India - 2010/2011

Jodhpur fort.

Jodhpur fort.

The blue used in the majority of Jodhpur buildings is made by mixing Indigo with the paint. It is said to be cool and repel mosquitoes, as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

Even in India, the sight of the working elephant in the city streets is not too common. Nice that he struck a pose, with the fort in the background! Very obliging.

I don't have to don a hat and apron to be a master chef. We did an Indian cooking course while in Jodhpur and had a ball. It was run in someone's home-cum-spiceshop-cum-kitchen.

By the lake shore of Udaipur.

Udaipur is where the majority of James Bond's Octopussy was set and filmed. Many cafes and restaurants screen the movie every night, so we did sit down and watch it again. It was great, after having been around the town for a day, to recognise everything and how it all fit (or didn't, as the case may be!) The principal buildings used in the movie are not quite visible here, (although some are), but I think that may even be Octopussy's barge out there. We thought about going to the island only inhabited by beautiful women, but that may have just been a movie fantasy. I know the best way to get there, in a fake crocodile. That's how Roger Moore did it, anyway.

One of a number of churches in Old Goa, no longer in regular use. The settlement of Old Goa was abandoned a couple of centuries ago after the population was desisimated by one epidimic after another.

Only recently have efforts been made to stop further deterioration of this cathedral in Old Goa.

I did protest, but Jo wanted this photo included. Palolem beach, Goa.

Goan beaches are not exempt from the usual sight of cows wandering at will.

During beer o'clock, from our hut verandah, Palolem Beach.

During breakfast, from our hut verandah, Palolem Beach.

The monkeys on Elephanta Island steal food and drink from anybody who doesn't hold on to it well enough. They then sit close by and taunt the victim by consuming their ill-gotten goods with much gusto and little respect.

Some of the centuries old carvings in the cave temples on Elephanta Island, not far from Mumbai.

A large and impressive bust, perhaps a thousand years old, in the cave temples on Elephanta Island, not far from Mumbai.

A sea eagle hovers on a draft, scanning for food. Elephanta Island, Mumbai.

Our Mumbai couch-surfing host, the beautiful Helene of France. No, she and Jo did not deliberately choose to wear red on red cushions...