by Crooked Trails co-founder, Christine Mackay
For many people including myself, travel is not a luxury, it’s a necessity! It’s an integral part of one’s life, it’s the way we interact, integrate and enjoy as well as learn about the world around us. It’s a diffuse button that takes away worries and instills a love of life.
So Crooked Trails is answering your need to travel with low cost closer to home programs. We have come up with some ideas that will help you travel and us survive. We call this the Crooked Trails Economic Stimulus Package.
8 days in Mexico for $1680
Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind opportunity to explore Oaxaca and experience the famous Zapotec festival of La Sangre Preciosa with Oaxaca expert guide, Eric Mindling. We will live in the famous village of Valle de Teotitlan and experience all that goes into making a Mexican festival occur, including the creation of fireworks, tortillas, mescal and crafts – all necessary for the celebration. This is truly “Oaxaca through the back door”.
Catch the story in our next e-newsletter, and click here to go to our site for details and itinerary.
8 day programs into Native America
We are developing new programs that will bring participants into relationship with the original Americans. Three programs are currently in the works: one will go to South Dakota and Wyoming to work with Cheyenne Childrens’ Services. Another will visit the Coast Salish people of British Columbia, and a third will visit the Blackfeet of Montana. Participants will be guided by Native Americans and will experience life through native eyes. There has been a resurgence of native pride in the past decade and this is seen in the growing number of community based programs, language camps, Pow Wows, celebrations and gatherings such as the Canoe Journeys. We will spend time learning about native ideas and ways of knowing from the First Nations peoples.
We will have more details in the spring, and we also hope to offer additional programs to destinations such as the desert southwest, so stay tuned.
Times are tight, but change is coming, and with it comes the time for diplomacy as well as a call to service. We hope that this new era will provide a revitalized sense of pride in our country as well as further encouragement to us to get out into the world and act as self-appointed ambassadors. The power of community and SERVICE has never been more evident.
Giving campaign
We have done some amazing things this past year, such as providing 7 cows to the Peruvian village of Usabamba, building an orphanage in Peru, rebuilding a school in Nepal as well as raising thousands of dollars to support victims of child sexual slavery. Our fundraising and project management takes time and effort. As money from trips becomes tighter, we are looking to those who believe in our work to support us. We rarely ask for money for us, but we need to now. No amount is too small and the show of support in community based travel means much to us. Give what you can; help us continue to help others in Nepal, Peru, Kenya, Thailand and Bhutan. To make a donation to Crooked Trails online, go to www.crookedtrails.com/donate.php or you may send a check to us at PO Box 94034 Seattle WA 98124. Remember any amount helps, and we sincerely appreciate your support.
Travel boldly,
Chris Mackay
workshop project in Guatemala.
Jeff Speigner has worked in visual communication arts for more than 30 years. He has held positions as cinematographer, still photographer, technical illustrator, graphic designer, and art director. He is currently employed by as an art content developer for a large corporation in the Pacific Northwest. In his free time he pursues his passions for photography and travel. In the past three years he has explored ways to combine these passions with a desire to give something back to the people of the countries he travels in. Last fall he organized and lead five other creative professionals on the first ever Design4Kids workshop in Santiago Atitlan Guatemala. Design4Kids connects creative professionals with talented kids for an exchange of knowledge, culture, and humanity. The second trip is scheduled for the week of June 21st 2009.
Our Executive Director Chris Mackay has just returned from a site visit to Bhutan. We hope you enjoyed the featured article on her visit posted here.
have made. Visitors were only allowed in the Haa Valley in 2004 and only 7 of them have been to Dorikha.
Your Crooked Trails partner guides Phunsto and Phuntso will greet you upon your arrival at the Paro airport (7590 ft). We will head to Hotel Gangtey Palace and get checked in, shower and relax for a bit followed by a traditional Bhutanese lunch. En route you will get an impressive view of one of the most famous dzongs (Paro Rinchen Pung Dzong) in the kingdom. (Dzong means “fortress” in National language) After an introduction to the program we will drive through town and up the valley to visit the ruins of Drukgyel Dzong which has a famous past as the protector of Bhutan, having stopped an invasion from Tibet. The Dzong is at the end of the road and the beginning of the trek to Jhomolhari. Here we can stretch our legs and walk around the ruins, getting our lungs used to altitude. Due to jet lag everyone will want to call it an early night and we will retire to the hotel early in the evening for dinner and a good night’s sleep.
Day 8: Tego La Pass
whole country) and monks and tourists mix in its lively streets. We will have a day and a half here to visit all the interesting spots including the Memorial Chorten, which was built in the mid 1970’s in memory of Bhutan’s third king, his late Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, popularly known as the father of modern Bhutan. After lunch you will be driving to Changgangkha Lhakhang, a monastery located on the top of a small ridge overlooking the Thimphu town. It was established in 12th century on a site chosen by Phajo Drukgom shigpo, a lama who came from Ralung in Tibet to spread Buddhism in Bhutan. Inside the temple the central statue is Chenrizig (Compassion Buddha) in an 11-headed manifestation. We will also be sure to visit the Takin reserve which was a former zoo but closed down because the king did not think a zoo was in line with the country’s Buddhist philosophies. The animals were set free but the Takins were too tame and wandered the streets, and so they were put back in the reserve where you can visit them at close range. Takins are the national animal of Bhutan and look like a strange mix of zak, camel, moose and shaggy dog. You have to see one to believe in one.
and the views of the Himalayas even better. We will stop to enjoy the breathtaking scenery and a cup of tea. Descending down the other side is to truly understand what hairpin-turn means. Have cameras ready as you are likely to see monkeys and many species of birds. We will descend down to the green flower-filled valley to Punakha, which was the capital for over 300 years. The fortress located here is called Punakha Dzong and is situated at the confluence of two rivers that represent the feminine and masculine. Punakha Dzong and is one of the most impressive buildings in Bhutan. It was built in 1637 and has 6 stories and astonishingly intricate decorative paintings and wood work. Your guide will explain the significance of the wheel of life and you will have plenty of time to explore this amazing structure. We will retrace our footsteps and head down the valley to Wangdue Phodran where we will explore the market, have dinner and overnight.
arrives in the afternoon in Bangkok. You will overnight there. We recommend you extend your stay by a few days and can help set up some fun activities.
Since my recent return from Bhutan, people have been asking me what I thought of this lost Shangri La. My reply has consistently been: “It’s not like any country I have visited before”. Where else have the rulers decided that Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product? Where is traditional dress emphasized over western? Where do people grind grain with millennia old stone wheels while talking on cell phones? Where do visitors view gorgeous Himalayan peaks through fluttering prayer flags from the comfort of a new SUV? Where does the king step down at a young age and move the country towards becoming the world’s youngest democracy? Bhutan is where the old and new are working magic together -to the delight of all who visit.
Department of Tourism. Rather than let in hordes of tourists that may damage their culture and environment, Bhutan decided to have few visitors but charge a handsome sum. There is a mandatory minimum tourist fee of $250 per day and no one is allowed to enter the country alone to just tour around. Everyone must be guided. Keep in mind that 30% of the tourist fee goes directly to the government, which builds roads and provides health care and education to the people. I thought perhaps with such controlled tourism that a Crooked Trails style of travel would not be possible. But it is possible, and we will be doing the first community based tourism that I know of in the country this year.
to any villages. It’s not like there is a home depot down the valley anyway. Even now few villages have roads going to them, however over half of all villages are within a one hour walk from a road. Homes in the country side are made without nails and it takes one year to build a house. The ground floors are generally used for animals such as cows and the main floor is for the family, while the top floor is generally open and used for drying and storage. Rooms have wood floors and are sparse of furniture. Most of the homes I visited had cold running water and outdoor toilets that were flushed with a bucket of water.
Archery for example, is the national sport which is seen played around the country on any given day. Men dress in their Gho’s in varying colors and walk out to the archery fields armed with the latest in compound bows from America. I saw women walking across fields with homemade baskets of wood on their backs while talking on cell phones. The Bhutanese fancy new 4 x 4 SUV’s, but lack a single traffic light in the entire country. There are countless observations a traveler can make that cause the eye brow to raise and a smile to cut across one’s face.
Hi! I’m Bill and I’ve just begun interning with Crooked Trails. My interest in international education and travel began as a study abroad participant to Beijing in 2003. After graduating in 2004 from Pitzer College I returned to Beijing to work with that same study abroad program. My main focus was in developing programs that expand curriculum to include connections with the greater community. Many of these programs, such as a regular rural homestay, have focused on meaningful cultural exchange experiences for both students and hosts and thus share many of the same values as Crooked Trails. I am excited to draw from my own experiences to contribute here at Crooked Trails while learning from the mission and operations of Crooked Trails.
My name is Lindsey and I am one of the two new interns at Crooked Trails. I am thrilled to be joining such a dynamic, conscious and compassionate community. Currently I am finishing up a M.Ed at the University of Washington. Through this degree I am discovering ways to blend my passions, which include environmental education, building community, heightening ecological and cultural awareness, social justice, art and global travel. 
We are all guilty of the New Years resolution that we are never really able to fulfill. It leaves us with that empty feeling of a job half done, a book partially read, a promise broken. Crooked Trails’ New Years Resolution is to help our CT friends and family fulfill their own goals of the year, which is why we are giving everyone the opportunity to succeed in the resolution of volunteering your time with an organization you believe in. At Crooked Trails we are always in search of volunteers with projects both large and small for all kinds of time commitments and interests. 
So January 24th at 9pm, all of Seattle is expected to break free of the winter curse, at least for one night, and join Crooked Trails for a night of music, drinks, friends, and most importantly dance at the Lo-Fi club in Eastlake. The event is sponsored by JUICE Seattle, an organization that combines world music with local global charities and has chosen Crooked Trails as one of its beneficiaries for its January event. Darek Mazzone of KEXP and DJ Rhythma will be spinning all night long, with all of the door proceeds going to Crooked Trails and our partner organizations for the night: Community Empowerment Network, BMK Foundation and the AMA Foundation.
