tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211879132011-04-21T20:52:34.758-07:00An exploration of byways, brahman & myselfDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1156625846222732072006-08-26T13:51:00.000-07:002006-08-26T13:57:57.226-07:00

New BlogFor those of you still paying attention over here, I have started a new blog with a different focus... point your browsers to Quitting Mitzrayim for a peek. It's a work-in-progress, but it's where I'll be writing...India follow-upOur plans for a trip wrap-up keep getting postponed by life. Sorry! See a piece we co-wrote for the upcoming Beyt Tikkun newsletter on Shabbat in India. Love you!

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1146266160533622122006-04-28T15:56:00.000-07:002006-04-28T16:16:00.546-07:00

Well, we're back in San Francisco! Amberly has posted some of the missing pieces from the last few weeks, so give it a whirl, since I probably won't be retreading that ground. We are planning on putting up an after-the-fact itinerary with a map you can orient yourselves with, but we need to get used to this strange country we're in first. It's so empty! We're going through a bit of reverse

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1145726849975081922006-04-22T10:27:00.000-07:002006-04-22T10:45:59.216-07:00

Daal Lake at Dawn Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. (Sorry for the long absence. We’ve been trying to cram as much as we can into our last ten days, and haven’t stopped for a breather in a bit!)Photos of our last leg are up, but they’re not exactly representative of the experiences. There are times when I wished I had a really powerful zoom to capture some wildlife, a far-off detail

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1144908277850895552006-04-12T23:04:00.000-07:002006-04-13T10:05:26.013-07:00

The toy train is comin' to town! Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. We travel to tell harrowing stories about transit that we find hard to believe ourselves. Like the night bus from Pushkar to Agra, with sleeping berths so grotty, the headrest was slick with hair grease. Bouncing and swerving so badly, we spent a fair amount of time airborne, backs pounded as if by an overzealous

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1144687692509229662006-04-10T09:48:00.000-07:002006-04-10T09:53:20.026-07:00

The spoils of the sea Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. Sometimes you need a break. As previously promised, we've been idling on a remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. After cold mountains, smoggy cities and too much transit, we finally found some respite on a hammock by a beach, with a coconut in one hand and a book in the other. If you spin your globe a few degrees

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1143795659437303202006-03-31T01:00:00.000-08:002006-03-31T01:10:06.176-08:00

Morning Tea Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. This is a thread of thought I've been contemplating. It is to be continued.We travel to meet new people, see new places and experience new things. We travel to share stories the likes of which you don't get in books. Ultimately, we travel to understand our world, and hopefully ourselves, a little better. The story of our Sikkim trek

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1143346923029105202006-03-25T20:22:00.000-08:002006-03-25T20:31:54.146-08:00

Our first glimpse of the Mountain Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. After five days socked in here in Darjeeling, the sky finally cleared enough to see the mountain we'd been promised! Kanchanjunga is the second tallest mountain in the world and it is barely visible in the photo there (click on it for a bigger view).Other than today, it's been cloudy and cold - cold enough to

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1142859563118460732006-03-20T04:59:00.000-08:002006-03-22T04:01:21.250-08:00

Proof Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. Photos are up! I hate to break chronology, but here is the only photographic proof that we did see the Taj Mahal in person. It is every bit as astonishing as you might think... I've put up a semi-representative smattering of our wanderings so far.We arrived in the sleepy backwater mountain town of Kurseong, near Darjeeling, this afternoon. We

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1142759745364337872006-03-19T01:15:00.000-08:002006-03-19T01:26:02.250-08:00

Bathing in the Ganges Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. While in Varanasi, I've asked a few folks - why is India spiritual? The answers sort of fit in with some observations I've made on my own. So here's a crack at it.Sacred SpacesCertainly, India is the cradle for several religions, Hinduism and Buddhism the most prominent of them. Hinduism (from which Buddhism spawned) has come

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1142756603281106922006-03-18T23:21:00.000-08:002006-03-19T00:23:23.336-08:00

First off, apologies for the lack of pictures. Uploading them in this town has proven a task requiring more computer patience than I currently have...Listening to the UniverseEvents have conspired to keep us here a bit longer, and a happy conspiracy it's been! Here's how it's gone: we were meant to leave on Friday morning to spend Shabbat and the weekend in Bohdgaya, the place of Buddha's

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1142340400242365852006-03-14T04:15:00.000-08:002006-03-18T23:20:04.606-08:00

It's been a little bit since the last post. We've been taking it very slow for the last few beats. Amberly has a good post with some highlights. Pictures will go up by the end of the week.We arrived in Varanasi yesterday, to much bustling and goings on. Since the train station and a temple were bombed here last week, security has been heightened. Compounded with the fact that the raucous Holi

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1141564300748679102006-03-06T12:30:00.000-08:002006-03-07T08:13:27.423-08:00

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of dispatches from or about spiritual places in India. I don't know where it will lead, but I hope it will be enjoyable!Brahma Ghat, PushkarWe arrived in Pushkar in time to prepare for Shabbat, which we've been observing every week during our trip (okay, we missed one - it was an oversight, ok?). This has been a wonderful experience. Obviously,

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1141306484094740772006-03-02T05:34:00.000-08:002006-03-07T08:16:09.860-08:00

Camel head Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. Not me, the camel! We returned yesterday from a lovely sojourn in the Thar desert on camel-back. After the constant noise and bustle of inhabited India, the desert was blissfully quiet. We trekked around in the morning, then had a nice lunch and "hot-time" break under a surprisingly shady tree. The guides whipped up an absolutely killer

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1140800884279848462006-02-24T08:22:00.000-08:002006-02-24T09:26:33.463-08:00

Spending some time in this internet cubicle while we wait for our midnight train to Geo...er, Jaisalmer, the Golden City. Rajasthan has this tourist schtick (okay, okay, they might have some historical significance) of naming its cities after the predominant color of the houses. Jaipur is the pink city, Jodhpur is blue, and Jaisalmer is golden. Here are a few stray crumbs of thoughts from over

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1140440933300124552006-02-20T05:06:00.000-08:002006-02-20T05:08:53.300-08:00

Take a look at Amberly's post on our train experience yesterday...

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1140406491114034632006-02-19T19:34:00.000-08:002006-02-19T19:34:51.120-08:00

Monkey Family Portrait Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. More pictures are up!

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1140278017921930982006-02-18T07:53:00.000-08:002006-02-18T07:53:37.963-08:00

And wanders Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. This is the title of a book I was reading before I left. It is a travel memoir by Joseph Campbell (the myths guy) about his travels in India. I didn't finish it before we left, but the gist was that he had come in search of Brahman (the holy, the one-ness of the universe) and had come away with the downside of the baksheesh culture, that

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1140179225299975262006-02-17T04:27:00.000-08:002006-02-17T04:27:05.356-08:00

david-plane Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. ...and pretty exhausted. Today is the first full day in Delhi. I have lots of thoughts and observations, which I will share soon. Meanwhile, go to our Flickr page to see some of our first India sights.ps - look, I buzzed my hair!

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1139807505677434322006-02-12T21:11:00.000-08:002006-02-12T21:26:08.440-08:00

storage unit Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. Our apartment is completely barren now. Okay, except for all of Melissa's* furniture, kitchenware, linens, and the cat... But the rest of it is all in storage, thanks to an heroic effort by my brother-in-law, Parker P, who happened to be in town this week. He worked for a taco dinner - how great is that? us in storage Originally

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1139469145624271102006-02-08T23:12:00.000-08:002006-02-08T23:12:25.656-08:00

Map of India Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. That's the second most popular question we get! Don't know if you'll be able to see much on this map... We have some fun plans for visually showing you where we are, but we'll keep those secret - until we figure it our ourselves!First off, our itinerary is fairly loose. The point is that we don't want to get caught up in he

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1139136301976579932006-02-05T21:34:00.000-08:002006-02-05T21:38:05.076-08:00

It's a question I've gotten a lot, so I suppose it's worth examining as an introduction to, or a jumping off point for, this trip and this blog. The easy, conversational answer is that one of the many amazing coincidences of Amberly's & my courtship was our common interest in India as our next major travel destination. It seemed like an appropriate delayed honeymoon and a last hurrah before "

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1137997093874788172006-01-22T22:18:00.000-08:002006-01-22T22:18:13.876-08:00

Passport, at last! Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. The end of an era happened on Friday when my new passport came in the mail along with the cancelled old one. Many, many stamps adorn the inside of that puppy, as does this photo of me looking like a more unsavory South American than I really am. I'm pretty sure this picture got me stopped a few extra times than were warranted. My

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1137996843235318842006-01-22T22:14:00.000-08:002006-01-22T22:14:03.236-08:00

Drinks all around! Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. We'll be keeping a repository of all our pictures on Flicker. I'll probably post a healthy dose here, but you can always look at more there.This photo is from last weekend's adventure to Nashville, to see Colin get married to Tiffany. The reception was on the Vanderbilt campus in the chapel complex, so no drinks were allowed. The

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21187913.post-1137995856720791832006-01-22T21:57:00.000-08:002006-02-05T21:43:00.283-08:00

California Sunset Originally uploaded by Amberly & David. These first several entries will be stateside, driven in equal measure by my desire to get this thing off the ground and the barely-contained excitement at getting going already! Amberly & I have been in intense negotiations over the blog over the last few weeks. Our final decision has been to each keep one and reference the other

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06027469848201553970noreply@blogger.com0