final blog

at home, today, in San Francisco, I write the last and final blog of our trip.

I DID get to go rafting with the family down the Great Ganga on our last day... not only was it incredibly fun to raft through the rapids and be splashed by the cleansing purity of the river, but it was unbelievably beautiful to ride through the valley of the foothills of the Himalayas. I was not fully recovered but recovered enough and so, so glad not to have missed the final fabulous experience. it was yet another "people come to India JUST to do this one thing" experience we had! we ended with a lovely home cooked meal on the white sands on the banks of the Ganga... our last Indian meal together.

Matthew's lovely friend came to join us for our last moments, as we exchanged some gifts and then closed our trip with puja, which had such a deeper and more real and familiar meaning to us all. it was the perfect ending. then, his intention and heart with us to the very end, Matthew took us all the way into the airport to say goodbye, and with tears we parted.

he has been so incredibly with us still... we even looked for his suitcases when we arrived in San Francisco! I keep thinking of things to say to him or ask him and he is on our minds, in our hearts, and part of our constant conversation as we process the trip and all of our experiences.

it was an incredibly long trip home, and in the middle we spent an exhausted but exhilarated day in Hong Kong. the kids all spoke Cantonese to the natives, who LOVED that, and we had a taste of this place called China that was familiar and unfamiliar all at once.

now home, we unpack, sort through, unwind, and re-adjust to our lives and the time change as we will be integrating this incredible experience called India for a long time to come.

thanks for having shared this incredible journey with us.
with love,
Samantha