Coming Together

Well, things are starting to come together. I have a reservation on Air India for July 7th. It's a 3-month return, with the return date tentatively set for August 31st, although it can be pushed back as late as October 6th for free. I debated getting a one-way ticket, but it was only 10,000 yen ($100) for the option of flying back to Japan, so it seemed like a good insurance policy.

I'm about to fill out the Indian visa application. It's a bureaucratic minefield, good warm-up for India itself. What is it about former British colonies and their addiction to red tape? Reminds me of trying to buy a ticket back from the Andaman Islands 3 years ago. Or of the 4-hour lineup in the garden of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

Anyway, the prospect of parting with cash I haven't been paid yet for a ticket and a visa is making everything come into sharper focus. My to-do list is getting longer, but I'm gamely plugging away at it: bike spares and repairs, MEC outdoor gear, co-ordination with prospective fellow-travellers, maps, trying to firm up an itinerary. Plus trying to sell some articles and my book before I go.

Between the prospect of travel and the fact that I'm playing tennis again at long last, I'm feeling quite alive and excited after a winter that was pretty low-key, perhaps aftershock from the tsunami.

Entering the Blogosphere

My first-ever post. I feel as though I'm slowly entering the 21st century. There are 55 days until I fly to Delhi, and 65 days until Audie and Saakje arrive. I can't wait to get into the Himalayas again, and bike with my sisters again. It's been 7 years since the 1998 Karakoram-to-Kailash epic and this trip will fill in a big gap in my Himalayan travel. It will even dovetail nicely with the second half of the 1998 ride when we visit the Indian shores of spectacular Panggong Lake, having ridden by the lake on the Tibetan side 7 years ago.

More maps, links, photos and ideas to follow.

Graydon