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!”

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!

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.

The trip to India begins...

On August 31, 2011 I (Dr. Allen) leave for a 1 month trip to India.  The plan is to vaccinate the street dogs for rabies because rabies kills an estimated 25,000 people a year in India and the street dogs are largely to blame.  The adventure begins at the Phoenix airport!

Our newest addition

This is Ace… at least today his name is Ace… it’s still up for discussion but a certain hospital owner (who’s name we won’t mention) thinks it’s a fabulous name for a cat that showed-up at our hospital with only one testicle (get it?  Ace…one…) and it goes with well with Deuce, one of our other clinic cats.  We’re wavering between finding him a home and keeping him here…he’s a very cool cat!  If you’re interested and can give us a compelling reason why you should own him instead of us, come talk to us!

Sadly, sweet Rosemary died yesterday.  She came to us almost three years ago in a trap with a can of corned beef hash left outside our door on a cold December morning.  She was fat when we got her which is how she got the name Rosemary… named after the lead character in the movie “Shallow Hal.” 

She has been such a pleasure to have around the office and we’ll all miss her…