The Golden Roll.......

Elephant Island..... Brought to you by Cannon A520 where taking pictures is not just fun it is an experience.....

Yes the Coke drinking monkey was there as well. He was lots of fun.....

Ok Now on with the regularly scheduled program...... The search for the golden roll of TP.
TP is the hardest thing to find in India unless you know the right shop that has it in stock. not to mention that when you start asking around for it at the shops here you get funny looks and them asking you what it is for...... I think that they just hear paper so I was sent to a stationary store. I though maybe he just deals in all things paper but no so off I went again in search of the golden roll with is really a salmon (pink) or white color. But in the end of searching in the area that I was in I had no luck. So I went back and asked my hosts if they knew of anywhere that would have the golden roll. They did have the map to the treasure and found not just on golden roll for me but came back, after beating the natives off with big rubber sticks, with 3 rolls for my using pleasure. I was delighted and found out that there are a few shops in India that carry North American things and they are hidden from those of use that need them the most. Ha ha the truth is that the shop was just a long ways from where I was and he took a special trip to get it for me. So the moral of the story is if you think that you have enough you don't steal or take more with you. The first suggestion I don't recommend but desperate people do desperate things. So that is how the Golden Roll came into my possession.

Oh and just so you know McDonalds was not on monkey Island!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and thank to all the readers that contributed to the last post. I really enjoy the comments and if you read this at all you should leave something to know that you are reading. Not to mention that it will make the author feel all fuzzy inside. Oh and to those of you that have a sense of humor like the ones on the last post please comment more cause that was not quite enough. I did enjoy it though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok I want lots of comments. I want you to guess as to the most valuable comoddity over here for the westerner. This is just something fun for you all and for me. Hope that you enjoy and I will post something soon. I promise it is 6:45 here and I am just getting ready to head for a town that I don't know the name of and I am not entirley sure what we are doing there. So it will be a good day and a 3.5 hour drive one way. So I will blog soon cause there is more to tell you all about and just for you Shirly there is someone to blog about as well. (don't let that bother you to much :)

from India with love..

That title just came to me and now for some strange reason I want to watch Bond. HA HA Well things here are good I am hanging out with a friends family here and they have put me up in a little room and all my needs are being taken care of. A lot cheaper then if I was at a hotel and she is an amazing cook. I told her that I was trying to lose a few pounds and she said that I need to eat more cause I am not eating enough. HA HA Getting her to serve me just fruit and toast for breakfast was a chore in itself and she keeps asking if she can make me something else. The food is amazing to say the least and she is thrilled that I can eat Indian food. I have adjusted quite well to the food and find that if I eat to many green chilies that I start to have a bit of a problem but in small doses they are good. The food has some amazing flavor Nolan you would love it. While I am on the food subject I have to say that I have had 2 western meals in the last week as well. Pizza Hut and McDonald's both of which are almost the same except that I can't get a big mac. Once I was in McDonald's I had a craving in the worst way for a nice beef burger. Ha ha it has been 2 weeks since I have had one. I have had beef since I was here though. On Wednesday night I had am amazing beef curry. Oh so good. Anyway enough about food.

Well I have been shopping and to Elephant Island and have been on all kinds of adventures. The local train that is an adventure. If you want a seat at the start of the line you hop on to the train while it is still moving. It was fun. Things here are very different then Canada. Yea I know it is India but to be a Canadian in India can be hard. You know that be nice and wait your turn that does not go here at all you could be waiting for all 1.1 billion to go in front of you and they will not ask or offer you a place in line. With a population of over 16 million people in Bombay it is very much take care of yourself thinking. The train is fun though if you like getting stared at. I understand know what it feels like to be the one that sticks out. Being white on a train full of Brown people you get people staring. To feel odd like that is something that I have never felt before but have been very aware of since I have landed here. I think that I could type and type trying to tell you all everything but for the sake of time I will not. I guess that you will just have to have me over when I get back to get more details. HA HA

I was told before I left that I needed to have some adventures while I was here but I just want to say that it is an adventure every time you step out the door here for someone that is from Canada. The local train and bus are great but I know that I would get lost if I was to do it on my own. That is why it is good to have local guides that are willing to take you places and try to convince you of things and pull your leg and joke with you. That would be the Naz boys for me. They are 3 Indian guys that are Assistants to the pastor that I am staying with and they have been my guides for the last few days. They have taken me shopping and to Elephant Island.

Ok so on with getting you up to date with my travels and my doings. On Thursday I had the awesome privilege to go and see the Gateway of India and to go to Elephant Island. Both of which are beautiful. The gateway is huge and has some amazing craftsmanship in it. Yes Jonny I did get pictures that you will like of it. You are always in my thoughts when I am taking pictures of things specially buildings and the such. HA HA So the gateway is not just the gate way but it sits right on the shore of the Arabian Sea and that is where you have to catch the boats that are going out to Elephant Island. Oh side note here at the gateway I meet an Aussi by the name of Ryan and invited him along with us if he wanted to come to the Island. He did and we had an awesome talk but I will leave it at that for now cause he is an entry all on his own. HA HA So into the boat and off to the island we went. The boat ride more then doubled because of the rough water but that was ok. We made it safe and sound and upon getting to the island I was not sure what we would find but we found stairs and lots of them. It was a great work out and about 500 feet up or more not really sure but it was a long way and a lot of stair. The top finally oh look another place that wants money. HA HA but that was not the worst part the locals that I had with me cost 10rs each and it was 250rs for me. What a rip off but it was worth it, that is about $5 Canadian if you were wondering.

The caves themselves are beautiful and amazing to see. It is a temple that has been carved out of the stone. The doorways and everything were carved right out of the rock. To see it now as it is took my breath away and I was amazed at the work that went into it. Then it made me think and try and imagine what it must have been like in its day. There were holy rooms and court yards. It must have been incredible to see it at its glory. Statues carved into the rock and out of the rock. What a sight to see. Wish I could post some pictures of it so that you could see the beauty that I am talking about. I will try some other time cause it is not working right now. Well that gets you up to date with me and my adventures for right now. As I took yesterday off and read most of the day. Tonight is youth meeting night so I will see how that goes and tomorrow is Sunday. Still missing lots of you but am having lots of fun and will talk to you all soon. What only 6 weeks to go or something like that anyway ha ha hope that you are all having a fun summer.

Pictures

Ok so I am going to try and post some pictures. Just so that you all know the India has blocked the viewing of blog sights so i will not be able to check my comments. If you have something that you want me to know before I get home e-mail me. ok now on to the pictures. I will post the pictures that I mentioned in the last post. I hope that you all enjoy them. I will probably add some more as well we will see how the connection works for me. Ok so the pictures in order are of Nagpur, then of Tadoba National Park and the a few of Mumbai. The picture of the beach is of Chowpatty Beach here in Bombay. I will make a few more posts over the next couple of days to get you up to date with what I am doing right now. Hope that you enjoy the pictures.

of Temples and such...

Ok I was thinking today that it was time to tell my tales of Nagpur. On the return from Tadoba Notion Park I had the pleasure of getting a tour of the city by people that live in it. It was an amazing city. I got a few shots of it from higher up which I will try and post on this blog. If it is there you know that it worked. Over the course of my visit to the park and the tour of the country side I got to know my host quite well. So while we were in the city I requested of him to take me to his temple. So not only is Nagpur the center of India but it is know for the most people converted at one time. It happened in 1956 were around 3 million Hindus converted to Buddhism. My host was one of the ones that converted. It was and amazing story to hear. So he being the good host that he was and oh so eager to show me his temple took me there which is one of the largest free standing domes in India. It was amazing and being the fact that he is part of that temple and all and is active in it he got me into the center of the dome. This is a pretty big thing since all the people just touring it have to see the dome from the outside windows. I however got to stand right in the middle of the dome. It had some amazing acoustics. I took this advantage to pray for India. First for the freedom of the country and second as I was in the middle of India that God would send out his forces like waves around the country. It was a truly amazing thing for me. I also got to visit a few Hindu temples as well and was able to pray through them as well. There is a huge difference between the two types of temples. All in all it was amazing to see both styles of temples and I know that there will be many more that will be visited before my trip is over.

I have added 3 pictures to this blog the first picture is of Nagpur the city, the second is of the temple in Nagpur (I can't remember the name of it), and lastly a picture from Todoba Nation Park. Hope that you enjoy. Hope that the pictures show up. :) Ok I think that the photos did not work sorry the connection is really slow!!

Tadoba National Park

Ok first off I am sorry that there are no pictures with this as it seems that USB ports are hard to come by. I am sorry for this and I think that I will create an album of all my trip pictures somewhere online so that you can see them all once I find a USB port in this country. HA HA

Ok on to the park and the amazing adventure that was had. I got off the train in Nagpur and was met there by my host and a car. We then proceeded south out of the city and 200 km and 4 hours later we arrived at the guest house that we would be staying at for the time that we were there. This guest house was just outside of the park gates and was really nice. It was a little ways from a little village that I got to walk through and see on one of the days. Also get to meet the head of the village which was really cool.

So when we arrived at the park we were allowed entry from 3PM to 6PM. The hours of the park are 6AM to 11AM and then 3PM to 6PM everyday. So those were the hours that we were in the park. It was so amazing to be there and in nature. It was so beautiful. One the first evening we went around and spotted some white spotted deer, Sambas (also a deer), a couple of really big lizards, and some wild bison. Oh and there are lots and lots of birds that are all over the place. The ground of the park is mostly red rock and clay. Mix that with the lush multi colors of green and the many colors of the trees and you can start to get the picture of the paradise that it is. So that was the first day.

The second day we went to the village that I mentioned earlier and around the buffer zone of the park looking for tigers and any other animals that might come our way. This was filled with a lot of trees and few animals for some reason. The best times to spot animals other then spotted deer are early in the morning or later in the evening. Other then that they go into the trees and by water to rest and get away from the heat. I White Spotted Deer are everywhere and in large herds just so that you all know that. They were the most sighted animal on my trips around the park. So day 2 was nothing much in the way of spotting animals but it was a good ride.

Day 3 was a lot more eventful. We were into the park by 6AM and on the look out for the Tigers and any other animals that we might see. It was a good day and saw about 10 or so wild boars, peacocks, more deer, and a host of birds oh and monkeys saw them too. There are so many things that we saw on the rounds of the park that I know there are things that I am forgetting right now. The pictures will remind me of everything. HA HA

Day 4 the last and final morning this one was held with much hope for seeing a tiger but much to my dismay I did not see a tiger. I saw an eagle that was amazing and something that is quite rare to see. There is so much to this part of my trip that I am not putting down here so I will tell you more about it when I get home. I have to go for now but will add more as time goes by.

Back in Bombay

Well lets see there has been so much going on since the last post. So for now I will update you all as to what is going on. Sorry for those of you that were all worried about me and sent e-mails making sure that I was ok. I am ok and doing just fine. I did not post anything because I have been away from civilization and loved every minute of it. I was in Tadoba National Park and loved every minute of it.It was so beautiful and amazing. WhileI was there I was wishing that I had Jono's really nice camera. Got some amazing shots though with out it. I will try and start posting some of my pics here as the days go by. The experience of the park was a very good one and now that I am back in bombay I kind of long for the nice quiet of the park and the guest house. Oh well back to the crazy city. Got in this morning on the train at around 8 am and found a nice hotel where I will be at for the next few days. I am going to be getting together with the mission contact that I have here and am looking forward to that. I am going to be doing a couple of entries tomorrow and getting this thing up to date but for now I am going to sign off and go add some more time to my cell phone and then supper and a nice night in my room reading. Missing you all very much.

Bombay or bust!!!!!!!

HA ha I have not busted yet and yes I am in Bombay. I had a very long trip good as it all was but by the end of it I just wanted to be here and when the plane finally came down under the clouds and I could see the light it made me very happy. Well lets see the last day+ has landed me in lots of places. LA, Taiwan, Malaysia, and last but not least mumbai. I am happy to be here!! The flights were good and nothing to exciting happened. The excitement came once I was off the planes. HA HA In Malaysia I got a hotel room for my stop over and lunch. I was surprised to get that but the shower and nap were wonderful. :) The fun was the drive there and back. I just have to say that when it comes to driving there are lots of suggestions in the form of road signs but I don't think that they mean that much to the drivers. For example cause I am sure that you want to hear some fun stories!!! The highways in Malaysia and India are very much different as I found out last night but the India roads will have to wait as I tell you about Malaysia roads and drivers. The roads in general have some very faint dashed lines on them telling you where the lanes are. When I say faint I guess that you should interpret that as almost none exsistant!!!! You can see the outline or a little bit of paint that is on the road but that is about it. Not that it matters that much anyway. I have to stop right here and let you all know that I love the cab rides so far. The drivers cut across 2 or some times 34 lanes of traffic when taking a turn! That makes for great corners and turning. They really don't slow down at turns unless of course they have to because of another car in there way. Speed is a sweet thing here... the speed signs I think are a suggestion as to how slow you might think about going on the roads. For instance road sign says 70km driver going 110km it is awesome. Oh I have to point out that driving on the wrong side of the road did not feel that odd to me that is until I was sitting up front with the driver. HA ha When we left the airport to go to the hotel I as sitting in the middle seat in the van and thought to myself driving on the left of the road does not fell that weird but as soon as I was sitting next to the driver on the way back I realized that it felt totally odd and new to me.

Horns!!!!!!! Yea that is right horns!!! Like the kind in the car will never be seen as the same to me after this trip. We use them to let people know if we are pissed off at them or if there driving sucks and they just about hit you but in the places I have been so far I know that it is not just a replacement of the middle finger like it is so many times back in Canada. Here it has lots of meaning like the one I found out last night in India on the way to the hotel. The beep that just simple means I am coming through so you better look out. This one was used a lot actually and most of time to either people on bikes, mopeds and the occasional pedestrian. There seem to be so many kinds of beeps that I am sure that it will take me the whole 2 months to figure them all out but as I do I am sure that I will pass them along to you. :)

Well it is 11am here on Saturday the 8th of July and I think that I am going to go find some water and maybe a place or 2 to shop and try and find the things that I forgot at home. HA HA There was not that much that I forgot but the power converter is the biggest one that was forgotten. HA HA so much for having rechargeable batteries. Oh that and I forgot TP but that I remedied on the flight into India. HA HA I took a roll from the plane. HA HA ok now that you have all had a few good laughs I will say farewell for this time and will write more soon.

LAX and the great late night!!!!!!!

Okit is night and I amm sitting in LA right now waiting for my next plane ride that is almost 20 hrs long!!! Lucky!!!! It is true I do know and the trip thus far has been a great one. I know that I just left and all but I have to say that I am hhaving lots offun tking my shoes off and walking thru metal detectors and standing in line. I did however get outide in LA for a little bit of a walk!!!! That was really nice. It wa nice and cool outside and i got to walk about 10 blocks worth from one part of the airport to the other. I got to sit next to these old ladies on the way down from calgary to here and just saw how God's hand is i this. There names were Katie and Faith... Faith had been to India years before and told me her whole story and how that the poverty ovr there made her sad. It was really awsome to hear the story from someone that was well beyond my years and had been in Calcutta and went to Mother Teresa's Orphanage back in the day. Well that is the first of many stories I am sure. I still have a few hours to wait till my next flight.... Ahhhhhh almost out of internet time........ gotta run will write more later and thanks to those of you that e-mailed me!!!! Miss yyou guys already and will talk to you soon!!!!!!!!!

Leaving on a jet plane don't know when I'll be back again!!!!!!

Yes that is right it has been a very long time since I have last posted anything on here. But know that will not be the case. My house is packed into a 10' X 10' storage unit and I am leaving the country. Wow what a crazy last few months. There has been so much stuff going on. OK so that was the point where my mind just went into the remember when part of the show......... There were good time and there were bad times after all it is the 60's..... oh wait sorry wrong life. Well over the last 2 months that I have been absent from blogging I have had a roommate move in with me and stay and introduced me to a lot of bad habits. Ha ha.... Well as the days tick down they seem to be going at a rate that does not allow me to get everything done that is needed. But I will be ready!!!!! Wow the beginning of an adventure that is sure to give me some good stories to tell. Hopefully some good pictures as well. Well I guess that I am out of time for this for right now but there will be more updates as I go along.