Martine

even in india. and though i would have loved to decorate my flat with christmas ornaments of santas on elephants, elfs on camels, and maybe even cover a palm tree in christmas lights, my friends have come all the way from norway to rescue me from wintery delhi and take me to warmer climates .

my brother fredrik and his friend martin left delhi last night for amritsar, and tomorrow  my friends martin and anders will arrive from norway. we will explore neemrana where we will spend chistmas eve in a fort from the 1400s, jaipur where we will ride on elephants at the amber fort, and  mumbai where martin has promised to do a bollywood number at the train station, before we embark on a houseboat in the kerela backwaters for new years with fredrik and his friends.

while martin and anders will sadly set sail for norway after this, the rest of us will continue our great indian adventure with a bangalore road-trip before we return north a weak later for some (long overdue on my part) sight seeing in delhi.  i will be saying good bye to my friends shortly after this, and will continue the last leg of my trip to the north east on my own. oh what a month it will be! i am sure i will return with thousands of pictures and will upload them to my blog as soon i am back behind a computer.

merry christmas everyone!

there are a lot of things i never thought i would do in india. without a doubt horse back riding up the snowy mountains of kashmir tops that list. though wearing multiple layers of wool and still feeling cold was a new experience in india, winter in kashmir definitely has its charm. especially when you stay in a wooden houseboat on the dal lake and in the maharajas old palace by the lake, explore pahalgam by horse and ride the gondola up the snow filled mountains of gulmarg, and last but not least drink a lot of kashmiri kahwa tea. see for yourselves.

shikara - lonely boat taxi on the dal lake

corner shop

misty morning lake

horses

snow in india!

pahalgam in the morning

can you see the fish in the gurudwara pond?

om and aruna dressed up like kashmiris in the mughal garden

garden pavillion

children playing in the garden

sign on the way to gulmarg

sign in gulmarg

i want one of these

gulmarg gondola

gulmarg chic

last week i finally visited kolkata, the india of my childhood. like the rest of india, the city is constantly changing. though some of my childhood favourites had faded, it is still the city i would pick over any other city in india. i was there with my parents for a silver wedding anniversary, and i even got to play rotarian for a day.

new market

busy busy new market

famous yellow ambassador taxi

hooghly by night

east kolkata wetlands

more wetlands