From New York to Delhi

Dear friends,



I am happy to be writing to you again. Just over a week ago I quit my job at Merrill Lynch (just one day before it was bought by Bank of America) and now I am writing to you from an Etihad Airways plane, which takes me to India. Sitting next to me is Rita - my girlfriend and a partner in this adventure. Behind us is Jasmine. Jasmine and Alex (my climbing partner from Boston) are joining us for some trekking and climbing in Nepal, where we hope to spend a couple of months.



Those of you who have read my travel notes from my previous trip may remember that I have spent months in Nepal and India traveling, studying yoga, trekking in the mountains, making pilgrimages, observing life and enjoying wonderful hospitality of local people.



I am planning to continue writing travel notes and observation, but this time I decided to go a bit more “high-tech”, so Rita and I started a blog for our trip. You are most welcome to visit us and leave your comments at http://WatchingMangoesGrow.blogspot.com



I always thought that I will return to travels in Asia, but nevertheless, this time while preparing for the trip I felt a sort of apprehension: “What is it going to be like?” “Will I enjoy it just as much?” “What if this… and what if that..?” Once again I realized the difficulty of just letting go, of detaching myself from having everything pre-planned and being afraid that the plans will not match the reality. Rita suffered stoically through my un-decisiveness on every single item of preparation. It took me forever to find the “just right” trekking pants, select which backpack out of 10 to take, choose between two camera systems I wanted to upgrade to, and so on.

All these activities, along with moving out of my apartment, getting tickets, canceling phone plans, altering insurance policies, and quitting my job weighted quite heavily on me and only in the last couple of days before leaving, as most of the items were being ticked-off, I found myself in a more or less balanced state.



We are going to start our trip in Nepal, where we will hopefully arrive after a couple of days in Delhi. I used the word “hopefully” above since I bought Delhi-Kathmandu tickets through some questionable India-based internet agency, and so I am still not sure if the e-tickets they sent me by e-mail after weeks of negotiations and threats are actually valid tickets. That “transaction” reminded me that a language barrier is not only in the language itself (as we both were using English words) but also in the style of communication, mutual expectations, cultural differences, and general speed of life.

Once in Nepal, we will most likely walk the Annapurna Circuit trek and then go to the Everest region where Alex and I are hoping to climb a couple of interesting routes on not too tall mountains. Jasmine and Rita are planning to join us on one of the easier routes as well.



Meanwhile I am anticipating landing in Delhi and finding myself surrounded by colors, smells, noises and chaotic movement of India.



We are going to stay in a small Tibetan community (Majnu Ka Tilla) on the outskirts of Delhi. If you ever travel to India and want a relatively peaceful retreat from the chaos of the main city – this is the place.


As you may have guessed from the fact that you are reading this e-mail, we have reached Delhi successfully.

We spent a day relaxing in the Tibetan enclave in Manju ka tilla, visited a Sikh temple and sampled a lot of Momos (tibetan dumplings) and Thukpa (tibetan noodle soups).

Tomorrow we should be in Kathmandu.

Pictures are coming..


I'll be happy to hear from you by e-mail, or just leave your comments in out blog.


--Misha