Introduction: Welcome!

Hello!

Welcome to Luke Is in India, the official blog of Luke Hennig's 2006 trip to India!

Reading over these posts from two-and-a-half months on the road, I think you'll agree that I did some amazing things. But not only did I leave my comfort zone half a world behind when I, say, rode a camel through the desert, twisted my body into a pretzel at a yoga festival, or crooned "Old MacDonald" to a pack of pint-sized fans at a children's home -- no, the truly transcendent experiences occurred within, as only the confoundingly peaceful spirit of the world's largest, smelliest democracy could have offered.

Sure is funny for me to browse the blog now, to see how neatly the various entries appear on the digital page. What does NOT show through the sheen are the countless two-bit Internet shacks in back alleys, the snail-like crawl of dial-up connections, the persistent threat of sudden power outages: the true building blocks to the polished product!

Feel free to skip around using these links:

Route Map / Itinerary
London
Amsterdam: 1, 2
Brussels: 1, 2
Varanasi
Jaipur
Jaisalmer: 1, 2
Amritsar: Golden Temple, India - Pakistan Border Ceremony
Dharamsala: 1, 2
Agra
Rishikesh: Yoga Festival, Beatles' Ashram
Goa: 1, 2
Bethania: Introduction, Sidebar
Bethania Visit No. 1: Orphanage at Injambakkam
Bethania Visit No. 2: Orphanage at Nagercoil
Bethania Visit No. 3: Cerebral Palsey Center at Kodaikanal
Bethania Visit Nos. 4-7: Creches (Day Car Centers) in Kodai
Kodaikanal: Luke's Old House, Sunday Market



Thanks so much for reading!
Any questions? comments?
Find me at lchennig@gmail.com

Cheers,
Luke

St. Paul: Back home!

Made it home safely, after nearly two entire days spent flying! That four hour layover in Kuala Lumpur sure was spent well.

Guess this would be the death knell for the old blog, as my exploits no longer either (1) regard India as such or (2) are otherwise engaging in the first. For instance, I'll opt not to write about my reaclimation to American fast food portions, which today included a lunchtime trip to Chipotle and a chicken burrito the size of a shoebox, as this is a rather pedestrian occurance to the average reader, hardly worthy of an extrapolation the sort of which they've come to expect from Luke Is in India.

Keeping a travel blog was great fun. I recommend it. Use Blogger, because it's free and they don't put adds all over the place. They can really fudge up your photo layouts, though. Just now I'm visiting the site using Firefox, and feel like a prize dope for having putting many of you through such ghastliness. Will try a more sophisticated approach next time.

Thanks to anyone and everyone who read this thing. There's no counter or anything, so I really have no proof that I was reaching more than the small handfull who were brave enough to post comments. If you want to strike it up now that I'm home -- ask questions about travelling in India, offer me employment, arrange a meeting where you'll punch me in the face, etc. -- try:

email: lchennig@gmail.com
cell phone: 651-399-2569


So that's that.

Signing off,

L.