Streets of Mumbai

The street in front of our hotel lit up for the Diwali Celebrations with very loud music and fire crackers which makes us feel like we are under siege. This has been going on for 4 days now!!


All the trucks look like circus trucks

The Mumbai taxis that run on liquid gas

Street slums of Mumbai where you see people sleeping, eating, bathing and even see kids doing their business

This was somones home until the government decided to relocate them

Mumbai street scene... this boy was running next to the car to be in the picture

This must be the nicest view we've seen from a hotel room....Unfortunately not ours

Check out the cables hanging in the air

This is one of the entrances to the train station. There seem to always be a "pong" in the air...
This should give you an idea of the traffic

Cars, trucks, busses, people and the occasional "holly cow"

The view from our room at Hotel Krishna Palace

Gateway of India - Mumbai

The Gateway of India is meant to be the starting point for most tourists who want to explore the city. Funnily enough there weren't a lot of tourists around on the day that we decided to check it out

The fact that there weren't a lot of tourists made us easy targets. I was approached by a group of people that wanted to have their picture taken with me. Another celebrity moment and like in Vietnam I still find this very amusing. Or should I say they find us amusing.....
We were blessed by a local holy man that tied sting around our arm, painted our third eye and gave us sugar to eat for good luck. We figured it's more a case of - the bigger the donation the luckier you'll be

Taxi old and older

The Queens necklace through the smog

About the Gateway of India

Mumbai's most famous monument. It was built as a triumphal arch to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary, complete with four turrets and intricate latticework carved into the yellow basalt stone. Ironically, when the Raj ended in 1947, this colonial symbol also became a sort of epitaph: the last of the British ships that set sail for England left from the Gateway. Today this symbol of colonialism has got Indianised, drawing droves of local tourists and citizens. Behind the arch, there are steps leading down to the water. Here, you can get onto one of the bobbing little motor launches, for a short cruise through Mumbai's splendid natural harbour.

Taj Mahal in Agra (7 October'06)

Our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal

It is an amazing monument and changes colour depending on the time day

Hehehehe...We were instructed by our guide to pose for this very touristy shot!

The Monument is full of optical illusions and the flower patterns are insets of precious stones that give it the appearance that it's been painted

A Jamuna river that runs behind the Taj where Marc and I took a wrong turn and stumbled upon a cremation ceremony. We didn't quite figure out what all the black smoke and the funny smell was until we saw a burning raft next to the river. Needless to say we didn't hang around to photograph it. We got out of there in a hurry and were rather shocked over our macabre find

The wall around the Taj (one of the entrances) next to where Emperor Shah Jahan's first two wives were buried...note the holly cow walking down the street
Marc negotiating a price for our tour guide that led us around the Taj. We were of course bombarded by the locals trying to sell us all sorts of goodies

About the Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal is regarded as one of the eight wonders of the world, and some Western historians have noted that its architectural beauty has never been surpassed. The Taj is the most beautiful monument built by the Mughals, the Muslim rulers of India. Taj Mahal is built entirely of white marble. Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond adequate description, particularly at dawn and sunset. The Taj seems to glow in the light of the full moon. On a foggy morning, the visitors experience the Taj as if suspended when viewed from across the Jamuna river.
Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim, Emperor Shah Jahan (died 1666 C.E.) in the memory of his dear wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra, India. It is an "elegy in marble" or some say an expression of a "dream." Taj Mahal (meaning Crown Palace) is a Mausoleum that houses the grave of queen Mumtaz Mahal at the lower chamber. The grave of Shah Jahan was added to it later. The queen’s real name was Arjumand Banu. In the tradition of the Mughals, important ladies of the royal family were given another name at their marriage or at some other significant event in their lives, and that new name was commonly used by the public. Shah Jahan's real name was Shahab-ud-din, and he was known as Prince Khurram before ascending to the throne in 1628.
Taj Mahal was constructed over a period of twenty-two years, employing twenty thousand workers. It was completed in 1648 C.E. at a cost of 32 Million Rupees. The construction documents show that its master architect was Ustad ‘Isa, the renowned Islamic architect of his time. The documents contain names of those employed and the inventory of construction materials and their origin. Expert craftsmen from Delhi, Qannauj, Lahore, and Multan were employed. In addition, many renowned Muslim craftsmen from Baghdad, Shiraz and Bukhara worked on many specialized tasks.
The Taj stands on a raised, square platform (186 x 186 feet) with its four corners truncated, forming an unequal octagon. The architectural design uses the interlocking arabesque concept, in which each element stands on its own and perfectly integrates with the main structure. It uses the principles of self-replicating geometry and a symmetry of architectural elements.
Its central dome is fifty-eight feet in diameter and rises to a height of 213 feet. It is flanked by four subsidiary domed chambers. The four graceful, slender minarets are 162.5 feet each. The entire mausoleum (inside as well as outside) is decorated with inlaid design of flowers and calligraphy using precious gems such as agate and jasper. The main archways, chiseled with passages from the Holy Qur’an and the bold scroll work of flowery pattern, give a captivating charm to its beauty. The central domed chamber and four adjoining chambers include many walls and panels of Islamic decoration.
The mausoleum is a part of a vast complex comprising of a main gateway, an elaborate garden, a mosque (to the left), a guest house (to the right), and several other palatial buildings. The Taj is at the farthest end of this complex, with the river Jamuna behind it. The large garden contains four reflecting pools dividing it at the center. Each of these four sections is further subdivided into four sections and then each into yet another four sections. Like the Taj, the garden elements serve like Arabesque, standing on their own and also constituting the whole.

Greetings from Mumbai

Hi All,

Unfortunately we have not had a decent Internet connection in order to update the blog but thought we'd give you a quick update.

Mumbai is hard to describe, it’s a bit a of sensory overload. A Real assault on ones senses. Every day is a school day - some times it feels like a zone that mixes the 21st century and the Middle Ages. Generally the people are friendly but don't put them behind a steering wheel as they turn into demon alter egos. A part from the "pong" that hangs in the constant haze of pollution and the curried omelette and fruit salad we are doing well.

We are hoping to get to Bangalore by the end of next week and we are looking forward to starting our search for what will be our "home".

We'll update the blog with photo's soonest.

Trip to Cambodia - The Ancient Angkor Ruins

We decided to take a short break seeing that Monday was a public holiday in HCMC. Only an hour’s flight and we were in Siem Reap a small colonial town just north of Southeast Asia’s largest lake, Tonle Sap. It was a welcome 3 day break from the hectic streets of HCMC.

Siem Reap is charming and pleasant town in Cambodia, with some fine examples of French colonial architecture though modern developments, mostly in the form of hotels, has been swift here in recent years since the slow demise of the Khmer Rouge. Now that the town is safe again, visitors have been flocking in, using it as a base for visits to nearby Angkor ruins.

The Angkor Temple Ruins were truly amazing. What a magical place...We bought 3 day temple passes and visited some of the significant temples. I won’t give you a history lesson on the Angkor Ruins but if you are interested, you can check out the links.

When we arrived at about 8pm on Friday night the driver told us that the hotel that I pre-booked was unfortunately fully booked and that they've booked us into another hotel. After checking into the Hotel, which wasn't anything like the one I booked though, we went to a very nice restaurant/bar where Marc ate the most delicious Amok fish (a famous Khmer dish).

On Saturday morning we visited a couple of the temples. At lunch time we decided to find out what went wrong with our booking. They explained that they were fully booked on the Friday night but that they could accommodate us for two nights. Happy to move, we checked out of the Angkor Mekong Palace and into the Angkor Star Hotel at 35USD per room/per night incl. breakfast.


Here are pictures of some of the temples that we visited over the 3 days. To name a few; Angkor Thom, Bayon, Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, Ta Som, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei:












We walked to a temple on top of the hill and watched the sun set over the Siem Reap River surrounded by jungle




We watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat on Monday

There are so many kids selling or should I say "harassing you to buy" scarfs, bracelets, clothes, refreshments etc. It goes something like this: Hey Lady, you buy T-shirt, cheap price...only 5$, 3 for 10$...ok, ok I give you 4 for 10$...Hey lady, you buy bracelets...15 for 2$, 20 for 2$, ok, ok only 1$..I give you 15 for 1$ ok, you buy, you buy now! And so it goes....It is actually really funny how they deliver their little sales pitch which to us sounded like a broken record.

This is how the kids come running up to you


This little girl, managed to get it right. Ok, it was me...I just couldn't say no anymore. I mean look at her cute little face!! She was selling postcards, a pack of 10 for 1$

"Pub Street" were all the restaurants and bars are. What a great place. We really enjoyed the food but mostly just sitting in a restaurant observing what goes on e.g. tuk tuk's going past, children playing in the street and selling stuff, small children running around naked...

We enjoyed a couple of cocktails. Most of the restaurants and bars sell them for 3$ (buy 1, get one free)

People live in houses like these next to the river. Driving through the village we saw people bathing, washing dishes, dressing their kids, lying in hammocks, fishing...

I tried a Amok Fish from a different restaurant, which they served in a coconut

These two boys ran around naked in the street and when they got tiered they went to sleep on their dad's book stand