CLICK BACK TO MAIN TRAVEL PAGE...

I know that sometimes I take too few photos, other times too many.  In India it might have been too many?  I actually saw many more that I wanted to take, but I often have personal objections to taking photos of people directly, though these are often the most interesting...  Ok, at the moment I'm liking the later photo sets much better...

I arrived in India at 3am or so on a flight from Hong Kong.  Why is it that flights into some of the more difficult cities arrive at this time?  Anyway, after a little arguing and convincing my cab driver took me to where I was staying rather than where he wanted me to stay, and things improved from there.

All of India is a bit overwhelming on the senses, the sights from spectacular to disturbing, fine aromas to horrible stench, constant blaring of horns, motion, commotion and seemingly endless numbers of people trying to sell something.  After a little adjustment though, it all gets much more interesting and engaging.  The very things that at first annoy can actually become endearing.

As always, relatively low resolution photos are posted here for speed of download.  If you would like full resolution versions or prints, please email me.

Captions and writings here are a bit inconsistent, depending on how much of a hurry I was in.  It is difficult to find the time to update the web page with the world being so interesting...  

On to the photos, presented in chronological order - and ideally viewed that way, though probably not all at once:

1) Delhi - Crowded, hot, noisy, dirty and beautiful, sometimes all at the same time.

2) Agra, Taj Mahal, etc.  How can a building stir such emotion?   (corrected 7/07 - 1/3 of the photos were missing)


3) Jaipur...  Palaces, forts and scientific instruments made of marble.

4) Jaisalmer and Khuri - Finally getting relaxed in India - out in the desert.

5) Udaipur - More of the beauty of Rajasthan.

6)  Varanasi - Most powerful feeling place in the world.

7) Kolkata-Sunderbans-Darjeeling-Kolkata - Underrated city, overrated and overtouristed tiger reserve, tastings of tea.

8)  Goa and Mumbai - Alert: Foreigners have invaded the beach!  Salvation is the odd mix of Mumbai.

9) Ellora, Ajanta and Bangalore - Rock cut caves and temples, refreshment in a mostly modern city.

10) Hampi and Hospet - Yes, more temples and things. Long walks and beautiful boulder strewn terrains.

11) Goa again - Why?  Not entirely sure.  Long walks and Goa Carnival.

12) Kerela - Backwaters and Euro beach clubs.

13)  Madurai and Kanniyakumari - Hindu temple business and a nice little town at the southern tip.

14)  Pondicherry and Auroville - French colonial meets French gone "spiritual."

15)  Mahabalipuram - Tired of stone temples and beaches yet?  Apparently I wasn't.  

16)  Chennai - Another big Indian city, but not enough time.  Goodbye India.

Holy Cow Sarah Macdonald's entertaining account of visiting and then living in India.  I think it's a good read and quite funny at times, but of course sometimes it's hard to tell how good it really is when you're too close to the reality described.  An excellent primer for India from a foreign perspective while being as close to inside as one can get?.  Helps make sense of the beautiful nonsense that is India.	The God of Small Things I think just about everyone I've mentioned this to has already read it?  Great feel for language in an engaging story.	Footprint India This is the book I used for India.  Footprint guides typically have better background information and history than anyone else.  Unfortunately I'm not sure that's the case this time. It was good, but I often found myself borrowing The Rough Guide to India 6 from people on the train to get a little more of the story.  Whatever you do, don't bother with Lonely Planet India unless your objective is to party and meet up with other travelers.  Being the most popular book, Lonely Planet keeps you with the crowd.  If you want to check what's in Lonely Planet, borrow it from the person next to you.

 Please let me know if you have any problems, questions or suggestions about the site, the new photo browser, etc.  Email here...  

Note:  The photo browser is different than the one I have used in the past.  The controls are at the top of the page and a little bit easier than what I had set up before.  Here's how it works:

Exit Takes you back to the page that brought you here - probably my travel page?

Intro Page Takes you back to this oh so clever and informative page.

July-05-2006 -- 05:47 PM Date the photo was taken.

DSC00099 Filename of the photo.  Use this if requesting full resolution files from me.

Image controls....  - Previous image. - No previous - at first image - Next image. - already at last image - Play/pause slideshow.

Ready? Click on a photo at the left to begin.  Please start at the beginning to get the "narrative effect."
Best viewed at 1024x768 or possibly more.