Last days in Kashmir, On my way to Israel

Hello Everyone,

I will post some photos soon, still just need to figure out how to do it on other people's computers. So, I have finally reached my second destination, Israel. I am happy to say goodbye to India. Kashmir was fantastic, but I am sooo tired of Indian men!

My last days in Kashmir were spent hanging out in their beautiful gardens and on the second to last day, I went to Sonmarg, Kashmir. It was amazing! We walked for a short 4 km on a nice little trail and all of a sudden we were surrounded 360 degrees of the Himalayas. It's amazing how no effot was required to get to a place so incredibly beautiful! I was in heaven! The photos are great too!

Then, as I said goodbye to Kashmir, I went to their aiport to head towards Delhi! Wow! Before we even enetered the airport we had to go thru two security checks, which meant getting out of the cab and dropping my bags in an x-ray machine, then getting patted down. After doing that, then I could go inside the gates to the airport. Once in side, I went thru at least 8 more security checks, no lie! Many, many pat downs and intensive searches thru my bags. I had to take everything out of my carry on and they inspected everything, they were a bit perplexed about my traveling chopsticks and they just couldn't understand what they were for. I said "for eating, ya know." No, they didn't know. So the chopsticks, batteries, MP3 player and camera did not pass. From there I had to go visit another man, who then inspected these things. He said "What is this?" I said "It's an MP3 player." He said "Let me listen." So, I got out my headphones and he began to listen to my music, just to make sure it was what I said it was. So strange! From there, he took my batteries and chopsticks, put them in a sealed envelope and said I could pick them up once I got to Delhi. After this, then I wanted to go sit at my gate. Yeah right...not quite possible yet. Some security man kept pointing at me to go over there and I am just like GOD! are you seriuos? Yes, he was. So, I turn the corner and then I have to identify my bag before they will load it. Then, finally I was able to get into the Gate area. As, we began to board our plane, there was still one more security check we had to go through out on the runway...American have no idea how bad airports could be!

A quick airplane ride later I am in Delhi and I will stay there for the next 12 hours as I wait to catch my plane to Israel. At 2 AM, I decide that I will begin to check in. Thank god I love to do these things early, because for no apparant reason at all, only simply becuase he could, the Royal Joradanian airline man gave me the hardest time! I was on the verge of tears and nervousenss that he would not let me on the plane. Becuase I didn't print out my return ticket back to the States, he was thinking I was not planning on leaving Israel. He interrogated me about why I was going there, when I would leave, how much money I have etc? He then began to interrogate me about my visa for Israel, I kept saying , I don't need one, I can land on my passport. He refused to believe this until I told him for like the 10th time and then I got nervous, maybe I read it wrong, but I knew I hadn't. So, Finally after passing my passport around to about 10 different, useless men, and having me run around the Delhi airport looking for email to pring out my ticket to the States, they finally let me board! Ugh....it was a terrible time!

Now....after being in the Himalayas for 6 days, 40 minutes after landing in Israel I was sitting on a wonderful beach in Tel Aviv! Crazy how life can be so drastically exciting! I've only been here for less than 24 hours, but it is SOOOO nice to be in a country with some western flare! Yesterday, we went to this great little cafe, nice atmosphere, salads, cheese, no sweet bread, espresso, olives, beautiful people with acutal curves to their bodies! I was in heaven! It made me realize how living life in Taiwan, I lived without so many everyday things that people in western cultures get! I was culture shocked just to normal things I used to do everyday back in the States. So, I think being in Israel will be a good way to transition back into the States, I get a good taste of regular life again. They have beautiful big roads, nice traffic, people acutally follow rules when they drive, clean air...ahhh! What more can one ask for !? :)

This blog is getting long, so I will try to end it now. Noam has been the most amazing host ! He has made me feel right at home! Tonight we are heading to his home town of Tiberias and we will travel the North area for the next couple of days. Then head South to Jerusaleum. I will keep you all posted and hope life is going well! Miss ya! But I don't miss India! hehehe....

Strike day, Every day

Alright...it's Luke's last day and I am sad, yet happy to see him go. He is ready to go for sure! He has a hard time with the hasseling of people trying to sell us things all the time. Since traveling through Vietnam and Cambodia I am totally use to this. India's hasseling is NOTHING compared to that of either of those countries. So no bothers for me. He is definitly stressing about his Art project, so he is ready to go.
Let's see, I missed out on one complete day because I was SOOOO SICK! The most SICK! Ugh....I laid in bed for 24 hours and did not eat a thing! But our houseboat people were so nice to me, bring me Kashmiri tea to help my stomach, hot water bottles and blankets. It was nice to have someone take care of me for a change when I am sick....I still haven't eaten much of anything in the last 40 hours, but I feel much better.
Yesterday, we went to Phalgram, Kashmir. A beautiful little mountain town up in the middle of nowhere, where all the shepard people live. We started on a little trek up to some nature preserve, where the mountains were just amazing. It was very emotional experience for me, since it has been two years since I have returned to the mountains. My mind was flooded with lots of memories, most of them that I don't want to remember at this place and time. But, it was still a sight for my eyes to see and they were glued to all the peaks! Luke was a tropper as we made our way through the slippery mud and he carried our chips and water and sugary apple juice. For not being a mountain person, he didn't complain one bit! I love him for that! Well, with 4 KM left to go and still more beauty to see , of course, I started to get sick again! Ugh...so I had to turn back, I just couldn't handle feeling sick anymore. So, even though our trek was short, it was still beautiful. ON our way back, we walked down with a bunch of school boys coming back from a school field strip in the mountains, all of them carry packs with lots of gear on their backs. I asked one of them what they had been doing and he said "Ya know, hiking, rappaling, ice climbing, making camp, normal stuff." I was like, Yeah, normal stuff for you! hehehe.! Just amazing what other children learn what is normal, because we all know that is not normal state side.
When we finally got back down, Wassim, my awesome Indian friend who we met on the bus and who has been a great companion, took us to this little animal zoo. Now I hate zoos, but since we are here, I said "YES" just like Sally tells me to do, so we went to see! I was actually enjoyed it. We say a real leopard! Even though it was in a cage, it was still an amazing site to see! Then we just headed back into town and started our ride back home.
Now today, is Luke's last day, and of course, there just happens to be a strike for the next two days, which means everything has been closed down. I guess this is what happens when you live in a politcally unsound place. Nothing in town will be open. So...Luke is more than happy to leave and he is sunbathing in the garden behind our boat right now. I will spend the next 3 days, just relaxing in the gardens, drawing, writing, reading and chilling on the lake. I am happy for this. We've just been going and going. So, that is our update. Now on to Israel, I am super excited to get there! Hope everyone is good! I am thinking of you!