Namaste!

It is about time we bought you up to date with the latest and greatest photos, we hope that you enjoy them :-) :-)

Ahmedabad:

I know that we keep hankering on about the traffic but to justify this fascination I can say that it is unique in it's own way wherever we go....

I would not fancy pulling a load on this handcart, especially through traffic.


A loaded up autorickshaw is always a familiar site


Three on a bike... This is a regular occurrence throughout India, we often see whole families on one bike with a child on the tank and the mother holding her baby.


Two on a bike...


One of the fine polo hats used as head protection on the motorbike.


There are many different variations of these hand cranked bikes, they are in wide use here and I see more of these than wheelchairs.


A scooter sidecar rocket :-)


There is even a Honda dealership that specifically sells scooters to women (no motorbikes - yet), I was impressed with the modern retail aspect of this


And whilst on the subject of retail, here is a photo of the Trek Bikes India ad with a list of stores, we saw it in India's Bike magazine. The magazine is dedicated to motorbikes, we have not come across a cycling magazine yet.


Down by the river near the slums there is a lot of activity. There is a laundrette.



We also saw a boy on a home made inflatable made of discarded sacks.


Onto Ahmedabad walk in the old city.....

The walk started in the grounds of the Swaminarayan Temple.


There are chalkboards throughout the old city, we have also seen these in Palitana and Bhavnagar. The reiterate the latest news to people and have been in use for centuries.


One of the bird feeders.


The streets are enclosed very tightly this aids climate control and also makes it hard to get decent photo's :-)

Looking up


The decoration of buildings and accoutrements is very impressive.



Some typical examples of house frontages.




A renovated haveli that has now been turned into a fine school.


The inside of another haveli.


Another city decorated with the remains of lost kites.


Amongst the maze of lanes and courtyards we came across a number of temples, this one is Hindu.


A Jain temple.

and the monastery attached to it.


There are some amazing shops in the old city, this one sold hand made hats for all sorts of occasions especially those of a religous nature.

This store sold hand made clothing for idols that sit either in personal shrines or temples. The clothing was of a size that would fit onto an action man again the attention to detail was amazing.

This guy sold strings of beads, we see many pilgrims and holy men wearing these.


I spotted this small child who had been left on the garbage cart whilst mum swept the lanes.


This woman was winding newspaper around a metal stick to make straws that are used for building floats for religous parades....we were told that this was a lost art and these women were very skilled to be doing this. They were also very speedy!


In the Muslim area near the mosque we were overpowered by the smell of cooking mutton (definitely not lamb!!!!!). There were goats everywhere, these ones were interested in the laundry.


Our destination, the Jama Masjid.


The water tank where worshippers wash before prayer.


Within the grounds there was giant script written on the perimeter wall.


Inside the mosque..



K found more bats.


The ornate screen with the Om (encircled in red).