jennynordmans

Not even Sweden's got Dunkin Donuts

Spotting the sun rise above the world's highest peaks

I platted Carolines hair, so that she looked even more like Anne of the Green Gables

I learned to love this special and slightly peculiar place

We spent about a week in Nepal; a little less touristic, a little friendlier than India, definately as interesting. Kathmandu was not quite as I expected (after spending time with the village people in the mountains), but it's definately got character; the buildings are very old and beautiful, and it feels a bit like being in a fairytale wondering the narrow streets and having picnic breakfast at a rooftop garden. We even found a place called 'the Garden of Dreams' which was a very peaceful garden with a little cafe where we spent ours reading and talking about everything and nothing.

After Kathmandu we continued further south to Chitwan; a wildlife sanctury, where we went for a jeepsafari and managed to spot deer, crocodiles, peacocks, kingfisher birds, wild hogs and (best of all) rhinos! In the evening we had nepalese buffe and got to watch twelve young boys preform traditional nepalese dance, which, at the end, we also got to join! But the best part was easily going for an elephant shower, which meant sitting on top of the elephant while it stood in the river and splashed water on himself. He didn't seam to like having us on his back, so he tried to push us off and succeded very well indeed, so we all ended up in the river!

Before we got back to India we visited the brithplace of Buddha; Lumbini, and got to see the very stone where he was said to be born (however someone would remember that...)

And things happen fastly now! Yesterday we were in Varanasi; a popular destination for pilgrims who come there to swim in the holy (and extremely dirty) river, Ganges. The view from the roof of our hotel at sunrise was incredible; the usualy busy town is very quiet, all you can hear is the birds and the many monkeys, and a lot of people go for a boattrip and hundreds of fires are burning on the surface of the water.  We, too, went for a boat trip on the river and got a close view (far too close) of people burning corpses and spreading the ashes in the river...

And today, after a long over night train journey, we got to see the beautiful palace of Taj Mahal. Incrediby impressive; definately one of the most incredible things I have ever seen.

And we still have so many adventures ahead! Now lies before us a week in Rajastan before we eventually get to Delhi; our final destination...

After spending a few days in Kolkata we continued the journey north; to the Himalayan village Darjeeling. In order to get there we had to take a train from Kolkata in the middle of the night and spend 12 hours on the train; not amazing but it was ok since we now knew what we could expect from Indian trains. In the morning we had to change for another train that would take us to Darjeeling.

And that train was so adorable. It is called 'the toy train' and is the last train running by the Himalayan Railway. It consists of three tiny cars (not more than two meters wide and two meters to the sealing) with tiny seats. It is clear blue and definately does look like a toy train; no wonder it's on the list of UNESCO's World Herritage. And the journey was a beautiful, slow ride through the Himalayas.

Ok very slow. Afterbuying a ticket in a rush and running with our heavy backpacks so that we wouldn't miss it, we realised it would take us 9 hours to get to Darjeeling. But that was fine... Until the train stopped in the middle of nowere at some field on a hilltop since the train had slided off the rail... So in the end we arrived in Darjeeling late that evening, after having spent 12 hours balancing on those tiny seats so that we wouldn't fall off; absolutely exhausted after having gone by train the night before too.

But that journey was definately worth it. This is the lovelies Indian town I have been to so far. The colourful little houses (they all look like dolls' houses) are climbing along the steep mountain side; creating an amazing view from wherever you are in the town. The people are very beautiful and look more... asian than the people in the rest of india, they really do look like dolls (so they fit right in the dolls' houses), and they are very friendly. The streets are very narrow and windy, and very steep.

It is cold here, not reaching over 14 maybe in the middle of the day, so we spent the first morning trying to find some warm clothes. We tried the local cuisine (me and Caroline are mad about Tibetian bread) and then went for a stroll down the mountain side. We managed to find a beautiful Gompa (a buddhist, tibetian styled monastery) in the pagoda-shape (the roof looks like three chinese hats on top of each other). We also found the Tibetian Refugee Center that provides schooling for the children and work for the adults. Ludwig played basketball with two small boys while me and Caroline shopped in the handicraft store - i found the warmest jumper ever, so even I wont be cold here!

This morning we got up quarter to four (!!!) in order to see the sun rise over the worlds largest peaks at Tiger Hill. We were lucky; Indiast tallest mountain - and the world's third tallest - showed beautifully, and we managed to see the shape of Mount everest behind the clouds.

So now we are all quite sleepy, which is good since I need to go to bed early for another early morning tomorrow. I will spend four days wondering the Himalayas on my own (Caroline and Ludwig wouldn't let me persuade them), which is a bit scary (we'll see how long my feet last) and quite amazing.

Sleepy love
Jenny

It was almost to pretty for the camera to handle

We are now back in India after a great week in Thailand. Our current destination is Kolkata (former Calcutta), which is more different from what I'm used to than anything I've experienced before. The city is so much more poor than the other cities we have seen, and it has such a huge populatin; 140 milion people! The buildings are low, the houses and restaurants are so small, like tiny closets, its very very dirty, and people are living their daily life on the pavement; that's were they work, eat and sleep.

Yet I find it beautiful, and charming. People are relaxed in a different way compared to Mumbai for instance, there is an acceptance in their situation that scares me and that I admire. The colours here are somehow so clear; the many houses painted in a turqouise colour, the washing lines with different indian materials, the fruit markets with dozens of different fruit, a tree with red leaves in front of a green mosque, a child in bright orange clothes running across the tenn roofs after a yellow kite...

Our wierdest experience here has been going on a human taxi; an old man with arms and legs like sticks pulling us through the streets of Kolkata on a little wagon. It felt wrong in a way, him pulling us like that, but i guess, on the other hand, its better that he has a job than that he has to beg on the street...

Well there sure are stories to tell.

Much love
Jenny

With this little piratey ship we made the waters outside Negrombo unsafe for a while

We went further down south and found an island called Koh Tao; with a nice white beach and the best snorkeling I've ever experienced. So for the past three days we have been floating around looking at fish and corals in a million colours, and I've learned how to go down several meters under the water. And I've definately decided to take a diving licence soon; shame we didn't have more time here!

Now we're going back to Bangkok for a couple of days and then back to Indialand.

<3<3<3

We've really had both one of the highlights of the trip and one of the worst parts yet in 24 hours. Being in Sri Lanka while Colombo was attacked by the Tamil Tigers was terrifying. The scary part was that we didn't know what was going on to start with, and sitting in the pitch black house hearing the planes flying over our heads wasn't great.

Well we got back to India, Chennai, all safe and sound, and were planning on taking the train to Kolkata the same evening... until we realised the journey would take about 30 hours; and Indian trains are bad enough to be on for one hour.

So since we had seen on the departure board at the airport that a plane was leaving for Bangkok the same evening... we headed back to the airport and got on it!!! It was such an amazing feeling being able to do that; just deciding 'hey, lets go to Thailand...' and then do it! It will definately be something I will always remember.

We got to Bangkok early in the morning, and after finding a place to sleep for a few hours we were ready to do the town. It's such a multicoloured city; it's got so many aspects, it's friendly and very easy to love. It's like a huge Chinatown meets Future City meets street-wook and backpacker-pubs meets the orchid-scented smell of old Thai traditions.

And we found Starbucks! So I'm content for now. There is so much to do here, so many places to go, so many things to buy. I definately have to come back here some time (guaranted we'll come back when we fly back to India in a week, straight to Kolkata, yay!).

Now we're in Chumphon and are soon to be leaving by boat to the island Koh Tao.

Take care lovelies
Jenny

We spent two (and a half) great days in Munnar and it's beautful surroundings. This place reminds somewhat of the alps with the high mountains and rivers. The hills are however covered with green tea plantations that make out a contrast to the clear-blue skies. The air is very clean and much cooler than on lower altitudes. For two days we went around the landscapes by rickshaw and taxi to see the tea factory, the echo point, waterfalls, the highest mountain in south India... and did two really cool things:
1. We rode an elephant! It was so bumpy, and I'm surprised all three of us managed to stay on
2. We went for a trekk in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctury, across the rivers, up and down steep hills in the burning sun, with monkeys swinging in the trees above us until we finally reached our destination; a large waterfall in the woods. We got to swm in the cool water and take a long rest before it was time to head back.

So the following morning we got up half past four to take the bus (the bumpiest so far) further down south to Kottayam (where also the brilliant novel 'the God of Small Things' took place) and rented a houseboat! With this floating home of ours (two rooms, a dining room outside and a loft with a sofa), along with the captain and a chef, we set out on the amazing backwaters of Kerala. This was definately one of the highlights of our trip so far! It was so relaxing to cruise around on the broad rivers between thin rows of palmtrees, rice plantations and small groups of waterliving flowers. We got a beautiful sunset, and were up early in the morning to see the the fog rise from the water. This is definately one of the things I would recommend to anyone going to India, even if it's a little more expensive than a regular backpacker would normally pay.

We are currently on a beach in southern Kerala called Varanasi and are shortly to be leaving for Trivandrum, where we will get to stay with friends to Ludwig's family. Hello home made food, clean sheets and a washing mashine!!

All three of us have managed to read a whole libary since we left Sweden. One of the books I read was called 'the Next Thing on My List', which was basically about someone who had written a list of things they wanted to complete before their 25th birthday. So me and Caroline decided to write our own lists... which was easier said than done! And its hard to be realistic (not what 'm best at). So maybe one of the things has to be ' write a realistic list'. Or, alternatively, ' stop planning everything and writing so many lists'.  Well the work goes on.

Well I have a beach to head to.
Love from India
Jenny

So we spent a few days in Kochi, being the regular tourist and seeing the older parts of the town, markets, galleries, churches... We got to help out ironing at a laundy service! We also got to take a peek into a ginger factory and it smelled amazingly! The coolest bit was almost the so-called Pepper Exchange; a market for pepper, with a daily price just like the stock market. The interiors of the building wasn't totally unlike Wall Street (or what I'd imagine Wall Street to look like), but we were hugely disappointed when we realised that the pepper exchange nowadays goes on online... Indians are so noisy in almost every situation, but here there wasn't even a yell, only the silent tapping of computers...

We found a Pizza Hut! And it was amaaazing to have pizza after three weeks of dahl fry.  We had brownie and ice cream for desert, and Ludwig looked at us as if we were lunatics when me and Caroline suddenly got silent and had a religious moment.

Yesterday we headed to a village called Munnar in the mountains! It is soo beautifl here! Oh but suddenly the time of the computer ran out, so I will have to explain just how amazing next time.

Well much love
Jenny