I arrive in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's largest city, for a spot of 'sorting stuff out' before moving on. Home to 5 million people, Ahmedabad is a sprawling, noisy city, but one with history hidden in amongst the chaos. The old town contains some beautiful old mosques, the Teen Darwaja ('triple gateway') and a bustling bazaar. I wander amongst the market stalls, and my overriding impression is of a friendly city... the people are very inquisitive and polite, and on the backstreets, children vie for the attention of my camera lens (which, I should point out, is now in a fairly bad way... [View Full Entry]

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It was the best of times... It's no secret that India is a land of contrasts. Be it from accounts on these pages, or other, more reputable sources, evident it is that North is starkly different than South, East markedly changed from West. Language, food, culture, history, religion, geography all vary considerably as one shifts in and out of different states and cities- in a land of 1.15 billion people- a sixth of the world population- no less than seventeen official languages are spoken, and no less than 600 dialects. And you'd be hard pressed to find two places as different [View Full Entry]

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Jaan kylla suuresti kaipaamaan Diuta! Huomenna lahdemme jatkamaan matkaa Dwarkaan, joka on myos rannikolla ja Gujaratissa. Olen unohtanut mainita, etta Diu on oikeastaan oma laaninsa. Tama alue pysyi pitkaan Portugalin hallinnassa ja ihmiset taalla, jotka ovat syntyneet ennen vuotta 1961 ovat edelleen Portugalin kansalaisia. Ensimmaisina paivina ihmettelimmekin, kun niin moni kertoi meille olevansa portugalilainen. Sen jalkeen eras seta selvitti meille asiaa ja han tuntui olevan hyvin tyytyvainen Portugalin kansalaisuudestaan. Monet tulevat tanne Diulle, koska taalla on halpaa viinaa. Se on t [View Full Entry]

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Olen viime kirjoituksissani kertonut paljon tekemisistamme. Nyt ajattelin pohtia jalleen Intian olemusta. Milta Intia on nyt uudelleen tulemiseni jalkeen vaikuttanut? Aikalaillahan samanlaista se on kuin muistelinkin, samanlaista kuin idassa pain. Intia on meluinen, yhta aikaa taynna karsimysta ja iloa, se on mopojen toottailya, pakokaasuja, hiekkapolya, vehreita palmuja ja vareissaan loistavia kukkia, se on nuorten miesten yhteiskunta, (minne tahaansa katseeni nostankin, lahes aina se kohtaa uteliaasti katselevan nuoren miehen) upeita temppeleita, ihania sadunomaisia pikku-palatseja, junia [View Full Entry]

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How we love you. Take all of that tension and stress from the past 8 weeks of travelling in this country, and just let it melt, melt, melt away. I am not ashamed to admit that, though I was not fully aware of what was happening at the time, I was most certainly functioning on my very last nerve when we arrived here in Diu. Of course the regular stresses of travelling in India had been accumulating but also for the past week we had been going along at a far quicker pace than usual and cramming more sights and activities [View Full Entry]

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Nach abenteuerlicher Fahrt im Sleeperbus, P meint man koennte dort glatt seekrank werden, inklusive unfreundlichem Wecken und "Change bus, quick!", in Diu angekommen. Diu ist etwas anders als das bisher gesehene Indien. Von den portugiesern ueber Jahrhunderte verwaltet(und offensichtlich nicht einmal ausgebeutet; zerbomt hat man hier dann spaeter nur die Nebenorte) hat es eher den Charm einer suedeuropaeischen Kleinstadt, als einer indischen(von den Kuehen mal abgesehen). Es gaebe hier, waere das Wetter schoen, Grillpartys, betrunkene Touristen, und Lobster. Schon bei der Ankunft muessen P. [View Full Entry]

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Nice place for relax. After one month of vegetarian food we bought some fresh fish at the port and cooked on the beach. WOW!!! Nice to meet Partap: the cook of Oh Maria restaurant [View Full Entry]

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Na een dag of 10 in Pushkar, de langste tijd dat we op dezelfde plaats verbleven (tot nu toe), hadden we het daar ook alweer gezien. We namen afscheid van de vele vrienden die we er maakten ( we verbleven in een nogal sociaal guesthouse) en arrangeerden er vervoer naar onze volgende stop, zijnde Bundi, een veel minder bezochte bestemming. We sliepen er in een mooie kamer in een heuse haveli. Dat is een zeer uitbundig gedecoreerd huis dat in een ver verleden, toen deze streek nog schatrijk was doordat het op de handelsroute lag, eigendom was van een koopman. In [View Full Entry]

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Anybody who as ever tried to take a photo of an interesting building anywhere in India knows what I mean with that title... It's just impossible to take it without the usual tangle of electricity, phone and who knows what kind of wires in front of it... Even in the pristine mountain environments there seems to be wires dangling around... Most probably not even used and leading nowhere in particular... Maybe put up, just to thwart us of taking that perfect photo... Well enough of that... Ever been to the Ellora caves near the holiday season? If you are planning on [View Full Entry]

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I am on the sleepy island of Dui on the Arabian Sea. Peacocks sit in palm trees and the wedding band has been playing for 8 straight days around the clock. At the small hours of the night the drum ensemble leads with frenetic tempo and the keyboardist reaches a psychedelic fever pitch. At 6 am firecrackers startle me awake and the sleepy musicians persist with hollow dragging of their more canned instrumentals. But by 10 am the sun is beginning to scorch the concrete streets and the entire wedding party is colorful again as they pass the restaurant where I [View Full Entry]

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