Octopussy and Maharana princess for one day

If you or your VISA/Amex/Mastercard (or the three combined) can afford it (sort of), allow yourself to be a Bondgirl or Maharana princess for a day at the Taj Palace Hotel in Udaipur. Home of Octopussy in the Roger Moore 007 movie and still owned by a Maharana heir, staying at the wonderful white palace in the middle of Lake Pichola is an unforgettable experience.














The service is almost uncomfortably impeccable. When dropped off at the City Palace, a beautiful Indian girl leads you to the private jetty that will take you to the island where a Punjabi waits for you with a tradtional umbrella, providing you with shade until thousands of fuchia rose petals falling out of the sky touch your hair... You feel like a bride, princess and movie star at the same time! Wish I was carrying my LV bag in stead of a very dusty and muddy backpack.







Your butler seems to know what you are doing and/or need before you know it...a failed poolside attempt to acces internet on my Ipad is immediately discovered (from out of nowhere someone appeared: "madam, I noticed you have trouble accessing the internet"). You are offered a new chilled bottle of water before you realize your water warmed up in the sun. When leaving the pool, you'll find a basket with fluffy towels, a guy with a tulband is playing the flute in the lily pond garden (once full of beautiful bond girls), little treats in your room when you come back after dinner, sipping delicious wine in the shade of the old mango tree, beautiful traditional dancers perform on the marble floor like they did for the king in the old days, the chef shows tou how to bake naan, the gym smells like jasmine flowers...this must be heaven!








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Location:Taj Lake Palace hotel, Udaipur, India

Spotted one in India as well...

...a toilet pot with two muddy footsteps on the seat! It must have been a Chinese lady that used it before me. Chinese cannot handle pots...longing for a squat toilet, this is their solution: just climb on top and squat anyway!! Love it, although it makes using the pot in question kinda tricky.

Evolution in China. Less people spit, so the "don't spit" signs slowly disappear. Now the restrooms in Starbucks have a "please do not climb on toilet" sign.

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Location:India and China

I want to ride my camel, I want to ride it now...

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Location:Jaisalmer, Rajastan province, India

A passage to Rajasthan

Rajasthan, the Land of Kings...home of the pink, the blue and the golden city and the Rajputs, warrior clans who claim to originate from the sun, moon and fire!

Maybe a bit too much on the beaten track for my taste (actually, the track is beaten to pulp by elderly tourists with fat reddish faces) but still a beautiful part of India. It is a land of palaces, desert, camels, jungle and culture

...and unfortunately, too many touts who are doing their utmost to make you hate their country. It is so disappointing having to acknowledge that in two weeks no one talked to you without asking you money in return. You cannot stop anywhere in the street to take a look on your map or read the Lonely Planet, if you take a peak in a store, the shopowner jumps on you, every restaurant overcharges tourists and you have to bargain hard for everything...after travelling all over the world (including to very poor countries) this is a new but I would not say very good experience...

India, it is said that you either hate or love it....I am not sure which camp I am in yet.

Anyway, there is Jaipur, chaotic and pink, with its colourful bazaars























Wonderful Jaisalmer in the middle of the desert with its golden sandstone fort which gives you an Ali Baba feel... Obviously, you cannot be in the desert without riding a camel and sleep under the stars. Although your but gets sore fairly quickly, the relaxing tingling of the bells of the camels makes you very relaxed!



























Blue Jodphur with an even more impressive fort and Hindus celebrating Dusshera (a festival celebrating the victory of the Hind god Rama over the demon king Ravana. It gives a real Indian feel. Hundreds of colourful smiling women and children in their best saris! The afternoon ends up being one big photoshoot...all attendees of thd festival like to have their picture taken by me in their festival outfits (see "Faces of India"). Late at night, the women and children are dancing on load Indian pop music in the light of the street lanterns. An amazing day and night!

























Last but not least, romantic Udaipur with its fairytale like palace in the middle of Lake Piccola

























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Location:Rahajstan province, India

Faces of India

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Location:India

Taj Mahal - A teardrop on the cheek of eternity

"A teardrop on the cheek of eternity" - Rabindranath Tagore

"The embodiment of all things pure" - Rudyard Kipling

"It makes the sun and moon shed tears from their eyes" - Emperor Shah Jahan (creator)

In reality, it is not all romance: the awful smell of holy river Yamuna, annoying touts, endless security checks and mass crowds (getting there before dawn does not help), but...once in your life, you must visit the Taj Mahal - tomb of Emperor Shah Jahan's beloved Mumtaz Mahal!

A cliche, but it is more beautiful and impressive than you can imagine.




Some facts:

- It took 22 years and 20,000 workers to built the Taj Mahal. Just when it finished, Emperor Shah Jahan was imprisoned in the (also very impressive Red Fort) by one of his sons.
- The 40m high minarets are leaning slightly outwards so that they do not crush the Taj in the event of an earthquake.
- It is a myth (or better no evidence was found) that Emperor Shah Jahan started construction of a black Taj for himself.
- Symmetry was eveything, so when a mosque was built on the west side, an identical building had to be constructed on the east side (it was used for royal guests)
- The marble is translucent and the inlaid red stones light up and sparkle in sunlight
- The guides are hopeless romantics and wannabe photographers...they make you jump, hug amd grab taj mahal....







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Location:Agra, India

Going Dutch in India - Delhi by cycle!

Like the big cities in China, India's capital Delhi is full of contrasts. Expensive malls versus small street shops, foodstalls versus high quality hip restaurants, tatas and rickshaws versus government ambassadors and a modern subway, narrow streets versus the stretched grounds of the baby Taj Mahal (Humayuns' tomb), India versus Britain, Hindus versus Moslims, rich versus poor, men versus women (subway cars are separate!).






Let's add a touch of Dutch...cycling the old city!

Although by far not as intense, smelly or crowded as Varanasi, cycling in Delhi stimulates all your senses. A chicken's head is being chopped off on your left, goat pooping on the right, STOP....sacred cow in front of your bike, TOOOOTOOOT, tuktuk tries to pass you in a too narrow street. DUCK!, loose hanging electricity wires....SNEEZE! Passing the spice market... It is a lot of fun though.

Wanna try it yourself: www.delhibycycle.com












Found some great restaurants in Delhi as well.

- Olive (Hamptons' chique in Delhi)
- Karim's (devine Mughal cuisine since 1913...mutton for breakfast...)
- Altitude in the posh Kham market (salads that do not give you a Delhi-belly)
- L'Opera (delicious coffee and treats)
- Veda (try the spicy prawns!)
- Lodi Garden restaurant (in Delhi's "Central Park")

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Location:Delhi, India