THE WORLD’S GREATEST TRAIN TRIP

Welcome aboard, madam.

Fairfax Media recently published my article on our fabulous trip on the train rated the world’s most luxurious. So now here on the blog is the full story on our envy-breeding adventure…

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: (accidental) selfie, Rajasthan

At first I thought, ‘Damn! Look at that reflection.’ Then I reflected further…

It’s been a while since I entered the Weekly Photo Challenge, and this week’s topic ‘SELFIE’ wasn’t immediately appealing. I hadn’t heard the word until a few months ago. Then I decided perhaps I did have something to offer…

On our recent luxury train trip through India on the Maharajas Express we often found ourselves staring through the tinted glass as Real India, non-airconditioned India, slid past.

This shot, which had been consigned to the ‘reject file’ seemed to capture the spirit – fascination with what we were seeing, tinged with a little guilt that we were so insulated from it.

The writer was the guest of Railbookers. See www.railbookers.com.au

MEN WITH CAMELS – Bikaner

Yes, this is a show camel, but it’s a good show.

Bikaner is a small town by Indian standards, with a mere 2 million people eking out a living on the fringe of the Rajasthani desert. It also has an awful lot of camels.

OLD JODHPUR IN SEPIA

I guess they’re just farmers off to do some ordinary job, but it looks like part of a mysterious story.

I’ve been so overwhelmed by the colour that is everywhere in India, that I’d forgotten to try this arty photo experiment…

With the stroke of a key in iPhoto Effects I can make my shots look as if they were taken by an intrepid explorer traipsing across India in the days of the Raj, with an entourage of bearers carrying his photographic equipment.

SAVING INDIA’S MONA LISA

The beautiful Padmapani, holder of the lotus and protector of the Buddha, herself preserved by being hidden in a cave for 1500 years. India’s Mona Lisa?

John Smith of the 28th cavalry was out looking for tigers in 1819, when he found a cave, full of bats and rubble and used by local people for religious ceremonies.

He’d stumbled upon one of the world’s ancient wonders, man-made Buddhist caves dating back to at least the fifth century AD, and probably seven hundred years before that. John was so excited he scratched his name on the wall, as explorers were wont to do.

Since word got out about the discovery, millions of people have followed him into the Ajanta Caves, and although we take off our shoes or pull soft covers over them, we’re all doing our little bit to damage them.

SIGNS A SOURCE OF INNOCENT MERRIMENT – India

Fair enough too. It’s at the door of a family fun fair, “Kingdom of Dreams”, in Delhi.

It’s a free, harmless and apparently endless source of amusement in someone else’s country to spot signs you would be unlikely to see at home.