Day 1

Arrived in Lihue in the evening. Picked up our rental car from Hertz (1 min shuttle drive from the terminal). Upgraded the car to a Subaru Forester (AWD) due to some concern about the condition of a road we intended to drive the next day. Checked in at our hotel, the Aston Islander on the Beach in Kapaa [My Review].

Day 2

Got our state park camping permits in Lihue. Spent almost an hour waiting for the paperwork to be completed, but was glad we had been able to get all the permits we wanted on short notice (advance reservations of up to one year are sometimes required). Bought groceries for camping and to stock up our hotel fridge. Didn’t manage to get hold of a gas canister for our camping stove, so we’d have to make do with a Sterno. Bought topo maps at the museum shop. Rented snorkeling gear at Snorkel Bob’s.

Drove around to the west side of the island. To get to Polihale Beach we had to drive the last few miles on a notorious dirt road [Directions]. There had been a lot of rain prior to our arrival, and we had been warned when we got the permit that we’d get stuck for sure. But the road was starting to dry out, and we made it just fine (albeit covered with mud). Might even have made it with a compact car, but navigating the miles of potholes would have taken forever, and we’d have had to leave the car at the day use area at the end of the road. Found a beautiful spot to set up camp and walked up along the beach until we hit the end.

Polihale Beach Photos

Day 3

Drove back to Waimea and from there up to Koke’e State Park along the spectacular Waimea canyon. Stopped at the Koke’e Museum to ask about trail conditions. Started hiking from the end of the road at the Pu’uokila Lookout (amazing views down into Kalalau Valley and out into the ocean). Followed the (muddy) Pihea trail along the valley rim and then down into the Alakai Swamp (nice boardwalk). Followed the Alakai Trail from the intersection to its beginning at a picnic area with stunning views down Waimea Canyon. Headed back, with a small detour up Pihea Peak. Stayed at the Koke’e campground (near the museum).

Alakai Swamp Photos

Day 4

Drove down to Po’ipu. Po’ipu Beach looked a bit crowded, but we didn’t have trouble finding parking. The snorkeling turned out to be quite simple: Just had to stick the head underwater and watch all kinds of colorful fish swim up. Next we went on a (guided) tour of the Allerton Garden. They had some pretty amazing flowers and fruits growing there. Too bad the guide was more focused on keeping the group entertained with football jokes than lecturing… Before we headed back to the hotel to clean our gear and get a good night’s sleep, we were glad we checked out the “Spouting Horn” blowhole across the road from the garden [Movie].

Allerton Garden Photos

Day 5

Got up early and drove to the other end of the road, Ke’e beach, from where we hiked the Kalalau trail along the Napali coast 11 miles to Kalalau Beach. The trail is notorious for some scary bits along cliffs, but, being used to hiking in the mountains, we did just fine. On the other hand we lost a lot of time slipping along muddy sections of the trail (the first 2 miles were worst). Not to mention time lost crossing several streams (though none more than knee-deep) and filtering water. We also went through several cycles of getting rained on and drying out again, never bothered getting out our rain jackets. Reached Kalalau Valley as the sun was setting. The evening light combined with a rainbow or two made for a very scenic setting. By the time we reached the campground at the other end of the valley, it was dark. Surprised to find the campground packed; took us a while to find an even spot between the tents. [Tracklog]

Day 6

Wished we had a day to explore the valley and talk to the friendly “locals”, but we had to head back out…

Kalalau Trail Photos

Day 7

Long list of things to do on our last day: Find sea turtles (got lucky in the area next to Brennecker’s Beach, there was even a rare monk seal there). Visit the Museum in Lihue (no stunning exhibits, but interesting nevertheless). Return rented snorkeling gear. Clean our gear (and rental car). Return the snorkeling equipment. Buy gifts. Mail postcards. Print boarding passes. Even managed to swing by the Opaeka’a (yawn) and Wailua (wow) Falls [Movie].

Day 8

Our flight left early in the morning. On our last day a cold front had hit Hawaii; and since the weather back home in Seattle was nice, there was almost no noticeable difference when we got off the plane!

Useful Resources

• Ultimate Kauai Guidebook incl Updates [My Review]
• Kauai Forum at TripAdvisor — had all questions the guidebook didn’t cover answered there
• Kauai Explorer — ocean report and list of beaches and hiking trails
• Climate of Hawaii — some background information required to make sense of local weather forecasts
• National Weather Service: Area Forecast; Windward, Leeward and Mountain Forecasts
• Priceline.com — first time I used them, but seemed to work great for getting a good deal on the flight + hotel + car rental

Here are the exact routes taken on these two tours:

Ride the Ducks of Seattle

Tracklog

Seattle Sea Planes

Tracklog | Pictures

The routes were recorded with a Garmin eTrex H, and the maps were created with Robogeo.

Pictures & Movies

Tracklog (Google Earth)

November 17

Flight to Kigali with Brussels Airlines. Shared a room at the very comfortable Serena Hotel. Flights and hotels seemed to be booked out — there appeared to be a big event going on.

November 18

Drive to Akagera National Park (under 3 hours). Surprised by good condition of roads. Staying at the lodge inside the park. Got to see some animals during a short afternoon drive around the park.

November 19

Drive around the park all day. Got to see giraffes, zebras, hippos, water buffaloes, wild pigs, baboons, various antelopes, and lots of birds. Finding the animals doesn’t seem to be difficult even though there aren’t any large concentrations of animals. Great views and varied vegetation while driving up and down the hills in the park. Enjoyed trying to not fall off the roof of the Land Rover.

November 20

Back to Kigali. Stopover at the Genocide Memorial Center and the Hotel des Mille Collines (famous from the movie Hotel Rwanda). On to Volcanoes National Park (also under 3 hours from Kigali). Staying at the conveniently located Gorilla’s Nest lodge.

November 21

First gorilla visit, to the “Sabyinyo” group. November (beginning of the rain season) appears to be a convenient time for such visits as the gorillas come down to eat the bamboo that is growing at the foots of the volcanoes. Still ended up walking for about 2 hours (though at a slow pace). The gorillas are followed by trackers who radio the guide the current location of the gorillas. In addition to a guide, each group (maximum 8 people) is accompanied by 3 soldiers (following an incident with poachers a few years ago) and a porter for each person. Once contact is made with the gorillas visiting time is limited to 1 hour. I’m surprised how close we get — and how little the gorillas seem to care about us.

November 22

Hiked up to the lake in the Bisoke volcano crater. The hike starts at about 2′600m and goes up to 3′600m quickly. Rubber boots are a must for this hike, I’m glad I could borrow some. Got a guide plus the full complement of three soldiers, despite being the only person to be doing this hike. Once on top, the view was clouded… Back down, got to peek into the gorilla orphanage that is run by the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. Spoke with Lucy Spelman, the local person in charge of the project. Check out her blog!

November 23

Second gorilla visit, the “Group 13″. Again walked for about 2 hours before reaching the gorillas. This group was a lot more active than the first group (see pictures and movies)!

November 24

Back to Kigali. Buy some coffee and tea before catching an overnight flight back home.

Thanks…

…to Ged from Terra Incognita Ecotours for organizing this trip.

…to the weather, for holding back the rain until near the end.

…to the mosquitoes, for staying away.

The Marmot’s Paradise at Rochers-de-Naye is a steep, one hour train ride from Montreux. They have marmots from all over the world in large, open cages. Some of them are quite timid, others less so… Not quite the same as seeing these animals in the wild, of course, but you’re unlikely to get that close in the wild. Plus, they have Marmot souvenirs :-)

Walking back down to Montreux turned out to be a bit steep and sometimes slippery (thanks to the last patches of melting snow), but if you survive, the great views on the way down more than compensate for that.

Fortaleza

The first week was spent in Fortaleza attending the Swiss-Prot 20 Years conference. Nothing groundbreaking to report from there though the list of speakers was quite impressive and it is always interesting to hear or even meet people whose databases and software you use or whose books you have read.

I was staying along with the rest of the Swiss-Prot group at the Hotel Oasis Atlantico. Comfortable hotel with a central location and great breakfast buffet but perhaps not the kind of place I would book when traveling on my own — on the way back from Manaus I spent my last night in Brazil at the smaller Hotel La Maison.

Finding places for changing traveler’s checks turned out to be more difficult than expected. One small but central place that doesn’t charge a commision is the Confidence Cambio branch office at Av. Beira Mar 2500. There are two exchange offices at the airport but only one changes traveler’s checks and moreover charges a commission.

Here are some pictures and placemarks from Fortaleza.

Jericoacoara

Ended up in Jericoacoara for two days after missing my flight to Manaus. Didn’t regret this :-) Rebooking the flight with TAM was no problem either. Stayed at the Casa do Turismo which is quite nice and conveniently located but perhaps a bit overpriced. After walking around a lot I hired one of the many dune buggies with a driver for a day. Not a bad way to get to see the surroundings.

Here are some pictures and placemarks from Jericoacoara.

Amazonas

Still had almost three weeks time which I wanted to use to travel to one of the more remote and unpopulated areas in the region. Had already narrowed down the choice in advance to either Pico da Neblina near the border to Venezuela or Jaú National Park. Pico da Neblina turned out to be closed so the decision ended up being simple. But finding someone who would organize this kind of tour for one person on short notice and at reasonable cost was less simple (but not impossible, thanks to the people from the local government’s AmazonasTur office at the airport). Not all planning was done upfront, but what I ended up doing was going about a hundred kilometers up the Carabinani — a side river of the Rio Negro — with a motor boat and two guides, and paddling back in a canoe on my own. Great experience!

The flora and fauna in the park are quite interesting. Saw lots of birds and fish (including the infamous Piranhas), dolphins, crocodiles, monkeys, turtles, and heard or otherwise saw evidence of armadillos and wild pigs in many places. There are also plenty of insects. Good to have a mosquito net, though other parts of the Amazon must be worse. The single biggest danger in the region seems to be getting lost, so be sure to pack enough batteries for your GPS :-) One thing we didn’t see is other people, except for a group of poachers, some military police in pursuit of the poachers, and a small group of tourists back near the park entrance.

Some advice for people organizing a trip: Don’t get involved with a tour organizer who doesn’t have solid credentials. Get the actual guide involved in the planning as early as possible. Talk through the planned route and calculate how much gasoline will be required. If you are particular about food also go through the menu plan. Check both your own equipment and the equipment provided by the tour operator. If the tour operator starts getting vague or evasive at any point that’s a good sign he doesn’t know what he’s talking about or is hiding something and that you’ll be better off elsewhere.

A simple but nice and clean place to stay in Manaus is the Hotel Estrela at Rua Pedro Botelho 162.

Here are some pictures and placemarks from Manaus and Jaú. Note that timestamps are off by one hour as I hadn’t realized that the Amazonas region is one hour behind the rest of Brazil. Satellite images seem to have been taken when the water level was near its lowest mark whereas at the time of my visit the water level was just past its peak. Most of the areas that appear brownish in the map were flooded. Had the water level been much lower we might have had trouble passing the rapids in the lower part of the Carabinani river. Also, even though there was a lot of water in the main channels of the Carabinani, the side rivers of the Carabinani were almost impassable. I tried going up the Preguicinha — one of the larger side rivers of the Carabinani — but gave up after a few hundred meters.

Thanks to…

André Cruz from Eco-Discovery Tours for getting me where I wanted to go. Júlio Campos for the map. My two guides Norberto and Manuel for making sure that there was always some meat to eat. The people from Seu Delio for their hospitality. Edison and the other guys at the IBAMA base for getting me back to civilization. And João Paolo Costa Braga for helping me out in a tight spot in Novo Airão.

Pictures were taken with a Sony DSC-T3, and placemarks recorded with a Garmin Geko 301.

Namibia from above, looking rather boring	Approaching the airport	Arrival at the airport in Windhoek
Some big street in the city	The state museum	Bus stop with telecom ads
Statue near the museum	The parliament building	The largest hotel in town
The "Christuskirche" church	Street connecting a residential area to the center	Modern architecture
Building with colorful paintings	Sunset seen through an arch standing in someone’s garden	Windhoek’s skyline!
The railway station	Passengers waiting for a train	Vending machine with typical snacks
Truck stop on the trans Kalahari highway a few hours east of Windhoek	Last gas station before crossing over into Botswana	Rest stop in Botswana
Typical scenery along the highway	Some big bird sitting on a tree	Various signs near Gumare
The Gumare gas station	Ad for a "water survey" service	Street in Gumare
Trash and houses with satellite dishes	Women sitting under a tree	People crowding in front of some kind of community center
Woman in traditional dress, accompanied by a man in less traditional cloths	Hair dresser	Fashion shop
Road sign pointing to Etsha, a village close to the Okavango delta	Some houses in Etsha	Cute baby dogs playing under a shrub
The road leading from Etsha to the delta area	Guma Lagoon	A very twisted tree
Some small plants, forming a fence	Volley net	Papyrus shrubs growing in the water
Springbok hiding behind the shrubs	A mokoro, a kind of dugout canoe	Water lilly, up close
Typical vegetation in the delta	Mokoros, going where no other boat can go	Fish eagle sitting on a tree
My tent, standing under a tree	Mokoros parked on an island	Termite hill
Catfish, layed out to dry	Elephant, crossing through the water	Heading back to the camp in the late afternoon
Sunset over the delta	Last glimpses of the sun through a tree	Large field of water lillies
Elephant skull	Wart hog den	Baobab tree
Baobab tree, up close	One of the countless islands in the delta	Animal tracks in the sand
Hippos carefully observing the visitors	A small island	Island with several baobab trees
Yet another sunset over the delta	Evening entertainment	Loading all equipment back onto the boats
Caprivi Game Park, back in Namibia	Tall termite hill	The Okavango river
Some springbok…	…zebras…	…and austriches
Shopping time!	Pepsi advertisement	Dog looking intently at the apple in my hand
Rundu	Sealed road on the way to Etosha	Gravel road
Lunch break	An elephant at a water hole in Etosha	Two elephants!
Three elephants!	Finally, an entire elephant family	Kudu – note the curvy horns
Jackals looking for food	Zebra crossing the road	Sunset with giraffe
Lone gnu	Two pretty birds in a bush	And another one hopping on the floor
Two very nervous zebras	A beautiful gemsbok	Herd of gnus
Two gnus fighting	Bird nests in a tree	Water hole with two giraffes
Lizard climing up a tree	Gnu crossing the road	An extremely cute dikdik
Two zebras	Water hole with various giraffes	Giraffe drinking water
Giraffe family at a water hole	Fort at the Namutoni camp site	Plenty of animals
Hartebiest?	Road sign – and a warning	Two zebras – again!
Lots of zebras	Which way?	A very dead animal
Large group of animals near the horizon	Construction equipment	Sunset at the water hole at the Okaukuejo camp
Elephants at the water hole at night	Rhinos, too	Large nest built by social weavers (birds)
Watch tower at the Okaukuejo camp	Gas station	The camp gate
Lions!	Supermarket outside Etosha, on the way to the coast	Weird plant in the desert
Black hills	Red hills	Warning, curve ahead – an unusual event
Visitor center at Twyfelfontein	Rock engravings made by bush men thousands of years ago	Rock with giraffe chasing a herd of smaller animals
Anothr giraffe, and a lion with a long tail	Platform for viewing the engravings	Some kind of Edelweiss
Eroding pile of rocks	Brandberg, the largest mountain range in Namibia	Sparse vegetation
Public message board	Car art	Exciting landscape, not far from the coast
Settlement at Cape Cross	Seal colony at Cape Cross	Mother with baby seal
Street in Swakopmund	Light house	Beach, view to the north
Close up view of the beach	Jeep	Pay phone
Warning sign	Street leading towards the desert	Street leading towards the ocean
Raft for swimmers	Sand and waves	Beach, view to the south
Path behind the beach	Beachfront houses	Building with life-saving equipment
Pier	Seafood restaurant next to the pier	Sunset over the ocean
"No fishing" sign	A confident sandboarder	Oops!
This is easier and faster	Time to go home…	Football game
Light house, in the fog	Car wash facility	Who made these tracks?
An eco-tourist in the desert	Baby snake, burrying itself in the sand	Sunset with snake, dunes and ocean
Small plane for sightseeing	Dried up river	Walvis Bay Airport
Road crossing the desert	Mine in the desert	Power supply line
Mountain sticking out of the sand	Small settlement in the desert	The dried out Kuiseb river
Kuiseb Canyon	Lots of sand	Another mountain disappearing in the sand
Brown sand dunes	Red sand dunes	Gray sand dunes
The "Dead Vlei", a dried up lake	The Skeleton Coast	Seal colony
Ship wreck	View out of the cockpit	Salt works
Evaporating salt water	Harvested salt	Walvis Bay
Flamingoes	Settlement along the coast	Approaching Swakopmund from the south
Vacation homes at the north rim of Swakopmund	Back on the road: Flamingoes in the mist, Walvis Bay	Barren landscape on the way to Sesriem
At the bottom of a sand dune near Sesriem	At the top of the sand dune	Patterns in the sand
Sand and blue sky	Sunrise over the dunes in Sesriem	Dunes illuminated by the morning sun
Strange tracks in the sand	Dried up mud	Tough plant
Vegetation surrounding the dunes	A tourist taking a picture of himself	Walking towards Sossusvlei
Dead tree	Climbing over yet another sand dune	Another dead tree
Plenty of dead trees	The "Dead Vlei"	Sesriem canyon
Looking up from the bottom of the canyon	A tree growing in the canyon	Finally, the end of the canyon?

Special thanks to the team from Wild Dog Safaris who organized much of the trip. Pictures were taken with a Sony DSC-T3 and postprocessed with Picasa. Finally, here are some interesting placemarks for use with Google Earth.

Park Güell
		Lizard
Hospital de la Sta. Creu	Sagrada Familia, old	Sagrada Familia, new
Teatre Nacional de Catalunya	Auditori de Barcelona, close up
Parc estació del Nord		Tourist bus
Spare time	Arc de Triomf	Parc de la Ciutadella
Museu de Zoologia		Sta. Maria del Mar
Barri Gòtic	Museu Picasso	Catedral
Street musicians	Tourists, looking for open shop	Xocolateria
		Interesting shop
Mirador de Colón		Cable car over the port
Mall de la Fusta	French battleship, hiding in the shade of the WTC
Mall de la Barceloneta, history museum		Beach, from above
Port Vell	Relais Drassanes
	Incomplete	Olympics leftover
Torre de Calatrava	Castell de Montjuïc	Harbor
Albergue Mare de Déu de Montserrat	Mercat de la Boqueria	Building at the Plaça de Catalunya
	Casa Batló
La Pedrera	On top	Inside
Port Olímpic
Parc de Recerca Biomèdica	Beach	Passage in the metro
Post office	Fundacío Joan Miró
Museo Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
¿Parc Joan Miró?		Universitat

]]> http://eric.jain.name/2002/10/01/barcelona/feed/ 1 http://eric.jain.name/2001/11/01/scandinavia/ http://eric.jain.name/2001/11/01/scandinavia/#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2001 16:13:46 +0000 Eric Jain http://eric.jain.name/2001/11/01/scandinavia/ Some pictures and notes from traveling two weeks in Scandinavia in October 2001.

Day 1

Bus from Arlanda airport to Uppsala (30 min). Train to Gävle (45 min), then another train to Mora (3.5 h).

The gothic cathedral in Uppsala.	One of the rune stones next to the cathedral.	Uppsala University.
View from the university towards the cathedral.	House in Uppsala with real and fake windows.	A street near the center of Uppsala.
Uppsala’s Linnaeus Garden.	At the railway Station in Uppsala.	The X2000 train from Uppsala to Gävle.
Residential area in Gävle.

Day 2

Bus from Mora to Östersund (5 h).

Sunrise in Mora.	Street in Östersund.

Day 3

Bus from Östersund to Gällivare; this was the longest bus trip (11 h).

The well equipped bus to Gällivare.	A supermarket on the way.	A typical swedish house, properly colored.

Day 4

Train from Gällivare across the border to Narvik in Norway. Boat to Svolvær on the Lofoten islands.

The railway station in Gällivare.	A wagon for transporting trees.	Trees waiting to be transported.
Somewhere near Abisko national park.	One of the really tiny villages along the way.	At the highest point of the journey.
Now we’re definitely in Norway.	First view of the Lofotfjord.	A bridge over the fjord.
Narvik from the east.	Narvik from the sea.	Iron ore transshipment facility in Narvik, the main reason for this town.
A ship leaving Narvik.	On the way to Svolvær…
Yet another small village on the way.	Sunset in the Lofoten islands.	Svolvær by night. Note all the activity.

Day 5

Bus from Svolvær to Å (5 h), a small village at the very end of the Lofoten islands.

Svolvær by day.	Racks for drying fish, fortunately empty.	Fishing boats.
A lake on the way to Å.	The E10 route which crosses the entire Lofoten islands.	Some place in the middle of the island.
A village dwarfed by the mountains behind.	Two of the many bridges linking the islands.	A village just before Å.

Day 6

The Ferry from Å to Bodø doesn’t leave till in the evening, so there’s lots of time to go walking…

Å, village entrance.	Å from the sea.	Å from the neighboring village.
Letter boxes in Å.	Strange geology.	View to the south.
Reine, 10 km from Å.	View from Reine.	The ferry to Bodø in Moskenes, 5 km from Å.

Day 7

Train from Bodø to Trondheim; this is the longest trip by train (10 h).

Day 8

“Hurtigruten” boat from Trondheim to Bergen (28 h).

The MS Midnatsol.	A monastery, later converted to a prison and then to a tourist attraction.	One of the main agricultural regions in Norway.
A fishing boat on its way home.	Kristiansund, a town on the way.	A mountain hiding in the clouds.

Day 9

Bergen: The first and only place during this trip where I have to use my umbrella…

View on the old part of Bergen.	The Grieghallen concert hall.	Inside the old part of the town.

Day 10

Along the “Norway in a Nutshell” route: Train from Bergen to Voss (1 h), bus to Gudvangen (1 h) and finally a boat to Flåm (2 h).

The boat from Gudvangen to Flåm.	View on the Nærøyfjord from Gudvangen.	Several waterfalls near Gudvangen.
A boat heading in the opposite direction.	One of the larger waterfalls in the region.	One of the larger villages in the region.

Day 11

Train from Flåm to Myrdal (1 h), then to Oslo (5 h).

The “Flåmsbana”.	A distant waterfall.	The road zig-zagging up to Myrdal.
Another waterfall, this time right next to the railway track.	A rainbow hiding behind a few leafless trees.	On the way to Oslo.

Day 12

A day in Oslo…

Oslo as seen from Bygdøy.	Edvard Munch’s “The day after” at the National Gallery. (Postcard)	One of the three ships at the viking ship museum. (Postcard)
The Ra II at the Kon-Tiki Museum. 1970 Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Atlantic with this boat. (Postcard)	The Fram polar expedition ship in its own museum. Used by explorers such as Nansen and Amundsen.	Medical equipment abord the Fram.
The 13th century Akershus fortress.	A guard at the Akershus fortress.	Oslo by night.

Day 13

Train from Oslo to Stockholm (6 h).

Day 14

Stockholm skyline.	People fishing in the middle of the town.	One of the modern buildings in the Sergels Torg area.
The Skeppsholmen island. The ship to the right is a hostel.	The royal palace.	Palace entrance.
Street in Gamla Stan, the old town.	Narrow street in Gamla Stan.	Small café in Gamla Stan.
Church in Gamla Stan.	At the center of Gamla Stan.	Art shop in Gamla Stan.
Big brother is watching you, especially in Sweden.	Tower on top of the Kastellholmen island.	The amusement park in Djurgården.
The Nordiska museum in Djurgården.	The Södermalm island.	Sunset over Stockholm.
The Stadsholmen island.	The town hall.	The place in the town hall where the banquet after the nobel price ceremony is held.
The Vasa museum with its salvaged 17th century ship.	One of the dozens of reconstructed houses at the Skansen open air museum in Djurgården.	Another house…
…and a more modern one.	View from Skansen.	View from the Kaknästornet TV tower.

Day 15

Visit to the historical museum in Stockholm, then I catch the bus to the airport (30 min).

Day 1

Seven hour flight from Switzerland to Delhi, arrival around 01:00 in the morning. Getting off the plane, going through immigration, changing money, making a reservation at a hotel and pushing through all the “helpful” people in front of the airport to get a prepaid taxi takes about an hour. The taxi driver neither knows where the hotel is nor does he know any English, but after another hour or so and a stop at a tourist office, who’s owner tries to convince me that the hotel I just called is closed, we finally get there.

10 Rupees, or three cups of tea.	5 Rupees, I believe.

Day 2

By the time I get up it’s nearly lunchtime. Doesn’t matter, since Indian breakfast is more like lunch anyways.

After wandering around a bit and organizing a few details I get on a train to Jaipur. Pretty simple; each train is announced many times both in English and in Hindu, and the number of the wagon and your seat number is printed on the ticket. Surviving the eight hours in the train is easy too, every few minutes somebody selling coffee or tea passes by.

Train reservation form.

Day 3

The City Palace at the center of the Pink City houses several small museums with weapons, textiles, books, musical instruments and other things.

Nahargarh Fort, two kilometers north of the city, offers a great view on the city.

Audience hall at the City Palace.	Two guards at the palace.	The road to Nahargarh Fort.
Inside the fort.	View from the fort…	…and a closer look.

Day 4

In a valley three kilometers east of Jaipur there is a place called Galta. Lots of pilgrims come here to take a bath and fill various containers with water to take home.

On the road down to Galta.	A pool with holy water and some monkeys.	Entrance to one of the temples.

Day 5

Early morning visit to Ranthambore National Park. Unfortunately the only two ways to see the park are by jeep or on the back of a truck, and jeeps are booked up well in advance. Lots of dear and birds can be seen even though most of the park is very dry around this time of the year.

Six hour train trip to Agra.

No tigers.

Day 6

Taj Mahal, Agra Fort etc. Overnight train to Bhopal.

The Taj Mahal.	View from the Taj Mahal.	Temple next to the Taj Mahal.
Agra Fort.	Inside the fort.	Audience hall in the fort.

Day 7

Arrival in Bhopal early in the morning. Meet my uncle, who shows me around town for the rest of the day. After having a shower and breakfast, that is.

While the center of Bhopal is very packed, dirty and noisy, the residential areas around the town are green, quite and spacious.

Museum of Man: Tribal artifacts, reconstructed houses and pictures.

Van Vihar zoological park: Tigers, leopards, bears and other indian animals conveniently arranged inside a five square kilometer large park.

Bharat Bhavan art museum. Several halls with modern indian paintings and sculptures.

A brand new, nearly finished Jain Temple.	Around Bhopal.	Cave paintings near the Museum of Man.

Day 8

Three hours by car from Bhopal, Sanchi is one of the oldest and most important buddhist monuments in India. There are ruins of several stupas, temples and monasteries.

The road to Sanchi.	A village on the way.	View from Sanchi.
The Great Stupa.	The south gate.	A statue of Buddha.

Day 9

Seven hour trip by luxury bus to Indore. Luxury in this context means there is a proper seat with a reservation. Meet my other uncle in Indore.

Day 10

Three hours by car from Indore to Mandu, a small village on top of a hill that once was a large fortified city.

Back in Indore I catch an overnight bus to Aurangabad.

Ashrafi Mahal, a tomb.	Ruins of the Jami Masjid mosque.	Malik Mughis mosque, a recycled hindu temple.
Local standards 500 years ago…	…and today.	Some of the countless ruins.
A water tank.	Caves.	View to the west of Mandu.
Jahaz Mahal, a palace built for the sultan’s harem.	Part of the forty kilometer wall that used to surround Mandu.	The Nil Kanth palace.

Day 11

Four hour trip by tourist bus to Ajanta. Ajanta has a series of old caves that were carved and used by buddhist monks. Back around 17:00.

The caves from above.	A statue inside one of the caves.	View into the valley.

Day 12

Two hours by train to Manmad, then another 22 hours to Bangalore. The family in my compartment seems to temporarily adopts me as their son…

Countryside near Bangalore.

Day 13

Three hours in Bangalore, first class ticket to Mysore.

Diesel engine at Bangalore railway station.	“Sleeper” class waggons on an express train.

Day 14

On top of Chamundi Hill, three kilometers southeast of the city, there is an important hindu temple devoted to the goddess Durga. Half an hour walk up to the top.

Overnight bus to Kodaikanal via Palani.

	The Maharaja’s Palace, surrounded by tiger sculptures and temples.
Start of the path up to Chamundi Hill.	Another few dozen of the more than thousand steps.	Nandi, Shiva’s bull surrounded by some rich kids.
The temple on Chamundi Hill.	Drinking water for the courageous.	Cafe, milk garanteed to be fresh.

Day 15

The bus arrives in Kodaikanal around 08:00. I get a room with great views at the Taj Villa. There are lots of clouds below Kodaikanal, which gives the place a nice atmosphere but restricts the views on the suroundings a bit.

View from my room over Kodaikanal.	An excellent place for hiking.	View from Moir Point.
Electrical wiring in India.	Rhesus monkey.	Small roadside temple.

Day 16

Bus to Kumily. Lots of tea plantations on the way. The bus arrives in Kumily in the evening.

A typical high-tech bus cockpit.	Bus ticket.

Day 17

By the time I get to the Periyar wildlife park all the guides have already left and all the boat tickets are sold. Next day I’m earlier and all works as planned. We spend three hours walking around inside the park.

Two warthogs…	…nothing…	…and two elephants.
Path through the forrest.	An interesting Flower.	A dried out river.
Big tree.	Strange tree.	Straight tree.
Lake with dead trees.	Big bird on a tree trunk.	Tourist boat.

Day 19

Bus to Kottayam, boat to Alleppey.

Truck in Kottayam.	Part of the canal near Kottayam.	African moss, plugging up parts of the canal.
Small cottages.	Small boat.	Sunset over one of the lakes along the canal.

Day 20

Six hour boat trip to Kollam, then another two hours by bus to Varkala.

Fishing platform with net.	Church.	Appartment building in the middle of nowhere.
Fisher boat.	Ferry.	Raft.

Day 21

Day at the beach. Though Varkala seems to be a fast growing place, there are no large hotels, yet. Most hotels are located atop the cliffs overlooking the beach.

Varkala’s main beach.	North of the beach.	View to the north from the cliffs.
Rocks on the beach.	Advertisement.	Path along the cliffs.
Cafe.	Crows eating coconuts.	Wild ocean.
Ayurveda and Yoga.	Palm trees everywhere.	Varkala at night.

Day 22

Bus to Trivandrum via Attingal.

After filling out some forms and donating (?) some money I visit the Shri Padmanabhaswamy temple, which is usually only open to hindus. The temple may seem rather unspectacular from the outside, but is quite fascinating in the inside, lots of activity.

First time I have a room with a TV, so I get familiar with MTV India…

Bus station in Trivandrum.	One of the countless Ambassador cars.	Fort area in the south part of town.
Top of the Shri Padmanabhaswamy temple.	Sleeping beggars.	Sunset in Trivandrum.

Day 23

Three hour bus trip from Trivandrum. Ponmudi consists of two hotels, which are both empty during the week, and lots of great views.

Part of the road up to Ponmudi.	View towards Trivandrum.	The road above Ponmudi.
Ponmudi from above.	Trees and bushes.	A cow.

Day 24

Napier Museum, near Trivandrum’s Zoo and Natural History Museum. Lots of old indian sculptures, interesting building. Indo-saracenic style.

Back to Delhi with Indian Airlines, via Mumbai.

The Napier Museum.	Bathroom at a New Delhi railway station retiring room. Includes a real toilet and even a boiler for hot water.

Day 25

Seven hour train trip through Haryana and Punjab to Amritsar.

In the evening, a three hour bus ride to Pathankot, then another two hours by taxi up to Dharmsala.

Train trip through Punjab.	The Golden Temple in Amritsar.	Memorial place where hundreds of civilians were shot at by nervous british troops in 1919.
A place where dead people are burned.	The less famous hindu Silver Temple in Amritsar.	People praying at the Silver Temple.

Day 26

Dharmsala lies between 1500 and 1800 meters high. The majority of people leaving here are nepalese. The exiled nepalese government resides here, as well as Dalai Lama, whom I happen to see by chance.

Taxi to the airport in Gagal, half an hour from Dharmsala. One hour delay, there is too much wind for the small plane to start.

In Delhi I get a prepaid taxi to my aunt’s place in Noida, a suburb half an hour from the airport. The taxi driver stops to get directions eleven times…

View from the lower part of Dharmsala to the southwest.	The Dhauladhar mountains.	View from the upper part of the town to the west.
A tea plantation below Dharmsala.	Prayer wheels.	Students playing badminton.
Typical scaffolding.	The main street.	The Indian Airlines Dornier DO228 back to Delhi.
Himachal Pradesh from above.	The Punjab plain from above.	A suburb of Delhi.

Day 27

Thankfully I get to borrow my cousin’s car and driver for the day — Delhi is a very spread-out city.

After dinner I’m dropped off at the airport, in time to catch my flight back home.

India’s most popular car.	Typical traffic situation.	The Red Fort close up.
Jami Masjid, a mosque with space for 25′000 people.	Delhi’s skyline.	A street from above.
The Qutb Minar tower.	School children.	The Lotus Temple.
A middle class market.	Here you can buy sweets…	…fruits…
…vegetables…	…luxury goods…	…flowers…
…plastic containers…	…music…	…or just about anything else you can think of.

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