Lene & Synøve

we were looking forward to several relaxing days in goa. even though it rained a few days, we still got sunburned...

mister lene

goa is beautiful and very different comapring to the other places we have seen.

green goa

we spent a night in the southern part of goa, it was too quiet and boring so we left towards baga beach (the north) the morning after

our hotel in south goa

the influence of the portuguese is prominent. you see a lot of churches and the people here are mostly catholics.

the currents were very strong, there were red flags signaling that swimming was prohibited.

goa is famous for its party scene

mmm... strawberry flavoured shisha

synøve 'skåler' with ashwin

synøve with suresh waiting for alcohol

b52 shots

haha synøve's straw melted :p

cheese!

clubbing in goa

the conclusion is, you either love or hate india. and i obviously loved it!
india is filled with extremes of weather, culture, religion, people and social class that you get such a varied experience in a short space of time. of course, we had a hectic schedule but it was all worth it!
i would definitely go back, and i am sure i will!

we had a day and a half in bombay before heading to goa. i was looking forward to it, so we could do some shopping

we stayed in a place called colaba, it's quite central and popular for tourists.

synøve in front of taj palace.

the beautiful victoria terminus, railway station

taxis in india look cool

the interior, 70's style!

a lot of pigeons in bombay

enjoying my kingfisher

synøve waiting for the bill at leopold's cafe

after few days exploring the kama sutra temples, we headed for one of the oldest cities in the world, varanasi.

synøve and i at the airport

our awesome ride

during the first night of our stay we went to the river ganges, to view a ceremony dedicated to this precious river. we sat with the locals, enjoying the ceremony. the music, the various smells of incense, the atmosphere made it a breathtaking experience!

at the ghat

items used at the ceremony

sitting with the locals

the ceremony

we walked the streets after the ceremony, it was quite dusty and crowded.

sightseeing was a great part of our agenda. we went to sarnath, the place where gautama buddha had his very first lecture. many buddhists come here to pray.

sarnath

the place where buddha preached the first time, about suffering and the noble eightfolded path

we visited a temple, not far from the hotel we were staying at.

outside the temple. the bells are put there by people who prayed daily and finally got their wishes granted.

synøve and i with the spiritual teacher and his grandson.

we even got a blessing from him (as you can see on our foreheads)

one of my highlights was also our boat trip in the river ganges. we left the hotel at 4.45 am (you can imagine how tired we were!) but it was all worth it!

buddhists on the way to the river

the lovely sunrise

people having their morning bath

the view, awesome colours!!

After saying good bye to our lovely driver Rotash, we headed on the train on the way to Jhansi and got picked up at the train station.

Synøve at the train station

the reason for our visit in khajurao are the famous kama sutra carvings. these detailed carvings are a story map of gods, godesses, apsara dancers, women, musicians and erotic images.

i was actually surprised of the level of eroticism on some of the carvings...

in front of a temple

it is said that these erotic carvings are metaphors, also promoting yoga...
additionally, many newly wed couples visit these temples for as long as a week, to thoroughly study these images; so they may practice the numerous sexual positions (over 70 of them) behind closed doors.

during battle, some men were gone for as long as 5 years at a time. the women stayed at home in the villages.. so they had to go for the next best thing..... it was actually common in those days (!!)

Poor little sea bisquit

it is amazing to think that these temples were constructed between ca 950-1150.
i have seen the temples of angkor in cambodia. the temples in khajurahop are unique due to the 'kama sutraness'. but i would argue that the temples in cambodia are more grand, and also, more preserved

Taj Mahal is definitely one of the highlights of our trip.
all i got to say is that you have to experience it for yourself (preferably with a guide so he may explain the style of architecture as well as the story behind it).

synove and i outside the first 'gate', entrance to the taj mahal.

the lovely taj mahal!!

you don't really get the feeling of its size, but trust me, it's massive!

it's all made of natural stone. the writings are in black onyx

this is a photo of 'itimad ud daulash', also called the 'baby taj'.

sorry for being short and not explaining thoroughly.. as you all know we have a very hectic schedule. but i don't mind. we have experienced a lot during a short period of time. many people are not able to see india, or even go abroad... so i feel fortunate to be able to do so..

i want to share some more photos of Jaipur, as it was truly an amazing city, as well us our first encounter with the state Uttar Pradesh.

synove and i went elephant riding on the way to the city palace, which was situated on top of a hill.

chilling out in front of the palace.

our guide Dilipsing showed us the market in Jaipur, he also bargained for us so we got good deals
here you see some snacks (mostly nuts).

photo from inside the train, on the way to bharatpur.

here we are on the way to see fatehpur sikri

outside the lovely fortified ancient city fatehpur sikri

here you can donate a cloth (and flowers) which apparently goes to charity (poor people in the area).

after that you tie three threds on the wall, representing three wishes. here you see synove making a wish

it is said that emperor went to a saint to wish for a son, and after numerous daughters he finally got one. the shrine of the saint is where we lay the cloths. it is thus said that the wishes you make here are granted (if you keep it a secret).

who would have known that we would experience a proper indian wedding!!!! talk about being in the right place at the right time!!!

the guy that sorted out our travel agenda, ajaz, knows the family of the bride, one of the wealthiest families in rajasthan.

the decorations only cost... brace yourself, about 250.000 norwegian kroner.. you do the math! it's expensive to say the least.. i cannot imagine what the wedding costs in total, plus the dowry which consists of 1kg gold, luxury car, jewelry, money to mention a few...

so this was an amazing experience.i feel very fortunate to be part of the celebration.

people dancing happily outside the entrance

CHEESE

the groome waiting patiently outside.

Ganesh

beautiful colors!

after a while we finally got to see the bride, her sari was amazingly beautiful and full of expensive gems and jewellry.

one of the many many food stalls (starters and salads etc.)

...more food

the food and spices were made fresh on the spot.

the food was amazingly good (only vegetarian food). but unfortunately most of the dishes was too spicy for me well,at least i tasted it all...

ajaz,me and a friendly guy who explained about the different food, as well as the traditions of indian weddings.

some indian sweets
too sweet for me.. except for one that tasted like marzipan.

fruit anyone?

Har desvaerre ikke faatt lagt saa mye ut paa bloggen vaar, da vi har det travelt og har mye aa oopleve her. Heller ikke alltid like lett aa faa nettilgang.
Vi har akkurat vaert to dager paa et sted som heter Ranthambore. Det er ca 5 timers kjoretut fra New Dehli, og er et sted for wild life, jungelen omringer. Forst var vi paa morgensafari. Og det forste vi ser naar vi kjorer inn i nationalparken er en leopard som sprader paa fjelltoppen i soloppgangen. Videre gjennom jungelen baerer d, hvor vi ser aper, forskjellige fargerike fugler, villsvin, krokodille, firfisler, forskjellige typer hjortelignendedyr osv. Vi kjorer gjennom den eventyrlige naturen. Langt om lenge ser vi en tiger komme fram fra skyggen fra en stor stein som laa like ved et lite vannhull. Det har ikke regna paa lenge, noe naturen og dyrene baerer preg av. Fikk se den mektige tigeren vandre av gaarde inn i jungelen. Vi var ogsaa paa kveldssafari, hvor vi saa mange dyr. Fikk se en tiger denne gangen ogsaa. Hun laa aa kjolte seg i vannkanten. Det var ogsaa mange andre folk i jippene sine som begeistret saa paa tigeren. Vi fulgte tigeren da hun gikk av sted. Hun var en tolmodig tiger, som lot ca 15 jipper kjore rundt seg. Og til slutt saa vi at hun hadde faatt nok, for da begynte hun forsiktig aa snerre. Hun passerte like bak jippen vaar. For en opplevelse, helt fantastisk aa se en vill tiger saa naereme!

Paa kvelden var vi paa et indisk bryllup. Ble invitert av Ajaz(han som har lag opp hele ruta vaar i India). det var et vennepar av han som giftet seg. Det var et virkelig ekstravagant og stort bryllup. Masse glitter, stas, mat, musikk og mennesker. Torr ikke engang tenke paa hvr mye penger d maa ha kosta. Familien dems har tydeligvis veldig mye penger. Dette er et paradoks, naar man ser hvor mye fattigdom det er i India. Men det var en flott opplevelse for oss aa se hvordan et indisk bryllup foregaar!
I dag har vi kommet til Agra. Har sett Taj Mahal. Et helt nydelig syn, alt av marmor. Imponerende aa tenke paa hvor mye jobb de har lagt ned , og for saa mange aar siden! I tilegg har monimentet en romantisk og rorende historie bak seg. Bilder kommer senere.
Gleder oss til en opplevelsesrik tur videre

Aloha fellow blog readers,

After being ill from a delicious dish of spinach and lamb, i can finally update our blog.. yup, i had stomach pains, trips to the toilet, vomiting you name it! i have never experienced anything like it... think it was the bad meat.. but what can you do? of course we are careful but there is no guarantee. but it's worth it as i am able to taste numerous indian dishes.. we cannot live our life in fear eh?...

but after two days i am fine (thanks to indian medicine).

On the way to jaipur we had breakfast...checkout synove's 'club sandwich.' can you tell the ingredients?

an indian club sandwich please... or maybe not.

the gorgeous hawa mahal

Jaipur is said to be the first planned city in the world (according to our guide,the second most well planned city in the world). all the streets are 90 degrees straight, based on geometry and astronomy.

but the highlight for me was the city palace. it's massive consisting of several buildings, gardens and courtyards. it's dated from approx late 19th century. it is surprisingly well preserved.
on the way there we got to ride on an elephant

i enjoyed the mixture of different styles in the buildings; muslim, buddhist, christian and persian. it all conveys the dissimilarities of religion and culture. the king of the palace also had 12 wives, not because of boredom but to create an alliance with the other states in india.

it's fascinating to see the mixture of styles blending into one piece of architecture.

one of the many entrances

synove and i

the ceilings were painted beautifully

well, as you know, unfortunately i got ill due to the lovely spinach dish. our guide dilipsingh, is such a kind and considerate man. indians are the most caring and considerate people. the genuinely worry about your safety and happiness. he called the hotel 4 times during the evening i got ill,making sure i was ok. he also made sure that the hotel made me some tea, as the kitchen was closed for the evening.

the next day we decided to go to the doctor. dilipsing sorted it out and was with us every stepof the way

synove in front of the hospital.

I paid 5 rupies and waited literally for 5 minutes before entering the doctor's office. the diagnosis was some sort of travel illness (due to heat, different bacteria, food etc.)

me with the friendly doctor. this is a government run hospital

the population of jaipur is 3.5 million. norway has about 4.5 to 5 million. why do people have to wait months for a check up/ operation etc?

dilipsing and i collecting the drugs

our flight to london left at 06.20 AM, so you can imagine how knackered i was (i still am). i was so excited i hardly slept that night...

here we are in the car on our way to Rugge airport

my mom and sister greeted us at stansted airport and had breakfast together at costa coffee.. it was nice
then we took the non stop bus to heathrow airport (1 hour 40mins).

after finally boarding the plane to new delhi, we sat close to this indian guy with a serious case of B.O that i have ever encountered. it was horribly strong. i guess the air-stewardesses were used to those exotic smells as they sprayed the plane with some sort of air freshener before take off.. it actually improved the air quality (thank God).

when we landed this morning, it was 30 degrees! and it was 6 AM!.

we checked in at ajanta hotel. after a power nap we went sightseeing!

First impression of India was the heat. this is the hottest season, not only was it 47 degrees that day, the wind was hot, not warm! it was worse than being in a sauna... even i was struggeling, and i love the heat...
secondly, the people.. the amount of people is breathtaking. there are people where ever you go. the feeling of chaos is immense, i don't understand how anyone can drive here, there are no lanes, there are trafick lights missing, bikes and people walking amongst the cars... and don't forget the cows! the poor skinny cows are just wondering around, they don't look happy...

first stop sightseeing was at the spice market in the old part of Delhi.

spice

the place was buzzing and you could smell the mixture of spices in the air.

synove and i at red fort!

sorry this is short, but there is more sightseeing to be done...