Random Facts!

1. We haven't had a hot shower in 3 months.

2. We haven't used a washing machine in 9 months.

3. Kim hasn't eaten meat in 10 months.

4. We've traveled to 4 different continents, 2 of them twice!

5. We haven't cooked a meal in 10 months.

6. We've taken over 10,000 photos.

7. We've spent 297 nights sleeping in beds that aren't ours.

Big City India

The street in front of Deepa's "home" on a wet day and below on a drier day.

Indian cities are crazy places and Chennai is the 4th largest ctiy in India. It can be described in one word - constant. Constant people, constant traffic, constant shock, constant death, constant life, constant honking, constant poverty, constant noise, constant struggle. It goes on and on and it never stops. It's a country teeming with over a billion people and it's crazy! Crazy how different our lives are from theirs, crazy how unfair life is, crazy how a country can function like this, crazy that this is acceptable. Just plain crazy! That's the only way to describe it.

There're many reasons why we like this crazy country, don't get us wrong. It's an amazing place, we just struggle with trying to understand things like this for instance. There's a family that lives on a chunk of pavement across from the guesthouse we were staying at. The husband has a job as an auto rickshaw driver yet they still live on the street. Deepa, the wife, is a lovely lady of about 23 or so. They have two kids. A one and a half year old and a baby. When we were there it was raining heavily and the street in front of their "home" was flooded with filthy, polluted water. One night we were on our rooftop and we looked down and saw the one and a half year old toddle through the water, which was up to his waist, and go across the street. It's crazy. These people live in filth, at the mercy of the elements and die on the same corner they were born on. Deepa's whole family lives on the street from what we can make out; aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, mom, dad and cousins. The crazy thing is they're just one family out of millions living the same life.

Kim and i were constanty approached by people wanting something from us whether it was a cup of chai, some biscuits, money, a bag of rice, clothes etc. It goes on and on. It's soooooooo hard because you can't help everyone and even the people we do help we aren't helping, i mean really helping, in the long run. The problem is just too huge. We bought Deepa's kids some new clothes and we bought them some fruit. We also bought the baby a toy truck so he'd have something to play with while sitting on the street corner. They're the one family that never asked us for anything and, despite their situation, they were always smiling and saying hello.

It wasn't all poverty and despair in big city India however. There's a middle class and a really wealthy portion of the population as well. It's a crazy juxtaposition that's for sure. For example we went and saw the movie 2012 while we were there and it was playing in a super plush theatre, nicer than any we know of in Vancouver or Sydney. Another night Kim and i went out on a date to a fancy tapas bar where we drank $10 martinis and ate a lovely meal. It was a crazy feeling sitting in that restaurant, indulging ourselves and knowing what misery awaited us outside. We struggled with that one for a long time. We could have fed many families with the money our bill came to.

We're not in Chennai anymore but it certainly made an impression on us and gave us a lot think about. I don't think either of us will ever forget Deepa and her family. We'll always remember the warmth and the smiles they shared with us and they'll serve as just one more reminder of how lucky we are. How lucky we all are.

Pictures From Paradise!

Why do we have such big smiles on our faces? Because we spent the past month in paradise. You can scroll down and see for yourself! We never would have left but as a foreigner you can only get a permit to stay for 30 days.

This is beach #5 on Havelock Island in the Andamans. The beaches here don't have names, just numbers! That's Kim walking back from an early morning yoga session. It's about 8:00 in the morning and the sun's already high in the sky and it's hot. The sun rises at 5am and sets around 5pm here. Geographically the Andamans are closer to Thailand and Burma but they're a part of India so they follow Indian time. We'd get up pretty early so we could enjoy a full day of fun in the sun!

The sand was so soft and white it felt amazing to walk on!

Postcard picture perfect is what springs to mind when i look at this photo. And then i see the coconut and i'm reminded of just how scary it was to walk around anywhere! There are so many coconuts in the trees and no one bothers to take them down until they decided they want to eat or drink one! Seriously, i felt like i was taking a huge risk any time i walked from our bungalow down to the beach. On our last morning on the island we had just woken up when we heard a loud crash. We assumed that a coconut had fallen on the tin roof of our hut but what we didn't know until we went outside was that it had gone right through the roof and onto our little balcony. Lucky no one was sitting there!

We found this little guy on the beach. After picking him up to have a look at him we put him back in the bush where we thought he'd be a bit safer!

This sunset goes down in history as one of the most beautiful sunsets either of us has ever seen!

This shot was taken at beach #7 at a place called Blue Cove. It was one of our favorite spots on the island. It was about a 20 minute drive on our scooter from where we were staying and the drive itself was breathtaking as you rode through lush, green farmland.

Check out the hermit crabs. We've never seen so many before in our lives. They were fascinating to watch. Along with the dogs they ruled the beach!

I don't know about you but this photo cracks me up!

We did a lot of snorkeling and diving while on the island. This photo was taken at a place called South Button. We took a boat there with some friends and we were really impressed with the condition of the coral and the amount of marine life.

This is a fish we bought at the fish market for about $2! Every day from 2:30-4:30 the fisherman would bring their daily catch to the market and you could go in pick your fish, have it scaled and cleaned and then get one of the restaurants to cook it for you any way you like. We had fish grilled, fried, done with masala, you name it we tried it. Yum!

This is Little Mate, our favorite dog on the island. The dogs here think it's a good idea to lie on the road or by the side of the road and it's not uncommon to see dogs with paws that have very obviously been run over by a rickshaw or car. In fact when we first arrived we were in a rickshaw looking for a place to stay and we're pretty sure our driver did just that. We felt a bump and then heard the immediate yelping of a dog as it scampered off. So what did our driver do? Nothing, he just kept driving along. I hit him and called him an asshole and his reply was that dogs are bad. I felt sick about it and couldn't believe what had just happened. What a way to start our stay in paradise. The next day we saw this little guy hopping about, his right paw was pretty mangled and it looked fresh so we thought he must have been the dog we ran over. He hung out by a place where we ate a lot so we would feed him every day and take him leftovers if we'd had a fish for dinner. We made it our mission to fatten him up and help him get strong. By the time we left he'd put on a bit of weight and his wound was healing. He'll be a hop-a-long dog but we think he'll do all right! India's a hard place to travel when you're an animal lover, that's for sure.