What started as a chance encounter at a bus station progressed to a deep friendship over the following weeks.  We met Antoine and Anais in Bodhgaya, India on Christmas day, and ended up traveling with them for almost 3 weeks.  We shared taxis, rickshaws, sleepless nights in the jungle, and hard bargaining over 7 cent discounts.

Yesterday we exchanged gifts (cookies, shawls, and a pair of pillows we had “borrowed” from our New York flight), and parted our separate ways, promising to visit each other in the upcoming year.

They will continue for a few more months in Nepal and then India, and we’re packing our bags for our flight to Helsinki, Finland tomorrow.

In a strange coincidence, a Couch Surfer girl from Tallin, Estonia requested to stay with us in Puerto Rico in February. It turns out Tallin is just a short ferry from Helsinki, where we have a 2 day lay-over.

Bonus! I’ve always wanted to visit Estonia, which has a rich and interesting history with occupations by both the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, both of which happened to leave Tallin, it’s capital city, untouched by bombs (or so I’ve heard).

Anyways, we’re packed and ready to go– we hear the saunas in Estonia are really good. Otherwise, it’s back to wearing every layer of clothing we’ve accumulated over the past month.  Oh yeah, we may be quiet for a few more days as we transit through uncharted territories once again.