Follow the Journey

Namaste from Kailaji! Here blogging about our time in Calcutta and our transition into Bodhgaya. We spent 11 days in Calcutta, and looking back trying to figure out what to write about, I realized we defiantly made the most of our time! We spent the first half of our days spread out through many of Mother Teresa’s houses, as Tully covered in the last blog. While we all walked away… Read More

Hey everyone, this week it’s Tully taking a turn on the blogging rotation! I’m so excited to share with everyone our awesome time in Darjeeling and on to Kolkata! After finishing our trek and saying our goodbyes to Sikkim and the wonderful people we met there, we spent a day driving down to the plains of West Bengal, a 6-hour ride. We got settled in Hotel Tower View, which was… Read More

hey all sorry im late ! this week your informant is the lovely and ever dyslexic Ellen Anderson! sense the last blog post so many more adventures have been added to our grand epic, after spending 4 days trek up to Dzongri ! we left Sikkim and our luxurious home stay where we where thoroughly spoiled by Pemma and his wonderful family!! after a long and bumpy ride we found… Read More

Hey this is Sarah! This week we had the amazing opportunity to spend time at Pangthang Junior High! We spent time with the students teaching them some of our western games such as Bob the Weasel, Ninja and Red Light/Green Light. The students got a chance to practice their English to interact with our group members. The students were awesome and caught on really quickly to the rules. They were… Read More

Namste from Sikkim, Thanks to all that are following the blog and posting comments.  We will continue to leave the storytelling to our fearless crew of Alice, Ellen, Sarah, Tully, Kaila, and Sterling.  However, we did want to chime in with a couple of quick updates. First, word of landslides and road closures in Sikkim may or may not have made the news in the States.  In any case, we… Read More

Hello all! Alice here with a super duper awesome update. We left Delhi for Sikkim on Sunday. After a long travel day first on a plane then a Jeep, we arrived at our home-stay just in time for some delicious tea and a hot meal. The next day was a designated rest day, but we did very little of that (who needs rest?). We headed into the nearby town called… Read More

Alice says: Using the guidelines Dan and Greta gave us, Kaila, Ellen, and I (Alice) set out to conquer Delhi. We ambitiously decided to go to the Lotus Temple, or the Baha’i House of Worship, which was located across the entire city from where our hotel was. We found our way to a Metro Station, a bit farther from where we originally intended to go and with many stops along… Read More

Namaste from group one! Our super fantabulous scavenger hunt day began with our trek through the white land of tourism. Delhi wrapped us in its arms with overwhelming sights and smells. We wove in between the stalls of fruit vendors and rickshaws (automatic and wooden and horse-drawn and water buffaloed) in order to begin our first task of calling Greta and Dan (the leaders!) They answered with loving care and… Read More

We made it!  The jet lag is diminishing, and we are beginning to explore the wonders of this wild metropolis.  Expect a blog from your sons and daughters tomorrow, but we wanted to write briefly and assure you that we are safe, sound, and not too sleep deprived…anymore that is. Some of you may have read about the “nation-wide” strikes called across India yesterday.  They were called by the opposition… Read More

Hey everyone! It is with huge smiles that all of the Carpe Diem Shanti students gathered together at SFO and headed off on their long journey to India. The group was full of excitement, a little bit of nervousness, and a whole lot of wonder at the mysterious path ahead! We should hear from them soon after they land safe in Delhi, until then, thanks for tuning in and all… Read More

Namaste! 13 days!  In less than two weeks we will all be standing on Indian soil.  It might seem like a world away, and in many ways it is, but it’s moving closer all the time. Welcome to the blog.  While we are overseas this blog will be our link to family and friends at home.  It’s a place for them to follow our journey…just a small window into the… Read More

As of 365 days ago we were all drifting far above the Asian continent, very much separate but somehow connected by gossamer threads of what destiny had in store for us… Connected by the simple fact that we threw our unharnessed faith in the Carpe Diem boat bound for India. I remember seeing the lights of Delhi waver into sight, a pit in my stomach of rumbling excitement and question-… Read More

Our boogers are black…we’re back in Dheli. Our final night was spent at the Wongden House, where we found ourselves 3 months ago on our very first night. Erin checks off the last day in her immaculate calendar, and Brianna zips up her duffel bag stuffed exclusively with Tibetan wool goods. The countdown begins…15 hours till our flight to Hong Kong. Last night we gathered on the roof by candlelight… Read More

Hi families and friends, significant others and random readers! Sorry for the delay with the blog. Each moment in McLeod Ganj ends up being too precious to find the time to sit in an internet café. I post from Delhi but wrote from McLeod (for the most past): Our group arrived in McLeod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government over a week ago, and our days… Read More

Bir Nov 15-21: Buddhist Teachings, discussion, films pooja ritual at Chokling Monastery Movies: The Story of Stuff, 10 Questions with the Dalai Lama, Thich Naht Hahn film about peace Hike to Sherabling Monastery Hike to Upper Bir village, waterfall working in Craftshop with my man Trilockk Went to an incense factory Talk with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (The coolest cave lady) Thoughts Ole:”Self is the problem not the solution” Cobie: “Meditation… Read More

Hi everybody, Here is how our travel went from Rishikesh to Amritsar. We left Rishikesh at 10:30 from our relaxing  hotel with great yack cheese sandwiches and took a bus to a train stop. We got on a train then transferred to another train. I remember saying this is going to be an easy travel day but, there is no such thing as an easy travel day in India. When… Read More

Namaste friends and family! Erin here, blogging to catch you up on our many adventures since the trek! After bidding farewell to our trekking guide, Dendu, and the cooks and porters who helped us along the way, we spent a night in Yuksom, the starting point of our trek. The next morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel before boarding a jeep to Darjeeling, a city known for its tea… Read More