Travelling

Udubi railway station somewhere between Goa and Kerala. 

Train travel in India is fun but has changed  a bit during past years. Back in the early 90's there were loads of hawkers at all the stations and on the trains selling food, drinks and what not. Now the sales people need licenses and it was not so easy to get stuff to eat... 

Trains stop at stations and there are kiosks, but you never know how long the stop lasts.. so you better take care not to miss the train whilst queueing for snacks.

Timetables seem to be more reliable now, though.. and you can book tickets online... vs trying to find the foreigners counter at strange railway station in earlier days.

I love train travel in India.

It is very interesting to look at the countryside and smaller towns when travelling. people going about their business: tending to children, animals, laundry, cooking...

Transport

This couple on a bicycle riksha was obviously on their way from a Holi party. Taken in Old Delhi, outside Jama Masjid, on the 1st of March 2010.
These bicycle rikshas are really handy on the narrow alleys of Old Delhi Market, including Chandni Chowk. Although even these rikshas get caught in "traffic" sometimes. But it is an experience to sit on one and observe the busy streets and shops with gold saris, spices, jewellery, and what ever else is there is on sale...
By the way, if you wanna experience Delhi without traffic, try Holi day. Totally surreal to travel on street normally jam packed with cars, trucks, people and rikshas and what not, and they are almost totally empty!
For those of you not familiar with Holi, it is basically a spring festival, festival of colours, people throwing colour powders, or coloured water on each other.

View

Sitting in the shade, letting warm air brush against your skin and listening to the rush of the waves... Sipping a fruit drink, shake or a beer and just enjoying! Just looking at this picture takes me there...

This picture was taken in 2007 and it has been too long! I miss Goa!

Shack

Our regular shack, Jolly Boys, in Goa, Calangute Beach. This photo was taken on New Year's Eve 2004.
Lots of memories attached to that holiday, this shack etc.
During this holiday we chose not to have breakfast at the hotel but went mostly to Jolly Boys and had banana pancakes, fruit shakes, and everything nice... Also had many lunches and dinners there.
During this particular holiday there was also the Tsunami which took so many lives even in India, but luckily did not affect the west coast. We did notice that the sea was behaving oddly, watched the horrid pics on TV and at least I formed many escape strategies in my mind for eventual similar devastation... The children took it in stride.
Friends and relatives at home were of course worried for us, but we were totally ok.
And New Year was celebrated as usual in Goa... with fire works and dances...whether this was good or bad, I do not know, but: Life goes on!

Another Beach

Who says there are no beaches in London? Well, I would have sworn there were not until I saw this one in July 2009. Unfortunately the weather was not too sunny, but some people seemed to enjoy beach life anyhow. 

This is at the Southbank, which is really nice area with lots to do and to see. Enjoy walking there any day.

Beach

Calangute Beach in Goa, January 2008. This beach was my "home beach" in the early 90´s and still I like to go back... Something has changed since those days. There were no sun beds or sun shades then, no watersports available either. And less shacks, also less people. Water and sand remain, and the lovely sea food and nice drinks some shacks offer!
Winters in Goa, when there are no clouds on the sky, no fear of rain and lovely relaxed atmosphere... I miss them!

Work

A man hard at work planting rice on a rice paddy in Goa, India. Photo taken outside a temple in January 2005.
It is amazing how the brown fields turn into brilliant green paddy fields, but it does take a lot of work. All day, many days in the mud with bare feet, hoe in hand, must be back breaking.
The green fields do look nice later, but I guess more important than looking nice is that the rice grows again!
On average they get 2 rice harvests a year in Goa.

Near but high

This summer 2010 our family only took a short trip to the neighboring countries. This picture is from Copenhagen Tivoli. There is this new ride: Himmelskibet (The Star Flyer), which is 80 meters high. Worlds tallest carousel, they call it.
Here we are waiting for our turn, the second time. We went on first daytime and then wanted to see the scenery (= whole Copenhagen and surroundings) also when it was dark. What an experience!
I really love amusement parks and all kinds of rides. And this is one of the best: high up with just some stupid wires holding the seat, wind blowing in your ears and magnificent view, bare feet hanging in the air... a bit chilly even on a hot day.

Traditional tourist destination

I have always been intrigued about dinosaurs, and really wanted to see the skeleton at the Natural History Museum in London. Unfortunately it was so big that the head did not fit in the picture.
This is us posing next to the skeleton in summer 2003. My boys did not find this as interesting as the "live" model dinosaurs in the other room which moved and made noises.
But imagine: how much work it must have been to piece this together?

Travellers

This photo is from June 1993 when I was travelling in India and Nepal.
We met this family on the banks of Ganges in Rishikesh. They were tourists like us, but domestic, from Rajasthan. They had come by bus from the desert state all the way to the Himalayan foothills.
Many times when we met domestic tourists, and locals as well, they asked us, where in India did we come from. We considered this quite funny being two blond girls from Finland.
The most common question was, of course, what our religion was.