Wunderful Wengen

India didnt give up without a fight! Matt, Ian, and I (Tim flew out of Goa) took a cab to the airport at 1:30am and almost hit a couple of rickshaws, very very close. Our cab driver, was pretty young and didnt really know how to drive, nor did he know where the INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT was. WTF? One would think that would be a place a taxi driver would know, but right, its India. So, eventually made it there slowly and and intact. had a 6 hour delay because of smog in Delhi, my flight was Bombay to Delhi to Frankfurt, Germany. So I missed my flight to Zurich, spent the night in a really nice hotel in Frankfurt, and flew Lufthansa to Zurich the next morning. I can not explain how much better Lufthansa was than Air India, but I cant complain too much, at least the flight was safe if not comfortable. No aircon during the six hour delay, while we were sitting on the hot runway.
Met up with Tim and the crew in Zurich, hopped a 3 hour train to Wengen, just near Interlaken. Its absolutely amazing, snow paradise, our chalet is SICK, and brand new. heated bathroom floors, sleeps 12, killer view, great group too. will show pics soon. My folks get in this arvo, waiting for them, cant wait to see them!

Bouncing through Bombay

Photos, as promised.


This is the criminal monkey. He really tore into those peanuts.


Canadian Ian, good guy, but was little help with the monkey and the peanuts. He ran away too.


Gateway of India, and Taj hotel. Bombay.


The caves on Elaphanta Island, off Bombay.


Statue in caves




birthday dinner. Red Snapper. real good. Thanks again to everyone for saying Happy Birthday, and the gifts, I really appreciated hearing from you all!

Matt and I made it back to Bombay/Mumbai on a 12+ hour train ride from Goa on the evening of the 19th. We immediately hit McDonald's, standard Chicken Maharajah Mac and medium fudge softserve. McDonald's is pretty much the most expensive place we eat here, it's a classy place in India, and serves absolutely no beef, chicken only. Then got back to the hotel/hostel we've stayed before. Yesterday we met up with 3 of Matt's friends from home, who are on their own India trip, good guys and we all went out for beers in Colba, the touristy district of Bombay. We also met up with Ian, Canadian from Nepal/Goa. Spent the day today checking out touristy stuff, Elaphanta island was one. An hour boat ride out of Bombay harbor and full of caves and monkeys. Pretty cool, but I made the mistake of taking out a bag of peanuts while still in monkey territory, bad move. One of the monkeys was on me in a second, I tried to dodge him for a few seconds, but his hissing had me thinking 'HotZone' and that I never did get that rabies vaccination, so I decided to drop the peanuts. Though they were salted and delicious... The monkey seemed to enjoy them, damn thief! But I got a good photo of the culprit and will upload asap, on an ancient computer that's not friendly with my camera at the moment.

Heading to Zurich in a few hours after Matt, Ian, and I catch 'King Kong' at the cinema, I hope it's in English... Flying Air India (AI127) to Delhi, then Frankfurt Germany, then a Swiss Air flight into Zurich, should be a nice trip, and provide plenty of time to catch up on my... right, I dont really have anything to catch up on, sleep i guess! ha. Well, I probably write in my journal, which this blog has all but replaced. Maybe they'll be some good company on board. Matt flies to London, then we meet up again in Switzerland. Tim too. My folks come in on the 24th, looking forward to that very much!