Haley arrived several days ago and Erin yesterday. Mom and I were able to spend some great time with Haley and then with Haley and Erin. We were able to get them to come on our tour for part of the time in Kathmandu. We visited several Hindu temples as well as several Buddha temples.…

Yesterday we drove up the Himalayan Mountains to catch a glimpse of the ranges. There are 14 peaks over 8,000 meters here. Mount Everest is the tallest of the tallest. We were in Kathmandu, Nepal and it is bounded by all 4 sides by mountains. There are only four ways into the city. The mountains…

Today we got up very early and drove to the Ganges for the sunrise. We boarded a boat (old wooden boat, with two Indian men rowing the boat). We saw many sights along the river. Indian Woman praying. Sunrise is a time for praying for the Hindu Religion Nana Sue enjoying the Sunrise Monks practicing…

Yesterday we arrived into Varanasi India. This is a very sacred city to the Hindu religion and a place where people go to die. This city is located on the Ganges river. The Hindu believe that you have multiple lives and that when you die you need to be cremated and then your ashes deposited…

We have been enjoying India very much. We did not understand India at all before coming here and we still don’t understand India but we have learned much about India. This country is very different from the United States. It is different in it’s culture, it’s history, it’s food, it’s traditions. Here are some pictures…

Hindu as a religion has been around for over 7,000 years. The religion is mired in tradition and even the modern Indian person sometimes does not understand why they do something. It is interesting in that some of the 1000 year old structures are mostly intact and that they have found some old footings and…

70% of the people in India are Hindu. It is a very religious country but in a way that is unfamiliar with Christians. I can see the religion and the impact to culture but I cannot yet understand it. On are way from Jaipur to Agra India today, we passed a very long procession of…

Nana Sue has been having a great time on this trip. We had a special Indian dancer at one of our dinners and Nana Sue danced with her. She decided to get a Henna tattoo. She learned another Indian dance last night called the Balleywood dance. Nana Sue can’t wait to come home to teach…

We visited the Taj Mahal today. It was breathtaking. The marble, the craftsmanship, and the size was truly something to see. But more interesting was the story behind the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved Queen Mumtaj Mahal. This monumental construction, which took 22…