Day 34 - Nepal Highlight

36 hours before the jump:

I wake up in a deep sweat... a nightmare - me jumping off a 160 meter bridge into a gorge. It happens over and over and over again in my head. I can't fall back asleep so I time the jump while thinking about it. Only seven seconds I tell myself. That's it, seven seconds. One, two, three... no,I'm counting to fast I realize. One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven. Recoil, then it's finished. That's it.

24 hours before:

On the drive to the gorge all I can think about is how can I get out of this without seeming weak? without seeming scared? What can I say when I get there? We finally arrive, but to get to our resort, we must cross THE BRIDGE, funny how they make you do that. I walk across and the wind is almost pulling me off of the wire bridge. Yes, just made of thick wire.

16 hours before:

More nightmares, more timing...

4 hours before:

We decide to do canyoning at the gorge, figured belaying down canyons would take my mind off of things... then we reach the final waterfall we're about to descend and you can see the bridge from there. The feeling of terror comes back.

15 minutes before:

I felt calm, probably because I was a bit delirious. Excited but super nervous. Kept telling myself High Adrenaline, Low Risk... High Adrenaline, Low Risk


During the Jump:

1st Second - Confusion - What is happening?
2nd Second - Recognition - Oh shit, I just jumped off this bridge!
3rd Second - Reaction - Screaming, lots of screaming
4th-7th Second - Blissed Out! Most amazing rush that anyone will ever feel

It was incredible and I did it once more, this time I did the swing where you are in a harness and you jump off and swing through the gorge. More of a free fall with this one, it's also the longest free fall canyon in the world. It was incredible and I highly recommend that you all do it.

Side note, but really exciting - Quinn and Dad come to Kenya in two days!!! Anni and I leave tomorrow and will meet them at the airport - super excited.

Day 31 - Nepal Highlight

I'm feeling much better now since the last post. Anni and I are enjoying Nepal and the city of Kathmandu. We checked out a few amazing stupas around here, which are buddhist statues in a sense that symbolize enlightenment. We are heading to Swayambhu Stupa tonight, which is one of the most important stupas in Nepal, possibly the world where there will be a candle light service with a minute of silence. Thousands of people come to the stupa to pray and meditate for peace. Tonight is special because it is the day that Buddha reached his enlightenment. We are very excited.

In other news, I signed up to bungy jump at the 3rd highest place in the world and will jump this Saturday morning!! So terrified, but very excited. Here is the place I'll jump, it's called The Last Resort, nice huh? www.thelastresort.com.np

I will be sure to let you all know how this goes, Anni and I will be there for 3 days, hiking around the Himalayas and watching me jump off a bridge. Trust me, I know how stupid it sounds, the more I think about it I think I'm actually going a bit crazy. Much love to you all, and I'll be seeing you all real soon!

Day 25 - Now in Nepal

To catch you all up from the last entry, Anni and I were on our way to see the Taj Mahal and then to the city Varanasi - the holiest city in all of India. It is a belief here that if you die here, your karma can finally rest, the cycle is done. Well I wish I could tell you that Varanasi was a great experience, I really do because I was excited about touring the city, but all I saw was the inside of a hospital and plenty of saline bags pouring into me.

All is well, I was seriously dehydrated and felt like I was on the verge of a heat stroke... but I stayed over night and got "juiced-up" on saline and other antibiotics and Anni and I caught our train the next day to Delhi and flew out to Nepal.

In spite of all of this, I was able to see the Taj Mahal and that was truly remarkable. Thanks to you Mookie, we made it a priority and it was well worth it. I didn't know much about it but it was built in honor of the Emperor Shahjahan's second wife. She died giving birth to her 14th child (anyone see a problem yet?) and he was so distraught that he built this incredibly lavish tomb in honor of her and his love for her.

Who knows what Anni and I will do in Nepal... we were thinking of doing a trek through the Himalayas but with our weakened immune systems right now, we don't know how much we really want to push it. I'm thinking though that I might do the highest bungy jump in Asia. I figure my immune system can't really prevent me from doing that.

That's it for now, will write more soon.

Day 14 - India Highlight

A lot has happened since the last update as internet connection has been unreliable. Pangong's water was rich in its color and breath taking its expansiveness. We skipped rocks at its shore and sat and listened to the surrounding silence. Perfect.

We visited two incredible Buddhist palaces - Shey, and Thiksey and took a cab to one of the stupas in a near mountain. Stupas are buddhist structures meant to symbolize enlightenment. Architectectually they are stunning.

We left Leh and arrived in Delhi where we are staying at the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute (KIBI). This is where his holiness, the 17th Karmapa stays. He is the lineage holder for the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism that I've been practicing over the years. Basically the Dalai Lama of a different sect of Buddhism. I met with him today. Stoic. Strong. Calm. Wise.

We will be here for two more days. I'm using this time to meditate a lot at the gompa here and read and recharge. We are planning on seeing the Taj Mahal in the next few days and then off to Varanasi for a few nights. I will keep you all posted.

Karmapa Chenno

India Highlight- Day 9

We are bound by mountains,
Prayer flags are strung from light posts to window-sills,
using wind as a courier sending wishes to those in mind, while
monks whisper mantras with each thumbprint pressing bead after bead.


Anni and I are in Ladakh now, a part of Kashmir. We are surrounded by the Himalayas and a strong Tibetan Buddhist community. Very quiet and peaceful here, and the view is incredible. There was a 7 day meditation called Puja, a meditation for peace, that just finished up here and we were able to view the final celebration. Easily a thousand Monks took to the street in a loud chant and ended at the local monastery where there was a larger festival celebrating the end of Puja.

Tomorrow we are off for a three trek to one of the largest Lakes in Asia, Lake Pangong. It is the third highest mountain pass in the world reaching almost 18,000 feet, it is known as the Chang La Mountain pass. That's it for now, will write more when we return.

India Highlight - Day 6

Dreams blur with midnight trains motioning us to sleep. You keep appearing in dresses, shades of chili powders and turmerics season your shadows, while I'm tap-dancing in the heat praying for it to rain.

Last day in Udaipur and it shaped out to be an adventure. Anni and I started the day off with a 4 hour cooking class. The class was in V.J.'s home about 20 minutes outside of the cities and we learned 10 Indian dishes. We made curries, masalas, chapati, parathas and a special Indian dessert called Halva. We were running late at this point, in between picking up my tailored kashmir suits, final packing, and trying to figure out what our hotel manager did with our laundry and it was suddenly 5:00pm. Our train leaves at 5:20, and we were 20 minutes away from the station.

We ran through the street searching for a cab. Every other minute in the last 4 days there were always two outside, none today. We kept running with travel packs slung over shoulders and laundry in hand, we hailed down a cab and were on our way. 5:15pm.

We pull up to the station thinking that we had already missed the train and it was 5:30 at this point, we casually strolled up to the station and saw through the crowd what looked to be our train. We scrambled to get through, people were walking in all directions and I lost sight of Anni for a moment. We made it through alive, running toward the train and suddenly it started to take off.

We start yelling "9288, 9288?" trying to confirm that this is indeed our train to delhi and it is. People all around are cheering us on, "Run, get on" and a huge rush comes over us. We are moving with the train inches from the door and Anni gets her hand on the door, pulls herself up quickly just in time so that I can jump on. We made it.

So now we are in Delhi, flying out to Kashmir tomorrow morning to meet Anni's friend for a week. I'll send another update as soon as I can. Below is a great yogurt curry recipe that would go great with a tofu or a chicken for you meat eaters.

1 cup yogurt
1 cup water
mix together
1 tablespoon yellow lentil powder (dry lentils and blend works fine)
1/2 tablespoon red chili powder
1/4 tablespoon corriander
pinch or turmeric
1/4 tablespoon of garam masala
1/4 tablespoon salt
mix together

Separate bowl
2 tablespoons oil over medium heat
1/4 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/4 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons chopped onions
mix first bowl into this with splash of water
1/4 tablespoon garlic paste
10-12 minutes to desired thickness.