Narrow Escapes

This lovely woman...

did not become my overbearing senior.

Although she did suggest I enter the family

as her husband's 'second' wife.

She even let me try on her hand woven blanket 

to get a feel for the life I could aspire to.

I reckon she'd seen the size of my backpack and decided 

I'd be perfect for hauling bales of hay up the slope to the house ;-)

This was the warning of the fine I did not get for bathing 

HERE

in the natural thermal springs of Khirganga at about 3000m altitude 

under a Himalayan sky blanketed in a million stars.

It's not the luxurious French Alps

But it was deserted, clean and HOT, 

in a campsite surrounded by snow.

  This is the Khirganga trail in the Parvati Valley 

where I was not arrested by the Indian police!

Nearly 10 years in the metros of Paris 

and not one identity control.

Who would've thought I'd have my passport checked

half way up a mountain side 

in off season!!??

These are the pots and pans...

(We bought them on the way. As you can see, you pay by weight)

 that saved me from freezing to death 

in my tent, 

on my punctured air mattress

once we left the hotsprings.

I tell you

the promise of hot coffee ...

...even at 3 500m altitude 

EVEN in -10°

EVEN WITH POWDERED MILK!

was incentive enough to leave the sleeping bag

in the morning and kick start the day!

I Love Indian pot shops. 

They are such a culture shock from the kitchen shops I'm used to.

This is the sign 

that kept me on the straight and narrow :)

 This way to heaven :)

and despite the perillous

 

but thrilling

(Clearly, I'm not such a dab hand at taking photographs from the back of a moving motorbike. Guess I'll give up my dreams of being a paparazzi photograpgher, illico presto!)

7 hr motorbike trip up to Manikaran 

and the start of the trek

 

I'm still looking for heaven.

Although, Khirganga definitely came close!

More news on the Indian project soon :)

For now, I have two hours ahead of me to splash in paint.

Hope you are all in wonderful spirits 

Love

It's hard to wait around for something you know might never happen;

 ... but it's even harder to give up when you know it's every thing you want!!!

Anon.

(starring Pomo, street dog who followed us all the way up to 3,500m altitude. She was that HUNGRY!!)

I've been home for 2 weeks now - just in time for Santa to come and go.

I shouldn't tell you that, should I, seeing I have been so remiss in keeping in touch :(

I have soooo missed you. REALLY I HAVE.

I wanted to write while I was in India (sigh)

But it just seemed a bit too complicated 

sorta like "getting my ambitions mixed up with my (internet) capabilities..."

Although "getting your ambitions mixed up with your capabilities" 

is a predominant affliction in India and one I might try to cultivate carefully afterall!

I  suitably admonished myself for my lack of will power but promised myself I would make it up to you all while in Australia picking up the Messies and visiting M'ma for 4 days...

Of course, that was rather naïve on my part...

...Paying your mother a 4 day visit when you haven't seen her for 2.5 years comes with an implicit warning... something vaguely to do with not holing yourself up in an office if you want to get your Messmonsters back ... So what could I do but hit the waves in front of the Mooloolaba surf club with my M'ma and chicks in tow.?

"What about blogging in New Zealand then?" I hear you ask.

Erm, let's just say I'm currently writing the guide on how to see 20,000 cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandmothers and fabulous friends in 10 different towns over 4,000km, while getting the Messmonsters to relive every possible experience I could've had before I was 11. They have come back to France proficient in Kiwi English, Aussie English and knowing what Maori airconditioning is!! We saw seals, kiwis and glow worms, smoked salmon, caught eels and trout, swam in rivers, climbed glaciers and learnt that 'If it weren't for your gumboots, where would you be?'

(Libellule would be barefoot, as usual!)

YET still NO time to blog!! 

Since I've been home the Mac has watched me forlornly from the corner while I put up the Christmas decorations, cleaned the house, shopped for Yummy Christmas dishes and swept the chimney in time for the ritual descent of the lovely man in the red suit and big black boots. 

So seeing I didn't make it in time to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and while there's a lull in the New Year's preparations, and a brief pause in the newly resumed homeschooling, I've hijacked the computer, hell bent on sending you all a humungous cyber hug complete with an explosion of colour from India...

 ... and wishing you all

a

BRIGHT &

HAPPY NEW YEAR

BONNE ANNEE!

May 2011 sparkle and shine brighter than bling for you.

And most of all may you all find the courage to never give up
when you know it's everything you want!!

Looking forward to catching up with you all properly next year!

Namaste