C. We will be home in just under a week and we will be in Canada for about 7 weeks before we fly back for our final year in this wonderful country. In the past month we have been quite busy so let's get right to it.

Immediatley after arriving back in the Sultanate from the charms of India I left again for a school trip to Cairo. This is the fourth time to Cairo in the past two years but it's never the same and always intoxicating.

With bags freshly unpacked Tina and I took off with our India travel mates, Lucas and Tennielle, for a short adventure up the coast. We took a couple of kayaks, loaded up our tents and food and paddled in the tourquoise water for a weekend of camping. Looking to launch in a logical place our navigational skills took us to an entry point completely unfit for our vehicles. Instead, we carried the small boats over the hill and down to the water. To make matters more embarrassing we paddled around and around until finally deciding on the perfect spot. In the morning we discovered we had paddled in circles and were now mere minutes from our original launch sight. Idiots.

The mercury levels here have been soaring lately. It actually hit 52 degrees in Sohar and Muscat was right there as well. Scary hot. So we decided to get one last camping trip in and headed south to the sandy coastline of Bar Al Hickman. Following the memories of old directions and a handy compass we headed across gravel desert, small sandy dunes and stunning salt flats until we hit the lagoons and finally the beaches of our destination. We plan to return yet again next year and emplore our readers in Oman to do the same.

As expatriates, the end of the work year always brings about the loss of good friends. Such is the case this year as our Aussie buddies are heading back to the home of koalas and kangaroos. As a farewell tour we took them on a scavenger hunt around our fair city taking in new sights, and others filled with memories. Amidst many highlights was lunching in the middle of the "golden jugs" roundabout at midday. Although we dined alone men of all races and creeds honked their approval and flashed the "thumbs up" sign wildly. Somehow comforting to know that stupidity translates across cultures far easier than great discourse ever will.


With little time left before we head back to Canada we squeezed in a quick trip to Dubai to ring in Tina's 30th year and then took a weekend journey to some hard to reach places in Oman. Our journey in Oman took us first into the depths of Wadi Sahtan. It's a great wadi that we've been meaning to get to but hadn't reached. Amongst the highlights were completely isolated villages, watering systems squeezing drips out of the mountains, and the sheer drops at the heights of this fine summit. The enviromentally responsible sign pictured warns against the cutting of trees. Probably an unnessesary reminder.

Next, we journeyed into the interior with the plan to climb up and over the Eastern Hajar mountains descending to the coast near Fins. With a rented vehicle we climbed and climbed and climbed until we reached the Salmah Plateau. Up at these heights are 90 or so ancient burial tombs that rise some 9 meters off of the ground. They are about 5000 years old and look like they were made yesterday. They were truly breathtaking. Its hardly your easy to reach destination so it feels exceptionally authentic. Just beyond the tombs is the entrance to "Majlis Al Jinns" (Meeting place of the spirits) which is the second largest cave in the world. Its unmarked now, but some village boys showed us the way. For a large black hole it was pretty fantastic. We threw a rock into the abyss and waited until we heard it land. It took over 7 seconds.

Lately, our days are spent wrapping up another school year and spending time with friends we may not see again. We are losing quite a few that we enjoy as they are off to such places as Kuala Lumpur, The Dominican Republic, Australia, China and elsewhere. We wish them all the best of luck and look forward to hearing about their adventures in the future.

For now, we have our sights firmly set on getting back to Canada for the summer. We will be back June 21st and return to Oman August 8th. Hope to see many of you soon!

Inshallah.

Incredible India!

"Anything is possible in India!"

- shouted out by a dusty cycle rickshaw wallah in Rajasthan, India.

Five years ago on a backpacking trip through Asia Joel stood in Kathmandu and had to make a decision with his travel mates whether to push on into India or double back through southern China and into South East Asia. Although the resulting journey was marvelous he has always had an overwhelming desire to make up for lost time and get to the Sub-continent. Tina, on the other hand, had always wanted to see the Taj Mahal, loves Aloo Gobi but wanted to avoid Delhi belly at all costs. Decisions, decisions.

So we got together with our good friends Lucas and Tennielle grabbed some Imodium, a good sense of humour and headed to the sensory overload of India for our spring break vacation.

Walking through the dusty, crammed, loud, chaotic streets of Old Delhi we all savoured the feeling of being back, travelling through Asia. Amidts the motor cycles, motor rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, cows, goats and people we took in the forts, mosques, streets, and buildings that Delhi is famous for. As a side note learning how to swear in Hindi during my 9th grade Science class really came in handy here. I knew there was a life lesson there somewhere.

We boarded the train and headed off into the province of Rajasthan's capital, Jaipur. Train travel is not only essential for travel in India but appears to represent the arteries of a nation whose political heart is hundreds of miles removed from most of her citizens. The bustling platforms, small scale business associated with each station, shanty towns along the tracks and the tremendous ability to link Indians of all areas combine to underline the importance of this system.

We unloaded at Jaipur and took in the "Pink City". In 1876 the Maharaja had the whole city painted pink for the visit of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. (Possibly a Valentines gift gone mad?). Amongst all of this pinkness the bustling of the streets is the real draw. Camel carts, big moustaches, donkeys, etc all give the dusty city its charm. After a few days in the old city we decided to hike up to the overlooking fort. On the way down in the winding alleys we walked by our 418th cow that day. Thinking nothing of it we walked by until it reared its head and gored (maybe an overstatement) Joel in the back, tossing him across the alley and into an oncoming motor scooter. The driver was actually angry that my leg ended up under his wheel until he saw the gash across my back and sped off thinking he was at fault. What an upstanding man. Sadly, the sacred cow that in fact had caused my wounds felt no remorse. Only in this country would the rest of the people on the street take the bovine's side but alas I had utterly no defence. At the end of the day we decided to take in our first Bollywood movie at the famed Raj Mandir Cinema. The roof looked like a giant marshmellow, the crowd was lively and the movie was way over the top. Brilliant. (Odd side note - the Bollywood movie was filmed in Alberta?!?)

Patched up, we boarded a local bus and headed to Agra to see the Taj Mahal (courtesy of Sayaka/ Chris). Getting dumped off in Agra and hopping a rickshaw to our hostel we first caught a glimpse of the Taj. Our hostel's rooftop overlooks that grounds and we watched her all evening. Many descripters have been thrown at it over the years but it really is simply "perfect". It didn't dissapoint at all. Additionally in a trip filled with remarkably atrocious smells Agra produced the foulest of them all. Well done. Leaving late at night in a torrential downpour and howling winds our rickshaws weaved through the dark streets dropping us a block short of the train station as a billboard lay across the road. Wet and dirty we boarded the crowded night train for Varanasi.

Varanasi is a sacred destination for Hindus as they come to wash their sins away in the Ganges river and hope the die on her banks. It is where the spirituality of India's people are evident all over the colourful ghats. The shaved heads of the devoted, the ritual-laden prayer of the pilgrims, the washing of the clothes, the splashing of the children, the ringing bells, the incence burning, the creamated bodies floating, the cricket playing is all so other worldly. The river is so remarkable in that it is so unremarkable except for the peoples devotion to the mother Ganga. Its not especially long, or wide, or powerful or beautiful. But its importance to the people over rides all of these things and makes it completely facinating. We spent a few days here and took row boats up and down the area in the mornings and evenings and tried to soak it all in. It's a place that becomes more and more complex the further you look at it but is well worth the effort to linger. A highlight without question.

Back in Delhi we headed to Gandhi's memorial site at the location where he was assasinated and checked out the New Delhi part of town. A day of shopping and some well earned Kingfisher 's later our India jaunt came to a close.

It was one of the best places we've been together and can't wait to get back there soon. It was really special to travel with our good friends Lucas and Tennielle as they are returning to Australia after this school year.

Thank you India.