It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds.
-William Ellery Channing, clergyman and writer (1780-1842)
Hello Extreme Trekkers! Trust you are both well and completely over The Monsoon Mud Altitude Blues! Congratulations on the birth of Riley! What simply wonderful news. Please pass along our best wishes to Laura and James as well. Delighted that all went so well with birth, etc.
November 27- December 22, 2015
Happy Thanksgiving! It may only be October, but Aunt Leah's Trees is right around the corner. We would love to have you join us again this season. Last year, thanks to volunteers like yourself, we raised over $100,000 for youth in foster care and young mothers. In a few weeks we will be sending a link to register online, in the meantime learn about the roles that you can play at one of our 4 Tree Lots.]
Thank you again for allowing us to stay. We will be delighted to see everyone and Nana Corinne has offered to take care of Riley for the entire time of our stay so Famiglia Keating/Anderson need not worry about child care!!!
Just to remind you, we leave for Inja on October 27th but we will drive to Vancouver on Friday, October 16th. Chloë has a fund raiser for Aunt Leah's on the 17th and we will volunteer for VWF from the 20th-25th. Busy time as you well know, especially coming shortly for being away for six weeks. If we won't overstay our welcome we'd like to stay at The Bayswater Bee Hive until either Monday or Tuesday morning. After that we will be we will be trekking to Jo-Anne's, (former neighbour at Harbour Terrace, until we fly to Chennai), as it is most convenient for us to attend sessions and get to our shifts at Festival, etc. Hope this is fine but let us know if you'd like us to de-camp earlier. Let us know what you think about our "pushy reservations" and we'll plan accordingly! Again, congratulations of Riley's arrival!!! Fondestos and Cheers, Nail-Driving Patrizzio! Pics: new wine storage shelves!
Hadn't seen a message about today's hike so I had sent Aarturo a message last night to inquire. He phoned this morning to say we were Skaha Bluffs bound so Cora lee dropped me off at Home Hardware as she needed the Equinox. Shopping for the busy Thanksgiving weekend. Car pooled with Phillipo and Gilliana, along with Aarturo. Had been to Skaha Bluffs once before so was somewhat familiar with the start of the hike. Rick McKelvey was today's leader and so we all followed him like the good sheep we are, Bad Boy not being along today!
Followed an old, sandy logging road for a bit and then creative blundering, cross-country after that. Some fairly steep slopes to be negotiated and many extremely slippery, rocky sections to negotiate, needing to be ultra careful of one's footing at all times. More than once we came across some wonderful, majestic cliff faces and often found ourselves skirting the base of these monolithic outcroppings. Hiked for almost two hours and a bit before stopping for a bite of lunch. After the break we did another hour or so to reach the highest point of the day's trek. Not much of a view as the mist shrouded the surrounding hills and a chilly wind blew quite strongly.
Way down was pretty easy going most of the time but shortly after descent began we had a number of very steep rock faces to clamber down, some of us preferring to slide over one drop, on our bottoms, as footing below was just enough out of reach to make landing dicey indeed. Nevertheless, no mishaps and we were soon back on a series of mountain bike trails, interspersed with having to dipsy-doodle through reasonably thick dead-fall. Last hour or so was really very easy going as underbrush, whenever we needed to take a short-cut, was quite open with fairly sure footing. Closer to parking lot where we'd left our vehicles path itself was sandy and well worn so no need for hiking poles at all. Hike itself was closer to 5 hours and 45 minutes as I didn't have satellite reception for first half hour of outing. Day was wonderfully comfortable, most of the time, for hiking but so overcast that I never wore my sun-glasses. Another wonderful outing with a grand collection of individuals. Stats for hike:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/922328039#.Vhb6x_dMlk4.email
Good Morning Patrizzio, Thanks for the newsy update....how exciting that you will be off to India soon. We are available either Monday or Wed.that week if either of those evenings work for you. I am at school Tues and Thurs until 9:30 so not able to make any plans on those nights. Please check your schedules and see if we can make either of those nights work...Al is working 7am-6:30 right now so days wont really work for us at all...hate to miss seeing you
though so if those dates do not work please send some others ie. Possibly Saturday or Sunday during the day.
I am saving all my news for when I see you...I am doing plenty enough writing for school and need to reserve my strength for my academics lol. We will be spending Thanksgiving at the Valley...Als aunt Bernice will drive in from Mission on Saturday to share turkey with us...the weather looks like it is going to be horrendous so I anticipate lots of indoor activities over the weekend. Have a fabulous Thanksgiving...give our love to Peter and Linny as well as Chloe and the gang. Cheers! Love Marilyn
Sitting in the Hong Kong airport on our way home with time to share the rest of our trip. After our trek from Paro to Thimpu, we began the cultural tour of Bhutan. There is only 1 highway through Bhutan which they call the #l1 hwy going one direction and the #2 hwy heading back. With all the rain, several sections of the hwy were washed out so the going was pretty slow. Warning signs along the highway included: "deep, deep, real steep", "if you are married divorce speed", "be gentle on my curves", "driving and drinking is a fatal cock tale.
We crossed the spectacular Dochula Pass at 3100 meters. So much easier travelling by bus rather than on foot. In clear weather we could have seen the eastern Himalayan ranges but no such luck. We then drove down to the lower and much warmer valleys of Lobesa and on to Punakha and Wangduephodrang. We have visited some amazing Dzongs and monasteries, many that could only be reached by foot. Beautiful country and their claim to have the highest "gross national happiness" seems pretty accurate. On our drive back to the Paro airport we could see the area we trekked, and we are all still amazed we did it. Finally, on the plane to India, our first glimpse of the Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest. How different the trek would have been if the weather had been clear.
We arrived in Delhi airport and drove straight to Agra. Visited the awe inspiring Taj Mahal at dusk and again in the early morning. It really is so much more spectacular to stand in front of the Taj than to see it in pictures. A definite high point of our trip. After the tranquility of Bhutan, India has taken some getting used to. The colours, the sounds, the smells, the pollution, the crowds, the rubbish, the cows, goats and pigs crowding you off the streets, the vendors all offering the cheapest price and the oppressive heat - all add to the shock and yet ambience of India.
We have visited the Agra Red Fort which is surrounded by a 70 feet high wall, Bharatpur, a fortress city founded in the 18th century, and Deeg Palace, an opulent palace built in the mid-18th century. In Bharatpur we stayed at Laxmi Vilas Palace (Heritage) where we met the royal family who still resides in the palace. Took a rickshaw through the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Ranthambhore National Park we took a jeep looking for the elusive Bengal tiger but no sightings that day. Rode an elephant up to Amber Fort in Jaipur and later visited the city palace Hawa Mahal or "Palace of Winds," one of the major landmarks of Jaipur where the royal family still lives. Adjacent to the City Palace is Jantar Mantar, the ancient astronomical observatory. After a long, hot day of touring we had dinner at a restaurant called Barbeque Nation Restaurant where we were served copious amounts of various meats before the massive buffet was open. And just before dessert, all the servers got together and performed a couple of Bollywood dances for us.
Next day we drove to Pushkar and visited more temples and were blessed at a sacred lake that is second to the Ganges. The lake is said to be fed from underground springs, but is actually rain water from the monsoons and is controlled by the state. We were blessed by a Brahmin at the lake, but later found out he was a fraud that we each paid $100 rupees to, and the water was so putrid that we couldn't bear the smell on our hands. Not sure if it was that water or the restaurant we chose that night, but Ted got violently ill and was up all night. Luckily we had brought prescription medication for travellers illnesses and Ted was only laid up for the whole of the next day - unfortunately we were on the bus for most of the day to Ranakpur. Visited Ranakpur Jain Temples complex, one of the biggest and the most important clusters of Jain temples in India. Truly impressive.
Last day was spent in Udaipur, the lovely lakeside capital of Mewar - The City of Dreams which is perhaps the most romantic city in Rajasthan. Visited City Palace - the largest palace complex in Rajasthan towering over Lake Pichola. To see such wealth and opulence in a country where there is still so much poverty, one can only wonder how this could be. We had a serene boat ride on Lake Pichola at sunset and ate our last dinner at the hotel rooftop overlooking the lake.
An incredible trip we've had with both old and new-found lasting friends. We have shared so many hours of discovering ourselves and others, of seeing world wonders, temples, Dzongs, palaces, forests, etc. We've learned to appreciate how lucky we are to have the family and friends we have. To know that there is constant support and love when we are in need. And the laughter, warmth and kindness. Can't wait to see you all. Lots of love Elaine & Ted
Hello Skaha Bluffs People! Thanks to Rick for leading such a terrific outing. Wonderful time with simpatico companions. Cheers, Patrizzio! PS: Thanks, Hildegard von Bingen, for being such a gracious chauffeur!
Patrick: What great photos.........AND I LOVE THE CAPTIONS. Keep it up. Cheers from Hildegard von Bingen Thanks Patrick, always entertaining! Happy Thanksgiving! Hanneke
No comments:
Post a Comment