And now for something completely different

In India, after a hard day of temple hopping and religious epiphanies, we like to unwind and get in a solid groove on the dance floor. A heartfelt thank to my sister Nansper Kepanster for the link, I almost vomited my lungs because of uncontollable laughing.

in Jodhpur

kine 011, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

Almost all of Jodphur is blue...

kine 002, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

We found a group of women at the fort entrace and they let me take a couple of pictures of them (usually women will not let you do that). After a little while, everyone wanted to have their pictures taken.

These hats are good luck, so they say

kine 009, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

kine 010, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

Queen of the desert

kine 006, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

Ready to go!

kine 002, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

We had a total of three camels. One for me, one for Manue, and one to carry our food, tent and blankets. Oh, and five guys working for us!

Desert folk

kine 007, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

A cuppa

kine 005, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

One of the many chai-stops in the desert.

In Bikaner (Rajasthan)

Still no pictures to show - as we are travelling further in the west (towards the desert), the computers are getting older and slower, and so it is impossible to connect my camera and upload pictures. It's really too bad, because the Sikh Golden Temple was magnificent. Yesterday we hired a driver to drive us to Bikaner, a desert city. It took about 9 hours to get there, and we are now staying in an lovely old palace (for about 18$ a night), an old residence of a first cousin of the mahajara.

For those who asked: after a few days of headaches and nausea, I'm finally starting to feeling better. Next up: a camel safari, tomorrow!

In bed.

Sorry, no pictures today folks. I'm a little sick and most definitely not taking pictures right now. See you tomorrow maybe, we'll be in Amritsar in the afternoon. I'll try to post pictures of the Golden Temple.

Still in Shimla

kine 017, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

The main street of Shimla (called "The Mall") rests on a ridge, so whichever way we turn our heads, we have this sort of view. Left or right, it goes downhill. Numerous bazaars zigzag up and down between streets (car free of course), and shopping is like going hiking.

A room with a view

kine 001, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

From the Nalziel Hotel. Only abour 15 buck per night - we have cable tv, but who needs tv when you have a view like this? The only drawback: it's freezing cold in there.

Shimla me timbers!

kine 006, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

Also known as The Summer Refuge, Shimla looks like something out of a Switzerland travel brochure, except it's a bit run down (but very clean and orderly by indian standards).

On the way to Shimla

kine 010, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

Yesterday we took a 7 hour train to Shimla, a Hill Station perched in the Hymalayas. The train stopped a lot for "chai tea stops", and so we could step off the train and shake our legs (and drink tea of course)

On the way to Chandigarh

kine 003, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

Yesterday, Jan 2nd: Emmannuelle reads her book on the train - heading for Chandigarh, in the state of Punjab. We rode 2 trains of 4 hours each from Agra to New Delhi, and then New Delhi to Chandigarh.

The Taj Mahal

kine 027, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

Depending on the time of day, the marble color of the Taj will change - in the morning it has a pink hue.

The Taj Mahal

kine 021, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

Holy cow: look at that thing!

Thank god for autorickshaws...

kine 032, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

They are cheap and a lot of fun! Here we are sitting in front of the autorickshaw we hired for the day today - Vicky shlept us all around the city for 400 rupies (around 10 bucks).

The Red Fort

kine 039, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

The biggest in India, this fort has a bunch of mosques and plenty indian tourists visiting it.

Happy New Year!

kine 043, originally uploaded by Kinster Nepinster.

I'm sitting on a hotel rooftop, in Agra, and you can see the Taj Mahal in the backdrop. This was a couple of hours ago...