The last sweltering days of Delhi... and we went on a bicycle tour with the kids.
After three years, we finally thought they were ready to face the frenzy of Old Delhi.
There is a Dutch guy, Jack Leenders, who just started doing guided bicycle tours (you would have to be Dutch for that) and we decided to join one. Our two fellow-riders were British, visiting India for a week and wanting to experience it to the fullest. Well, no better start than a bicycle tour through the busiest, filthiest, oldest part of town!

We started at New Delhi station and immediately got stuck in traffic; there is a busstop there and buses push their way in and out, with pedestrians, riksha's, tuctucs, cars and obviously us trying to sort of wiggle in between. It took us 15 minutes before we could hit the roads, immediately being surrounded by honking cars and scooters and all sorts of vehicles passing us by left and right! What excitement!

The bicycles are of Indian manufacturing which makes them so basic that nothing can break, but also fairly uncomfortable...thank got they have good breaks and bells! Especially the bells...you NEED them!

We did not stay on the big roads and soon were zigzagging in the small streets of the bazaars, trying not to hit any cows, goats, dogs, garbage heaps, and people...what a mess! What smells! What intensity! There Delhi was, in all its long-gone beauty, leaving on big chaos behind that was right in our faces! I have lived here for three years now but I never experienced India so close as I did this time on the seat of a bike!

Roos, with her lushy 16 years, was obviously the attraction of the day. Even though she (sort of) covered up, the men she encountered all changed into drooling fools, mouth wide open, staring after her as if they had just seen one of the wonders of the world pass by. It was really funny! Roos decided that next time, she'll wear a Burka.

We stopped for Chai while riding through the quiet lanes of the Civil Lines district (where the expats used to live at the end of the 19th century), stopped for breakfast at Karim's, "the" Moghul restaurant near the Jama Mashid, and finally were able to safely yet stiff get off our bicycles at New Delhi station. It has been by far the most exciting trip I ever took in Old Delhi!

(for those interested: www.delhibycycle.com)

Been to Bali again...
The kids visited us for their summer holidays, and as in India the temperatures are still soaring (and India is not REALLY a country to relax) we decided to go to Bali with them.
After all, us living here is the perfect opportunity for us, and them, to see parts of the world where you would otherwise not go so easily!

We had our usual stopover in Bangkok, this time with healthy kids, and did what one does in Bangkok: took a trip down the river, visited Wat Arun and Wat Pho, had sushi, and went shopping. Especially the shopping part appeals very much to the kids who are in the shop-until-you-drop phase...and with a clothing size that let them fit it all!!!!

Then onto Bali, where we had rented a car and toured the island. Bali is very different from north to south; the south has white beaches, lots of hotels and upscale restaurants, and surf-dude beaches. The north is rugged, volcanic, dry and quiet. No fancy restaurants here, but clear water, corals, endless amounts of fishes and dolphins. We got up before sunrise, squeezed into a little narrow boat, and went out to sea to watch the sun come up and the dolphins surface...and it was fantastic! So quiet and peaceful, I could have watched forever.
Finally the middle of Bali is covered with rice paddies, friendly and tranquil and green. The heart of the middle is Ubud, a small friendly town where the local intellectuals, artists and yoga-practicioners reside....and the occasional full-moon worshipper...but the real attraction of Ubud -at least for the kids- was of course the extensive shopping area which is filled with little nice shops. Had a great time!

"New Delhi, 14 july 2009. The second consecutive mishap at the same site on the under-construction Central Secratariat-Badarpur line of the Delhi Metro at jamrudpur here on monday came as little surprise to many of the residents, who said the area was jinxed.
The area residents said well before the work started on the stretch, an old banyan tree located near a temple was pulled down to widen the road and some portion of the temple was dismantled.
"The entire village used to worship the old tree. On several occasions, we requested the authorities not to touch the tree or the temple. But they did not listen to us", said Ravi Kumar, an area resident." (source: The Hindu Times)

India, 2009.
Deities and djinns are part of everyday life, as are superstition, belief in witchcraft and sjamanism, rituals, numerology and astrology, and reîncarnation.
Cows block the road and eat the fruits and vegetables of local vendors who do not dare to scare them away, as they are holy. Monkeys are an absolute nuisance to residents but instead of chasing them off (or finishing them off) they are fed, especially on thursdays, as that is Hanuman's day (Hanuman is the monkey god) and it brings good luck to feed them on that day. Every shop has it's little altar from where Ganesha figures watch over business...usually incense is burning from these altars, and the occasional picture of a deceased relative puts in some extra weight. The paper runs articles on embracing trees amidst economic news, and people fast on certain days to honour their god(s). Giving a party becomes a challenge when cooking, as there is always someone not eating something because it is monday/tuesday/wednesday etc. And of course the first customer of the day brings luck, one needs to consult an astrologer before entering into any important undertaking and going to the temple is part of any good housewife's practice (men seem to be less eager to pray, fast and do offerings).

India is often said to be a spiritual country...in my definition spirituality means a development of the self to a point where "self" looses its importance. In India, spiritual seems to mean that the "self" (which judging by the behaviour of many Indians is in their centre of the world) utilizes all means to shape that world in such a way that the self gets its maximum benefit from it. If that means feeding monkeys and fasting on tuesdays, so be it.

Incredible India 2009...the longer you live here, the more you see that puzzles you!
In the meantime I however have decided that I'll stick to my car for the time being....you see, I don't fast on tuesdays, I don't feed monkeys and I don't worship Banyan trees, and that is bound to be bad luck when riding the metro!

Today is a very special day...today I met the Dalai Lama!

Well, not in person really, but he stood so close I could actually see the twinkle in his eyes, the watch he was wearing and the look he gave us three when he saw we could not follow what he was saying, nor the Hindi his interpreter was producing...after which he gave a speech in english as well (and we like to think that was especially for us!).

Today it is the 6th of july, and the 74th birthday of His Holiness, and the 50th year that he is in India. To mark this auspicious occasion, the People of the Himalayan Region held a tribute of gratitude, and three people of our embassy were invited: The Ambassador, the political advisor and ms Danielle Brown, devotee and visa officer. So "us", that would be ms Brown, the Ambassador (who could not come as he is in Bhutan, so he sent me ;-), and the political advisor who could not come as he is also in Bhutan so he sent Tanja, the assistant of the Agricultural Councellor ;-)....Bob's Angels, as it were. (Bob being the Ambassador...)

We were not allowed to use Bob's car but the rest of the event was perfect... after the Dalai Lama adressed us (and the rest of the audience), Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former president of India and an equally charismatic man, also adressed us (and the rest of audience). And then there were performances by different cultural groups from the Himalayan region...

I am turned, that's for sure. What a fabulous man! What a fabulous message! He has calm and peace and love radiating from every pore of his body, and it reaches everyone around him.
"I have been in India for 50 years...I'm here!" That simple. No judgement, no anger, no political statements...he is just there. But boy....is he there! I'm hooked!

The Monsoon has officially started, and thank God for that!!!!

It was SOOO hot in Delhi, unbearable! This was the hottest summer I have experienced here so far...especially the month of june was terrible. It seemed the air contained no oxygen anymore, breathing got difficult, sleeping got difficult...doing anything except hanging in front of the airco got difficult! But this the power and water demands soaring powercuts and watershortages got more frequent by the day, leaving millions of people without water and electricity for hours every day!
Obviously people got angry and started protesting...we expats keep wondering how a government can not foresee that powerdemands will grow as more and more people can afford to buy an airconditioning and how water supplies cannot be fed during the many rains that India does have...India does not have water shortages, but it has shortages of drinking water and it has no even water supply. When it rains India floods, contaminating drinking water and sweeping away fertile soils, villages, roads, electricity cables etc. When it doesn't rain, and the water has flown away instead of being stored in -for example- underground storage systems, there are water shortages. Simply said, of course. But in fact, it is this simple.

Water shortages do not only affect people, it also affects animals. Monkeys, to be precise. Monkeys that live in the forest across our street, and that come into the city to find food and water. can't blame them really, but unfortunately they found a source of water allright: OUR watertank! They also found out it is relatively easy to break the plastic pipes that come out of the tank, so we have had several downpours of 600 liter at the time and now left that one tank empty because repairing will only result in more damage. They didn't like that their watersource was not properly refilled and so they distroyed my palmtrees as revenge! They "visited" our terrace several times and the result was the above mutilated tree (and all the others look like that as well).

Needless to say that pissed ME off..but then there was T to protect us!!!

In an heroic attempt to stop the beasts from ravaging our surroundings T climbed up the roof with a big bamboo stick and whacked the alpha male of the monkey troop one across the ears...and then he stood up, waved his arms and stick in the air and made a lot of noise...the monkeys must have understood his body language and figured this ape was too big for them, because we haven't seen them since!

T the Monkey Man! There is money to be made of this in Delhi....!

Time in India is going faster than anywhere else in the world, I am pretty sure of that!

Already the heat of summer has started (currently being relieved by the occasional thunderstorm) and our bodies have not yet tuned in, so T and I are suffering from a Bug....headaches, diarrea, nausea and the perpetual feeling of being not quite there. Lucklily we have a very good doctor to go to, dr. Gupta, who feels our tummies and prescribes yet another round of antibiotics. It is the only thing to do in India; either you kill the Bugs or they will slowly kill you.

It raises the question: how does one GET a Bug?
The common believe is that in India, everyone gets sick. This is not true; we have had many guests who did not get sick (most of them actually) and we ourselves got very sick when we were still staying in the Hyatt, where food is flown in and they even have filtered water in the shower! So even common sense and consequent not eating of pre-cut fruits, not using icecubes and not licking your fingers after you have touched money will not necessarily protect you from the feared "Delhi Belly"...

Bugs in India are simply everywhere: in the air, in the water, in the food, on animals, people, things...simply everywhere! But there are places that are Buggier than others, this is true. INA market, the place where I do my shopping, is one of them. I try to go as early as possible ( in India that means around 9.30 am) because the later I get the Buggier the place is. The smell of dead chickens being thrown in lukewarm water is everywhere and the fishmarket slowly turns into a pool of melted ice mixed with fish-guts. I am sure the place is rigged with bacteria...10.000 flies can't be wrong!

I do buy fish there, but only in winter and only when I am very early. In winter I buy a lot of fish and I freeze most of it, so we can enjoy the occasional shrimp in summer. But what really struck me recently is the fact that the shopkeeper of my fish stall has also ventured into poultry! On the little blue sign it actually says "fresh chicken available here"!
Incredible India, land of endless possibilities and Bugs.....

We have just been to Amritsar, the Mekka of the Sikh: the city is home to the Golden Temple, where the Holy Book lies.

The Golden Temple is absolutely magnificent, both in the evening when the Book is put to rest, as well as during the day when one can visit the endless kitchens that prepare 40.000 meals a day....every day of the year. Anyone can visit and eat...the Temple is open to any nationality, religion or gender. It is truly remarkable and it was the first place in India where we felt the sense of spirituality that we had expected before we came here.
the complex itself is buzzing with people, both during the day as well as the evening. They are wandering about, sitting on the waterfront watching the temple, taking a dip in the Holy water (men out in the open, women in special little buildings where they can bathe undisturbed by curious eyes), or having a meal or a tea in one of the enormous dining halls.
We were invited to join in making chapati's, of which 100.000 are produced every day; the whole thing seems to be a social gathering where one catches up on the latest gossips. The atmosphere was wonderful.

And one wonders...if such a thing of beauty and peace and spirituality originated in India, could it then be that the we hoped to see India is hidden but still out there? What lies beneath the surface?

Back in Delhi, and life turns back to normal.
Normal means that I go shopping for our weekly meals, and on the way there are at least 5 locations where I will hear that familiar sound of nails tapping on my window...."chapati mama, rupees, khana...". Sometimes they are women with babies (possibly not their own), sometimes crippled people, sometimes children...and everytime it makes me feel horrible because I have to shake "no".

No, I should not give them money. They are poor, no doubt about that, but my money will not make a difference because many of them have fallen into the claws of organised crime and will have to give the money they "earned" to their "boss" at the end of the day...we cannot distinguish the ones that are exploited from the ones that are not, and giving money will only keep the system going, so we give nothing.

And so, every week, I sit and say "no" and then ignore the wailing and pleading...with shoppings in the back of my car, feeling horrible and guilty and hating India for making me feel this way.

T and I have also been wondering what will happen to all the beggars around the time of the Commonwealth games, in 2010. Everywhere there is construction going on, to the metro, to roads, hotels, busstands etc., so the city will look polished and modern and developed by the time the world attention turns on it. Our guess is that all beggars will be swept off the street just before the games and will be put on a train to the desert in Rajasthan. The slums are being torn down as we speak, so the people are now literally living on the street...not a very nice sight when you drive up to your five-star hotel.

But it doesn't solve the problem. As long as there is no social security system to fall back upon, education for the kids or a law that they must go to school (and enforcement of that law!), shelter, medical care, and most of all the WILL to help them instead of pretending they are not there, nothing will change.

Movies like Slumdog Millionaire are actually based upon the truth, be it that the truth is even a lot uglier than the movie. And here in India there is no escape from the truth, which is why it is probably such a hard country to deal with mentally, at least for me.

I could choose to escape from the truth by letting my housekeeper do the shopping (like many expats do) and limit my days to playing tennis, reading books and go for a coffee at a friend's house, but it doesn't feel right. I would be placing myself out of reality and that is not why we moved to another country. The challenge is to learn to deal with it and to realise that it does not make me a bad person if I shake "no"....and so I go shopping, ignoring the tapping on my window - just another normal day in India.

It's the end of the season, and we are all tired...too many receptions, party's, presentations, dinners...and too much booze, I guess. The season concluded with the Christmas dinner at the Ambassador's house, which was wonderful. Finally T got to wear his smoking (he had one made in India) and I got to wear my Hanbok, the Korean traditional dress that I bought there just before we left.

Now, T and I are packing as we will spend the holidays in The Netherlands with our loved ones. I am also looking forward to some typical dutch "treats"... een frietje met een kroket, haring, oude kaas en appeltaart van Dudok! (impossible to translate...) We are leaving behind India, the cats and Ganesha (in the picture...the god who removes obstacles, quite a thing one needs in India) for three weeks!!

So we wish you a very Merry Christmas and an obstacle-free 2009!

Even in grim times one has to celebrate! The bombs and terrorist attacks have not stopped us Dutch from celebrating "Sinterklaas"! The tradition of Sinterklaas (who is a bishop, lives in Spain, rides a white horse and comes to visit little Dutch children on the 5th of december with presents) is even upheld in India, with a slight Indian twist of course!

We had "pepernoten", lots of very sweet candy and a group of firm believers awaiting the Holy Man eagerly...so eagerly that they didn't even notice the Ambassador saying that he was glad to see so many children who still believed in Sinterklaas (if you were wondering, no, of course this is not the real one! This is a science teacher dressed up in a Sinterklaas costume...the real one lives in Spain and he'll be damned to climb on his horse and ride all around the world...the guy is 400 years old!).

Anyway, we had fun. T and I (not so very keen on anxious screaming children, we have outgrown that) volonteered to sell entry tickets and sat, very conveniently, near the entrance. At the moment it is app 24ºC in the daytime, which is wonderful, so we sat and enjoyed a relatively quiet afternoon. India at its best....thank god we have days like this one as well!!!

27/11... the day Mumbai was attacked by terrorists with guns and granades. At least 101 people killed and more than 300 wouded. Attacks on the Oberoi- and Taj Hotels, a railway station, a popular restaurant and a hospital (how sick can you get?). This time foreigners, particularly American and British, were also specifically targeted. The city has been paralized.

Interesting enough a new way of media coverage also surfaces, as most of the reports of what is happening are delivered by bloggers, or via Skype. Only in India...one's dead is another one's bread, as we say in my country.

I met an Indian gentleman today in the lamp-shop that I had to go to, and he told me he is living really close to where it happened. When I said how horrified I was, and how devastating this probably will be for India's development, he told me he believes the terrorists are trying to drive the foreigners out...well, this is the way to go then! Tourists will think twice about booking a trip to a country where major tourist attractions and hotels are bombed, and foreign companies -especially after the Tata incident (which was an Indian company!)- surely can find more stable countries to invest in. Is this the Talibanisation people have been talking about? Or is it just plain stupidity and total disrespect for a human life?

I don't know. I do now that something has changed for me, India has changed for me. I have my ups and downs here, but I never felt really scared...until now. There is a primitive energy here, lurking under the surface, waiting for the wrong person pushing the right button, saying the right words....and it will expload. Too many uneducated people, too much poverty, a gap between have's and have's not which is far too big, too much discrimination of minority groups...and so easy to start blaming it on those who are easy to spot and who "don't belong"...the Jews, the Americans, and ultimately all foreigners.

I recall an incident that happened to me a year ago: I had to take my cat to the vet and the parking lot which we had to enter was partially blocked so only one car at the time could pass the gate. We were entering when a car with an old lady behind the wheel came from the other side...and being Indian, she obviously thought she was entitled to drive out first, so she stopped, blocking everything, and started honking like mad. Finally I got out, told my driver to back up, and decided to walk (which meant I had to climb over heaps of stones and sand, with my cat carrier in my hand...very unconvenient). When I passed the car, she rolled down the window and screeched in the nastiest voice I ever heard "why don't you go back to your own country!"....I was too flabberghasted to say anything and I must have thought of a million equally nasty responses since then, but the bottom line is that I wish I could have.
And now, for the first time since that moment, I wish it again.

I hope it will pass because despite the hardship we experience living here India also has an amazing beauty and a lot of interesting things and places to offer, and I want to leave here with good memories. And terrorist attacks and bombings don't contribute to that...

But let's talk "old money"...the hotel that we stayed in, Chapslee, was bought in 1938 by Maharadja Raja Charanjit Singh of Kapurthala from an English Lady (Hermione M.), and it hasn't changed since. This means the wallpaper shows signs of wear and tear, but also that the rooms are filled with antiques (some of fitted with a paper that says "not for use") and the butlers still wear uniforms and white gloves. They serve you "bed-tea" in the morning, and in the afternoon you can have your tea where you want it: in the garden, in the morning room, or in the salon!
In the evening the giant antique table in the dining room is laid with the silver cutlery, and after your gin-tonic you (and the other guests) are served a lavish dinner, after which you have your coffee in the salon...then the lady of the house might join you for a chat and a coffee, and you talk about how India has changed and how rude and selfish everyone has become. They obviously have seen better -and more elegant- times.

In our bedroom there was a painting of all the princes of Rajasthan, and we found not only the Maharadja of Kapurthala (the grandfather of the present owner) but also what must have been the grandfather of our landlord in Delhi (they are also of royal descend). We also had a fireplace in the bedroom, but no airco and fan, which suggests that Shimla gets cold but never hot. We had old carpets, and a dressing room with an old drawer...and T is sure he heard squeeking of floors all night while the room above us was empty, which means the house may have a ghost as well (I never heard anything).

As we have understood by now, the Old Money has good education and a good and respectful upbringing; they regard their servants as part of the family and treat them well and they try to to good for society. The wife of the Maharadja of Kapurthala for example started a school for the middle and lower class in one of the adjacent buildings of the house; it is still run by the current lady of the house (and can be overheard in the morning when the students are drilled into line on the sound of drums), and it has grown so much that the tennis court and the croquest lawn are now the school's playfield. Mrs. Singh told us that even the streetvendor who sells his sweets on The Mall sends his kids to this school, which is fantastic. This is where India's future lies, education and eradication of corruption.

The glamour of the Old Money may have faded somewhat, like their wallpaper, but I'll prefer it any time to what it was replaced with: the rich, spoiled, arrogant youngsters that you can see in all the stylish shops and restaurants (and the Oberoi in Shimla, with their little spoiled kids) and who treat everybody like shit...clearly, money can't buy everything!

It was Ghandi's birthday and a long weekend, so T and I decided to go to Shimla, the summer capital of the Raj. They would pack up in march (packing EVERTHING, files and all) and move the entire government from Delhi and Kolkata to Shimla, where they would stay until october. Naturally, their families would follow, taking the little railway which was constructed in 1903.
Not surprisingly, Shimla (at least the old part of it) is predominantly British in style, with lovely old houses, small streets and little shops.

The center (called The Mall) seems to be build on a hilltop, stretching for about 7 km and ending on one side with the Viceregal Lodge which looks like a combination of Harry Potter's castle and an old cathedral. In Shimla's old center one can still find old english mansions that display the grandeur of old times...on the sides of the (very steep!) hill 4 story houses are scattered, having (according to the Lonely Planet) "a chaotic appearance of a temporarily arrested landslide of buildings cascading down the hills". Indeed, one does not want to imagine what will happen if an earthquake should occur...the houses are built with the thinnnest floors possible, on tiny concrete pillars, no cross connections at all...according to the lady of the House that we stayed in it will be the effect of giant domino: one house falling on top of the other, and so on...and no access for rescue parties as there is only one main road which undoubtly will be covered in debris...let's hope it doesn't happen.

Anyway, T and I had a lovely time. The people in Shimla are defenitely more relaxed than in Delhi, with the typical appearance of mountain-people....suntanned, weather-worn faces, lighter skincolour, many with the strange amber coloured eyes that one can see in the north. They wear sleeveless jackets made of sheepwool, and little round hats; winter is very cold and it shows, as all the houses have fireplaces (but no fans or airco's!). Shimla is a tourist destination for the Indians as well, and there were many of them, strolling about on the mall, snacking on sweets and letting their children ride horses or buy balloons. No beggars, relatively little dirt and apart from the honking not so much noise...and most of all, crisp clean fresh mountain air! What a treat!

We had a lavish lunch at the Cecil Oberoi hotel, The uptown hotel, with a view over the valley...and were amazed by some rich Indian parents who shamelessly let their kids dance ON the table...with personnel standing around helplessly as it is not their place to say anything. Apparantly these nouveau riche also wipe their shoes with the curtains in their rooms -they are paying for it after all- and extinguish cigarettes onto the carpets...?! Welcome to the new money in India!

Bombings in Delhi!

No, not inside this refill-station (and yes, this IS actually how someone has set up shop).
But it could have been....on september 13, 5 bombs went off on busy marketplaces and near a cinema. Three more bombs were found that didn't go off...all planted with the intention of causing "the maximum damage". They were hidden in garbage bins and trees. The "damage" was 40 killed, 100 wounded....

Another bomb went off two days ago, killing two people and wounding 10...this time, it seems more like a personal vendetta. This bomb was thrown into a shop by two men on a motercycle...and this is just Delhi, because bombs are found on trains, on garbageheaps, in taxis...everywhere in india blasts seem to be more and more commongood.

Not surprisingly the big bombings were organised by the Indian Muhajedeen, who have close links to Indian Islamic organisations and universities. The majority of the Muslims in India condemn the bombings, as does the government, but no-one seems to be able to stop it. I heard someone say on tv last night that airline companies are now planning to install anti-terrorist measures on commercial planes because of the increasing terrorism and risk of attacks on civilian targets; as he put it: "terrorism is here to stay and without these measurements we are lost".
Who said that in 2012 the world as we know it will come to an end? Will we last that long?

Life here in India is increasingly getting restless. The papers are full of murders, rapes, bombings, attacks, robberies and protests. It seems as if there is a primitive energy released, getting the worst out of people. The masses here (and unfortunately they are the uneducated masses who never learned to judge for themselves) are easy to arouse and there are many who use that for their own gain. This is a thing one does not change easily; T and I often say that the only way to change India is to ruthlessly fire everyone who is corrupt (especially governmental figures like ministers and policemen) and send every kid to school (and fine the parents if the keep their kid at home because begging or working makes more money than school does!).
But this is a thing one cannot say openly, although more and more higher educated Indians seem to agree.

There is nothing I can change about this except notice it and stay alert. The only thing I can do is hope that I, and my beloved ones, will not be in the right place at the wrong time...and choose a different path, should the situation arise.

The rains are over and the temperature is going down; soon, it will be nice to sit outside and enjoy fall before it gets cold again. It is hard to imagine for the people who have newly arrived (to still 34 ºC) that winter really can be cold, but there you are.

I have now taken to pimping my terrace...when we moved from our house in Pushpanjali I took plants with me (mostly from the vegetable garden) but they haven't survived the summer and the heat at the terrace, so finally I went and bought palmtrees, shrubs, and my favorite, a Frangipane (guaranteed to bloom within two weeks...but this being India, I think that is a bit optimistic).
I painted my weather-beaten wooden shoes (we ARE dutch...), the stands for the sunshades and a very ugly little sidetable in Algarve blue - a sunny happy blue that goes really well with the plants and the once-white of the walls.
Everything looks crisp again (the ugly sidetable is still ugly but at least in a happy blue)...I am starting to adhere to the Indian tradition of painting everything fresh just in time for Diwali!

Inside the house also walls need to be painted; we have had serious leakages due to the heavy rains, and the whole hallway, part of the study and the guest-bathroom look rundown with big fungus patches on the wall. According to the landlady it has never happened before and she therefor blames the Noisy Neighbours who have been knocking at walls ever since we moved here (and a year before that). Personally, I am wondering, because the quality of Indian construction leaves somewhat to be desired. Still, it will need to be fixed at some point. Then, next monsoon, we will probably start all over again. But that is then...

Now, as soon as the pain in my back from trying to lift too heavy plants and pots has gone, I can enjoy our sunny Algarvian terrace with the sound of a stone quarry in the background!

Just been to Thailand with Roos and Niek...boy, what a holiday!

We went for dinner on the evening we left with our friend Yvonne who unfortunately had to leave India...a kind of pre-vacation farewell. Then, on the way back, T stepped into a hole and ended up bloody and scratched...he was lucky not break his toe!!! And this was an hour before we had to leave for the airport!

But things got worse...in the plane, Niek got sick...some bug that he caught which made him throw up...in the plane...in the taxi to the hotel...in the hotel (well, it was more diarrea in the hotel)...and then Roos also started... in the top picture they are waiting in the lobby until the room is ready. Poor kids.

Niek was ill during our whole stay in Bangkok, running from table to toilet - still, he seems to have had a good time anyway as the hotel had lots of illegal DVD's that could be watched free of charge..quite a good deal and very amusing as most DVD's have been filmed illegally in the cinema, and subtitles have been deducted from what can be understood, which allows for very unusual translations!

Roos got better after a day and went sightseeing with me the first day. We did Wat Po, we did MBK and we wanted to do Wat Arun but needed to cross the river for that and nearly were ripped off at the ferry where the boatman wanted 300 bath for a return ticket to the other side (the ferry actually costs 3,5 bath for one way, so it is not hard to see why a return would cost a hundred times more). We had a good time anyway and managed to NOT get ripped off!

The second day Roos went sight-seeing with T, as I also caught Niek's bug and stayed in bed. Then,at the Grand Palace, T's wallet got stolen, with everything in it...credit cards, drivers licence and diplomatic identity card. One credit card was abused almost immediately; 20.000 Bath were withdrawn WITHOUT pin code! According to the Postbank this is not possible but there we are! (we have not written the last word about this!)

So the last evening in Bangkok T spent at the police station trying to find an english speaking police officer in order to file the case; I spent the evening in bed being sick and Roos and Niek spent it in front of the tv watching dvd's with funny translations....not quite what we had in mind for our final night in Bangkok!

But then on saturday we flew on to Krabi, where we were met by our good friend Marcus, and all changed for the better. Apart from the occasional shit-experiences (which we started sharing at breakfast) nothing desastrous happened and we went kayakking, elephant riding and snorkelling. Especially the latter was great; one day we rented a longtail boat which picked us up from the hotel and took us to Poda and Chicken islands, with their clear waters, big reefs and many tropical fish. Apart from a sunburn on our backs we came out fine from that and really really enjoyed the hours we drifted face down! In the evening we would hop on our rented scooters and drive to Marcus' restaurant to enjoy fish, fish, fish and for the kids, schnitzel...the only remaining incident was T getting caught in a tropical shower which ruined his shoes and his telephone...oh well. Somehow it was to be expected.

Thailand 2008...shit, fish and schitzel...what more could you want?

The advantage of having guests is that you go and do things you normally do not do...we went to the Nigamboth Ghat with our friend Peter, and as our new driver dropped us in a different spot than normally we had to walk through an unknown area. But what a discovery! The area itself was filthy, wet and lined with people sleeping on riksha's, but we also found little shops selling flower beads to honour the deceased (the Nigamboth ghat is where the Hindu's cremate their dead).

And what beautiful people can one find in such a little remote place! they all wanted us to take their pictures and then showed our camera's around to everyone (leaving us to wonder if that was the last we saw of our camera's, but luckily it was not).

Now that we have moved to a more livable house (although the neighbours are still extremely noisy) India is actually starting to become fun!

All good things must come to an end!

Now is a strange time in Delhi; apart from the fact that everybody (everybody!) seems to have left the city for their summer holidays, the people that are being transferred are packing up and leaving one by one... a lot of saying "auf wiedersehen" as many of the people leaving are the ones that welcomed us here, took us around and helped us adjust to India.
I will miss many of them very much...especially my friend Tanja who was the first to show me around, who has been my shoulder to cry on over all those personnel problems that we have had, who always knew all the good places and adresses and with whom I spent many shopping experiences (she is, like me, not a shop-until-you-drop-person).

In this picture she is showing me the secret stairways to the rooftop amidst the spice market, from where you can look over the city, the chaos below, the people drying rose leaves on the roofs and the spiceboys turning over...yes, what? We have tried to distinguish whatever they were turning but it could vary from beans to camel-dung....?!
Anyway...my future guests will thank her, because the stairs are hard to find and quite exciting to walk on...but what a lovely view! The "guru" in the other picture is Tanja's friend. He has a little shop, somewhere in the middle of the Stairs to Spiceheaven, and he likes to be photographed...and no, I don't think he actually is a guru, but who cares. He has this pair of glasses that look as if he saved them from the 70ies (probably did) and he wears traditional clothes, and sitting on the floor the way he does he might as well be a guru...Spiceguru in Spiceheaven.

I have decided that now that my friends are leaving I should get busy doing other things (as I said, I am not such a shopper) so I will be trying Yoga! After all, I AM in the land of yoga! Still, I am not sure if yoga is the thing for me, but I have been recommended a teacher who actually does private classes in your home, so I'll give it a try.

Unfortunately, in my home, some things have NOT changed....the noisy neighbours are STILL hammering the walls down (you would think there is nothing left to hammer by now, after they have been hammering non-stop for 4 months, but they seem quite capable of finding that last piece of wall still standing). I am waiting for the moment when I open my closet and stare into a face of a Rajasthani with a hammer!

And suddenly we are out of personnel!!!

Mr. Gill, our driver (here taking his shoes off after I dragged him on a walking tour...but unfortunately he was wearing new tight shoes...), has stopped working for us on april 30th. He will start a guesthouse because he, as he puts it, cannot leave his service with us to his son.

I have spent many hours with him talking about India and its problems, the things that bewilder me, the differences between India and the Netherlands, arranged marriages, bargaining, Hindoe customs and what have you...he taught me a lot about India and its customs, saved us from cheaters, helped us arrange the necessities of life (like getting a gasconnection, water delivered or broken electricity wires repaired) and pulled our leg at april 1st...we will miss him and we hope to stay in touch!

And then Bishnu, our cook, who came with us after we left the old house and moved back to the city...she also left, but not in the dignified way we said "auf wiedersehen" to mr. Gill. Unfortunately, Bishnu had to be removed from our house after we fired her because we caught her stealing. As it turns out, she had been taking money from my purse for quite a while, thinking I would not notice. Stupid of course if you are the only other person in the house.

Obviously I DID find out, and as she broke the one rule T and I have (don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal) it was bye bye Bishnu...except that she wouldn't go, once she found out I was serious, and clung weeping and pleading to the bannister of the stairs, kissing my feet and telling I was like a mother to her and could we please give her another chance, she would return all the money and never do it again....horrible. I felt guilty, I felt betrayed, I felt misused...because I liked her and I wanted her to have a chance at a good life, which she could have had, because she is a great cook and -if she doesn't do things like this- a wonderful cheerful person. Strange as it may sound, i will miss her too, even if I never want to see her again. I just hope that she learns the lesson and if ever she is given a chance again -and I hope that will happen- she will not screw it up like she did with us.

So here we are, no personnel, new house, fresh start.
T's contract will be prolonged with another three years and I really hope it will be a period of less stress and more fun...we are working on it! And for the meantime I self-cook, I self-clean, I self-drive...and I'm lovin' it!!!

And then T won the embassy's annual tennistournament!
So now we are stuck with this wonderful trophy, which obviously has a prominent place in our interior! It's a good conversation piece....people eye around our appartment and then carefully suggest that this thing is a little bit inconsistent when it comes to what seems to be our taste...thank god we get to keep it just one year! Our ambassador suggested that if you win the tournament for three years in a row, you MUST keep the trophy so I am now planning a mysterious mishap to T around the time of the tournament ;)