TTT (The Tara Times)

Hello!  This is the end...we have been flying for about 7 hours so far from Delhi to Paris, now we are on our way to Atlanta then to Denver. It’s crazy to think that it’s all over. This trip at times has been stressful however it was also magical. This is definitely a trip I will never forget. My eyes have been opened to a whole new culture that is both amazing and horrifying at times. One like I have never seen before.  I am so thankful for this amazing experience that I have had. I am thankful for all the people we have met along the way, and all the beautiful places that we have explored. Now it’s back to school for me :// Signing off... T

Hello hello!  We begin our last day in India by eating breakfast at the buffet they provided. Which had noodles, fries, porridge, omelets, French toast, cereal, fruit, and juice. It was pretty good actually! After that we left to use the last little bit of time we had to tour Delhi. We first got henna! And it was just on the side of the road, so it was very cold. It’s crazy the temperature difference from Alleppey to Delhi. I definitely liked the heat better, which is going to make going back to Denver pretty bad :))  After that we found a tuk tuk and headed for old Delhi to look at the spice market. However our driver said that the market was not open because it is usually open in the morning. And it was the afternoon by the time we arrived there. But we still walked around Old Delhi and explored the wonderful people and things there. Each row of shops had one specific set of items they sell down those aisles. For example wedding decorations, food, saris, jewelry,

Hi!  As I said yesterday, we woke up extremely early this morning, because we had to be mostly packed up to go to the airport along with packing all the things we need for kayaking today. And soon enough at 6 in the morning we were off. However the other person didn’t show up until around 6:45ish so we ended up standing there on the street, while the neighbors music blared so loud I couldn’t hear myself think!  But soon enough we were on our way. Mom sat in the back (which is the part that controls the steering) of our double kayak. And let’s just say she was not good at it, we did a couple circles at points, and it was just terrible. So when we stopped to get some tea, we traded places. Oh yah! We stopped to get tea, we rowed up to this little restaurant and they took our orders and gave us it, in the kayak (this is also where we ended up eating breakfast too). I got a Chai tea and it was really good! And soon we were off again. And we rowed and rowed and rowed some more.

Hello! Today we woke up and headed for Alleppey. During this car trip we finally came to the conclusion about how bad our driver actually is. For example when he goes into a turn he will accelerate before he reaches the turn, and then brake while he is in the turn. Which makes for a not so enjoyable ride. I’m pretty sure everyone felt a little nauseous at one point or another. After having to pull over twice so Riley could walk around we finally arrived. The hotel is ok I guess. It’s in a great location but the room is terrible. I absolutely hate it. There is mold on the walls bugs in the floor and no trash can. In my book this is by far the worst place we have stayed. Luckily we will barely be in the hotel at all.  We put our stuff away and then headed for the beach. The beach was lovely, it was clean and absolutely beautiful! Riley and dad got in, and although mom said she wanted to dad said no. Because of the fact that throughout the whole beach not a single woman o

Hi!! Today we woke up bright and early, around 6! And one thing I hate more then hiking is getting up early!! I hate getting up early!! But that’s ok. We walked to the starting point of our wildlife trek and after receiving backpacks filled with food for breakfast we were off. However after walking for about 2 hours we still hadn’t seen very much wildlife, but some bison, a couple birds, and a monkey. So no tigers or elephants. But still the trek was fine. We arrived at a house where we ate a breakfast of bread, garbanzo bean stuff, and a juice box. After we ate we went for a bamboo rafting, it was nice, but really cold. And I definitely fell asleep on the raft! Oops! Tough luck mom for waking me up early. After the rafting we hiked back and once we were back we went to the hotel to rest before going out to get lunch/dinner. We also stopped to pick up some more chocolate, because you know chocolate is good, and we definitely haven’t had enough of it!

Hi Hi Hi!      We are now in Thekkady India. We drove for like 3 1/2 hours to get to our home stay. and our driver drove so crazily that everyone felt a little nauseous coming here. Once we arrived it was around noon so we decided to relax and unpack until about 2.      After relaxing a little we were off to walk around town. It was actually a neat little town, again there wasn’t a lot shopping to do. We bought a couple things here and there, but nothing much. But still most of the shops had the same thing as the last. We also found some dinner, which was semi ok nothing amazing but it wasn’t terrible. granted I just had pasta. I think the Indian food is hurting my stomach a little I think.      Finally after everything we went to see what we were told was a martial arts, but ending up being more of a fighting fire jumping show. It was good, a little scary at points, just because they would jump over like 10 people at a time, and jump through hoops of fire. I still have to edit

Hello! I skipped breakfast this morning in order to get a couple more minutes of precious sleep! Because today we are venturing out on a four hour trek! Four hours! Let me tell you something about Tara, Tara likes to sit on the couch, the only physical exertion she enjoys is basketball, and working out with friends. Walking around the neighborhood is enough of a workout for her. So let’s just say that this was a long four hours. It’s not that it was hard, just hot, and long. However the view at the top was most definitely worth it. I tried to capture it as best as I could with a camera, but it definitely doesn’t do it any justice. We learned that tea comes from a tree, and they cut the tree down to make it easier for the tea gatherers to gather the tea. The workers make about 2 rupees per kilo of tea that they collect. The average is about 320 rupees for about 8 hours of work in the sun, so about $3.50 to $4. So not a lot, but the business does provide housing for the work

Hey hey hey!  We started off our day by having some traditional Indian breakfast of dosa (a pancake type thing make out of rice and lentils) and sauce that eat with the dosa that had potatoes and vegetables in it. Along with that we had bread and fruit. It was actually surprisingly good, not normally what you would think to eat for breakfast but I enjoyed it.  After that we were on our way. Our first stop was a tea plantation, where they explained how they grow and then process their tea. It basically goes through five steps, picking, crushing, drying, sifting, sorting, and packaging. Or something to that effect. However because of the strike the machines weren’t running, but that’s ok. The tour was actually very informative and interesting. They were sure to remind us over and over again that the tea doesn’t have any chemicals or preservatives, and that it’s purely tea. The tour guide also said that some of the bigger companies will import India’s tea and place a different