Upcoming Events
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Become a Friend of Crooked Trails
For a $100 donation to Crooked Trails receive a "Friends of Crooked Trails" gift box including:
*Grounds for Change Coffee
*Choice Organic Teas
*2 Theo's Organic Chocolates
*Crooked Trails T-shirt.
Volunteer Tourism
presented by Crooked Trails Co-founder, Chris McKay
Saturday, Januaury 30
10:00 am
Savvy Traveler
112 5th Ave. S. Edmonds, WA 98020
free
highlighting the work of Crooked Trails empowering indigenous communities around the world through responsible travel.
The Soul of Peru
presented by Crooked Trails Co-founder, Tammy Leland
Saturday, February 13
10:00 am
Savvy Traveler
112 5th Ave. S. Edmonds, WA 98020
free
Venice is Sinking
A Masked Carnival Ball
GET TICKETS EARLY!
click here
Saturday, Feb. 20th
8:00 pm at Georgetown Ballroom
$50 pre-sale, $65 door
www.carnivalseattle.com
This is the event you and your friends will be talking about for months to come!
Check out full event descriptions at www.crookedtrails.org
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Ladakh, Summer 2010
Filling up fast!
Sign up Now!
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June 26th-July 20, 2010
$2880
The highlight of the program is our homestay in the village of
Lingshed, which we visit as the guests of the Lingshed Cultural Toupe
and their families. Ladakh's geographical isolation, together with
the esoteric forms of Buddhism practiced here, has enabled its
inhabitants to preserve and maintain their cultural identity.
Click here to learn more...
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Get your Crooked Trails t-shirt!
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"I love my country, but I think we should start seeing other people"
Available in various colors and sizes. Email info@crookedtrails.org for size/color availability.
T-shirts cost $15 plus $5 for shipping & handling.
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 Travel to be Inspired.
Travel to be Challenged.
Travel with a Purpose.
What is it about this time of year that always makes me want to start traveling again? The long nights? The cold weather? A time for visiting family and friends? I begin dreaming in November and start planning in December. A friend in the southern desert of Peru recently asked "when are you coming home to Peru to stomp grapes for this year's harvest" and all of a sudden, I am buying my flight to Lima (which is very cheap right now--great deals on Delta and Continental).
If you're like me, you are dreaming too and we have lots of information to help you start planning your next trip in this month's eNews. Travel trips to new lodges and trekking routes to new ruins in Peru, travel consultations for those wishing to plan their own vacations, an invitation to the high Himalaya in Ladakh and fun events in town for those who can't get away.
Venice Is Sinking, our annual fundraiser, will be held at the Georgetown Ballroom on Feb 20th. Tickets are on sale now. Also, check out how you can buy gifts for Christmas or make your annual donations to support Crooked Trails projects in the communities where we work. Buy a chicken for a family in Peru, send a child to school n Ladakh, India, support the Maasai Woman's Co-op in Kenya.
Hope to see you out and about for the holidays or on the trail in the months to come!
Happy Holidays
Tammy
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HOW TO GET TICKETS
DON'T GET LEFT OUT THIS YEAR!
The 2009 Ball SOLD OUT,
so buy your tickets early!!
$50 pre-sale online at www.carnivalseattle.com/tickets
$65 at door
(online ticket sales will close on Feb. 20th)
Come party for a purpose.
We're bringing Venice's Carnival to Seattle with - Venice is Sinking: A
Venetian Masked Carnival Ball.
DATE: Saturday, February 20th, 2010
WHERE: Georgetown Ballroom (Airport Way, Seattle)
ATTIRE: semi-formal (tux's optional, but encouraged; or come in
masquerade costume). Everyone MUST wear a Carnival Mask in order to
gain entry to Ball
Entertainment:
Darek Mazzone, KEXP World Pop DJ
Geoffrey Castle, violinist extraordinaire
Opening Band TBD
Circus troupe performers, aerialists, burlesque and more!
More details to come, check the website often
If you have any
questions or concerns, email us at info@carnivalseattle.com
or call
206-383-9828.
Charity: Namaste Children's Fund and Crooked Trails
(partial proceeds will be used to build a school in Nepal)
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Featured Article
2009 Your Donation Dollars
We realize that in the midst of America's financial
calamity giving to a charity this year might not have been easy for many of you. Nor have many of you had the opportunity to travel with us to deliver the donations to the communities and to experience the overwhelming gratitude of the the community leaders, the giggles from the children, the tears from the woman and mothers and enthusiasm of the men. So, thank you to everyone who supported us this year. We couldn't have done any of this without you.
Education Fund
With the help of very dedicated supporters, we raised $12,540
with another $4000 pledged to build a school in Chandani Nepal with
support from our NGO partner: KEEP (the Kathmandu Environmental Education
Project). The money was wired over in August and ground was broken in
September. The Crooked Trails participants arrived in November and we helped
lay the foundation and built the walls. This school will allow children in the
village to attend school up to grade 8. Next year we would like to build the
upper secondary school so children can finish their education up to grade 10.
If we are able to raise the funds, the older boys wont have to walk 2 hours to
get to the closest school and the older girls will be able to finish school.
Maiti Nepal $20,000
Rescuing girls from Child Sexual Slavery
As many of you know we have been supporting the work of Maiti
Nepal for over 5 years. This Spring we were able to team up with the Seattle
area Eileen Fisher stores who generously offered to give 10% of sales on a
given Saturday to Maiti Nepal. Crooked Trails volunteers also sold the
beautiful beadwork of the girls that day and we raised almost $20,000 for the
center in Nepal that rescues girls from child sexual slavery. 100% of the money
went to Maiti Nepal and was put to good use supporting the hospice center,
school and infant ward. We just visited the center in November and made another
cash donation of $780 generously raised by the November participants.
Chinchero Boarding School $25,000
Girls Education Fund
Finally finished and in full operation, the Chinchero Boarding School houses 6 girls who attend classes in Chinchero and learn new weaving skills. The building costs were $25,000 and labor was donated by Seattle Works volunteers. The Sweet Pea Cottage School in Seattle has committed to sponsor of the girls first year. We hope to invite 12 girls in 2010.
Three Summits $20,644
Nepal Education Fund
Three Summits is our "climb with a purpose" charity drive to
raise funds to build schools in Nepal. The program is in partnership with
Crystal Mountain Treks who assists Crooked Trails with logistics in Nepal.
Nineteen climbers raised $20,644 for school construction costs. Construction
will begin this December in the Kavre District under the supervision of Jwalant
Gurung, managing director of Crystal Mountain. We hope to raise $30,000 in 2010
to continue to bring much-needed educational infrastructure to Nepal.
Venetian Masked Ball $8,430
Crooked Trails Fund
For all of you who joined us in 2008 for our annual Venetian Masked Ball, we raised $8,340 to support the continued work of Crooked Trails. Our nonprofit mission is to help people broaden their understanding of the planet and its diverse cultures through
education, community development and responsible travel.
Thailand Hilltribe TBD
Girls Education Fund
On December 13th, 2009 Crooked Trails guide, Todd Parks, will be hosting a dinner and auction to raise money for our education fund with a mission to keep young girls in school and out of the streets and brothels. The event has already sold out @ $150 a plate and we hope to raise $10,000 to support the work of Crooked Trails in the northern hilltribes of Thailand.
To see current projects we support click here
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Featured TripJourney to Ladakh
By Tammy
Leland
Crooked Trails Co-founder and
International Program Director
"You
have not heard about Ladakh? How is that possible? Well, you are lucky
today. I am telling you. You must go. It is necessary that you
go, Ladakh is the only place where you can see something of what Tibet must
have been like....If I had a group of gangsters and a plane I would kidnap you
and take you there myself..."
--The Frenchman speaking to
Andrew Harvey in his book, A Journey in Ladakh.
Inspired
by meeting a Ladakhi Buddhist monk in 1997 and Andrew Harvey's book, A Journey to Ladakh, I
took off in 1999 to India for my first visit to Ladakh.
It has been 10 years since this visit, and almost every
year I get the amazing opportunity to journey through the high Himalayan
Mountains in Northern India to the isolated Ladakhi village of Lingshed where
we live and work with local monks and Ladakhi families. For me, returning to
Ladakh is like a family reunion, seeing old friends and family that I have been
away from for nearly 12 months. It
is emotional and moving to say the least.
This
year I would like to invite you to be one of participants to join Crooked
Trails on this one of a kind adventure.
Leaving the U.S. on June 26th, we will fly in to the eclectic
capitol of India, New Delhi.
Unlike any other city in the world, this is actually not the highlight of our
journey. Getting to the community
of Lingshed requires trekking five days through the Himalaya where we will encounter high mountain passes, deep gorges, wild
rivers, open plains, ancient monasteries and remote villages. The trek will be
at high altitudes over rough and challenging terrain, however, anyone who is in
good health and committed to the journey can accomplish this trek with the help
of the guide and the support of our local horse boys and their pack-mules.
To learn more, please visit our website at www.crookedtrails.org/india
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Planning your own trip?
Crooked Trails Co-founders can
help and make it a meaningful one.
Every week I receive two or three emails from people who
want to "pick my brain" about traveling in Thailand, India, Peru or
one of the other countries where Crooked Trails works. As an educational nonprofit, and as an
organization that is excited to support our overseas partners, we are happy to
help you plan your next vacation.
Some people find planning a trip almost as much fun as
taking the trip but where do you start if you want to make it meaningful, if
you are looking to visit or volunteer with a community, if you want to make
sure the places you stay and eat are locally owned and if you want to minimize
your impact? Crooked Trails
Co-founders can help you design it.
WHAT WE OFFER:
In a one to two hour meeting or phone conversation, Crooked Trails
Co-founders can help you:
* Select
a destination that is right for you and your friends and/or family.
* Find
lodging and transportation that supports the local economy.
* Discover
cultural exchanges/ homestays that are safe, fun and ones where you are welcome.
*
Choose activities that are one of a kind, fun, educational and support the
local communities.
* Provide contact
information for the country's best guides, translators, and operators.
Please contact Tammy Leland @ tammy@crookedtrails.org or 206-383-9828 to learn more.
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eNews Travel Tips
New Apu Lodge
Ollantaytambo, Peru (Sacred Valley of the Incas)
The  Apu Lodge (www.apulodge.com) is situated in the old Inca town of Ollantaytambo with views of the surrounding mountains and the Inca archeological
site. Walking
through the cobblestone pedestrian streets to the hotel is like taking a step back
in time; as a child passes by herding a pig or sheep on a rope and the
older folk step into an improvised bar in one of the old Inca
courtyards to drink Chicha, a fermented corn beer. Scottish born, Louise Norton, and her husband, a local from the community, have created this beautiful, eco-firendly lodge that is perfect for just about anyone. We highly recommend it and use it for our trips.A few words from Louise ... "Following a
crooked trail from Vancouver to Panama to Lima, I arrived in Ollantaytambo over
five years ago to board a train to Machu Picchu and fell in love with the town; its old Inka streets , surrounding mountains, and bar owner and guide, now my husband.
We built
the Apu Lodge using local materials and labour, and we now work with local staff ; local
guides , taxi-drivers, and businesses all featured on www.leaplocal.org. We named the business Apu Lodge after the "Apu" or Sacred
Mountain just behind the lodge. Our first guests
arrived in April, and we had a good first season thanks to excellent internet recommendations and support from
the wise women of Crooked Trails, Chris and Tammy. They also set us up with an
intern, whom we are hosting for three months whilst she helps with breakfast,
reception, marketing and improving our environmental processes.
We
provide locally made biodegradable soap, reuse plastic and glass containers,
compost our peelings and scraps (unless they are taken away to feed to guinea pigs!), offer
boiled water to guests so they don't need to buy bottled water, only heat the
water we need for showers, hang dry all laundry, and
simply try to practice environmentally friendly processes daily, making them a
part of our routine and therefore part of our guests' as well. Our garden,
still growing, will soon supply much of the food eaten and served here as
Courtney, our new intern has started an organic vegetable garden. We also hope
to procure a number of chickens in the future to provide us with eggs, chicken,
and organic fertilizer. "
New Trek to Choquequirau and Machu Picchu
Cachora, Peru (Apurimac Valley)
As tourism spreads from Machu Picchu to
Choquequirau and to the small Andean community of Cachora, the locals struggle
to maintain their culture, environment and homes. Often exploited by larger tour operators, members of
the community work for nothing, sell their homes for pennies, and stand back
watching their village change as the tourist roll in.
Join Crooked Trails in supporting one of the
only hostels and trekking companies started and operated by an original
Apurimac family and run by Cachora community members.
To learn more, please visit our website at
www.crookedtrails.org./peru-choquequirao
"The strongest bond of human sympathy
outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations
and tongues and kindreds."
--Abraham Lincoln
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Many thanks to the volunteers who have been helping us out...
Michael Berry Marc Paulsen Renee Paulsen
Robin Anderson Peter Newbury
Nick Niccolls Emily Jump
Tad Bradley
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Quote of the Month
"The
fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of
knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a
smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises."
~ Leo F. Buscaglia
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started by monks that live high in the Himalayas in Lingshed, Ladakh was a boarding school for older children to get a higher education. There are now 40 studnets from Lingshed attending school in Leh and the boarding school needs $115 per child per year to continue to feed, house and offer additional educational activities. For your donation of $115 per year you will receive a photo of your sponsored child and a letter from 
