Taj Mahal & Kashmir

Challo!

I've made my way up North, at the moment I am residing on a houseboat on Srinagar's Dal Lake - one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Kashmir is so different from the rest of India, a vast Muslim majority, balanced climate, mountains overlooking you wherever you are. And the tea ... Green tea with cardamon, saffron and cinnamon - what more can you say?

There's so much to say, many adventures, good and bad experiences - but overall I'm really enjoying my time here. Okay: Some impressions from the past days.

Taj Mahal... maybe one of the most photographed buildings in the world. For a reason! I was a bit sceptical about going there, but it was on our way from Varanasi to Delhi and was definitely worth the visit. We spend about 3 hours there and it's of a beauty that I've never seen in a building before. As you can see I was happy!

Some detail shots of the Taj. Even though the builder (Shah Jahan, father of Aurganzeb for the history junkies reading this) was a Muslim he respected the other main religions of his time (Hinduism and Sikhism) very much. See how the flower forms an 'Om' sign?

Beautiful Arabic calligraphy on the outside of the Taj. It looks like it's painted on the marble but in fact they cut out small pieces of it and replace them with black stones. When looking at this magnificent architecture I thought "How could anyone ever speak of European superiority, completely dismissing Indian culture and science. Is there anything comparable in Europe?"

In one of the side-buildings. It's a bit blured and there could be some work done on the colors, but not now ;-)

Approaching Srinagar from Delhi. See the mountains, the landscape... Simply amazing.

A couple of minutes before touch-down. Green, green, green - wherever you're looking!



Dal Lake, Srinagar. This is where we're staying, this is our view everyday. A magic combination of water and mountains. Never seen anything like that before!

India 2

This is a bus in Kolkatta. I did some experiments with my camera and that's one of the best, trying to portray the crazy and medium-dangerous driving skills of bus drivers in India...


Peter with hat in Darjeeling. Yes, it was cold. Bloody cold. I wore Jeans, raincoat, shawl and hat. And actually I miss it a bit ...

One of the few but stunning moments of fine weather in Darjeeling. Even though we could not see Mount Everest on the horizon (as one apparently can if one does not happen to be surrounded by rainclouds) we had great views sometimes.


A temple in Darjeeling, nice, colourful prayer flags everywhere.

Sunset in Varanasi, taken before going for dinner just now.

India 1

Yoyo,

after I've been facebooking/skyping/emailing with some of you I thought it might be time for some pictures from my India trip. During the last month I travelled from Visakhapatnam to Konark, Puri, Kolkatta, Darjeeling and Varanasi (where I'm at the moment). Here are just some impressions, too much is happening and everyday is full of stories and those moments that make travelling so worth while.

This is Anna. She was volunteering with Balamitra during the last year and is a cool girl. She managed to dress mostly in Indian clothes for the past year, something we did not achieve when we were here!

As I told some of you the school grew massively. Most of the children in this picture are new. It took them some time to get used to us, but after a while they were as active and open with us as the old children.

A couple of nights before we left we had a little function, the children singing songs, playing drums and dancing. It was one of those beautiful nights that take your heart. Coming back for 2 weeks made me feel like I never left Vizag...

O.k. and off we go on our journey. Fabian, Ina and me enjoying the 'sex-o-yogic' art of the sun temple in Konark. A quote from our guide is enough to describe the situation: 'This is an optimistic couple, one man, two wives".

The Gang on the bus to Puri where we spent a day at the beach before taking the train to Kolkatta.

Sudder St. Kolkatta. Taken in the heart of the tourist ghetto and still you have some of these pictures that are just wonderful, don't you think? Oh and what's special about it: I haven't seen much street art in India - and this piece actually looks quite good...

A drum-maker in Kolkatta. Even though it was after sunset it was still blazing hot, hence he works without a shirt on. I was sitting there for five minutes, watching his work, how concentrated he moved his knife and hammer to tighten the leather.

At the street barber in Kolkatta. Unfortunately I had just shaved so I could not take part in this session. But (!) I promise after writing these posts I will go to the barber next door which looks at least as good as these fellows.

Sydney 2

Yet another picture of the Opera House. I liked the way the angler is just sitting there fishing with this panorama that carries all this symbolism about Sydney.


A nice bird feeding (or what else is it doing?) on a bird-of-paradise. Nice flowers. And you can find them (the flowers) everywhere in the city, in backyards, next to the road ...


When I met Milan, Tristan's cousin (who is pretty cool by the way) he took me to that spot, close to where he lives. This is in a little bay, just to the right outside the picture is the Pacific Ocean. What a life, living so close to the sea! A really nice, quite plateau - I guess it's a good place for a date. And no - Milan and me were not having one!


That lighthouse is just up the hill. Look at the plants surrounding it. In Europe they would be 'nicely' cut by a gardener, probably at right-angles. Over here the stuff just grows. And I like it that way!


This is in the Blue Mountains where my grandpa has a little house. You can see why they are called that way, the blueish fog comes from essential oils that come from the eucalypt trees. An amazing landscape!

Sydney 1

This is a proof that I am in Sydney. Not for much longer but as it's a pretty amaying city I thought I should share this with you guys. Taking this picture in front of the Opera House was actually not easy as I held the camera myself, taking about 5 pictures until one showed my head AND the opera... Of course Sydney has much more to offer than Harbour Bridge and Opera, but somehow I reckon they are some of those 'must take a picture of with yourself in it' places...


One thing I really like about Sydney is that it is so green and there is an abundance of water. This is the view one gets when coming down the zoo (which is beautifully set on a peninsula overlooking the city). Many people (who can afford it) have a boat. I wonder how many of those can take it to get to work... Anyway, this water oriented lifestyle impressed me a lot - it is one of the reason why some people call it the most beautiful cities in the world (of course many people call their city the best in the world but I think that in this case they have a point!)


This place is called 'The Gap'. It's close to the entrance of the harbour and apparently some ships mistook it for that and crashed. Pretty dramatic! You've got an amazing view from there and sometimes you can even spot whales swimming around in the Pacific. I saw one - and to be honest - it was less spectacular than I imagined it. Some water, a fin ... But maybe it's cooler if you're close than I was.


Australians might not be too impressed by their wildlife but I like it. Everything's so different to Europe. This guy was sitting in a tree somewhere in town. Much nicer to luck at than a city pigeon, isn't he?


I didn't find these fellas on the street, unfortunately. I took this one in the zoo, but they are still pretty cute.