The Oakland Hills: Huckleberry Nature Trail

A surprising amount of open space is found in the Oakland hills, making it possible to move in a short time from the densely urban sections of the city, to being totally immersed in nature.  Sunday, January 1st, 2012, was one of those remarkable warm sunny days, when even though the calendar said that we were in the heart of winter, the air felt almost summery.  Art and I decided to take hike on the Huckleberry Trail in the Huckleberry Botanic Nature Preserve, part of the extensive trail system running through the San Francisco Bay region.

This 1.7 mile loop winds its away along the side of forested hill, looking out toward the grassy slopes to the north and west.  Although we did have some minor climbs and descents, it was basically easy walking.  Along the way posts with numbered markers served as a guide.  At number six we climbed to the top of a small knoll where there was a bench tucked among the manzanita bushes and a spectacular view.  As we sat there, a hummingbird zipped by and systematically fed from the tiny manzanita blooms.

According to the trail guide, the Huckleberry Preserve is an ecological jewel, preserving plants found nowhere else in the East Bay.  Besides the manzanitas, we passed towering California bay trees, patches of ferns, delicate lichens, and, of course, huckleberry plants.  While we did see other people on the trail, after all it was a beautiful day and a holiday, we enjoyed the feeling of being alone in the great outdoors. The Huckleberry Trail is for walkers only–no bikers, joggers, or horseback riding, which helps ensure its peaceful and relaxing qualities.  I continue to be amazed at how easy it is to enjoy nature close to home, as we continue to explore the area in and around San Francisco Bay.

To Reach The Park

From Highway 24 in Oakland, take the Fish Ranch Road exit immediately east of the Caldecott Tunnel. Continue 0.8 miles to Grizzly Peak Blvd. Turn left and go 2.4 miles on Grizzly Peak to Skyline Boulevard. Turn left and drive approximately one-half mile to the park entrance on the left, past Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve.

The closest bus line, AC Transit #305, runs only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. From Lake Merritt BART, 19th Street BART, or Rockridge BART take AC Transit bus 59 or 59A; these bus lines go to the Montclair Transit Center. From there, transfer to AC Transit bus 305 and exit at the stop on Colton Boulevard and Ridgewood Drive. Walk the short distance from Colton to Skyline Boulevard, turn left and proceed to the preserve. It is a mostly level, 0.5-mile walk. Please call AC Transit 511 (TDD/TTY: 1-800-448-9790) or visit www.transit.511.org to confirm transit information.

China: Around the World in 50 Days with Sara Kras, Fall 2011 (Guest Post)

My friend Sara Kras and her husband went on an amazing journey this fall, circling the world with stops in the Middle East, India, China and the Pacific.  I think you will enjoy reading the reports of her adventures!  Sara is a children’s book author with books about animals and world cultures and geography.  Find out more at www.saralouisekras.com .
 
We are now in China and it has been a real eye opener. The country is bustling with construction. Huge modern buildings are being built in the major cities and massive highways are being erected to connect the country. Beijing, Xian, and Chengdu all have very new roads. Some put in only a year ago. I was really surprised how modern some of the larger cities were and also how many people live in them. Beijing had about 30 million, Xian had about 8 million, and Chengdu about 18 million. We also visited Lijiang, high in the mountains. It is a small city at 1 million. Joe mentioned that the entire state of Wyoming has only about 500,000 people in it so that gives you an idea as to how huge these “small” cities are.

The traffic in Beijing was horrendous. It seemed heavy at any time of the day. In order to control the traffic and cars per family, everyone in Beijing must enter a lottery in order to be allowed to buy a new car. Also, each driver can only drive 4 days a week. It is regulated by the last number on their license plate which determines the day they cannot drive. Another thing to note is we saw many accidents in China probably because many of the drivers are new drivers.

Tourists are everywhere in China and I don’t mean foreign tourists. Instead, there are huge amounts of Chinese tourists visiting the popular sites of their country. While at the Forbidden City, I tried to look at the Emperor’s chair. I had to join in with a mass of humanity straining to get a look. I have never been so squished in my life. Thank goodness I’m not claustrophobic. Our guide told us it was like that on the subway every day during rush hour.

We also visited a Hutong on a rickshaw, which was very touristy but interesting. A hutong is an old neighborhood of Beijing. These neighborhoods are what it used to be like before the government tore most of these old neighborhoods down to build all the shiny new buildings, which are everywhere.

Hutongs have public toilets but what is considered a public toilet in the states is not the same in China. Everywhere you go in China the toilet facilities are rated. Five star includes western toilets, doors, toilet paper, sink, and soap. Three star includes a single western toilet and door. The rest are Chinese toilets. One star is only Chinese toilets (squatting on top of a porcelain bowl) with doors. (Unfortunately, urine splashes on the ground, so you have to roll your pants up to stay semi-clean.) Zero star is squatting over a concrete slit with no door, just out in the open where you can have a discussion with your potty neighbor. Zero star is the kind of toilet found in the Hutong for the local residents. On the same topic as toilets, we stayed at the Fairmont Hotel which had an amazing toilet. Just push a button and get a rinse front or back, blow dry, and even powder!  I don’t mean to have a huge potty discussion, but the toilet facilities really made life awkward. You have to have really strong thighs to withstand the squatting. I can’t imagine going through this at the age of eighty. Fifty was hard enough! Anyway, enough potty talk.

While in Beijing, we visited Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven, which was really a magical place. On the temple grounds, retired residents came daily to use the exercise equipment provided in the park, dance in groups, participate in a folk song sing-along, and play games. These games were games of physical skill such as twirling a long flag on a stick in figure 8s and balancing a ball on a paddle as you move it sideways, upwards and backwards. Groups of men played cards and women knitted in the park. It was truly a community social event. I got the hang of the flags, but I was terrible at the paddle balls.

We also visited the Summer Palace which had an outside corridor which went on for ¾ of a mile and painted on it were about 700 different pictures. It was truly amazing and beautiful.
But my all time favorite was the great wall. I hiked it for almost an hour. Even though there were many people on the wall with me, it was awe inspiring. You could just imagine the ancient Chinese soldiers marching up and down the “dragon’s back” and looking through the many parapets for invading Mongols.

After Beijing we flew to Xian to see the clay soldiers. My plan was to fly into Xian in the morning and have the day to see the clay soldiers and other areas of Xian and then fly onto Chengdu. We arrived at the Beijing airport at 7:00am and it was extremely foggy. Our guide told us that planes still fly when foggy at the Beijing airport, if only that had been true. Our flight was delayed by five hours! I couldn’t believe it. My hopes of seeing the clay soldiers at all were slipping away. What a waste of time and money to fly to Xian for nothing.

We finally arrived in Xian at 4:00pm after a 2 hour flight. Our guide was waiting for us and rushed us to the car. He said that the clay soldiers closed at 6:00pm but it would take us an hour and 15 minutes to get to them from the airport. He didn’t know if the ticket office would be closed. Our driver high tailed it to the soldiers and got us there in 45 minutes. We rushed to the ticket office and were able to get our tickets. After taking the tram we arrived at a building the size of a football stadium. Inside were rows and rows of clay soldiers all waiting for me and standing at attention. (Ha ha).
Even though we saw many whole soldiers, none of the clay soldiers found were whole except for the archer. They had all be smashed to bits and had to be meticulously pasted back together. It is really a massive project. At the other end of the stadium was the clay soldier hospital where the soldiers are pasted back together.

There is something to note about visiting the clay soldiers. The best time to visit is in the evening. Our guide was really surprised how empty the building was. He said everyone wants to go in the morning and there usually a line which continues outside the building. Tourists have only a few minutes at the front of the line to view the clay soldiers then they have to move on. We literally had the entire building to ourselves. We stood for the entire hour taking photos and walking around the entire building.

Immediately after seeing the clay soldiers, we had to grab something for dinner (KFC, which is very popular in China and just as greasy and disgusting there as it is in the states). We were then rushed back to the airport to catch our flight to Chengdu. We arrived at our hotel in Chengdu at around midnight. We stayed at BuddhaZen which is an old temple converted into a hotel.

The next day we had to get up at 6:30am to get ready to go to the Panda Research Center. Even though I was exhausted, the center was completely amazing. We saw baby pandas, one year old pandas, sub-adult pandas, and grown pandas. We also saw red pandas, which are related to the cat family and black swan floating in the manmade lake. I also paid too much money to sit with a baby panda. But it was totally worth it because he was so cute. His fur wasn’t soft like I thought it would be but rather rough. I also held his back paw which was warm. To placate the panda, he was fed honey on wooden sticks. He was very well behaved and let me stroke his ears, head, arms and feet.

Our guide then took us to experience hot pot, a local dish in Chengdu. We had the western hot pot which consists to two pots. The inner pot is hot spicy oil and the outer pot is a chicken broth. Meat, wontons, and vegetables are thrown in and cooked. It was very delicious.
The next day we departed for Lijiang, a beautiful town dominated by Snow Mountain. We stayed at the Banyan Tree and had a room with an amazing view of Snow Mountain. I spent hours staring at the mountain watching the world go by.

We visited Tiger Leaping Gorge where we were pulled by rickshaw drivers through a path blasted through the granite mountains side. We also visited Black Dragon Park , where snow mountain reflected in the lake; Old Lijiang (also known as the Venice of the Orient); and a Naxi village, local indigenous people. I got to learn a lot of about the Naxi from our guide as she was half Naxi. They are very similar to the American Indian as they worship nature and also have totem poles similar to the Eskimos.

We also attended the Impression Show at Snow Mountain. This show was produced by the same man who produced the opening show for the Olympics. The show was outside and had hundred of performers in native dress along with horseback riders. The music was amazing, along with the dancing and drumming.

We are now in Hong Kong at the Intercontinental Hotel. We have a room with a balcony and an incredible view of the harbor. Every night there is a laser show in the harbor and we have front row seats. We are headed to Bali tomorrow where I hope to have some true down time at the beach and Ubud area along with seeing the Komodo dragons.
(Look for Sara's reports on Egypt and Jordan, 11/28/11, and India, 12/5/11.)

Paris Weekend, August 1998

Paris:  Rodin Museum with the Thinker

Woody Allen’s recent movie Midnight in Paris brought back memories of my one and only visit to Paris in August, 1998, when Art and I spent a long weekend there during our three month stay in London.  Here is the entry from my diary at the time:

    It was the August Bank Holiday Monday in England and rather than fight the crowds at London’s traditional West Indian Carnival (the equivalent of Mardi Gras and touted as Europe’s biggest street festival) we decided to spend the weekend in Paris.  We traveled via Eurostar, the high speed train that goes through the Chunnel. (The Chunnel part lasts about 20 minutes.)  It is a remarkably easy way to get from the heart of London to the heart of Paris in just under three hours.  Because we booked late we ended up going first class which cost more but meant that we were wined and dined both ways.

Toy boats for rent in the Tuileries Garden

We arrived midday on Saturday and after checking into our hotel (near the Place d’Italie on the Left Bank) we set out on foot to explore the city.  Half the fun is just wandering through the narrower streets past sidewalk cafés, open air markets, art galleries, etc.  Whenever we travel to Europe (which isn’t that often) we are on a perpetual search for a certain kind of leather key case Art likes and this gives us an excuse to go into shops.  Much to my surprise, I remembered more of my high school and college French than I would have thought, and we managed to communicate quite well.  (We never did find a key case.) 

Notre Dame Cathedral, Rose Window

Our stroll eventually brought us to the Seine and to Notre Dame Cathedral, a must-see despite the crowds.  We arrived as an afternoon service was just ending.  The combination of the organ music reverberating through the lofty  spaces, the waxy smell of hundreds of votive candles, and the brilliant stained glass rose windows makes one appreciate the power of the church.  We had dinner at a tiny family run restaurant where the food was delicious even though we weren’t completely sure of what we were eating.  (Menu items were not a staple of my high school French training.)  Paris is a relatively small city and one can walk or take the Metro almost anywhere. 

Eiffel Tower at Night

After dinner we walked to the Eiffel Tower which is brilliantly lit up at night.  Art doesn't like heights so we didn’t go to the very top, but compromised on the middle level—which is still hundreds of feet off the ground.  Needless to say, the view was impressive with the city and the river sparkling below.  One historical tidbit explained at the tower is that after it was finished in 1889, it was used to test the physical principles of falling objects.  Basically, they tossed things over the side and watched them fall!

Sacre Coeur

 Sunday in Paris was devoted to museums and a visit to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, a church on top of a hill in one of the more arty, and quaint parts of Paris.  One climbs the steps to the church mainly for the view.  Stationed around the base were a number of street performers dressed like clowns, mummies, etc.  Each one stood motionless, like a statue, until a coin dropped into the hat; then the figure would change to a new position, a performance that especially entranced children.  The mummies, which looked like King Tut wrapped in gold stretch fabric, were particularly bizarre.

Viewing a Degas Dancer in the Musee D'Orsay

 Paris has too many museums to see anything but a sampling on a weekend visit.  On Sunday we decided to go to the Musee D’Orsay, a former railway station that has been remodeled  to display a large portion of the wonderful 19th Century and Impressionist paintings in the Louvre collection.  We also went to the Rodin museum which displays his works in a lovely 18th century house and garden.

Louvre with I.M. Pei designed Pyramid in front.

We saved our trip to the Louvre until Monday and spent most of the day there.  When we got tired of looking at art we walked in the Tuileries Gardens which stretch out in front of the museum and look toward the Arc de Triomphe.  At the end of the afternoon we returned to the train station, got onto the train, and zipped through the French countryside as the sun was casting golden shadows over the fields.  Altogether, it was a lovely weekend. 

Au Revoir!

Muir Woods: California's Tallest Trees

 What is taller than the Statue of Liberty, weighs more than a big ship, and is the world’s tallest living thing?  The answer: the coast redwood tree.  Reaching heights of more than 350 feet, the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is taller than any other living plant. (The actual tallest tree, named Hyperion, in a remote forest in northern California, is 379.1 feet tall.)  The largest redwood trees, some of which began growing more than 2000 years ago,  are also some of Earth’s oldest living things.  One of the best places to see redwoods is in Muir Woods, a National Monument in Marin County, California, just a 45 minute drive from San Francisco.  Last December (2010), when we were in the Bay Area, we did an excursion to Muir Woods with our family.

I have been to Muir Woods many times, but I am always awed by the towering grandeur of the trees, which seem to go up, and up, and up, and are impossible to capture in a single photo.  The damp wintry weather on the day of our visit lent a forest primeval sense to the air.  And, despite the mass of cars in the parking lot, once we started walking on the trails marked through the park, it did not seem crowded by people.

Muir Woods is home not only to redwoods, but a wide variety of other plants and wildlife.  On the day we visited, everyone was excited because, for the first time in several years, the salmon had returned to the creek to spawn.  (Once hatched, salmon spend their adult life in the ocean, only returning to their home creek to mate and lay eggs.)  As we stood on the bridge over Muir Creek and gazed into the shallow water, we could see the slippery fish churning their way upstream. 

You have to look closely to see the salmon in the water

Entrance fees: The entrance fee to enter the park is $5 for adults and free for children under 15.  However, a number of days in the year are free.  Or, if you have a National Park Pass, as I do, everyone in your group is free.

Getting there:  Muir Woods is located 11 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Take Highway 101 to the Highway 1/ Stinson Beach Exit. Follow the signs to Muir Woods. Roads to the park are steep and winding. Vehicles over 35 feet long are prohibited. Parking space is very limited and fills quickly on most days. There are no RV parking facilities. For an interactive map, please visit http://maps.google.com/maps and type in Muir Woods National Monument. (My advice:  On weekends and in summer, you may have to park up to a half a mile away, so it is best to drop off your passengers at the entrance so everyone doesn't have to walk from where you park your car.)

Book about the redwoods: For a wonderful children’s book about redwood trees, packed full of facts and illustrated with an imaginative twist, go to Redwoods by Jason Chin.

Christmas Creches from Around the World

Gourd Creche from Chile

Over the years my family has collected a variety of Christmas creches from all over the world.  Some of been souvenirs of our travel, others have been gifts, and some we have purchased at museum gift shops.  We get them out each holiday season and are reminded of all the different cultures that celebrate Christmas.  I'd like to share a few of them and send you best wishes for a VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!

Knitted Creche from Chile

West African Nativity Figures

Haitian Nativity

Corn Husk Nativity from Mexico

Tin Nativity from Mexico

Ceramic Nativity from Mexico

Swedish cast iron Nativity

Russian Nesting Doll Nativity

Humboldt County: Redwoods, Seashore, and California History

Sunset from Trinidad, Humboldt County, California

Vast forests, miles of beaches, rushing rivers, and abundant wildlife are some of the reasons I love going to Humboldt County.   Every two years, in October, I participate in the Humboldt County Author Festival, and usually stay one or two extra days to spend time with friends and enjoy the beautiful scenery.  This year, unlike some others, we were blessed with perfect weather, allowing us to enjoy the full glory of fall, culminating on the last night of the festival with a spectacular sunset over the ocean.
To read about my school visits and activities during the festival, go to my October 26, 2011post in my Art and Books blog.  Here are some of the other things I enjoyed during my stay.

Humboldt Marina.  Tsumanis are always a potential danger along the Pacific Coast.

On the day I arrived, after lunch at the Café Marina overlooking the docks of Humboldt Bay in Eureka, I drove with a friend out to the Samoa Dunes recreation area.  Although this beach is designated as an off road vehicle area, it was midweek, and luckily for us there was almost nobody else there and the beach was empty except for us and the birds.  As we walked along the shoreline, flocks of perky sanderlings (a type of sandpiper), ran along the edge of the water searching for tiny crabs and other food in order to refuel before resuming their migration south.   Further up the shore, hungry vultures perched on a log near a rotting seal carcass.

Flock of Sanderlings on Samoa Beach

Earlier in the day, on our way to the dunes we had stopped to view the Fisherman Memorial on Woodley Island and marker honoring men who have been lost at sea.  Fishing has always been a major industry in the area, so the opportunities to eat good seafood in Humboldt County are plentiful. For dinner we ate an excellent dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant in Eureka where they served the best crab cakes I’ve had in a long time.

View of Ferndale from Russ Park

Farming and logging are other major industries in Humboldt County.  (Eighty percent of the county’s 2.3 million acres is forest.)  When the festival was over, I went to visit friends in Ferndale, a charming small town with a Victorian main street, about 25 miles from Eureka surrounded by verdant pastures and contented Jersey cows that produce prize winning milk and cheese.  In Russ Park at the edge of town we hiked to the top of the forest trail where we had a wonderful view of the valley and coast below.

Redwood grove, Rohner Park, Fortuna.  Note stump surrounded by new growth.

The next day we went on another hike, through a patch of preserved redwood forest in Rohner Park in the nearby town of Fortuna.  Humboldt County is famous for its redwood trees, which can be seen in various parks, and along the Avenue of the Giants in the southern part of the county.  I never cease to be amazed at the size of the trees.  As we walked through the forest at Rohner Park, watching the light filter down through the canopy onto the open forest floor, it truly felt as if we were in nature’s cathedral.


Book about the redwoods: For a wonderful children’s book about redwood trees, packed full of facts and illustrated with an imaginative twist, go to Redwoods by Jason Chin.

India: Around the World in 50 Days with Sara Kras, Fall 2011 (Guest Post)

My friend Sara Kras and her husband went on an amazing journey this fall, circling the world with stops in the Middle East, India, China and the Pacific.  I think you will enjoy reading the reports of her adventures!  Sara is a children’s book author with books about animals and world cultures and geography.  Find out more at www.saralouisekras.com .
 
India is a kaleidoscope of color and sensation. We arrived at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi early in the morning. When entering the hotel, a wonderful smell permeated the air of pleasant flowers. This hotel was one of my favorites. It is like staying in a palace with many beautiful museum pieces such as huge silver mirrors and desks. The walls are adorned with art from the colonial period. The rooms are filled with marble and large wood pieces.

For my first lunch, I ordered an Indian chicken dish. On the side were some onions, cucumbers, and a single green bean, which I thought was strange. I ate the entire green bean and within minutes my entire mouth was on fire. I felt like I was hyperventilating and the room started to spin. After fifteen minutes of trying to shove anything into my mouth to stop the burning, it started to calm down. That was no ordinary green bean. It was a hot chili pepper! A common one used in India. Welcome to India!

We didn’t spend much time in Delhi as we were using it as a hub. However while doing a bit of sightseeing, I saw a man with two monkeys on a leash. He was walking them just like you would walk a dog. As we traveled, I found monkeys were everywhere in India. They scampered up temple walls. They ran through villages where children threw things at them to make them go away. They sat by the roadside. Sometimes baby monkeys rolled and played in the road. One man had trained a monkey at a regular stop for drivers. When our driver stopped, the man came next to our window and had his monkey put on a show. The monkey flipped, bowed and even tipped his make-believe hat. We gave the man 50 rupees.

From Delhi we flew to Jaipur, which is in the province of Rajasthan, the land of the Rajas. We visited the Amber Palace and the City Palace. Both were filled with opulent rooms and courtyards. At the City Palace an entrance way had been painted as a colorful peacock with a head above the doorway. In the Amber Palace, a covered outdoor area had been decorated with convex mirrors. You could use your imagination of how this room looked in the days of the Maharajas. Torches were lit and dancing girls filled the area. Colors whirled and fire sparkled in the room.

When we arrived at Amber Palace the entire front entrance, about one mile, was lined with elephants with tourists riding to the top. I had declined this as I had read the elephants there were treated poorly. Once we got into the palace there were hawkers and snake charmers. I sat on the ground next to snake charmer. He told me to put on a weird looking hat and blow in a dirty looking wooden flute. I told him no for both. The last thing I needed was lice in my hair or a bizarre bacteria from the flute.
I also went into a temple located at the palace. Inside you are supposed to ring a bell which sparks the energy of the god in the temple. I was the only white tourist in the temple, but still I gave the bell a good solid ring.

In Jaipur we stayed at the Samode Haveli which is a palace converted into a hotel. The original Raja family still owns the property and stay on the top floor. I felt like an Indian princess as our room had a soaring ceiling. The entire suite was made of marble. It had a narrow walkway behind our bed with windows looking on the back courtyard. There was a wider longer hallway which had an antique desk and wardrobe. The ceiling going between the rooms was pretty low and Joe kept banging his head. (Yes. A lot of swearing ensued.) I managed to bang my toe pretty bad on the step up between the rooms. Marble is a really hard material! But even so, the room was so unusual. I loved it.

While exploring Jaipur and other parts of India, I saw any type of mode of transportation you can imagine. There were men pushing carts. There were donkeys, horses, and even camels pulling carts. In Jaipur there were also elephants with brightly painted trunks next to the road. Men were riding bicycles, some having a passenger carriage on the back (rickshaw drivers) or a cart on the back with massive loads. There were motorcycles and mopeds. We saw a family of five on one motorcycle. (Of course, no one wears helmets here.) There are tuk tuks filled with passengers. The most we counted was 12 men all squished into one, some hanging off the back. There are cars, vans, commercial trucks, and buses.

All modes of transportation mentioned above are all on the same road! It is total chaos. They love to honk their horn here too. It’s constant. In addition to all this confusion, people are walking through traffic or across traffic. There aren’t crosswalks really.
Many of the cities are also really filthy. They have a sanitation and garbage problem that is very offensive. Pigs and cows wander the streets scrounging through garbage. In some places, raw sewage spills through the ditches near the roads. I saw one dead animal in the ditch left to rot. If you go to India and want to walk around, don’t wear your nice shoes!

There are large slums in every city where homes are made of plastic bags and cardboard. There are quite a few beggars too that pound on your car window and can be very persistent. It is very sad and you want to help everyone. I hate to say this but at some point you just have to tune it out.
Given all the above, India is still an extremely colorful country, especially the women. They dress in bright saris of yellow, orange, and red, sometimes with elaborate beading. I’ve seen women clinging to male motorcyclists in beautiful saris which sparkle as they fly down the road. In the countryside, bright orange saris decorate the fields where women work. Women with yellow saris walk next to the road with large brass pots balanced on their heads. It makes me realize how conservative and boring American women dress (including myself!) The temples can also be quite colorful painted in peach, pink, light blue, and red.

While in Jaipur, we also went to a private elephant camp call Dera Amer. It’s owned and run by a man related to the Maharaja family. I had an elephant experience where you get to bath and paint the elephant. My elephant’s name was Rangmala. I did not get into the water with my elephant which was good given that there where volleyball size elephant droppings floated in the water. However, I did get to give the elephant a good scrub and got splashed when she sprayed water on her back. Her skin was extremely thick with deep crevasses. Bristly hair grew on the top of her head. After scrubbing her, we waited for her to dry. Then I got to paint her trunk with green, yellow, and bright pink colors. Joe and I then rode Rangmala through the forest and back to the main area for dinner. It was truly a unique experience.

We also saw a bhoba perform in Jaipur. They dress in elaborate red outfits and have handlebar moustaches. They play a small instrument like a violin dancing and twirling as they play.
Joe and I visited the Taj Mahal which is extremely beautiful and breathtaking, as you can imagine. The crowd there is similar to Disneyland, packed. We sat and watched the sunset on this romantic tomb. It was completely magical.

While there, two Indian boys asked Joe if they could take their picture with him (probably because of his beard and tattoes). Joe’s first response was “I will if you pay me 10 rupees”. He was joking, of course. But this is something we ran into when taking pictures of locals.
We stayed the Gateway Hotel which is one of the Taj Hotels and had a spectacular view of the Taj Mahal. I got up early the next morning and watched as the Taj Mahal appeared like a specter in the white morning mist.

We then flew to Japalbur (a 2 hour flight) and then drove to our camp 4 hours away at Bandhavgarh National Park where we were almost guaranteed to see a tiger. We spent three nights there and went on five game drives (a total of 15 hours in a jeep on extremely rough road) and there wasn’t one tiger to be seen. Some jeeps did see tiger, but we just couldn’t seem to make one appear. It was extremely frustrating and sad. We were happy to leave. While there we heard that another couple had gone on 8 game drives and hadn’t seen a tiger either. I would say your chances are from 0 to 25% that you will see a tiger. The promotion of this park is misleading.

We are now back in Delhi and preparing for our trip to China. Overall, everyone must come to India. India is one of the oldest continuous cultures in the world. It is also one of the new super powers and is extremely busy right now. Their economy is booming and there is an electric buzz in the air.
(Look for Sara's report on China, coming up in January.)