30-31 January – Bandhavgarh National Park, India

We always dreamt of seeing a tiger while in India. But we knew that this nearly extinct predator is very difficult to spot, so our expectations were low. We went to one of India’s best national parks and managed to get a special permit to drive our own vehicle into the park. Our guide was very good and tried his best to spot a tiger. But with only 22 tigers spread out over hundreds of square kilometers, the odds were of course not very good. After three hours of rough driving through the beautiful park, we were giving up. The children were disappointed, and so were we. Spotted deer, as cute as they are, cannot compare with a tiger.
As we were driving out of the park, we saw a motion in the bushes to our right. Tiger! A large female was moving graciously through the elephant grass and came out in full view just a few meters from our car. We were so excited that we screamed and jumped up and down in our seats. Wow, how lucky we were. The tiger crossed the road and disappeared into the bush. We rushed back to the main gate and were yelled at for being five minutes late, coming out of the park. Did we care? We had just fallen in love with the queen of Indian wildlife!
We camped just outside the perimeter of the national park. During dinner we talked a lot to the children about extinct animals, endangered animals, animal conservation, national parks, and so on. It is a profound tragedy that almost all wildlife has been driven to the brink of extinction in India. This country could have looked so different today.

27-29 January – Khajuraho, India

Our World Heritage Ruin Race continues in Khajuraho. Close to a hundred temples were built here 950-1050 AD. Today the remaining temples are famous for their Kamasutra carvings, showing how to enjoy life, if you are into tantra and those things. There are also many massage and yoga places in Khajuraho – perhaps there is a connection?

23-26 January – Bhimbetka and Sanchi, India

Many of the historical places we are visiting in India are UNESCO World Heritage sites. The list includes Bhimbetka, a peaceful place on a hill south of Bhopal in the center of India. There are 750 rock shelters on the hill, and rock paintings have been found in 500 of them. The red and white pigment paintings depict animals and people. They are said to be 10-12 thousand years old. When you look at some of the most well preserved paintings, it is completely impossible to imagine that they are so old. They look so vivid, so alive, so fresh.
We continued to Sanchi, north of Bhopal. When the Mauryan emperor Ashoka realized that he had been very cruel in a war, he converted to the peaceful religion of Buddhism in the year 262 BC. Actually, Buddhism seems to be an offspring to Hinduism, Buddha being just one of many manifestations of the Hindu god Vishnu. Anyway, Ashoka felt an urge to build a large stupa (Buddhist holy building) in Sanchi. And tourists are very happy about that decision. It is a great looking monument which we enjoyed in the honey-colored afternoon sun.

20-22 January – Ellora & Ajanta Cave Temples, India

We are really enjoying the Deccan plateau in the center south of India. We drive through the tranquil countryside with friendly people; good roads or no roads; lovely food; rich fields of cotton, sugar cane, mustard & wheat, empty forests, grazing cows, working women and idle men.
We can camp in the bush, we can enjoy clean air and silence. However, we occasionally have a welcoming committee at our camp during breakfast.
Almost nobody speaks English here, so we suddenly need a crash course in Hindi. But that’s about time. We have been so spoilt by the fact that many Indians speak English that we only know a few words in Hindi.
The Ellora cave temples were constructed by Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monks during a five hundred year period, 7th-11th century. The largest temple, Kailasa, is believed to have kept 7000 workers busy for 150 years. If there is any truth to that legend, those men must have taken long siestas. On the other hand, judging by the speed of Indian men working today, the legend is probably true after all.
After admiring the Ellora cave temples we continued to Ajanta and were blown away by the cave temples there. The setting, 30 man-made cave temples hewn out of vertical cliffs above a horse-shoe shaped river gorge, is much more dramatic and scenic than Ellora. And the (Buddhist) caves are much older, some dating back to 200 BC, the youngest dating back to 650 AD.
It was hot and sweaty, Indian tourists demanded at least a hundred line-ups with our kids, and there were hundreds of steps. But we loved Ajanta. The kids too – perhaps because they were excited by the bats in the caves.

17-19 January – Hampi, India

On our way to Hampi we passed the chili-growing belt. We sneezed as we passed the many women sorting and drying the red chili fruits.
Hampi is a popular stop on the backpackers’ circuit through India/Nepal. It is a relaxed place, with plenty of places to chill out and an abundance of ruins to admire. In the 15th century, Hampi was a major city of almost half a million souls. Now it is mainly a banana plantation with wonderful temple ruins scattered among balancing boulders.

12-16 January – Beach camping at Agonda, Goa

Time to change environment and prepare for the next phase of our journey. We moved a few kilometers north to Agonda where overlanders can camp right on the beach. It is a lovely spot, although without any facilities. We set camp under the coconut trees and enjoyed lazy days on the beach. Dolphins were playing in the warm sea. Monkeys were playing in the bushes. Crabs were playing on the rocks. Our children were playing on the beach. They are tanned and really blond now, from all the sun and salty water.
Time has come for us to leave wonderful Goa. We are now heading north towards Nepal. We plan to cross the border about three weeks from now.

6-9 January – Gear Box Adventures, Goa

A phone call from an air cargo company told us that the new gear box had arrived from the UK and was now in customs. Ola waved goodbye to family beach life and drove Alhambra to customs. After a full day of Kafka experiences, and a more thorough understanding of the art of Indian corruption and bureaucracy, Ola had taken possession of the gear box. All the 15 customs officials and agents were richer than before, and smiling. Ola was a bit poorer than before, but still smiling.
After asking around, Ola found a car repair workshop which looked reasonably tidy. It was in the city of Vasco da Gama. Three days of vary hard work followed in the garage. Ola, the service manager Felton, and mechanic Ganesh worked twelve hours per day.

Finally, the new gear box was fitted and everything was working. Ola could reunite with family and we celebrated with a nice dinner in the evening. Now we have a functioning vehicle again!

1-11 January 2009 – Patnem & Palolem, Goa

We continued our addictive beach life in Goa. We spent most days at beautiful Patnem Beach. Nina took a one week course in Ashtanga Yoga. She was very satisfied. We went on a day trip to Turtle Beach with the Fernström family, enjoying today’s oyster catch in the smallest of beach shacks.

28-31 December – Goa, India

We have met many Swedish people in Goa. It seems to be a very popular tourist destination for Swedes. The children have found new friends and we have had a lot of fun with two Swedish families from Stockholm.

After Christmas the Palolem Beach has become more crowded, so we have spent our days at the quieter Patnem Beach nearby.
We wish you all a Happy New Year 2009

21-27 December – Grandmother in Goa, India

The week with grandmother was fantastic. She had not seen the kids in several months and it was a very happy reunion. We spent a lot of time on the beach, swimming and playing. We enjoyed the excellent food in Goa and talked for hours.

Grandmother’s suitcase contained Christmas presents and some real Swedish herring! Our seafood platter on Christmas Eve is a lasting memory.

And our day trip to Margao, Old Goa and Panaji was very nice, giving us a glimpse of Goa’s colonial past.

The children were sad when grandmother left. The week passed so quickly.

19-20 December – Panaji to Palolem, Goa, India

We celebrated our arrival to Goa with a nice lunch at Hospedaria Venite in Panaji, the capital of Goa. After that we went to the Main Post Office to check on our Poste Restante. We were very happy to find five large envelopes with letters and gifts. Many thanks!

That night we had great difficulties to find a place to camp. In the end we simply set camp on a small street in the middle of Panaji. It was one of the oddest places we have slept in so far.
The following morning we were supposed to look for a garage/workshop which could help us to change the gearbox. We had ordered a new gearbox from the UK and it should arrive by air freight in one or two weeks. However, we were now told that 19 December is a very important national holiday since it marks the day when, in 1961, Goa became independent from Portugal after being a colony for more than 400 years. So we went directly towards Palolem Beach instead. From what we had read and heard, this would be an ideal beach for us during grandmother’s visit.

The countryside in Goa is very beautiful, with rice paddies, jungle, palm trees, spice plantations, rolling hills, Portuguese colonial architecture, Hindu temples, white churches and a wonderful coastline with sandy beaches. A few kilometers from Palolem, in the south of Goa, we took a detour to Agonda Beach to try to find a camp site on the beach which we had heard rumors about. That turned out to be a bad idea. You should not relax until you have crossed the finish line.

We ended up having to make a u-turn on a very narrow and steep road. We did not have a reverse gear, and the road was too steep to push the car. So we had to build bridges for the wheels to take us across a deep ditch. Just as we had crossed our improvised bridges they collapsed. But the car was now standing firmly on the road again! Relief.
Time to go to Palolem. No more detours. We found a nice hotel in Palolem and settled in. We went to the beach and found it to be a real paradise beach with white sand, coconut palm trees, clear and clean water, nice restaurants and a friendly atmosphere. Now we were prepared for the arrival of grandmother.

14-18 December – The long road to Goa

The time had come for us to head south towards Goa. The children’s grandmother (Ola’s mother Lisbeth) would come to Goa on 21 December to spend Christmas with us. We did not want to be late for that! And we had to find a nice place to stay in Goa. We had about 2000 km to drive, so we knew it would take several days. But we ran out of luck (Murphy’s Law). Strange noises started coming from the gearbox. Suddenly we discovered that fifth gear had disappeared. Then the reverse gear stopped working. And we continued losing a gear every half hour until only fourth gear remained. Terrible noises were heard from the gearbox. We still had more than 1700 km to go.

The fourth gear was still working an hour later, so we decided to take a crazy gamble and try to drive the whole way to Goa. Since we could not reverse, we spent the nights camping at the roadside at bus stops, petrol stations and canteens. The closer we got to Goa, the more our spirits rose. After five very challenging days and 1700 km in fourth gear we actually reached Goa. Our gamble had succeeded and we were very happy!