We are doing mucho bien here. And yes, we are learning lots of Spanish. We arrived here (the city is called Heredia, which is just north of San Jose) on Sunday and our spanish school picked us up and dropped us with our host family. Our host, Senora Miriam, is a very friendly and hospitable lady. She is constantly conversing with us in espanol, so we get total exposure to Spanish. And she cooks wonderfully.

Our Spanish school is about 6 min walk from our host family's house. We are all in different classes, Thane and Aidan are together in a class by themselves with a teacher. She is keeping them busy with lots of art, games and songs, of course interspersing it all with Spanish. I am in a class with two other people that are about same level as me. Tomasz who is more advanced is getting a private lessons. After the first week, I think we all have learnt a lot.

The food here is very delicious. Last night, we had a Costa Rican cooking lesson at our school as part of our immersion program and we made some very yummy Empanadas.

For this weekend we are taking an guided excursion to a live volcanic region called Arenal Volcano. According to the guide books and speaking to others, we are in for a treat. The kids are excited to see the hot lava flow, hope the clouds won't cover the show for us!

Next week, we are moving to another home where there are children, so Thane and Aidan can have more immersion experience. They have been resisting learning another language.

I will post some photos next week.

Hola Costa Rica! remains copyright of the author gourij, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The greenest car in the world: 660 p-mpg remains copyright of the author tomaszj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I took the previous video quite smugly, hoping to post it on the internet to show how badly other people drive. But then our driver missed a turn and my father in law directed him to go back. The next legal turnaround was very far away so the driver simply did a U turn and started going the wrong way. Now we were the culprits, and here is the video ...

On which side of the road do you drive in India? remains copyright of the author tomaszj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The customer is not always right! remains copyright of the author tomaszj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Indian Construction remains copyright of the author tomaszj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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That is the new Ministry of Tourism's marketing tagline. It is certainly incredible in every sense - from riches to utter poverty, from breathless natural beauty to disgusting human-created filth, from unbelievable hospitality to lackluster customer service, from supreme friendliness to unreasonable road rage!

It's been 8 years since I last visited India and I am looking at it from a very different perspective. The first few weeks I was only experiencing all that hit my superficial senses - the noise, dust, pollution, mosquitos, smells, the power cuts. But as I am here longer, I am able to look beyond those and see things with which I had grew up with - the warmth of the people, their patience; the melodious music, art, the beauty of the land outside of the chaotic city.

I have heard in the last few years that India is progressing and there have been tremendous developments, but first thing that hit us are the increased number of vehicles that are clogging the ill-equipped and low-maintained streets. The streets are in constant state of repair or construction. There are also a lot of apartment buildings, all single-family homes are being torn down for flats. However, I found that so called luxury apartments that people are paying outrageous prices are really low-quality. With the real-estate boom, as anywhere else in the world, the greedy builders did a shoddy job of quality.

With progress in the cities also brought lot more people from the countryside and from farming. This further worsened already burdened infrastructures.

But there seems to be a lot more disposable income, people are shopping and eating out more. There are lot more western brands available in the very "posh" (for my American friends, this word is from the Brits and is used quite often by Indians) shopping malls and stores. The cars too have become quite posh. And yet, people are working incredibly hard. Even very young children have to study hard to stay competitive.

Yet, with all this said, India remains a virgin market for many business ideas. After spending about 6 weeks in Hyderabad, Tomasz and I were excited about the number of new business ideas we came up with. We have decided to spend a bit of extra time here to understand the market here and meet with some business folks. We will be extending our stay till end of March.

Also, it is convenient meet up with Tomasz's family for a reunion in Bali in April.

We have decided to put the kids in a school here for the two months we extending. Finding a school that will take them as guests for such a short period has not been easy. But we found a great school. They seem to be adjusting well. Thane, especially is enjoying his time there. He seemed to have missed the environment and is happy to be in classroom. Aidan, on the other hand, liked it for the first week and now thinks he doesn't want to go. We shall see - it may be one of his phases. The kids leave for school at 7:10am (that has been difficult to get used to) by a school bus.

We also found a great, more centrally located service apartment (vacation rental) that has great amenities, which also includes daily maids (actually two) service. And in dollar terms it is costing us about 40 a night!

For photos on India visit, please go here.

Our family reunion time, sidetrips to coastal Andhra will be in our next blog entry!

India the Incredible! remains copyright of the author gourij, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The Singapore airport is a showpiece in itself, what with free computers, free WiFi, a childrens’ play area, carts for hand-luggage(!) and we’ll try get photos of that on the way back.

At the famous Jurong Bird Park

Tropical thunderstorm taken from our flat

All the trip photos are kept on Picasaweb here http://picasaweb.google.com/sdjohannsens

Singapore the Superb remains copyright of the author tomaszj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Stacking chopped for the winter was one of the chores we participated in

Outdoor kitchen with its antiquated wood-stove was certainly an experience!

Compost toilet and solar heated outdoor shower - all homemade solutions

We spent four nights in this Teepee - it was certainly very exciting for the boys

Another charming feature - homemade outhouse

Later we went to SolarArk and met Arvo, the self taught engineering genius who built the whole thing (www.solarark.org) over the last 12 years with his own hands using mainly salvaged parts. The home is attached to a passive greenhouse and doesn't require heating or cooling despite the -25 deg F to 100 deg F temperature changes in New Mexico's high desert. He gets water from a well but the power for all modern conveniences (stove, washing machine, fridge, freezer) comes from solar panels, a wind generator and an ingenious biogas system. Why ingenious? Here is an example: when we arrived he was fine tuning the compressor system which turns on when the biogas (from the chicken poop and other refuse) inflates an old tube from a wheelbarrow that pushes a lever to turn on the compressor; when the biogas is pumped to storage the tube deflates and turns off the switch...Another example: he made the fridge from scratch using thick wood and polystyrene insulation that he found lying around. The whole place is sustainable - here is an example cycle: he was cleaning out the thick manure sludge from his biogas tank which we helped put into the earthworm buckets that make compost; the compost and earthworms go onto his outside and inside gardens to give the plants nutrients; Thane, Aidan and me harvested the sunflowers and chard from his outside garden and then we fed the chickens who ate it with glee, and the cycle was complete when the chickens pooped again. The only problem is that Arvo is a bachelor, so although the accommodation was very warm and comfortable, the kitchen was a little below Gouri's hygiene standards so I don't think we're going back anytime soon...

The Earthships (http://www.earthship.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14), which we visited in Taos, New Mexico, are far more elegant (and expensive) although they require propane to run a stove. Everything else, including water (from rain runoff) is self sustainable and it felt very comfortable exploring the living spaces so low inside the earth. I never felt claustrophobic or anything like that. The idea of using the earth's heat mass is supposed to work in hot climates like Texas too, although I'll be asking Tatus to confirm that separately. Also, the tires and cans used to build the home seem a little over the top which makes Gouri and me think this could be done less expensively using conventional materials... new business opportunity?

Mesa Verde in Colorado is another building technology we saw, built by the Pueblo people 800 years ago near the 4 corners region.

More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/sdjohannsens

Earth Mountain, SolarArk and EarthShips remains copyright of the author tomaszj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Ha, ha, that's what we ignorant newbie nomads thought in the begining. Only to discover that vacationing is actually a lot of work, esp if you have two hyper-active boys! We have been back to Seattle for almost 10 days after our Canadian trip, and we haven't found time to upload all our photos and post a blog entry. So what to we do with our time. I think a lot of our time is spent on the basics - planning and researching where to go next; cooking, eating and cleaning, and keeping the kids engaged.

Planning the vacation is a lot of work - we can spend hours, days on the internet researching where and what we want to do - there are so many options. We also want this to be a meaningful vacation, not just sight-seeing one beautiful place after another. If any of our ideas come to fruition we will update you on a later post.

Chores like cooking, cleaning, laundry still need to be done - these cannot be avoided when one is on vacation. In fact, these things take up more time because, it is always an adventure trying to accomplish all these in a new place.

Kids, they take up a lot of the time too - educating and engaging them. We are trying to establish a study routine with them. Now that the school years have begun, there is more of a need to have a structure in their education. Thane is writing a journal of the things that he has experienced on this trip. This will help him with reading, writing and composing his thoughts. He also learnt to tell time, use compass, etc. Aidan is practicing his letters and learning phonetics. We are trying to come up with ways to make their learning fun and games. Tomasz makes tremendous effort in keeping the boys physically active too - biking, scootering, hiking, swimming, etc.

So, all this does not leave us much time to ourselves. Of course, we still need to exercise ourselves, sleep, etc. Sometimes, it seems that being in San Diego and going to work was simpler.

But we are not complaining. There are certainly many benefits to being vagabonds.

I hope our grand plans about expanding our horizons and reading more, etc, will materialize soon. For now we will be leaving for Yellowstone National Park soon.

Time, Time, where art thou? remains copyright of the author gourij, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We visited our long time friends Marshalls in Bremerton across the Pueget Sound. The boys were pretty thrilled to go on the ferry across the Sound. We had a great time in Bremerton with all the Marshall clan - their daughters and families; Susan's brother and sister-in-law. One the highlights of this visit was the time we spent on the Kitsap lake.

The kids in the tube ready to be tugged

Out on the lake

Kim gave all boys a ride on the Seedoo

We explored a few parks around the Redmond/Bellevue areas, Picked blueberries in a blueberry farm, went to Seattle downtown, did a hike in the Tiger Mountain park; cooked and ate a lot.

Visit to downtown seattle, Pike's Place Market

Thane was very good in entertaining his little cousin Lahari

Rock climber Thane

Death by Chocolate cake baked by Sharu for Krish's Birthday

Celebrating Krish's Birthday and eagerly awaiting the cake

Lahari posing for Thane

We are heading into Canada tomorrow. And so may be a while before our next entry.

Our Seattle Stay remains copyright of the author gourij, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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This morning Tomasz wanted me to join him on a run in the woods close to my sister's place. This run had all elements of the Mud Run that we signed up to do San Diego in October but will miss it. First of all, to get the trail in the woods, we had to get across the residential complex and get on a path. But since it was pretty early in morning, the fence gate to get on the path was locked. Tomasz, not to be deterred, wanted to jump over the 8ft fence and asked me to go first. Of course that wasn't my idea of exercising, and so I put up a bit of a fuss to climb over, but eventually got over. After me, Tomasz did it in one smooth move. I had to hear about all the fuss I made for the rest of our run.

Next, came a dip and a uphill that rivals Mt. Rainier (of course, I am exaggerating, only a bit). Then we got to the actual woods, which are called Bridle Trails State Park - and as the name implies it is used frequently by horseriders. And you can imagine what all those horses leave behind in their wake. These were the next set of obstacles I had to overcome. In addition, it had rained pretty heavy yesterday and the path was quite muddy at places (that's where it becomes the mud run). To top it off, the woods were pretty dark and one can get disoriented in the inter-connecting trails. And still Tomasz comments how beautiful and romantic it is in the forest, and all I was thinking was how to step over the next horse poop and make a mental note of which trail we just took. We succeeded in running to one end of the forest and found our way back out. And then as we headed back up and down the crazy hill, I prepared myself to do another fence jump, hoping this time would be more graceful. Luckily, the gate was now open.

After all that was said and done, I do have to agree with Tomasz that it was certainly a beautiful run and pretty unusual.

Work-outs in the City remains copyright of the author gourij, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Project has begun!

Apprehensive?

Almost there

Here's finished product - not too bad!

More photos of our Seattle stay are at http://picasaweb.google.com/sdjohannsens/SeattleStay

Do-it-yourself haircuts remains copyright of the author tomaszj, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Forests, rivers, waterfalls and lakes - how different the landscape is to Southern California. We spent last ten days in Oregon and Washington States. Tomasz's family (Dad and Aunt) joined us for this part of the trip.

Another view of Columbia River

In Oregon, our hotel was right on the banks of the Columbia River with expansive views of the river from our windows. A bridge across this river that connects to the Washington State, called "Bridge of the Gods" was also visible from our window. The hightlight of this stay was hike up the Multnomah Falls and a visit to the Bonneville Dam and power station.

We spent a relaxing afternoon in Starbucks in Hood River catching up with Tomasz's Dad

Multnomah Falls

We hiked up to the top of the falls

We then drove to Packwood in Washington State which is about 15mi south of Mt. Rainier National Park. Again, one of the forks of Cowlitz river flowed right next to our backyard. It was very peaceful and idyllic to sit on the deck and read a book or BBQ. The highlight here is a visit to Mt. Rainier and taking walks along the forest roads. Mt. Rainier still had a lot of snow even at lower elevations. Most of the trails were still covered in snow making it an interesting experience to hike in the late July.

We arrived at our Cottage in Packwood with our Sienna packed to the brim - 6 passengers and all this stuff! A great Ad for the vehicle

Idyllic backyard to sit and read a book or reflect on life

Peak of Mt. Rainier

The boys had great time in the snow, Thane came up with a makeshift snow board

Life emerging even in the toughest environment

On our hike in the snow - most trails were still under snow

Hiking on a forest road near Packwood - boys in their park ranger vests

Our first flat tire!

After dropping off Tomasz's family in Portland airport we spent a day in Portland. We stayed near Portland downtown. Portland is beautiful city, especially this time of the year. We visited the famous Rose Test Gardens and spent the afternoon smelling the roses! After spending almost ten days in middle of nowhere as far as gastronomical delights are concerned, it was a thrill to see various ethnic restaurants offering exotic cuisines. We went to Ethiopian restaurant and had a wonderful meal.

Relaxing in the famous Rose Gardens of Portland

The boys seem to find an hectic activity even in the tranquil gardens

Boys in a wrestling match with Dad in the Rose Gardens

View of Mt. Hood from the Rose Gardens

Thane in front of the Tea House in the Classical Chinese Gardens in Portland

The boys enjoying the waterfalls in the Classical Chinese Gardens

Photographer Thane took this picture of his mother

We drove to Seattle yesterday to spend a few days with Gouri's sister and family. And to prepare for our next part of the trip into Canada.

Oregon and Washington with Tomasz's family remains copyright of the author gourij, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our drive from San Diego was pretty uneventful - except Gouri forgot her purse in a restaurant in Sacramento where we stopped for dinner. Luckily, we went only 5 miles before we remembered and retrieved the purse. This has taught us how important it is to be extra vigilant of our wallets - esp when we travel overseas.

The drive through California Central Valley was pretty interesting to us. The boys were pretty fascinated by the California Aquaduct, which we had good views of along the road. Thanks to this water, California' is able to produce abundance of food, and us Southern Californians to have a comfortable life.

California Aquaduct, life source of California's Farming

We passed by many almond groves, tomato farms, sunflower fields, corn fields and grapes orchards. We saw many open gondola truck carrying tomatoes on I-5. Every so often, we saw bunch of tomatoes scattered on the side of the freeway. It seems like losing a few tomatoes is cheaper than transporting them in covered trucks.

We stopped at a Almond Orchard to show the boys how they grow

A ripe almond

Just north of Sacramento we turned west towards the coast to 101 and headed up to the Redwoods National Park. Interesting drive along the Avenue of Giants near the Humboldt Redwoods State park. These Redwoods are really awe-inspiring and so majestic. The boys were pretty thrilled to see many caves in these giant trees and played hide and seek. We spent the night camping in this state park.

We drove through the Avenue of Giants, where the old growth Redwoods are really giants!

Kids had a lot of fun climbing and hiding!

A fallen giant, the base of the tree is like a big room and the trunk is wide and long like a road

Our next night was also spent in a different part of the Redwoods - in the Redwoods National Park near Crescent City almost at the border with Oregon. The campground just off of Hwy 199, called Panther's Flat, was one of those unexpected finds. The campground is right along the middle fork of the Smith River, we slept to the lull of the running river.

Tomasz preparing the camp


Kids learnt to make a campfire

More photos at of this part of the trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/sdjohannsens/SD_to_Redwoods

San Diego to Redwoods National Park remains copyright of the author gourij, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The house needs some attention still. We need to pack all out all the closets - that is actually a lot of work. Especially, clearing out 10 years worth of accumulated junk - seems never ending.
Also, planning and making lists as to what to take on the trip.

The kids are excited, they think we are going on a vacation, but don't seem to understand that this will be more than a vacation. Hope they will not miss their SD life too much.

Getting ready to leave remains copyright of the author gourij, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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