Words are the word

Apparently India does not want us to post pictures for our loyal followers. We apologize, but the internet has threatened to steal all of our photos if we proceed to try and upload any. There is much to catch up on...

Where to begin...well, we made it to Hanoi. a wonderful city, full of history and really loud horns. The cars/motorbikes use their horns there for conversation. Three honks means, I am going to pass you on the left, one honk means move out of the way, four honks and and long drawn out blast means that they are going to drive down the wrong way of a one way road and that you should get out of the way immediately. Its kind of like Morris code...still trying to decipher all the many meanings. It also acts as a bleeping device to conversation. Ex..."I can't believe you HONKING did that!!!" or "Holy HONK!"

From Hanoi, we went back to the coast to a little place called Halong Bay. It is a world heritage site and absolutely beautiful. Its as bay(imagine that) filled with towering mountains exploding straight up from the water. It was really misty when we arrived and all the clouds were clinging to the bases of the mountains, slowly lifting to reveal themselves. We spent three days out there, kayaking, hiking, eating, drinking, and making new friends. The boat they took us out on, was incredible. All beautiful teak furniture, three different floors, private bedrooms with showers in them. It was definitely one of the more VIP things we have done on this trip, and we took full advantage.

Between our leaving Halong Bay, driving back to Hanoi, and jumping on an overnight train to Sapa...I turned 25. The train was quite the experience. Between stuffing 6 people into a 5'x6' room for 10 hours, and the heat that nearly made Tati melt into a puddle of misery, we were quite glad to get off the train. We headed into and up the mountain to Sapa. We were literally only a few kilometers away from China(to give some idea of our location). It was COLD! The first time during all of our travels that we have been cold. We went hiking around to some of the local villages and spent the night in a town that looked like Aspen, (except for all the hill tribe people walking around). The mountains are lined with rice fields that etch into the side of the landscape creating a massive grassy looking staircase from the base of the mountains to the top...and as far through the valley as the eye can see.

I really hope that we get to internet where we can share these amazing sights with all of you, words just cannot do it justice. Anyway, from Sapa we returned to Hanoi...again, and spent our last night celebrating good ol St. Patty's Day. It was a night to remember and a hangover to remember as well. The next day we boarded a plane to Bangkok, then on to India. We arrived in India one week ago, and it has been AMAZING!

India is a place like no other. There has not been one destination in the entirety of this trip that has made us feel so estranged and out of our element. We are an amazing minority here, there is not more than one city block that passes that something totally new, awkward, uncomfortable, exciting, beautiful, overwhelming, or just plain incredible is happening. We have begun to acclimate to our new surroundings and have fallen in love with the strange lure of this land. After spending a few days in Mumbai,; seeing beautiful architecture, taking in the history, being asked to be in Bollywood movies and observing city life...we have ventured down the coast to the luscious state of Goa. Goa is a more relaxed place and the people have offered us a chance to glimpse another side of Indian life. There are a few more Westerners here, but we have been sticking to hanging with the locals. That is one very nice things about this place, it is not hard to meet and talk with the people of this country. The language barrier is less than in Southeast Asia, and while they have their own dialects, you can hold a conversation as opposed to being limited to simple phrases.

We are heading to Agra tomorrow and will see the Taj Mahal before heading to New Delhi. We have had to pick up the pace in order to see all that we can before our time here expires. I think that is more than enough to get you guys caught up on our happenings. Only a few more weeks left, and we are going to make them good ones. We love and miss you all!