So many things...

Yes, I realize I haven't posted anything in a long time -- I'm sorry about the fact that you had to see a picture of that cane for months and months -- but I've been wildly busy...

KERALA:

My mother just came to visit... along with a very dear family friend, Jean Barker. Our adventure took us to Kerala (South India) and out on a Rice Boat... which was incredibly relaxing. I think that all three of us wish that we had more time on the riceboat... even though there was really nothing to do. It was just a gentle cruise along the backwaters of Kerala... while our crew of three (we had a 3bedroom houseboat to ourselves) took care of us -- cooking three meals a day. I just love the south of this country -- the food, people and environs are all so different from the North. After the backwaters we headed to Cochin where we spent a few nights at the Taj Malabar...

Mum and Jean got a real taste of India several times (a day) on this trip -- but this was a classic example... when we went on a little evening sunset cruise from the Taj hotel. Of course we were out for about 10 minutes taking pictures of the sunset... then a huge storm swept up, thunder and lighting struck... rain... and we ran aground on a jetty. It ended up that when the storm broke we were stuck... and it was up to the hotel guests to figure out how to push this huge rice boat off the shore.

We threw a little cocktail party with a number of my friends right after they arrived and Sanjiv and Seema had us over for dinner one night and John had us over for drinks. So... there was a good combo of doing a bit of exploring, seeing a bit of my life in Delhi... and I sent them off to see the Taj Mahal... a must-see (of course) which I just can't keep going to. They stayed at the super-fab Oberoi Rajvillas in Jaipur and I took a car out to meet them at the Neemrana Fort Palace for the last night. It was really perfect... this 15th Century fort which has been made into a lovely hotel. It's HOT out there in Rajasthan.... but when the sun sets... just lovely to sit and watch fire-dancers and singers against the backdrop of this old fort. This was a picture from dinner on their last night in Delhi.

KASHMIR -- Ok, THIS is my favorite place in India... though Kerala, Goa and Kolkata are all close seconds, thirds etc...

And this picture really exemplifies the beauty of this place -- David and I were there just as the spring flowers - these yellow mustard flowers were blooming. I RARELY enjoy driving in India... but the hours we spent in the car each day were just lovely. The yellow flowers in the foreground, these pink and yellow spring trees just in bloom - and the snowcapped mountains behind. These pictures (flower field and snowy mountain) were taken within about two hours from one another. The terrain is so steep here that it can really change quite quickly.

Kashmir is a place that has been preserved, in a way, by the terrorism and insurgency that has dominated the last two decades. Even Indian tourists have been targeted here recently... and paramilitary troops line the streets everywhere one drives.

We had been booked in this Interncontinental hotel... which was nice enough... but a journalist friend told me we had to stay at Butt's Houseboats... so we check out of the Intercon after one night... drove to the north of Dal Lake... and stayed here: These boats were initially built by the British when Indian law didn't allow the British to actually own land... so they got around it buy buying these houseboats... sitting on the water. You can see the elaborate carvings of the wood walls.... This place was a little rickety... but just magical... absolutely fantastic. I loved it so much - I'm debating taking Sarah there next week when she comes out to visit.

The floating market on Dal Lake... just at sunrise:

Nicky Cowan's trip.... We went to Goa... and I was so impressed with the freebie welcome mojitos that we took a picture before we took a sip... I was LESS impressed when I realized they were VIRGIN mojitos. Who has virgin mojitos? Goa was super-fun... and I was glad to finally get to see it. ...

OK... i was following an ORDER to update my blog... but I can't keep updating... so... this'll just have to wait for a bit.... -sd