BeautifulCrazyFascinatingIntimidatingIndia

India...where the roads are rivers of seething masses of chaotic humanity making use of every form of locomotion known to man for the last thousand years: camels, elephants, horses, donkeys, and carts pulled by all of these, rickshaws, autorickshaws, bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, strange cars, and trucks. It is a paradoxically wild and beautiful place, but it is not for the faint of heart. There are a more smells than my nose knows what to do with: perfume, trash, food cooking, fires burning, insense, exhaust, livestock, and the strange Indian body aroma. All mixed together in different ways, it makes for amost inumerable olfactory permutations. I will probably be seeing children begging for food or money for many nights to come in my dreams. Once you get over the initial culture shock, it really is a beautiful and fascinating place. The people are kind, and those that are not have usually become that way because of crushing poverty and desperation. The history is rich, and the weather has been kind. All in all, we are very fortunate to be here.

Jenny and I arrived in Delhi on Monday, and because of a lack of trains, were unable to proceed directly to Nepal. We hired an India man to drive us to Agra, with a two night stop in Jaipur on the way. We arrived in Agra today and will catch the train to the India/Nepal border tonight. From there we will take a bus to the border crossing, walk across (hopefully without event) and then either take a bus to Kathmandu or take a bus to Butwal and fly to Kathmandu. Which one will depend on cost.

The highlights in India have been the Red Fort, the Jaipur City Palace, Taj Mahal, a national park we visited, and Agra Fort. Surely there can be few things built by men that are as beautiful as Taj Mahal...all for the love of a woman! Yet, perhaps our favorite thing in India so far was the Ayurvedic treatments we recieved for two nights in a row in Jaipur. Ayurveda is an ancient Indian healing art involving massaging oils and herbs into your skin very vigorously. It ranks in my top five most physically pleasurable experiences of all time.

Please keep us in prayer. Nepal seems to be in reach, and we have much to consider there regarding our future.