Today is an important date on the around the world trip calendar. Not only is it my birthday (Happy Jerry West to Me), it is also the physical, psychological and temporal halfway point of the trip. We left home 5 months and three weeks ago, and in five months and three weeks (mid-late July) we will be back in Yellowknife. We are almost exactly on the opposite side of the world from our home. When it's bed time here, our friends and family are getting out of b...

Night before last I almost did it. I almost said it out loud. "I can't believe we've been in India for two weeks and no stomach issues." I caught myself, knowing that it would completely jinx us. It didn't matter. Three hours later Deb was violently ill. She was in bed for 14 hours. Just as she was starting to recover enough to eat some plain toast, it hit me. The girls, Amy and Laurel are all fine so we've narrowed it down to the mutton korma at a suspect...

Surviving India is all about managing expectations. Our expectations of Agra were well established. People come here for one reason. The Taj Mahal, from what we'd read and heard, will exceed your expectations no matter how high. It, alone, is worth the journey to Agra even if everything else about the place is a disappointment. We expected it to be uber touristy, dirty, unfriendly, and completely devoid of character. Our expectations were exceeded on all co...

At first glance Hinduism, to the western eye, appears incomprehensible. Almost ridiculous. Then you start examining it through the unbiased lens of your own religious heritage and the perspective changes. I was never much of a Christian, but I know the basics. God had a son who he sacrificed on the cross for the redemption of our sins. Giant milk chocolate egg laying rabbits and flying, whiskey-nosed reindeer are the most recognizable symbols of the two hol...

We've been one week in India and I still have no idea how to begin to describe it. In fact I just had to pause for several minutes and gaze out the train window to reflect again upon the "sub continent" floating past. We are en route from Calcutta to Varanasi. A 14 hour train journey in 2nd class. The rail beds and sidings are covered with garbage. The poorest of the world's poor sleep between the tracks, their meagre laundry laid amongst the filth to dry. Y...