India: Agra, Rajastan & Bombay

Although we had a horrible experience in Kashmir and really were longing to leave things finally turned around for us the rest of the time in India.


Our first day out of Captivity we went to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. Since we arrived so late and we were really burned out on India Coralee wanted a taste of home so we went to Pizza Hut. It was totally Indian Style and didn't have anything American. But it was really good too.

The next day we got up and saw the Taj. It really was surreal to realize that were really seeing it and made us realize that we were somewhere really special. It really is amazing and worthy of the fame it receives. The really funny thing about the day was numerous Indian people walked up to us and asked if they could get a picture with us. We felt like Mickey & Minnie at Disneyland! After all our scam experience we didn't know how to react. We just made sure we still had our valuables after we said goodbye.


From there we took a night train to Jaipur, Rajastan. We had a really mixed experience there because at this point we were still using the "Tour Package" we paid for. When we arrived at the hotel way out of town the manager was fairly rude, didn't say hi and then told us our Vouchers were not valid there and we'd have to call the Kashmir Tour Manager to straighten it out. At that point I told Coralee we should just ditch the package and go somewhere in Lonely Planet. The Manager repented and said the voucher was fine but it still gave us an uncomfortable feeling that maybe they were all connected still.

Oh we also got to check our e-mail and we found out that the 23 year old Australian
woman was stuck in Kashmir and that the Manager had declared his love for her! He ended up taking her to his house and even started to undress! She freaked out and said she was going to be a nun and to stop. He yelled at her and said she had no rite to speak since she was a woman! She sent us an e-mail titled "Help!" and we were so worried about her. Of course we prayed a lot too because we realized how horrible of a situation that she was in being a single girl alone up there....

Because she had been having her mom call here in each place where she traveled to she had been on the phone with her mom since she had been there. Because she and her mom speak Polish they were able to communicate without them understanding. Well just as she was most afraid of being raped the next day Basshir the Tour Manager came in with a completely new attitude. He had gotten a call from the Australian embassy. They told him that if Ania was not on the next flight to Delhi that they would be coming up there. Of course he told her that he had changed his mind and was willing to send her home. He gave her back $800 cash which was about half of what he had charged to her credit card and then put her on the flight. When she got to Delhi she had 3 Aussie Embassy workers waiting for her. What a relief. She also called her credit card and they had already put a block on her card since her mom had called them. So the evil people didn't get her money but she got $800 of theirs. That made us feel a little better as at least they would have to pay for some of their wrong doings.




Well after we left Jaipur we went to Jaisalmer. It was such a great little town way off in the desert. We really like it which was such a nice change for us as we hadn't really liked India up to this point. We went on an amazing camel safari for 1 night with 2 days of riding the camel. It was great fun. We even spent the night under the stars in the sand dunes. It was awesome. We hadn't seen that many stars in a long time. We also had an amazing guide who made the most delicious meals. That is definitely one of our highlights of India.



We ended our time in Rajasthan in Jodphur. It was the Blue City with this amazing fort on the hill. We only stayed there one night before our overnight train ride to Bombay.

Our train ride was another fun experience. We were on these double decker sleeper beds. For the first part of the night it was okay but then the people below were getting off the train so they turned the lights on even though they were just sitting there. Then about 4 hours later 6 other men decided to come and sit on the beds below us and have a party/conference. It was so weird. We were totally sleeping and they were just laughing and having a good old time. It was hard to understand why they weren't in their own seats one compartment over from us. But hey that is just the way things are in India.

We are now in Bombay and are at the airport. We decided to move our tickets to Thailand up 1 days. We will be flying out at 5am. We successfully reported everything to the US embassy today about our time in Kashmir and filled out our affidavit to send to our credit card. So things are going well but we are very exhausted. We can't wait for those nice resorts and cheap massages in Thailand.

India: Delhi & Kashmir

When we arrived in India at 2 am we thought we came to the wrong place. It was dead and very ugly and dirty near our hotel. The next day, however, we realized that were in India and it was everything that we thought it would be. So many colors, people, clothes, rickshaws (cycle carts) & auto-rickshaws (moto-carts).

We were very cautious about eating the wrong food because everyone gets sick here so we ate at nicer places and avoided being sick. Our first few days we went shopping and buying Indian Clothes & other fun things.



After a few days of just hanging out and eating in Delhi we decided to see the sites before we left Delhi. On our way to see the sites we went to the Train Station to book our ticket to Shimla. It's a small town in Northern India with views of the Himalaya Mts.

When we got to the train station the man stopping people and asking for tickets directed us to the ticket booths. When we were confused he escorted us and then suggested that we take a Auto-Rickshaw to the Government Ticket office. We had heard that they could issue tickets so we went.

When we got to the Government Travel Office they told us that the train to Shimla was booked up but we could fly to the Himalaya for a really great package deal. $169 for our flight and for 3 nights in a Houseboat on a lake.

We were reading the lonely Planet guide book and I became suspicious that they might not be the real Government Office. When we suggested that they were fooling us they called the number in my book and I talked to the Gov. Tourist Office. I saw him dial the number and talked with him myself. He assured me that this was just another branch of the same Government Office. So we decided to go for it. He even threw in a free Taxi tour for the day of the rest of the famous sites in town!

Well the next day the Taxi guide picked us up and delivered our package to us. When we arrived at the Airport we realized that he had tricked us and we weren't going to the place he had said but to Kashmir. We wondered if we should go but we figured that since we purchased it we should go and do it.

The flight was really great. But when we arrived we felt like we had just landed in a Military Base. We were expecting something like this because we had been reading the book since the Airport, but it was still strange to see so many soldiers everywhere.


When we got to the Lake Houseboats the Tour Manager presented us with different tour packages. We had planned that India would cost between $500-$1000 for 3 weeks and he was trying to sell us a package for $3500 USD! We told him we didn't have the money but we'd talk it over and get back with him.

When he came back I, Jason, told him we were not planning on getting a package. I also told him that we were going to check around for other prices tomorrow in town. When I said this he flipped out and started cussing us out! He said he hated Americans and hoped we died and went to hell! He started yelling so much Coralee started Crying. I was very calm and realized the guy was nuts but he was so furious that I mentioned checking around that he said that he was going to cancel our package and that we would have to buy a flight home and that we were going home tomorrow. Now he wanted us to pay $450 to go home the next morning! When we said we wanted to try taking a bus he raised the price to $500 cause he was angry with us!

He was saying that we would probably get hurt or die if he kicked us out. When I said we wanted to leave he said we couldn't! He was basically holding us hostage till we purchased the package. Since he was going to charge us $500 cash just to fly back the next day without a receipt. We finally agreed to take a package for $700 to spend the 3 nights in the mountains and take the train home. After we accepted that deal he kept pressing us to upgrade the package and spend $1200 (not counting the $320 to get up there...) and we felt like we shouldn't keep arguing. We decided that if he would take half cash and half credit we would just do it cause it wasn't worth risking our lives!

Well after we agreed two guys took me to an ATM to make sure I got the money. When I returned they ran my credit card. I was so worried they were going to do something to Coralee while I was away! Thank God they didn't do anything.

That night I, Jason, couldn't sleep because I thought they might try something I also couldn't sleep because I was so disgusted about what we had gotten ourselves into and kept retracing every step remembering each step we went wrong!




The next 4 days were very tense but we began to trust the House Workers to do their jobs. They were going to take us on the lake one day and another day in the Mountains. It's really had to enjoy sightseeing when you realize that you are basically being held hostage and you can't do anything about it. Each day we went out we wondered if we would come back and if they would try to get more money out of us once we were in a even more remote area.

Well it turned out that the lake was nice and we began to feel better about things. Then they couldn't get a train home for us so they said they would upgrade us to flights back for free. So basically we didn't trust anyone but we were starting to feel a little better. They also extended our time there an extra day. Basically whatever they told us we just went along with because we didn't want to get into a dangerous situation.

The strange thing is that we didn't see one other white person while we were there. And the few times we did see someone they would rush them off so we wouldn't get to talk to them. Well the third night an Australian girl showed up while we were at the Gardens. We figured the same thing was going to happen to her but we couldn't do anything.

When we came back and saw her later she told her that they had pressured her and threatened her that if she didn't pay she wouldn't go home. She had been crying a lot because of his threats and she was comforted to talk to us but they told us not to talk about the price to each other. They also came in and escorted us to bed so we would stop talking about things too... We were wondering if we would see her again or if they would move her and isolate us again.

Well the next day they wouldn't let us go to the Mountain together and separated us again during the day. We did get to see K-2 though which is the 2nd highest mountain in the world. Its was freezing though and there was tons of snow.
She ended up talking with an English couple who had also been scammed and were threatened too to purchase the package. We ended up talking about everything till 2 am. We even got to share the Gospel with here and talk to her about Christ!

Well today we made it to the airport finally. We realized that the Tourist Manager that forced us to buy the package was basically a Mafia Leader! Everyone else had to go through extensive searches by the soldigres but because he was with us we went right through. He bragged that he knew everyone in security and that the plane wouldn't leave without his permission!

Well at the airport we finally got to talk to the English couple (after the Crazy Mafia guy left us). Not only had they been threatened to buy the package like we had but they were told that he knew everyone in the police and security in the area and that if he resisted buying the package he would be beaten up and would never go home!

Well we made it to Delhi alive! We were so relieved. We felt like we had just been to Iran and were hostages. We are now in Agra the town with the Taj Muhal! We finally feel safe and are so glad to be back in normal India!

China

We took the train from Hong Kong to Mainland China. Coralee really liked Hong Kong and based on everything we had read it seemed like Shenzhen, the border city, was a real dump. We found that it was just like Hong Kong, with two exceptions. No one speaks English! In Hong Kong everyone did... And unlike our closet of a room with no windows in Hong Kong, our room was just like a 3 star hotel in the United States and it was only about $22 USD per night!


For my, Jason's, Birthday we went to "Splendid China" amusment park. We didn't wake up till noon again because we have had jet lag for over a week but we arrived with enough time to see everything. "Splendid China" allows you to see all the sights of China in one day because they have everything in 1/15 scale minature size. We saw the Great Wall, the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), the Temple of Heaven, the Terracotta Warriors, and dozens of other famous places in China in Minature size. We thought it would be really cheezy but it was actually really cool and they did a great job of making it look real with the paint and the tiny bricks! They also had a wonderful Chineese dance show where they show all the different kinds of dress in China with crazy music and dancing and flying balet. The also had full size replicas of Chineese villages with different ethnic groups in each "Village", Mongols, Tibetens, etc...


The next day we went further into mainland China to a city called Guangzhou. The train ride was very interesting because there were small rice farms surrounded by huge buildings and factories everywhere. What we thought would be a small town turned out to be about the size of Chicago. That night we finally found an Internet cafe so we thought we'd check our e-mail and book a hotel in India. We ended up using Skype and calling our parents and staying 6 hours till 3 am! It was really fun talking to our families as we hadn't done so for such a long time. We love and miss them very much.

We were going to be in China over a week but felt like there wasn't much to do or see here, except buildings and factories so we decided to leave for India early. We simply called British Airways the day before we wanted to leave and changed our flight with a 3 minute phone call and no charge! Our ticket around the world is really cool.


The morning that we left I went to the strangest thing in China. I went to Minsk World. It's a dicomisioned Soviet Aircraft Carrier with tons of propaganda posters that really seemed to be praising the Russians. It was really neat but very strange. I was able to see it because our flight to India didn't leave Hong Kong till 10:30 pm so it was a busy day.

We are doing well, learning to communicate more with each other. But we do need to slow down a little a take time to pray and seek God more regularly.

Hong Kong

We made it to Hong Kong! We didn't sleep through the whole flight so we were pretty tired when we got here at 8am. We took a nap in the morning and then we went to bed last night at about 10pm and didn't get up until noon. We were tired!

The city is so great after being in Africa. Its got great public transport and every store you could imagine. The food is also really good. Jason was so excited when we had Dim Sum today. (awesome chinese finger food/chopstick food I mean)We also went to the most fancy Pizza Hut resturaunt we have ever seen. It was a very modern Beverly Hills like resturaunt. We were really impressed.


Tonight we went to the tallest hill in Hong Kong and when up a high rise building to a look out point. The city lights were awesome. Last night we also got to see this great light show on the water between all the skyscrapers. Hong Kong is definately a city of lights.
In 2 days we leave for main land China. Jason can't wait. We will actually be taking the train to China on his birthday! Kind of a fun thing to do on your birthday. He probably wont be able to say something that exciting next year.

South Africa

Our flight from Nampula to Maputo, Mozambique was great. Much better than the busses and even cheeper when counting food and lodging. Maputo is the Capital of Moz. in the far south only about 50 miles from South Africa.


South Africa is really nice. It's a bit like the mid-west United States. It's all farm land and small towns so far. The landscape is really vaired and beautiful and there are so many fun things to do here but we're not going to do any of them. We are going straight through to Johannesburg and then flying to Hong Kong on Nov. 4. I turn 32 in Hong Kong as well just in case you didn't know. And we are planning on going into Mainland China on the train as well. After that we fly to India for a few weeks...