DAY 289

Lots of old temples and ruins in Hampi, including this huge one. It was once a major town but was sacked by the Mughals about 500 years ago. Guest photographer: Ed.

DAY 288

One of my favourite photos so far on the blog. We've hired mopeds and are checking out the rocks and rice paddies. Not as hairy as it sounds, don't worry.

DAY 287

After a very early start, a seven hour train journey and a mad auto rickshaw ride, we arrived in Hampi. Ed was here 18 years ago but the rest of us have never been here before. It's a treat.

DAY 286

The beach we were staying on in Goa is a fifteen minute walk from another lovely beach: Patnem. The beach isn't quite as nice as Palolem but there are some great restaurants. 

DAY 285

Other than dolphin watching and kayaking and catching up with some friends from Frome on the next door beach, we haven't been doing very much ... so it's a bit hard to find photos to post that aren't just ones of sand and sea. I've gone for honesty and chosen this photo over another one which makes it look like we're on a deserted paradise island. It's busy, but it's beautiful.

DAY 284

... and kayaking up a little tidal river on Boxing Day. We saw three kingfishers and sea eagles. No crocodiles though.

DAY 283

We went dolphin watching on Christmas Day just off Palolem beach where we are staying. We saw loads and loads of them - really amazing. 

DAY 282

Christmas Eve and dinner on the beach ... we're having a much nicer time than Josie and Oslo suggest.

DAY 281

DAY 280

It was quite  a long day on Sunday with two flights and a long taxi journey but we made it to the beach!

DAY 279

Cheating as I didn't take this photo until Sunday when we were in Mumbai airport on our way to Goa ... I love it though.

DAY 278

It's Chinese gooseberry season ... well, I thought that was what they are called but I just googled it to check and turns out Chinese gooseberry is the old name for a kiwi fruit. Who knew? So I have no idea what these are called - they come with a beautiful papery casing around them and I have a feeling that one name for them begins with p... they're quite sour. Any ideas?

DAY 277

Look who's here! Great excitement at our house.

DAY 276

And continuing with the cold theme, here are the boys in one of their oddly favourite places to sit, drinking hot chocolate.

DAY 275

And here's the fog. Or smog. Fog smog. The air quality in Delhi is horrendous at the moment. The school stops the kids from playing outside when the particle count is too high. We've had several days like this in the last few weeks. Trying not to think about it too much. 

DAY 274

...and just to prove that it is in fact very cold here in Delhi, here is a typical auto rickshaw wallah on a typical morning, with very typical fog. More on this in the next photo...

DAY 273

Despite the weather, kulfi (ice cream) is still high on the list of bribes for going shopping at the market. They're eating it on a cycle rickshaw on the way home - this is the before picture. By the time we got there Oslo was covered in it. As usual.

DAY 272

We had Oslo's birthday party in Lodhi Gardens today - rounders/baseball, archery (sort of) and pass the parcel ... and a tower of brownies in place of a cake because I didn't have time to make one :-( Despite Oslo's expression in this photo, we all had a lovely time.

DAY 271

On Thursday evening we ended up at Leopold's Cafe, which those of you who have read Shantaram will be familiar with ... it was also one of the places that was caught up in the Mumbai attacks in 2008. You can see the bullet holes in the walls.

DAY 270

I was in Mumbai this week for a two day meeting. What a fantastic city! I'd only ever been very briefly before for work, but this time we went out in the evening and I had a little look around. One of the best things about Mumbai is these Fiat Padmini taxis - they are to Mumbai what the Ambassador taxis are to Delhi. Sadly they're being slowly taken off the road and replaced with newer cars ... it won't be the same without them. Notice here the special flap thing that the driver has on his door, to rest his arm on as he drives along. It's specially made and attaches to the door handle to keep it in place. Definitely going back to Mumbai for a long weekend as soon as possible.

DAY 269

DAY 268

"I took this picture too of the new cover on our new chair." (Louie) (see Day 248)

DAY 267

Guest photographer today: Louie (not bad right?!). He's going to write about it too: "Our plants are finally growing.We're very excited about having them in our dinner."  

DAY 266

Another day, another auto rickshaw. I know I'm way behind. I will catch up this week ...

DAY 265

Guess what we did for Oslo's birthday today ...?

DAY 264

More auto rickshaw details ...

DAY 263

Breaking the rules - another photo from our trip to the Shekawati region of Rajasthan. Love the blue blue sky. 

DAY 262

It was the Delhi elections today (Wednesday). All electronic voting at polling stations, and your fingernail gets stained to show you have cast your vote - as modelled by my lovely colleague (who incidentally also wore a sari to mark the occasion). Results on Sunday.

DAY 261

A guest photographer today ... my Dad! These parakeets fly around all over Delhi, sometimes in great flocks overhead. My parents are here with us for ten days. So lovely to have them here.

DAY 260

DAY 259

The drive home through the Rajasthani countryside was really beautiful, although the roads weren't exactly marvellous. Our car did well, as did its driver (except for a narrowly avoided incident with a large truck).