Feb 17th – Feb 26th 2011 Our first week or so in Spain has been glorious – due mainly to the weather! We have had sunshine every day with just a few clouds in the sky and warm temperatures of over 20c. Just perfect fro sitting on the roof, chilling out, reading books and gazing at the view of the mountains and valley! The house was absolutely fine when we arrived, with a pleasant surprise to find that the freesias I had planted as bulbs a year ago were now in flower and smelling wonderful and the jasmine is full of buds and will hopefully flower before we return home! The first swallows were flying around but no sign of the little white dog who lived opposite. We haven’t yet plucked up courage to ask what ... read more

DAY 26 3rd February2011 Our Guide arrived at 06.30am to take us on a sunrise boat ride on the Ganges as planned. There had been a lot of activity from about 05.30, so when we reached the riverside at 06.45 it was heaving with people, taking a bath, swimming, praying, washing clothes. We were rowed upstream (along with all the other tourists in their various boats!!) past our hotel room, to the modern Crematorium, where the bodies are burnt normally, ie as in England. They are trying to convert people to use modern Crematoria so that there is not so much pollution. We bought two flower boat candles on the water and launched them in memory of Mother and people who have passed on. Came back and walked through the very narrow streets, (they are as ... read more

DAY 24 1st February 2011 A short 5 minute drive took us to the temples in the centre of Khajuraho. They are laid out in lovely gardens and we wandered from one to the other, our guide filling us in on all the history and architecture. The Hindu temples date from the between the 9th and 10th Century and were built by the Chandela dynasty, who dominated central India at that time. They were abandoned in the 13th century and lay hidden in dense forest for 700 years and were rediscovered by Captain T S Burt from the Bengal Engineers in 1838 and are now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Over 800 sculptures cover the temples depicting gods, goddesses, beasts and warriors, sensuous maidens, dancers, musicians and erotic scenes for which the Temples are most famous. ... read more

DAY 22 30th January 2011 We had a thought that we may get up early and go to the sunrise at the Taj Mahal but were glad that we didn’t as it was a very hazy sun this morning. Got to the Taj about 09.00 and entered at the East Gate (which is exactly the same as the West gate!) Here our guide told us all about the history and how the Mugal Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631, at the age of 29, giving birth to her 14th child. From here, we passed through a huge gate before the Taj Mahal came into view. From a distance it still appears quite small but as you walk the length of the water gardens ... read more

DAY 20 28th January 2011 Today was one of my favourite days! Our driver said he would take us on route to the Bird Sanctuary, to a place called Galta! Its a picturesque gorge and an 18th C religious site with natural spring water said to have curative powers ( so the guide book said!) Drove through the windy lane, spotting peacocks and Nilgai (black antelope) and were dropped off at the bottom of the gorge where there were numerous monkeys! Masses of them!! And it seemed like we were the only tourists! Anyway, after explaining that we didn’t want any nuts to feed the monkeys we made our way (with the unwanted help of a guide!) up through the pathway, past a couple of pavilions until we reached the holy water pool, where people were ... read more