Just for Now

Very little time to fill the avid readers in on the happenings over here, so this will have to suffice until a more extensive update is posted in the coming week. I also promise an uplifting tale written by Misha in the next week or so. Please allow us this absence for now.
For fear of stepping on Misha's toes I'm not going to touch on our trying experiences in Hampi and Hospet. Instead I'll write quickly about how we got where we are and offer an explanation for the prolonged absences.
We left Hospet (the transportation hub for Hampi on the 30 of March). After a purposeful miss of the 38 hour train ride booked to Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) we allowed ourselves to experience the multitudes of transport modes India has to offer. First came the 12 hour night bus from Hospet to Hyderabad - a no thrills ride with AC and pushback seats only *sigh for the forgotten comforts of our favorite sleeper buses. Dropped off at the crack of dawn on the highway nearing Hyderabad, a auto-rickshaw or tuk-tuk swung by and took us to the new airport. Yes, we bit the bullet and flew. Indigo airlines, oddly similar to Jet Blue, landed us safely in Kolkata after a pleasant 2 hour flight. Having 7 hours to kill in Kolkata we opted on not whittling away the time in the overly crowded and quite unpleasant scene of Sealiad (wrong spelling but no time) train station. So we took a taxi, a car from the 50's to the nearest...Pizza Hut. Yes, I was guilty of the following phrase while looking for the Hut with a cabby that didn't know the way and tried to convince us that the previously agreed upon fare was not fair...hmmm...the phrase "There's a KFC and a Domino's...that's a good sign!" Ouch. (in the context of digesting fish filet sandwiches from McDonald's in the Hyderabad airport...ouch). I promise an explanation of our odd diet later though I'm sure some picture must be coming clear. From the wonderland of Pizza Hut we rickshaw'd back to the train station, human walking powered rickshaw. Sweat it. Took the train to New Jalpaiguri. Halted there the next morning then jeep'd it up the bumpy and cliff-hanging insanity two lane road to Darjeeling. Tea anyone? I'll write about it as time comes my way, but none for now.
What's up with the disappearance? Well tomorrow morning we're embarking on a 5-6 day trek along the Nepali border. The Singila Trail promises views of 4 of the 5 tallest mountians in the world including Everest! We're packing light and pumped to go. Got to run but I promise pictures and stories to have the envy of you.
-sam