Around the world in 89 days.

We left Chicago on February 15th and literally went around the globe to get back!  Pretty cool.

Just what does it feel like to be home?  SO GOOD. So fresh and so clean, clean.  Jefferson's parents picked us up from the airport and took us straight to Chipoodles - they know us so well. It tasted just how I remembered and dreamed it would. NOM NOM NOM.

Jefferson is back in the kitchen and has already made me a vat of beans and I found and reactivated my flip phone - so we are ready to start our first week back at work on Monday. 

The trip was fantastic - and although it may be a while before I feel safe NOT carrying toilet paper in my pocket, it is very nice to be home.  Until next time, I shall leave you with a compilation of Jefferson's greatest poses throughout the trip...

London calling!

 

Collection of ship figureheads - and Jefferson (Cutty Sark Museum).

After heading down a very windy road from the hill station in India, we spent a final day/night in Delhi preparing to escape the heat of India for good - and then off we went to London!

We stayed in Ruth and Sarah Wild's swanky new flat in Greenwich and had our very own room and bathroom.  'Twas the cleanest bathroom I have seen in a long while and I loved it.  We're in talks about visitation rights now.  

Greenwich is ADORABLE and has cool things to do and see like the Cutty Sark (cargo ship that used to carry tea and such) - and, of course, Greenwich is famous for being the home of the Prime Meridian - the center of all timezones (Greenwich Meantime - GMT).  We got to have some beers at a micro brewery of the same name - and the London Lager was my favorite.

We also had Mexican food and cheese and bar food and fish and chips and we may have gained back all of the weight we lost after three months in Southeast Asia - but cheese is WORTH IT.  Although they have Chipoodles in London, we passed on trekking downtown to have it - I can wait three more days, right?  Right??

The largest ship in a bottle in ze world - AH!

That cow is watching you.

The Cutty Sark!

Video Time - AH!

Two nogs in one day - I KNOW.  Hold your applause.  Until the end, then go nuts.  Videos for youuuuuuuuuuu: 

1. Elephant feet - for some reason I find them ADORABLE when they walk and squish - and at the end is my involuntary (but this time voluntary) noise that I make when I find something super cute. -- Cambodia

 

2. Fish Foot Bath! Sooooo gross (and tickly) - just listen to my terrified giggles. -- Cambodia

3. Beautiful Halong Bay -- Vietnam

4. Snorkeling - the little fish were so cute - some other fish were scarier (but only because I am a pansy). -- Maldives

5. First hunt!  A tired Karen hunts mosquitoes with her brand new Racket of Justice - at breakfast - possibly still asleep. -- Thailand

6. Typical traffic jam - this is every street in every town we've been to.  Well, this one is in Vietnam, but you know what I mean.

Jaipur and Delhi and Kasauli, oh my!

Jefferson and the funky hotel art.

We nogged (non-blogged) about the hot hot hot bus ride, but let's go back in time a bit and talk about our visits to both Jaipur and Delhi.

The Pink (orange) city.

First, Jaipur - they call it the pink city, I call it more of an orange-y colored city. It is also hot as all get out, but it's a dry heat and having just come from
the equally hot but also humid South, this was a ridiculously nice change.  We also got to stay in a really cute and funky hotel with tons of art and sculptures everywhere you look - and we shopped a whole bunch (sad for Jefferson).  Our bargaining technique (to say half what you are willing to pay, then work your way up to what you are willing to pay, then walk away slowly until they agree) is working out well.  Stick to your guns, people, it works! And by "we" I of course mean Jefferson bargaining - for I am a pansy and stay out of it after pointing to what I want.  There are cows everywhere and I have crossed many a road to stay well away from their swishing tails - you never know what's on those tails.

They let you just park your cows anywhere.

Then we went on that fantastically gross bus ride (where I was accidentally spit on by it going out one window and back into mine - woo!) to Delhi - where we stayed with family friends that Jefferson has known for over 20 years.  Love them - they are so nice and great and said we looked pathetically exhausted and need to stop travelling and relax. Ha. This is mostly because I got attacked by a sinus cold and bad allergies and Jefferson got Dehli-belly - so we were both not doing so great while there.  Still, we mustered up some strength and went out shopping again (yus!) and saw a really amazing tomb (the precursor to the Taj Mahal - and just as amazing in my opinion).  I have also become quite the wanna-be-ornathologist and am really amazed at all the different types of birds here (even the jerk that pooped on me in Mumbai).

Humayun's Tomb!

After just a few days visiting them, we packed it up and were sent off to our first hill station in Kasauli (ka-soul-eeee).  It's soooo pleasant here - the temperatures are cool and we're doing a whole lot of nothing (which we should have done more of during this long stay but oh well!).  Here are a ton of pics from these last few towns.  We have just a few days left before our flight to London and then home - so we'll see you soon, clean-running-water.  How I've missed you. 

Huge birds everywhere!

AH! A TOMB!

But it's a dry heat...

108 degrees fahrenheit outside; six hour non-ac bus ride from Jaipur to Delhi. It's hot. Convection oven hot - the breeze doesn't cool you, it only bakes you faster.

We're half way there. They said there would be bathroom breaks every 90 minutes, but Jefferson asked 90 minutes in at a stop and the driver just motioned "wait". Another 90 minutes later he asked at another stop (a traffic jam really), and they said "ten minutes. Hotel. Hotel." Two minutes later the bus hadn't moved so they beckoned him forward and directed him to the side of the road.

Fortunately, I didn't have to go that badly. Just another benefit of the dry heat...