Safari in Tanzania from 22nd August - 27th August 07

Tarangire National Park ~ Day 1. We arrive from Dar es Salaam to Arusha early in the morning and the travel agent proposed us to do Tarangire Park to kill the time and of course we agreed. When we reached to the park there were a lots of people already.

About Tarangire National Park.
Tarangire is a beautiful area stretching south-east of Lake Manyara around the Tarangire River. During the dry season, particularly between August and October, it has one of the highest concentrations of wildlife of any of the country's park. Large herds of zebra, wildebeest and elephant can be found here until October when the short wet season allows them to move on to lush new grasslands. Eland, lesser kudu, gazelle, giraffe, water buck, impala, and the occassional leopard or rhino can be seen at Tarangire year-around. The park is also very good for bird watching, with over three hundred different species recorded. For ornithologists and birdwatchers, the best time to visit is between October and May.

Bordering Tarangire to the north-east is the Tarangire Wildlife Conservation Area, which was created to address the varying needs of local conservation projects in the area. Visitors can enjoy walking safaris here while local villagers - who have set aside some of their land for the project - benefit directly from tourist revenue and remain involved in management of the conservation area.


NGORONGORO CRATER ~ Day 2 and 3 We arrive at Ngorongoro Crater late in the afternoon and we have the view like in picture above in front of us while we are on the way to hotel. It is just so beautiful and the weather is cold. We stay 2 nights in Ngorongoro but in two different hotels.

About Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa's best known wildlife-viewing areas and one of Tanzania's most visited. At about 20 km wide it is also one of the largest calderas in the world. Within its walls are a variety of animals and vegetation, including grasslands, swamps, forests, salt pans and a freshwater lake. You are likely to see lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and many of the plains herbivores such as wildebeest, Thomson's gazelle, zebra and reed buck, as well as thousands of flamingos wading in the shallows of Lake Magadi, the soda lake at crater's base.

Despite its steep walls, there's considerable movement animals in and out of the crater - mostly to the Serengeti, since the land between the crater and Lake Manyara is intensively famed. Yet it remains a favored spot for wildlife because there's permanent water and grassland on the crater floor.

The animals don't have the crater to themselves. Local Maasai tribes have grazing rights and you may come across them tending their cattle. During the German Colonial era there were two settler' farms in the crater; you can still see one of the huts.


SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK ~ Day 4
It has been the whole day we are in the park. Kind of a tired a little by counting the gazelles, they are all along the way that we take. From time to time, I fall to sleep; I am not counting the mutton but the gazelle.

About Serengeti National Park.
Serengeti, which covers 14,763sq km and is contiguous with the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, is Tanzania's largest and most famous national park. On its vast treeless plains are several million hoofed animals, constantly on the move in search of fresh grassland. The wildebeest, of which there are up to two million, is the chief herbivore and also the main prey of large carnivores such as lion and hyena.

One of the Serengeti's biggest attractions is the annual migration of wildebeest herds in search of better grazing. During the rainy season between March and May, the herds are widely scattered over the southern section of the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. As these areas have few large rivers and streams, they dry out quickly when the rains cease. When this happens, the wildebeest concentrate on the few remaining green areas, forming large herds which more north and west in search of food. The wildebeest spend the dry season in these parts of the Serengeti, only moving back east in anticipation of the rains.

The best time to see the wildebeest migration in the Western Corridor of the Serengeti is between May and July, although the actual viewing window can be short. The Serengeti is also famous for its lions, many of which have collars fitted with transmitters so their movements can be studied and their location tracked. It's also known for its cheetah and large herds of giraffe.


Lake Manyara National Park ~ (Day 5).
We end up our safaris here at Lake Manyara. What a nice trip and we really had fun.

About Lake Manyara National Park.
The serene and beautiful Lake Manyara National Park is often underrated in tourist literature; many visitors are surprised by how nice the park really is. in addition to its peaceful setting, Manyara's main attractions are its rich bird life, its tree climbing lions and its hippos, which you can see at closer range here than at most other places. There are also a fair number of elephants although the population has been declining in recent years. The park, which lies between 900m and 1800m above the sea level, is bordered to the west by dramatic western escarpment of the Rift valley. To the east is the alkaline Lake Manyara which at certain times of year hosts thousands of flamingos, as well as a diversity of other bird life and a substantial hippo population. Depending on the season, about two-thirds of the park's total 330sq km area is covered by the lake. Although Manyara is one of the smallest parks, its vegetation is diverse, ranging from savanna to marshes and acacia woodland, enabling it to support a variety of wildlife habitats.

Arusha.
There we are enjoying our local food; Ugali which made from maizes flour, served with a local spinach and lamb brochettes. Just love it....

About Arusha.
Arusha is a northern city Tanzania surrounded by some of Africa's most famous landscapes and national parks. Beautifully situated below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, it has a pleasant climate and is close to Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Oldurai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, and Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as having its own Arusha National Park on Mount Meru.
Big kiss from NDH/Gros becs de NDH

Manuel is an important and necessary man - I

Dedicated to all. Just take your time and read this small story of Manuel.

Manuel needs to be busy. If he is not, he thinks that his life has no meaning, that he's wasting his time, that society no longer needs him, that no one loves or wants him.

So, as soon as he wakes up, he has a series of tasks to perform: to watch the news on television (something might have happened in the night); to read the newspaper (something might have happened during the day yesterday); to tell his wife not to let the children be late for school; to take the car or catch a taxi or a bus or the metro, all the time thinking hard, staring into space, looking at his watch or, if possible, making a few calls on his mobile phone, and ensuring that everyone can see what an important man he is, useful to the world.

Manuel arrives at work and sits down to deal with the paperwork that awaits him. If he's an employee, he does his best to make sure that his boss has seen that he's arrived on time. If he's a boss, he sets everyone to work immediately. If there are no important tasks to be done, Manuel will invent them, create them, come up with a new plan, develop new lines of action.

Manuel goes to lunch, but never alone. If he is a boss, he sits down with his friends and discusses new strategies, speaks ill of his competitors, always has a card up his sleeve, complains (with some pride) of overwork. If Manuel is an employee, he, too, sits downs with his friends, complains about the amount of overtime he's doing, states with some anxiety (and with some pride) that various things in the company depend entirely on him.

Manuel - boss or employee - works all afternoon. From time to time, he looks at his watch. it's nearly time to go home, but he still has to sort out a detail here, sign a document there. He's an honest man and wants to justify his salary, other people's expextations, the dreams of his parents, who struggled so hard to give him a good education.

Finally, he goes home. He has a bath, puts on some more comfortable clothes, and has supper with his family. He asks after his children's homwork and what his wife has been doing. Sometimes, he talks about his work, although only to serve as an example, because he tries not to bring his work problems home with him. They finish supper, and his children - who have no times for examples, homework, or other such things - immediatelty leave the table and go and sits down in front of the computer. Manuel, in turn, goes and sits down in front of that piece of apparatus fom childhood called the television. He again watches the news (something might have happened during the afternoon).

He always goes to bed with some technical book on his bedside table - whether he's a boss or an employee, he knows that competition is intense, and that anyone who fails to keep up to date runs the risk of loging his job and facing that worst of all curses: having nothing to do.

He talks a little to his wife; after all, a nice, hard-working, loving man who takes care of his family, and is prepared to defend it whatever the circumstances. He falls asleep at once, and he sleeps knowing that he wll be very busy tomorrow, and that he needs to rebuild his energies.

That night, Manuel has a dream. An angel asks him: 'Why are you doing this?' He replies that it's because he's a responsible man.

The ange goes on: 'Would you be capable of taking at least fifteen minutes of your day to stop and look at the world, and at yourself, and simply do nothing?' Manuel says that he would love to do that, but he doesn't have time. 'You're lying to me,' says the angel. 'Everyone has time to do that. It's just that they don't have the courage. Work is a blessing when it helps us to think about what we're doing; but it becomes a curse when its sole use is to stop us thinking about the meaning of our life.'

Manuel wakes up in he middle of the night in a cold sweat. Courage? How can a man who sacrifies himself for his family not have the courage to stop for fifteen minutes a day?

Its best to go back to sleep. It was just a dream; these questions will get him nowhere; and tomorrow he's going to be very, very busy.

Le Manuel est un homme important et nécessaire - I


Manuel doit être occupé. S'il n'est pas, il pense que sa vie n'a aucune signification, qu'il perd son temps, que la société n'a besoin plus de lui ou ne le veut.

Ainsi, dès qu'il se réveillera, il a une série de charger d'exécuter; pour regarder les nouvelles ou la télévision (quel que chose pourrait s'être produit la nuit); pour lire le journal (quel que chose pourrait s'être produit pendant le jour hier); pour dire à son epouse de ne pas laisser les enfants d'être en retard pour l'école; de prendre la voiture, d'attraper un taxi, un autobus ou le métro, toutes les heures à reflechir serieusement, regardant dans l'espace, regardant fixement sa montre ou, si possible, faisant quelque appels sur son téléphone portable, et s'assurer que chacun peut voir ce quel homme important il est, et utile au monde.

Manuel arrive au travail et s'assied pour traiter les écritures qui l'attendent. S'il est un employé, il fait son meilleur pour s'assurer que son patron a vu qu'il est arrivé à l'heure. S'il est in patron, il place chacun pour travailler immediatement. S'il n'y a d'autres affaires importantes, Le Manuel les inventera, les créent, monté avec un nouveau plan, développent de nouvelles lignes d'action.

Manuel ne va jamais seul pour déjeuner, mais, si il est un patron, il s'assied avec ses amis et discutent de nouvelles stratégies, parlent de la défectuosité de ses concurrents, a toujours une carte dans ses manches (avec de la fierté) du surmenage. Si Manuel est un employé, lui aussi, s'assied avec ses amis, se plainent au sujet de son patron, se plainent au sujet de la quantité d'heures supplémentaires qu'il fait, l'états avec une certaine inquiétude (et avec de la fierté) que les diverses à la compagnie dépendent entièrement de lui.

Manuel - patron ou employé - travaille tout les après-midi. De temps en temps, il regarde sa montre. Bientôt, il est temps de rentrer à la maison, mais il doit encore trier un détail ici, signer un document là. Il est un homme honnête et veut justifier son salaire, les espérances des autres, les rêves de ses parents, qui ont tellement lutté dur pour lui donnent une bonne éducation.

En conculsion, il va à la maison. Il prend un bain, des vêtements confortables, et dîne avec sa famille. Il demande après le travail à ses enfants et à son épouse ce qu'ils ont fait. Autrefois, il parle de son travail, bien que pour servir seulement comme exemple, parce qu'il essaye de ne pas apporter ses problémes de travail à la maison. Ils finissent de dîner, et ses enfants - qui n'ont pas de temps pour des exemples, le travail, ou d'autres telles choses - ils laissent immédiatement la table et vont s'asseoir devant l'ordinateur. Manuel, alternativement, entre et s'assied devant un apareil qu'il cotoillait pendant de son enfance et qui est appellé la télévision. Il observe encore les nouvelles (quelque chose auait pu se produire pendant l'après-midi).

Il va au lit toujours avec un certain livre technique sur la table de chevet - s'il est un patron ou un employé qu'il sait que la concurrence est intense, et que n'importe qui qui ne continue pas a ce mettre a jours, les risques de perdre son travail et faisant face au plus mauvais de tous destin; n'avoir rien à faire.

Il parle à son épouse; il est après tout, un gentil homme, assidu, affectueux qui prend soin de sa famille, et est disposé à la défendre quelques les circonstances. Il s'endort immédiatement, et il dort en sachant que demain, il sera très occupé, et qu'il doit reconstruire ses énergies.

Cette nuit, Manuel a un rêve. Un ange lui demande; 'Pourquoi faites vous cela?' Il répond qu'il est un homme responsable.

L'ange continue; 'Est-ce que vous êtes capable de prendre au moins quinze minutes par jour de vous arrêtez et regarder le monde en face et vous-même, et tout simplement de ne faire rien?' Manuel dit qu'il n'a pas le temps. 'Tu me ment', dit l'ange. 'Chacun a le temps de faire cela. C'est juste qu'ils n'ont pas le courage. Le travail est une bénédiction quand il nous aide à penser à ce que nous faisons; mais ça devient une malédiction quand son utilisation unique est de nous arrêter de voir la signification de notre vie.

Manuel se réveille au millieu de la nuit avec une sueur froide. Courage? Comment un homme qui se sacrifie pour sa famille n'a pas le courage de s'arrêter pendant quinze minutes par jour?

Il est mieux de retourner dormir. C'était juste un rêve; ces questions l'amméneront nulle part; et de toute façon demain il sera très, très occupé.

Happy Birthday ~ Meenz

Congratulation to india for its 60 years of Independence Day.

India's Independence Day is celebrated on August 15 to commemorate its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on that day in 1947. The day is a national holiday in India and it is celebrated all over the country through flag hoisting ceremony and distribution of sweets. The main celebration takes place in New Delhi, where the Prime Ministre raises the natonal flag at the Red Fort and delivers a national ly televised speech from its ramparts.

Bonne fete a Meenz.....une annee de plus. Happy Birthday to Meenz.......one year more. How come you had two cakes?? Thank you to all for the nice dinner and see you guys soon. Thank you Christine for the nice surprise and have a nice holiday too. We'll see again soon somewhere in winter. Gros becs a tous et a bientot.

Another goodbye.....good bye Claudio. We wish you all the best on your next posting. We'll definately meet again somewhere in Stolkholm. Ciao bello.

Big kiss from NDH /Gros becs de NDH

Jalan-jalan di Old Delhi.

From the spice to any house hold that we need, we can find in this place. We spent a few hours in Kenari Bazaar and also the surrounding area together with the spice market just to take these impressive photos. But what we can see in the photos, it is nothing if we compare living inside.

It is Saturday, Kenari Bazaar is always busy to welcome their customers. Laurent, Christine, Adeline and me each one of us has our own camera and always get ready for the action. Well, ladies if you are so desparate to have a human or a man touch, you can serve yourself at Old Delhi...I mean in general you can have that everywhere you go in India. It is nuts but it is like this here whether you like it or not you have to live with it. At the same time, it was fun just hanging around and looking at the people....exactly likes an ant, they come out from every hold...from everywhere. They work really hard and to earn what....just enough to eat for one day or two. It is a crazy life out here and what we can do....just taking pictures.

We had a great time even beside the few incident where I kicked and punched a few persons after touching my breast and buttock. Such rudeness that I haven't seen anywhere else accept here in India. The Old Delhi has taken away all the energy that we had until I was so tired and felt to sleep for a moment.

Big kiss from ndh / Gros becs de ndh

Mister Swiss ~ 2008

Well, it is not what you're thinking.....it isn't a punishment, but just a small exercise before they go to work. Perhaps next year they're both going to the MISTER SWISS contest......hihihi. Keep on going guys....go go Laurent...go go Flavien. I wished that I could join them but staying on the bed in the morning, it is just something that I couldn't resist.

Ce n'est pas ce que vous pensez.....ce n'est pas une punition, mais juste un petit exercice avant d'aller au travail. Quel effort. Peut-etre que l'annee prochaine ils vont pour le MISTER SWISS....hihihi. Allez les gars....go go Laurent...go go Flavien. J'aurai bien aime de vous rejoindre mais je prefere rester dans mon lit.

big kiss from ndh / gros becs de ndh

Bonne Fete Nationale ~ La petite Suisse

Best wishes for all who celebareted the 1 August as it was a national day of the Swiss people.

Bonne fete a tous qui fete le 1ere aout qui etait la fete nationale de la Suisse.

Big kiss from NDH/Gros becs de NDH

Bako National Park

We participated in Visit Malaysia Year programme by visiting Bako National Park after 6 years we haven't been back. The last time we were there, it was after our wedding and we were with Alain, Yann, Gill and Anne-Marie. So, here is a description of Bako National Park.

'The national park of Bako', inaugurated in 1957 in Eastern Malaysia is the oldest national park open in Sarawak at Borneo. It extends on 27,27 km2, at the of the peninsula of Muara Tebas to the estuary of the rivers of Bako and Kuching. A distance of 37 km by road separates it from Kuching. The coast which is under the effect of million years of erosion, is composed of abrupt cliffs, rock course and broad sandy bays. Erosian due to vague carved, with the foot of cliffs, good number of the rock courses in fantastic marine arches or column whose coloured reasons are due to a ferruginous deposition.

Bako is one of the smallest national park of Sarawak, but is not less one of most interesting, the tropical forest, the flourishing wildlife, the brooks of the jungle, the waterfalls, the botanical richness of the ground, the beaches isolated and the tracks from excursions which it contains in its great richness. A network constantly maintained 16 tracks of excursions, codified using various colors active of the strolls quiet with the excursion of 24 hours in the jungle makes it possible to the visitors to optimize his arrival in this single environment. Few places in the world can be prided to have a great beauty in a restricted place and pallets of its attractions and activities which proposes gives to the national park of Bako its great popularity in Sarawak.

'Le parc national de Bako', inauguré en 1957 en Malaisie orientale, est le plus ancien parc national ouvert dans l'etat du Sarawak à Bornéo.Il s'étend sur 27,27 km2, du bout de la peninsule falaises abruptes, de cap rocheux et de larges baies sablonneuses. L'érosion due aux vagues a sculpté, au pied des falaises, bon nombre des caps rocheux en de fantastiques arches ou colonne marines dont les motifs colorés sont dus à une déposition ferrugineuse.

Bako est l'un des plus petit parc national de Sarawak, mais n'en est pas moins l'un des plus interessant : la forêt tropicale, la vie sauvage florissante qui s'y trouve, les ruisseaux de la jungle, les chutes d'eaux, la richesse botanique du sol, les plages isolées et les pistes de randonnées qu'il contient en sont sa grande richesse. Un réseau constamment entretenu de 16 pistes de randonées, codifié à l'aide de différentes couleurs allant de la balde tranqille à la randonnée de 24h dans la jungle permet aux visiteurs d'optimiser sa venue dans cet environnement unique. Peu d'endroits au monde peuvent se targuer d'avoir une si grande beauté en un lieu si restreint, et la palette d'attractions et d'activités qu'il propose donne au parc national de Bako sa grande popularité au Sarawak.

Big kiss from NDH / Gros becs de NDH

Nigerian High Comm at Kuala Lumpur.

That day, I felt tired after painting the toilet and have decided not to follow Laurent to the Great Eastern Mall. Actually, it is only five minutes away from Seri Maya but I just didn't feel to go out at all. When Laurent was about to leave and asked me to come with him....well, I said yes, alright.

That was the first time we were shopping at the Cold Storage at Great Eastern Mall. The mall, like I said before wasn't far away but the only problem...there is no bus from Seri Maya and the taxi driver most of the time doesn't want to go there as they won't gain so much money and more they will stuck in the heavy traffic. Well, after waiting for a while we managed to get one taxi which wanted to go at the same way as us.

At the Cold Storage, we could find a lots of thing that we couldn't find in India and there's a lots of cheese....different type of cheeses which are coming from all over the world. While I was talking about cheese with Laurent and had a thought to buy some to bring back to India, all of sudden I saw this man and I know him. But he just gave me a smile as he understood what we were talking about in french and I told Laurent about him. We remembered that we saw a white man and an Indian lady walked behind us, but we didn't care much as so many local women are with the white men in Kuala Lmpur. We followed him until the cashier and at that time they were at the cashier ready to pay. I called for Sugi as I saw her. Sugi and her husband that we met in Abuja few times during the embassies receptions. We almost didn't believe that we could meet again after leaving Abuja and Sugi took the opportunity to invite us on her birthday that would be held at the Nigerian High Comm, Kuala Lumpur. Peter arrived in Kuala Lumpur 3 months earlier and posted as a nigerian ambassador. Laurent knew him when we were in Nigeria. Two nights later we were all assembled at Peter's residence at Jalan Utant to celebrate Sugi's birthday party and there were Sugi's famiy and friends were also invited.

Big kiss from NDH / Gros becs de NDH

White is boring.....

After two days at home, we didn't what to do and we decided to change the colour in the living room and in the toilet. We put orange in the living room and green like a banana leaf (a bit tropical) in the toilet and decorated with three paintings of the tropical animals.

VENUS ~ The planet of love.

VENUS came and visited us in Delhi on the 18th of Jun. For the first time, we saw such a phenomenal and guessed that it would be rare. At the beginning we thought it was a star and in the morning we found out from the local news paper said that it was a VENUS ~ planet of love. Here is the photo that has been taken by Laurent from the embassy compound at 9.30p.m.

Lets learn a little about VENUS

Named of the Roman goddess of love by the same names, the planet Venus is the second planet from the sun at a distance of roughly 108,209,000 kilometers. With an orbital circumference of 680,000,000 kilometers. Venus is just slightly smaller than the Earth and has a very similar chemical composition. For this reason, Venus is commonly referred to as the Earth's "sister" planet. It takes Venus just under 225 days to orbit the sun on full time, compared to the 365 days orbital period of the Earth.

Venus actually rotates from east to west, as opposed to west to east which in the common rotating direction of most other planets in space. The atmosphere on surface of the planet Venus consists mostly of carbon dioxide, with a small trace of nitrogen. The planet Venus has a surface pressure about 90 times that of the Earth, making any life on the planet unsustainable.

Venus is in view to the naked eye from earth for an period of 2-3 hours before sunrise and 2-3 hours after sunset. Venus is the only other non terrestrial body, besides the moon, that can be seen from Earth during both day and night time hours. At night, Venus is usually the second brightest object in the sky next to the moon.

Quelques informations générales sur Venus.

Tirant son nom d'un Dieu Romain, Venus est la deuxième planète la plus proche du soleil, à une distance d'environ 108'209'000 Kms. D'une circonférence orbitale de 680'000'000 Kms. Venus est juste un peu plus petite que la Terre et a une composition chimique très ressemblante. C'est pourquoi Venus est souvent appellé la <<>> de la Terre. Par contre elle n'a besoin que 225 jours pour faire le tour du Soleil, ce qui la rend donc significativement plus <<>> que la Terre et ses 365 jours.

Venus a la particularité de suivre une rotation d'est en ouest, alors que la plupart des planètes tournent sur dans l'autre sens. L'atmosphère de Venus est principalement composée de dioxyde, avec quelques petites traces de nitrogène. Elle connaît une pression en surface d'environ 90 fois celle de la terre, ce qui empêche toute vie de s'y développer.

Venus est visible à l'oeil nu durant deux à trois heures le matin avant le lever du soleil et après le coucher du soleil. Elle est en fait la seule <<>> (hormis la Lune) qui est visible depuis la Terre le jour comme la nuit. Durant la nuit elle est de plus planète qui brille avec le plus d'esclat, après la Lune bien évidemment.

Big kiss from NDH /Gros becs de NDH

Once in Vashisht........

This small village of Vashisht is busy with their everyday life events. Some of the drivers were looking for the parking spaces……the number of tourists were taking the photos…..one man was showing a huge snake that he carried in his arms to the children….and a women was holding a big rabbit and walking left and right to get an attention from the public while the shopkeepers were busy handling their customers and the weather was also fresh. It looks like a circus. Down on the road we saw few young women were carrying their huge basket filled with the grass and it must be for the cows. We walked up into the village and there, few children were playing side by side with the cows and one little girl were playing with an empty bottle and had been trying to fill it with the water. There were two women and one girl washing their dirty laundry next to the animal disposal. This particular little girl, she was about 10 year old washing her own cloths and she reminded me when I was about her age. Memory….unforgettable one!

Big Kiss from NDH / Gros becs de NDH

Qui a oublie sa coulotte....who forgot his underwear?

Somebody has forgotten something here….kurang asam punye orang, tinggalkan dia punye underwear kat wire electric. Tak ada tempat lain ke nak sangkutkan, dah lah tu depan tingkap hotel lagi tu. Il y a quel qu’un a oublie sa coulotte qui pendait sur le cable electrique. Hehehe……

Big kiss from NDH / Gros becs de NDH

VISA.....VISA.....HAHAHA...IT'S TOO HOT!!

Wish you guys good luck for the visa application. The weather is too hot to queue up out side...isn't it. In Old Delhi yesterday was about 47 degrees and we still survived though until today......huhuhuhu, don't know how far more we can go.

Big kiss from NDH / Gros becs de NDH

Saturday and Sunday programmes

Saturday evening usually we make the breads for Sunday breakfast. It is not a tv that they are watching but the breads in the oven. As long as they are happy with it....fine with me.

La tresse and le pain aux olives among our favorites plus the jams from all kind of fruits. We even have kaya (Malaysian marmelaid made from eggs and coconut milk) too and fresh fruits and the omelettes. What a life............but we never complained:-).

Big kiss de NDH / Gros becs de NDH

Slum in Delhi ~ Sting Garden (Malaysian Version)

Visited a slum.

What is a slum?
A slum is a district of a city or town which is usually inhabited by the very poor or socially disadvantaged. Slums can be found in most large cities around the world. Through the terms are often now now used interchangeably, slums and ghettos differ in that ghetto refers to a neighborhood based on shared etnicity. Slums are also different from favelas or shanty towns, in that they consist of permanent (if low-quality) housing rather than less-durable shacks of cardboard or corrigated iron or newspaper.

Slum in Delhi ~ The present population of Delhi is about 13.9 million. Of this nearly 45% population lives in unauthorised colonies, rural villages and slums and JJ clusters. The current number of slum dwelling units is estimated at about 0.6 million and the population living in slums and Yamuna clusters in projected at about 3 million.

Out of the 0.6 million JJ units, nearly 62,000 units are estimated to be located in the river bed of Yamuna on both sides of its stretch along Delhi and on the and embankments of a few major storm water drain such as Najafgarh drain, Barapulla drain etc. During dry weather these slum dwellers use open areas around their units for defaecation. In ths way, the entire human walk generated from these 62,000 units along with additional waste water generated from their household is discharged untreated into the river Yamuna.

Big kiss from NDH / Gros becs de Delhi

Cool May....

Delhi ~ the weather can be very hot and these days we spend most of our free time at swimming pool. But the temperature of the water doesn't help much and will become much hotter soon. Still better then nothing!!!

But according to the weather forecast in Delhi, it is just unusually wet and cool May this year. Last weekend, the temperature dropped from 42 degrees to 22 degrees and when it's raining we spend time at home, doing the sudoku and watching tv. Somewhere on the south of India ~ the southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Monday and in europe it's hardly to follow the Roland Garros tournement that was just started last Sunday because of the rain while it supposed to be summer at the moment. Question is the climate change or not??

Big kiss from NDH / Gros becs de NDH

Thank you Tata.......

Sunday ~ 20 May 2007

The day before we just made a fun of Tata, the lorries which had a difficulties to climb up the mountain but this very day, it was Tata who brought us back home safely. Tata has been pulled the car for more then 300km back to the embassy. That was a part of our adventure and it was really FUN!!!

River rafting.......

Saturday ~ 19 May 2007

After taking a chai (Indian Tea), we were on the road and at the beginning we wanted to go to Manikaran - a place which is famous with its hot springs (hot enough to boil rice and apparently curing anything from rheumatism to bronchitis) but we have changed the plan to do a river rafting. Since it was raining the night before, there was a lots of water in the river and we believed that it would be fun. It was short (25 minutes) but FUN!! All the way through the valley, we could see the MAGIC HERBS, but we are really not a fan of it. The drugs are still illegal in this area and the police make regular arrests. Over the last decade over 160 foreigners have been arrested for drug-related offences and drugs are behind some of it the desappearances and murders of foreigners in the Kullu Valley. So, please becareful when you make a visit to Kullu Valley.

Slowly, we made a way back to Delhi and thought the we could find a place to stay on the way. At first, we wanted to stop at Bilaspur but the city doesn't have much to offer, so we continued. By the time we entered Punjab state, the car stopped for it self. It was too hot!! On the watch showed 6.30pm and it would be dark soon. Laurent managed to start again the car, but after 2km, it became hot again. He tried everything that he could but it kept repeating the same problem. We stopped in front of one restaurant by the road side and tried to fix the problem until 11.30pm. About few kilometres away, there was one hotel waiting for us and we made our way until there. We decided to solve the problem the next day. That night, after having a little beer.....we slept like a baby and forgotten the problem for a while.

Manali & Naggar

Friday ~ 18 May 2007

We visited a ski resort up on the mountain but never expected that the traffic on the top there was horrible. From 9.30am to 12.00noon, we stucked in a huge traffic jam. We've completely forgotten that it was a school holiday in India and with that they go up to the mountain to avoid the hot weather. Anyway, from that place, we went down to Manali and made a little visit in this busy city. Manali is situated in northern end of the Kullu Valley, the popular resort of Manali is the last major settlement in the valley. According to legend, Manu, Hinduism's Noah, alighted his boat here to re-create human life after floods and destroyed the world - Manali means 'Home of Manu'.

After taking our late lunch in Manali, we headed to Naggar. The lovely little village of Naggar, one of the nicest places in the Kullu Valley, is known for its castle, ancient temples and gallery of the Russian painter Nikolai Roerich. It's a superb place to relax - having a glass of red wine, tomatoes and mozarella cheese, a fish from the river and the fruits from the valley. Naggar lies on the eastern Kullu-Manali road but the hotels, temples and gallery are grouped around the castle at the top of steep 2km road.