TIGER TOPS, NEPAL

OH.MY.GOD. We just had the most amazing experience at Tiger Tops: a mountain safari camp in the Chitwan national park. We flew out there yesterday, spent the night at the camp and then came back by bus today (the scavenger rules did not allow us to fly both ways so that we would have to experience 6 hours of the countryside of Nepal up close and personal in a very crowded and un-air conditioned bus. Rainey sweated off at least 6 lbs).

First you fly over there in a small, prop plane which bumps and shakes all through the Himalayas - beyond scary.

Once we got into the safari lodge, and got settled into our room, we were picked up by the elephants for a safari ride in the jungle. We rode on the backs of the elephants (on a wooden platform that sways in every direction - the elephants have a very unnatural gait which makes you feels like you are being shaken in a blender). Rainey's second elephant episode went better than the first and he avoided the water. Knowing Rainey this will soon be his preferred mode of transporation (if only elephants came in black!)

(i love this photo.... sort of an "elephants in the mist" vibe

Seeing a tiger in the wild is very rare – but about an hour into our safari – the guides picked up the paw print of a Royal Bengal tiger and started tracking it. We came across the tiger (a 4-5 year old male) in the deep tall brush – where you could barely see it. The tiger had just finished eating a baby rhino and so he was full and happy. All of a sudden, the tiger walked out of the brush and into the open and stood right beside us (not more than 15 feet away). It was one of the greatest experiences ever. He was a majestic and magnificent animal. I have to say.... I'm crazily proud of this photo (National Geographic eat your heart out!!).

Today was our first full day in Kathmandu and we started it off early this morning at a Hindu temple on the river where they burn the bodies of the dead. The photos shows the body on the funeral pyre on a ghat (a ceremonial slab that is on the edge of the river). As soon as the body is fully burned, the ashes are dumped into the river. We learned all of the rituals of death - so interesting - and such a different approach to the whole dying process. To the Hindus, death is just a passing of the mortal body and is an opportunity for rebirth.

Rainey and I are getting blessed by a "holy man" - who is really a lot like our crazy homeless (wears very little clothes, talks to himself) but is apparently filled with good spirits. We are on our way now (currently at the airport) to Tiger Tops, a elephant safari camp in the mountains in an area where the Royal Bengal tiger still runs free.

If you can throw a coin and actually hit the small pot at the gold statue's feet, you gain great luck. Rainey nailed it on the second try and got a round of applause from the crowd. We are now fully topped up with all of the necessary karma and great fortune.

STILL IN SECOND PLACE

the new scores just got posted and Rainey and I are still in second place. YEAH !!!! The first place team is a two man team - and both of them have literally been everywhere in the world. In fact, we have yet to go to a place that they have not already been. So they will be basically impossible to catch. But we are giving them a real run for their money.

Kathmandu

We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal this afternoon and were shocked by the poverty. This is by far the poorest and most under-developed country that we have visited so far. Most houses have no electricity or water so at night the city is dark with only a candle or two in many homes. Yet the people are kind and gentle and extremely polite. The women dress in the most beautiful of saris - the colors of the rainbow. Our hotel is very nice - in sharp contrast to the rest of the city (The photo is of the hotel lobby). We are going to be here for 3 days and have to spend one of those days working at either an orphanage or the Tibetan refugee camp (I cannot even imagine the conditions of those facilities).

I have a mark of red dust on my forehead as we were met at the hotel by the manager who performed the traditional Nepalese welcome prayer for us - and put red marks on everyone's head.

Rainey got besieged by two beautiful Nepalese girls in the market who conned him into buying two screen printed purses. He refused to barter with them and ended up paying full price (about $1.80) for two hand-made purses.

Pictures!!

The Singapore rally ended with a drink at the famous Raffles Hotel Long Bar - with Singapore slings!!! We spent the Malaysian peninsula rally in an alliance with another team: a mother and daughter team who are acclaimed bestselling authors. By the time of this photo, we had not slept more than 3 hours in close to a week - which probably explains why we are looking a little rough.

One of the eating scavenges in Kuala Lumpour: We were asked to go to a locals-only market and "make a new friend and have a drink with them" *you know we are soooo good at being social and making new friends! ha) So this is Rainey with a local drinking a sort of milk chocolate (made with water, chocolate powder and condensed milk) and served cold over ice. The custom is to pour the drink into a plastic bag with a straw and the bag is tied with a tight red ribbon and the ribbon is made into a handle so you carry the bag and drink from the straw. Only after we drank it, did we think about the fact that we were warned to not drink the water - or ice!!! Luckily, so far, no ill effects.

this challenge was to "ride a bike in a Hutong in Beijing". Hutongs are the poor alley-like areas filled with people and stores. We paid a bicycle rickshaw driver to let us ride his bike down one of the streets.

Rainey and Mia ( a girl from another team that we are in an alliance with) eating a type of beef jerky made from pig's tail - in a market in Singapore (I had to have a local tell Rainey it tasted like chicken teriyaki before i could get him to do this!).

This is Rainey riding the elephant in the river for its bath - as soon as they got midway into the river - the elephant rolled over and dumped Rainey straight into the river... and yes, with our luck he is now the proud owner of some awful Malayasian parasite..

This is me rubbing the belly of a monkey at a Hindu temple in Beijing for luck (does the monkey appear tobe grinning at me??)

fav challenges!

Ok, I have just a few more minutes to get this blog caught up before jumping on a plane….. I have to say…. The best prep for this trip? TRIAL…. The similarities are endless--- no sleep, your mind is running 24-7 and you give up a lot of luxuries (like eating 3 meals a day!). But we are seriously having so much fun and knowing we are supporting such great charities just makes it 1000x better!! Ok some of our favorite “challenges” to-date?
(a) Hindu pilgrimage in Kaola Lumpor: We had to go to one temple to start the pilgrimage and then go to the end of the pilgrimage route which was another temple built in the hills - with a 100 foot gold statute of a Hindu god and next to it is a step flight of stairs up and into a gigantic cave. All off the way up the stairs - there are wild monkeys sitting on the banisters who try and steal you hat and sun glasses... and chat to you. Lots of naught baby monkeys making mischief. (b) Hell Money in Singapore - in Chinatown we had to find, buy and burn some "hell money" which turns out to be large paper monopoly like money that you burn to buy your way out of hell (just to be on the safe side, we bought a whole stack of it). (c) First Red Herring Scavenger (there are a few that are purposefully un-doable to trick us): We decided to do the scavenge in Beijing that told us to go to the courthouse and watch a court proceeding. Us dumb-dumbs actually went all the way over to the huge and beautiful court building - only to find armed guards at the gate house (the erst of the compound was ringed with very tall fences). So we start talking and gesticulating and asking whether we can go in -- we get told to wait by this counter and within 5 minutes an official PR person from the Chinese Government arrives who wanted to know who we were, why we were there and who explained quite patiently that their courts are closed to both chinese residents and especially foreigners - and without official government permission - no-one can go in. And they mean NO-ONE. So it was a wasted hour and no points .. but what a real eye-opener. (d) Bumboat in Singapore - We had to take an old, stinky bum boat up the river that runs through Singapore. What a contrast between the boat (a local mode of transportation) and the new, very modern skyscrapers.(e) Enter Toto: That was all the scavenge said. It is not pronounced the way you think so it took us 5 false starts before someone recognized what we wanted - which was a lottery ticket for the Singapore lottery. It draws today and we now have a ticket - so maybe we'll win big money ...and never come back.... (one can always hope).

SINGAPORE -

What a beautiful city. So clean and modern compared to where we have been (and they even have real flushing toilets - such a luxury). We have been here less than a day and we are now on to Nepal (Kathmandu). We must have run 7 or 8 miles yesterday all across the city - from market place to government building to playing May Jong with locals at a private gaming association (yes, we had to do some fast talking to get ourselves into that one... but what nice people).

I will try and upload some photos when we get to Nepal. I am now at a computer in the airport which does not allow you to upload. We are having a great time. We have not slept more than 3 hours a night in a week and we generally eat only breakfast each day... (restaurants take too much time) ... as well as the required scavenger food (which is generally somethign odd from a marketplace).