worldtrip

Well, I made it up Kilimanjaro, but it took just about every ounce of eneergy I had.  I actually got mountain sickness on the way up (the summit is around 19,000 ft), and basically had to crawl to the top.  We went up on the fifth day of the trip, at midnight, andclimbed all night.  There was a huge procession of hikers with headlamps on, moving at a ridiculously slow speed – it took about 6.5 hrs to reach the summit, and I had to lay down on the rocks many times – I felt like I was hallucinating, and was very dizzy.  MS effects everyone differently.  It took me about 30 minutes to cover thje last 300 meters to the top.  I then had to descend rapidly, so my guide (Paul) and I shoe-skiied down a 1000 m skree slope, after which I was violently ill – then a 4 hour hike down to lower elevation. I guess I won’t be climbing Mt Everest anytime soon. Kili is the largest free standing mountain in the world and the highest in Africa – it is truly impressiv.  I’m leaving this AM for a 5 day safari to Serengeti, Ngorongo, and other spots – should be very impressive (elephants, lions, leopards etc)  – hope there is still space on this site to post pix   

Well, I’ve made it to Africa – I’m in Tanzania now and getting ready to do a 6 day trek up Mt Kilimanjaro tomorrow.  Haven’t seen any large animals yet, but I’m sure they’re lurking out there somewhere. I left the Asian continent yesterday at 1 PM, and I have to say India was a truly unusual mixture of pleasure and pain.  I took 2 consecutive overnight bus rides which just about wiped me out, but I was able to visit some pretty cool sites.  I mentioned the Ajanta caves last time, and have included some more pictures of them.  They are quite stunning, enormous temples carved out of sheer rock – I don’t think the pix really do them justice.  The next day I travelled to Ellora caves, which are reported to have the world’s oldest religious paintings- around 400 BC.  They used vegwetable fibres, natural pigments , and other substances to paint them, and the color is still very vivid.  India at the moment is incredibly hot and dry – I’ve included some pix of the people carrying jars of water from communal wells.  They would throw buckets attached to ropes down about 20 feet to a puddle of mud, and then carry them miles back to their villages – an unbelievably harsh life.  They say that the monsoon is late this year, and they are all waiting for the rains to begin planting they’re crops.  I didn’t spend long in India (5 days), but it was enough to get a glimpse of how a lot of the world lives.

Well, this has to be the wierdest post yet.  I've been in India for 2 days w  sorry I don't have some pictures to sedn noe (left my cable inMumbaI). ... [Continue reading this entry]

 Well, it's been a long time since my last post.  Internet access is pretty difficult in some places and I guess I've been a little lazy as well.  I'm in Cambodia now, and will be leaving for India tomorrow night.  ... [Continue reading this entry]