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Tag Archives: trip of a lifetime

Beautiful People in India and Nepal (More holiday photos)

The people we met in India and Nepal were all so friendly and many asked if they could take our photos and were happy for me to reciprocate.

 

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India Holiday continued – Raja Mahal, Orchha

This palace in Orccha, built in the 16th century by King Rudra Pratap, has the most amazing paintings telling the stories of Rama and Krishna.

Lots more holiday photos to come!

 
 

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Wire Bugs, Skype and A Taj Mahal Gallery

1    Sometime ago we gave away some brass wire through Free-cycle and today, one of the people who had some, sent me an email to tell me what she has done with it. She has made these very pretty Feeding Bugs! Please click on the symbol if the bugs aren’t showing.

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2   We have Skyped with Daniel and Ami in Barcelona, so lovely to talk to them and see them again. We’ve missed them while we’ve been away.

3   I’ve been sorting our holiday photos and have put together a gallery of photos that we took at the Taj Mahal. You can click on any photo for an enlargement.

 

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Mount Everest, Durbar Square and Swayambhunath Stupa (Weekly Photo Challenge, Foreign)

1. Up at 4.45 for a flight around the Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest, an experience that was truly awesome. We were very lucky to have the clearest of skies, the flight was a delight and the views of the mountains just so beautiful with the early morning sunlight on the peaks. The first photo was taken from the cockpit, the second from the side, rather grubby windows.

2. Kathmandu’s Durbar Square was humming. It is still festival time so there were families in abundance again, the shrines were all decorated with marigolds and there were people chanting, playing bells and singing. Because of the festival, there were few shops open but there were still stalls in the square selling all manner of trinkets and things too heavy to bring home! There are innumerable magnificent medieval temples, pagodas, shrines and pavilions – it’s quite remarkable.

3. We took the most exciting bicycle rickshaw ride to our next place, the huge Swayambhunath stupa. Our driver found the journey hard and from being third in line out of 15, we ended up being last as all the others overtook us and we lost sight of them for a street and a half!

The stupa is one of Nepal’s most sacred Buddhist shrines and beneath the all-seeing eyes and the streamers of prayer flags, there were many pilgrims spinning prayer wheels, murmuring mantras and strolling around the stupa in a clockwise direction.

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From India to Nepal, Our Welcome and Room Service

1. The flight was only 40 mins from Varanasi to Kathmandu but we were at the airport very early and on arrival in Nepal were two hours in the queue for our visas so we arrived too late for any sightseeing today. The good thing about this was that we all talked to each other in the queue and had lots of laughs! Our first sight of Kathmandu and the mountains from the plane was beautiful indeed.

2. Our welcome in the hotel was lovely as it had been in India. There were bowls of flowers throughout the lobby.

3. After such a long day which was tiring despite doing nothing, we opted for room service which we have never done before. Our very simple meal was so beautifully presented on a trolley which became our dining table. Tomorrow we get up at 4.30 am to have our flight over Everest! I can’t quite believe we are really doing this trip!

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Posted by on October 25, 2012 in India, Nepal, postaday2012, travel

 

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18th October – Staines, The River Thames and Anticipation

1. With 9 hours to fill today, we opted for a late Full English breakfast and very good it was too! We then went on the bus to Staines. There was a lovely mosaic in the bookshop, an interesting sculpture near the shops and a lovely old lych gate to St Peter’s Church.

2. We had a delightful walk along the Thames which was full of water birds – swans, coots, ducks and geese. Watching the swans landing and taking off is always fun.

3. Now we are just full of excitement and ready to be off, flight at 8.45pm. Dehli here we come!

I can’t upload photos for some reason so there’ll be lots to look forward to when we get home!

 
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Posted by on October 24, 2012 in art, India, mosaic, postaday2012, sculpture, travel

 

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