7-10 December – Pushkar and Jodhpur, India

Pushkar seems to be very popular with tourists, but it was perhaps not our kind of place. We are probably not spiritual enough to appreciate the many hundred Hindu temples, the dirty lake (very holy) or the many gurus (beggars) who claim to offer Western tourists the key to inner peace. But we will always remember the cacophony of the many wedding parties going on that night. There is no lack of loudspeakers in Pushkar...
We continued to Jodhpur and spent a few days there. We camped in a beautiful garden next to a noble villa turned hotel. Disa had come down with a stomach infection, so we rested most of the time. But Nina and Temba visited the Meheranghar Fort which sits on a 125 meter high cliff in the middle of the city. Jodhpur is called ‘the blue city’. Some people say that the special blue color of the houses helps to keep the mosquitoes away. Anyhow, the view from the fort is very blue. And both Nina and Temba had their fortunes told by a man who was presumably and expert at reading the palm of your hand. Temba was very fascinated by this experience.

5-6 December – Jaipur, India

Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, one of India’s most fascinating states. We read that Rajasthan is now the number one tourist destination in India, ahead of Goa and Kerala. We can understand why. Rajasthan is full of impressive forts, old cities, natural wonders, temples, camels and colorful people.
Outside Jaipur, up on a hill, lies the magnificent Amber Fort. We rode up to the fort on elephants – definitely a highlight on our journey so far. The elephant carrying Nina, Temba and Tinna got a head start and the elephant carrying Ola, Disa and Atlas had difficulties catching up. It was a close race, and it ended in a draw.


At the top, the kids were allowed to pat the huge elephants.
After exploring the labyrinth structure of the enormous Amber Fort we headed back to Jaipur.


We camped at a beautiful ‘haveli’, a summer town house for the wealthy which the heir to a noble Rajasthani family had turned into a guest house. Our car was parked next to a Shiva temple and it was very interesting to see all the religious ceremonies carried out to please the demanding goddess. It is hard work to keep Hindu gods happy and benevolent.
Jaipur is called ’the pink city’. Apparently the whole city was painted pink in 1876 to welcome the Prince of Wales. Strange, but nice for today’s tourists. One of the nicest buildings in the city is the Hawa Mahal where the noble ladies could sit and watch city life from behind the lattice screens.

4 December – Fatehpur Sikri, India

A couple of day’s camel riding west of Agra is Fatehpur Sikri. In the 16th century it was constructed as the new capital of the Mughal Empire. However, due to water shortages the city was abandoned after only 14 years. This means that the palaces are extremely well preserved to this day. The most impressive structure is perhaps the 54 meter high Victory Gate which is the entrance to the huge Jama Masjid mosque complex.
We strolled around the Jama Masjid and the royal palaces for a few hours, impressed with the fine stonework and the mixed Indo-Islamic architecture.

2-3 December – Agra, India

On our way out of Delhi we saw the Qutb Minar, an impressive minaret from the 12th century. It is 73 meters high and very well preserved.
The next destination was Agra, a chaotic and pulsating city filled with poverty. Our first stop was the massive Agra Fort, built during the 16th and 17th centuries by the Mughal dynasty.
From the fort we had our first glimpse of Taj Mahal across the river. But the smog was so thick that we could hardly see the Taj.
We continued to Taj Mahal, a spectacular mausoleum which the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built (together with 20,000 workers) for his second wife Mumtaz Mahal. She died while giving birth to their fourteenth child. The Taj is built from white marble with delicate inlays of semiprecious stones. It took more than 20 years to build and the result is still fantastic 350 years later. We had high expectations, and were prepared for a disappointment. However, we were truly impressed with the mausoleum and the surrounding gardens and buildings. This is really a highlight of any trip to India.

18 December - Arrived to Goa, India

We just arrived to Goa! We will celebrate Christmas here together with Ola's mother who is flying in from Sweden. We will be back with more details about what has happened over the last two weeks since we left Delhi.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2 December – Towards Agra

We have updated our GoogleMap with the approximate route we have taken from Sweden to the UK. You find the map in the top right hand corner of the screen. You find the link to the map under LINKS.

26 Nov - 1 Dec – Delhi, India

We are having a fabulous time in Delhi. Our friends Melanie and Josh, who we got to know years ago in South Africa, live at the US Embassy compound and we are camping in their garden. Their children Jacob and Dora are playing so nicely with our children. We even had the privilege to be invited to the Thanksgiving dinner, and Ola got the honor of cutting the 21 pound turkey!
We are playing in the garden and going on nice excursions to the main sights of chaotic Old Delhi and organized New Delhi.
The Red Fort is a highlight, but we actually enjoyed the bicycle rickshaw ride from the fort to the spice market even more.
Shopping in the bazaar is very entertaining, but we will most of all remember seeing a beautiful elephant striding along a main avenue in New Delhi.
Seeing the huge new temple Swaminarayan Akshardham was impressive. It reminded Josh of the Lost City at Sun City in South Africa, while we came to think of Disneyland in Hong Kong.
We preferred the old time charm of Humayun’s Tomb to the sharp edges of the new temple.
Our stay in Delhi was delightful thanks to Melanie & Josh,
Jacob & Dora.

Thank you so much for your fantastic hospitality!

25 November – Chandigarh, India

We made a short stop in Chandigarh to see the Fantasy Rock Garden created over the last half century by the local artist Nek Chand. He has made thousands of sculptures from urban and industrial waste.
From Chandigarh it is about 250 km to Delhi. It took 7 hours. By the time we entered the 20 million people mega city of Delhi it was dark and the traffic was absolutely crazy. Bad timing. We had ourselves a real driving adventure for some hours when trying to locate the right address in New Delhi. Driving here feels like a video game. And we luckily arrived with all lives intact!

23-24 November – McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, India

Communist China invaded Tibet in 1949 to liberate the Tibetan people of their land and their culture. In 1959, Dalai Lama and many followers walked across the Himalaya mountains to northern India to seek sanctuary. They were granted asylum and perhaps as many as a quarter million Tibetans now live in northwest India in the Dharamsala region. It is from the village McLeod Ganj outside Dharamsala that Dalai Lama and his exile government operates.
We really enjoyed the atmosphere in McLeod Ganj and the surrounding mountains. Tibetan food, music and handicraft along windling streets. Tibetan monks and nuns chatting quietly while walking to the gompa. Old Tibetan women turning the prayer wheels in the Tsuglagkhang Complex. We would love to come back and spend more time in northeastern India.

21-22 November – Amritsar, India

After spending the last three months in Muslim countries, we are now facing other religions. We had our first encounter with a Hindu temple at the Matah Temple in Amritsar. All kinds of weird figures/dolls were revered by people who were kissing the statues and sacrificing flowers and coconuts. To say the least, this is a very bizarre spectacle. We are truly ignorant so far about Hinduism, but we will for sure learn more in the coming weeks.
The following day we switched focus to the Sikh religion. Amritsar is the holy city of the Sikh’s. We visited the Golden Temple and got a lesson in what it means to be a Sikh. The books that the ten Gurus wrote many years ago play a central role in the Sikh religion. The most important books are kept in the Golden Temple.

27 November - Greetings from Delhi

Terrorists have attacked Bombay and from what we can understand, foreigners are targeted.
We just want to let everybody know that we are in Delhi right now, staying with friends Melanie and Josh. We are safe.

19-20 November – Amritsar, India

We all cheered when we drove across the border to India. We have talked about reaching India ever since we started planning this trip. And now we are actually here!

At a bakery in Amritsar we found a pink and purple birthday cake for Tinna. We continued the celebrations at Mrs. Bhandari’s Guesthouse where we are camping in the lovely garden.
The next morning, Temba turned eight years and we had new celebrations, this time with nice chocolate cake.
India is the 29th country so far on this journey. We have driven 32,000 km since the start in London in March

New adventures await us in this large and exotic country. We are looking forward to it!

17-19 November – Lahore and Wagah, Pakistan

The smog thickened when we were approaching Lahore. The city has close to ten million inhabitants and the pollution is terrible. We arrived at dusk and it was a chaotic experience to navigate through the masses of people, pushcarts, donkeys, bicycle rickshaws, motor rickshaws, etc. We managed to find a hotel parking where we were allowed to camp. We had a constant stream of curious visitors during the evening and fell asleep to the big city noise of Lahore.

Lahore was an important strategic place on the Great Trunk Road, the trading route between Kabul and Calcutta. We strolled around in the famous Lahore Fort. It is huge and must have been very impressive during its glory days some centuries ago. We also visited the adjacent mosque complex which is better preserved than the fort. We have to walk quite fast, because we attract hordes of people who want to get familiar with the children.
Our final stop in Pakistan was the Wagah border post. We went to see the flag ceremony at the border line between Pakistan and India. Every day, just before sunset, the border guards on each side are playing tough, cheered on by thousands of spectators on each side of the border. They are marching back and forth and celebrate the closing of the border to the enemy territory. It is a very bizarre theater performance. These two countries should cooperate rather than demonize each other in this nationalistic folly. This is the only border between two very large and populous nations. But almost nobody is actually crossing the border. Pakistan is importing some potatoes from India. India is importing some cement from Pakistan. That is it. Tragic.
Tinna turned three years on November 19 and we celebrated her during the morning in Pakistan and continued with the celebrations in India in the afternoon.