About India...

Ian an Erin in Hampi.

Well, we lasted about 2 1/2 weeks in India and then we couldn't take it any more.  We flew into Bangalore and took a train to Hospet and an autorickshaw to Hampi. Ian's sister Erin joined us there after a few days and we spent a few more days there.  Hampi is a bouldering destination with miles of endless  boulder fields, and we did a bit of climbing while we were there.  It's also known for it's massive collection of ruins that are everywhere.  Hampi is also a  backpacker destination with cheap living and a very chill vibe.  We then hopped on a train for 3 days including a 7 hour layover to get to Agra, which is home of the Taj Mahal.  We explored the Taj and Agra Fort which is equally impressive. Erin was only in India a week, so we tried to see as much as we could, but it's such a big country and getting around takes forever, so we were limitted to a few highlights.  The night before she left Erin got "Delhi belly" and was violently ill all night, I got it 12 hours later and Ian was ill as well, though his constitution is stronger and he didn't get the full effects.  The plan was to go back south after Erin left but we couldn't get a train ticket and the thought of another couple of days spent on a train was more than we could bare, so we got a plane ticket from Delhi to Bangkok.  India is amazingly different, beautiful and tragic, and it's a trip but not a vacation.  It's a lot of work, hassle and irritation and nothing goes smoothly.  The crush of humanity, and not at it's finest, is exhausting and the huge size of the country demand a lot more time than we were willing to give it.  The filth, fecal matter, smog, urine, stray dogs, wandering cows and menacing children were overwhelming.  Everything was a battle and everyone fought to get as much of our money as they could.  One of the highlights for me was saree shopping with Erin.  We went to a bazaar and explored the tiny little booths that sold sarees, scarfs etc.  So in the upscales sarees shops we would crawl inside the booth and sit down and the men would unfurl the sarees and quite rapidly we would have 40+ sarees across our laps.  In one of the shops I was hemming and hawing over one and the head guy had one of the minion men put it on to demonstrate how "beautiful" I would look wearing it, it was all I could do to not lose it laughing at this poor man who had to dress up for me.  So after recovering in Agra as much as I could we took a 4 hour train to Delhi, and flew overnight to Bangkok.

Bouldering in Hampi with Grant spotting.

Ian in Hampi with Grant spotting.

Trying to send a hard V4 on the TV boulder.

Ian sending in Hampi.

Day 2 of 3 on the train.

Britta's all tuckered out.

Very clear direction in Agra.

The Taj Mahal at dawn.

Erin and Britta going Asian.

Ian's got mad ups.

Travel by camel is the only way to go.

From Yangshuo to Hampi

Just a quick update, more will be coming, but wanted to let everyone know where we are and that we're fine.  We had an amazing month in China, due to censorship we weren't able to access our blog.  We climbed the limestone karsts almost everyday and made a fun group of Australian friends.  We even had a make-shift Thanksgiving meal, complete with a firecracker full of confetti.  The climbing and scenery were really high quality and we are already planning to go back, but our visa was up and we had to leave.  We flew for 10 hours to get to Bangalore, India and took an overnight train to Hampi, where we're bouldering on the endless granite.  It's really beautiful and India is definitely an experience, we are still adjusting.  We'll make a proper update with pictures soon!

Hong Kong

After 3 hours of sleep in Florida, 18 hours of flying, and 8000+ miles later, we arrived in Hong Kong!  Our first flight was Orlando to Newark, which was fine other than it was full of people from NYC and Jersey.  The second flight was direct to Hong Kong and was over 15 hours.  We had all the movies/music/TV shows we could handle, and 3 meals.  We mixed and matched so I ate the veggie food and Ian got the rest.  Not sure who made out better on the ice cream/hamburger switch.  The arrival in Hong Kong was a little complicated by Ian leaving his umbrella on the plane, but we were glad we got it since it has rained since we got here.  Immigration was easy and once we found the right bus we were dropped off at our guesthouse, the Cosmic.  We are waiting for our Chinese visa and were going to do some rock climbing but the rain hasn't let up.  We are perfecting the skill of walking through a crowd of umbrellas at eye-level.  We noticed the price of umbrellas miraculously doubles when it starts raining.  We have done a lot of sleeping to catch up and escape the deluge.  Last night we went to the Walk of Stars, which mimics the one in Hollywood.  Most of which we didn't recognize, imagine that.  Tonight we plan on meeting up with my aunt who is passing through Hong Kong on her way home, it's funny to be closer to family in Asia than the U.S.  Hopefully we will be traveling to Yangshuo Monday where we can climb/relax and everything will be much more affordable.

Hong Kong Int'l Airport

Avenue of the Stars

Looking across the water from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island

My hands are the same size as Jet Li!

One of 3 names we recognized.

I'm ready for my close up.

The most luxurious 8' x 8' that HK $220 (US $29) can buy.

Kentucky to Florida

After 2 weeks in the Red, we finally started to feel strong and climb well.  But unfortunately it was time to leave.  It was a great trip and we are psyched to go back for more.  Leaving Jake and banjo-country behind we headed south to Florida, stopping in Tennessee to spend a little more time with Ilona.  We got to Florida in time to see our niece Loralie in her Scooby-doo costume and to raid her trick-or-treating spoils (she doesn't NEED all that sugar anyways).  Our last few days in Florida we were hectically tying up loose ends and saying good-bye to family and friends.  Using physics, a little wishing and a lot of muscle, we managed to get all of our climbing gear and a few clothes into a carry-on and a personal item each (take that checked baggage fees!).  And we were on our way to Hong Kong!

Kentucky mini-arch bouldering.

Britta gripped at the crux.

Britta sending Air-ride Equipped 5.11a

No hands rest! No hands rest!

Changed by kentucky? You be the judge.

Wookie and baby wookie Loralie.

Scooby all tuckered out from trick-or-treating.

The-Long-Over-Due-Update

Britta's new friend 

 So our time in Florida was fun. We kept ourselves pretty busy.  When we weren't catching up with folks, we were playing disc golf at a local park, mini-golf at a pirate themed park, and enjoying the local "wildlife".
 We swung through the local climbing gym and sampled their "quality" routes.  Apparently living in a state with no rocks gives the route-setters a different idea of how rock climbing works. But we had fun anyways and Ian's youngest brother Angus came along and enjoyed getting to rock climb with his big bro.  We also went to the east coast in the hopes of renting a surf board and getting a private surf lesson from Ian's dad Glen.  But the local hot dog stand that rented surf boards wasn't there.  I was amazed that we could drive onto the beach and we snagged a good spot.  Glen brought along boogie boards so we rode the waves until we lost enough skin to call it a day.  I freaked a little when a small sting ray came surfing along in the incoming wave, but Ian reassured me that it was probably just swimming away from a shark.  The weather was much nicer than the last few visits and we took advantage of the warmth and the sun.

just another day in Ky.

 We drove up to Tennessee on Monday, Oct. 11 to visit our friend Ilona on our way to Kentucky.  Our destination was the Red River Gorge where we met up with our buddy Jake from Alaska.  He has the freakish ability to do a one-legged squat from the ground! We are camping at the calmer of the climber's campgrounds, but it's still bustling with activity because it's rocktober.  We've climbed many fun routes that remind us why we rock climb and are willing to travel across the country and battle the crowds to be here.  Some of them were colorfully named and Ian's favorite was "Gettin' lucky in Kentucky". Took a rest day in Lexington on Saturday, played disc golf at a Veterans Memorial park and cruised around in our K-car.  After getting lost we determined that Smart phones don't work as well as just asking the locals.  We washed our stinky unmentionables at a local coin-op and gorged ourselves on Mediterranean food (mmm...humus).  Our friend Grant is also here and rented a cabin with some friends, we've cooked there a few times in the luxury of a kitchen.  We are planning on adventuring in Kentucky for another 10 days or so.

Jake finds a water hazard on hole #11

  

Playing Centipede while waiting for the laundry to finish.

 

 

Chillin' in Florida

We made it to Florida Monday Oct. 3 in the a.m. after many hours of flying.  It's been sunny, in the 80's with cool breezes and not too much humidity, so very pleasant for Florida standards.  We've been hanging out with family and friends and soaking up the much missed sun, we're hoping to get to the beach this weekend and give surfing a try under the instruction of Ian's dad.  Next stop is Tennessee on Monday to visit Ilona and on to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky for some killer rock climbing.

And so it begins...

As many of you know we are about to embark on another adventure.  After spending the summer in a pop-up camper at McHugh Creek, we are on to bigger and better things.  We'll be leaving Anchorage October 3, flying to Orlando to spend some time with family and friends and then driving to Red River Gorge in Kentucky for some awesome rock climbing.  Back down to Orlando in November and off to Mumbai, India.  The loose plan is to spend several weeks in India, then on to Yangshuo, China, Vietnam, Laos, and finally Thailand.  We'll be rock climbing as much as possible and trying other new activities (Zorbing, anyone?).  This blog will function as our way to keep in touch and post pics of us in exotic places.  Hope you enjoy it!