hockey night in ladakh.

after a 50 hour train ride to delhi from the south, and a few days of shopping and rickshaws we flew up to ladakh... it was only a 1 hour flight, but it seemed like a completely different world. leh is at around 12,500 ft, a barren-mountain area, full of buddhist monasteries, muslim mosques, weathered beautiful people and yes, hockey. i had found some fellow canadians living in delhi who were making their way up for an annual tournament against the locals... so despite our aching heads and burning lungs, i knew it was hockey time so that made it all worth it.



the people up here live a pretty tough, physical life in the summer when the weather co-operates and they work the fields to get through the long winter.... the winters though don't have much going on... so we had lots of people out watching, cheering when we'd fall on the rough ice or someone would lay a hit.







nice pads eh?



we had 4 games in our couple days. they put together some all-star teams and kept us wheezing from the high elevation. it was a pretty surreal experience, hard to describe, hopefully these pictures help.





when we weren't at the frozen pond we tried to wander around as much as we could. the mountains around leh are pretty amazing... we felt like quite the hot-shot hikers.

we're now back in mussoorie, at home again after a month away. we had quite a long day of travelling, felt like we were in the amazing race, flying, taxi'ing, training...

tea time.

the sunny beaches of goa seem to be far behind us... we've spent some time in the town of fort kochin further down the coast but the main reason for our travels south was to venture into the cool weather of the hills to the land of tea. the girls were excited to become tea snobs and wandering the hills sounded pretty good to me.

the two gigglers were actually quiet for a little while... probably thinking about their honey's....

we decided to rent some motorcycles for a day to explore a bit. it was so good to be on the bikes instead of being trapped and rattled around inside a bus. we all felt pretty cool humming steppenwolf all day long.

yesterday we hopped on a water taxi and traveled down the backwaters for 8 hours to varkala. it was a nice slow day compared to the in your face bus rides. and soon enough we'll be catching a train for the 50 hour trip up north to delhi.

let the giggling begin.

with the temperatures in the mountains quickly dropping we decided it was time to make for the coast and warm beaches of goa. all it took was a 10 hour train ride to delhi and then 32 more hours to goa... we travelled with our friends nate, joie and their 3 year old boy will and 1 year old girl annie, yes, very brave parents! it was a long trip, but made the waves and sand so much more worth it.

goa can be a pretty "white" place. full of hippy tourists and peddlers... but we're at a more remote and local place, where the yacky old fishermen still take to the seas in the mornings. i think that's been one of our favorite things... watching them all work together to bring in the catch, so far we've seen a big water snake, squid and a barracuda in the mix of smaller fish.

here's the women busy sorting.

on the 1st our peace and quiet took a bit of a hit.... codi and holly arrived, giggling away and eager to swim, shop and keep us entertained. it's been so good having them here enjoying the more laid back lifestyle of goa. all of the women peddlers on the beach know them by name as i'm sure the legend of the giggly two canadian big spenders is quickly spreading. but we're gradually exposing them to more of the "real" india as we head off tomorrow for kerala, further down the coast and then eventually up to chaos of delhi and snow of ladakh.

we rented some junker bikes the other day and were able to explore some more remote beaches. it's nice though because you never have to go too far and you'll reach a little beach hut where they've always got some good coke in a bottle... yes mom, i know you'd be jealous.

the girls and getting pretty good at the bartering... using christina's classic "walk away" and having the indian men chase them down the aisles with lower prices. i'm still not sure how we're going to carry everything?