Indian Bend Animal Hospital

We decided that instead of the usual Christmas party, we’d rather go to Sea World for the day.  As you may or may not remember, the second week in December was about as wet and cold as it got this winter, but the Gods were with us and the sky parted making our Sea World adventure fantastic!  We got to San Diego in the morning, and after a quick bite to eat made our way to the park.

Cassandra pretending to be a really big fish!

We were able to see every show, left the park at closing and were back in Phoenix in time for a good night’s sleep and work the next day!

At one of the shows

Here I am in the the airport in Seoul.  I left Seoul 3 hours after I arrived in Phoenix!  Pretty cool, huh?

Truly the experience of a lifetime!

My last day in India was spent in Varanasi, considered by many to be the most auspicious spot in India.  The town is very crowded and dirty, but also beautiful.  It sits on the Ganges and is known for the round-the-clock cremations.  The river is perhaps the most polluted in the world, but I had to at least dip my feet into the holy water…

As you can see by the next photo, the cows truly are treated with the upmost respect!

Next I flew to New Delhi, then took a 6am train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.  I think this was my first rainless day!  As nice as it was to not be rained on, I wasn’t prepared for the heat.  It was really hot and I didn’t have the right clothes (I was advised to dress modestly and be prepared for cold weather.)  My plan was to spend the day in Agra, then take the overnight train to Varanasi on the Ganges for my last day in India.

The Taj Mahal (and Agra Fort) were beautiful, but by 3pm I was pretty hot and exhausted and I still had 8 hours until my train for Varanasi left.  Thank goodness for the Lonely Planet guide book that listed a 5-star hotel that will let non-guests use the pool for a mere 500 rupees (a little over 10 bucks).  Due to another little twist of fate I happened to have a swimsuit… Two journalists were with us the day of the earthquake and they weren’t able to get back to their hotel to collect their things and still make their next flight, so they left their belongings at the hotel and gave me the chore of sorting through the stuff.  I sent their valuables back to them, donated most of their clothing, and kept a swimsuit. I sent them this picture with an offer to return the suit when I got back to the states:

                                        She wrote me back and said “You must keep the swimsuit!”

After 3 weeks of vaccinating stray dogs in the rain with leaches and crowds and noise and rats I decided to take a week for sightseeing.  I started at Chitwan National Park in Nepal.  The park uses domestic elephants for heavy labor and to patrol the park, and often bathe them in the river.  Tourists can usually tip the handlers and they’ll let you “play” with the elephant.  On the day I was there, no one wanted to get on the elephant except me, so I had unlimited time with her!  I honestly don’t remember when I’ve had as much fun…

On September 18, the unexpected happened… a 6.9 earthquake, killing over 80 people.  Most of them were on the same road I was and succumbed to the massive landslides on the main road.  Unfortunately it hit a few hours after the continuous 36 hours of rain, making the landslides all the more likely…and deadly.

We were on the road headed back to Gangtok after a day of vaccinating.  There were seven of us in a car that seats 5 comfortably.  When it became obvious that we weren’t going anywhere that night, I was forced to find different accommodations…

I started my night sleeping on the side of the road under an overhang… it was raining, of course.  But eventually I met a man who took it upon himself to be my guardian.  He wasn’t going to leave me alone on the street all night and offered me his room in his apartment (with 5 other men…)  I slept in his bed and he slept on the floor in the kitchen.  I have to say, in the month I spent in India I never felt unsafe.  This is the perfect example of that.

The next morning we start the 13 mile walk back to Gangtok, climbing over the many landslides along the way.

Note the size of the landslide behind me in the background!

I was told before leaving for India that the rainy season ended in August and that September was the most beautiful month of the year in this region.  Not this year!  It rained every single day.  Trying to maneuver  with an umbrella (or even a rain jacket) was too much effort.  It was much easier to just wear a hat and get soaked.

On this particular day, it rained continuously for 36 hours.  Everything was so wet, you didn’t need to be actually submerged in  standing water to get leaches.  Now I’m an Arizona girl, and leaches aren’t well known or understood in this part of the country and I admit…at first I was a little upset.  After about the 5th or 6th leach, however, I was pretty-much over it.

My leach-bitten foot after a day of vaccinating:  Warning! Not for the weak of heart…

This is “pan” being made.  I really don’t know what it is… but what I can tell you is that it involves ingredients from all of the little containers you see here.  They are spread or sprinkled on a leaf.

Then the leaf is wrapped-up…

You put the whole thing in your mouth at once.  It’s supposed to be a refreshing after dinner treat.

It’s quite a mouthful, that takes about 30 minutes of chewing to get through.  Kind-of a cross between chewing tobacco and gum I’m guessing.  Not bad, but I still prefer ice cream or chocolate after my meals!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Gangtok is in the Himalayan mountains and all the towns and villages are built on the side of a mountain…very much like Jerome, here in Arizona.  Except in my apartment, I literally never take a flat step… everywhere I go is a step up or a step down.

Some of the many dogs living on the street in Gangtok.  They look friendly enough here, and actually are…until you try to catch them!  Unfortunately, we could only get one or two from a group, because by then the others would “wise-up” to what we were up to.

Once vaccinated, they get painted with yellow paint to avoid repeats.

I love walking through town and seeing dogs with yellow paint!

I refer to this picture as “paint malfunction!”  The hole in the paint bottle was getting clogged and someone made it much bigger, but didn’t bother to tell anyone… this is the result.

Some of the owned dogs that were brought to us for vaccination.  Leashes aren’t overly utilized in India!

And if you think these are unusual ways to transport your dog, check out the next pictures:

Yup… those are dogs.  It seems the sack is a popular way to transport your dog in India.