50th birthday

I celebrated my 50th birthday in Rajasthan zip wiring!! This is ME!!!!!


My daughter Ell/My zip wiring above the fort we stayed at!!

My son Carl zip wiring!

There were five zipwires!
ZIP 1 - 350 m
ZIP 2 - 400 m
ZIP 3 - 90 m
ZIP 4 - 250 m
ZIP 5 - 175 m

I really enjoyed the zip wiring it felt like I was a child again! Every time I took off my stomach cramped but once it settled I could focus on the view, which was extraordinary. After doing two zips the third zip felt very short and easy. On the way down our instructor saw a cobra. I didn't see it but that didn't bother me. In fact I was rather happy I didn't. Our instructors were really professional and very nice. They took good care about us and our equipment.
In order to do the zip wiring you had to be above the age of 10 years and under 115 kg; thankfully our whole family made it!


We were living in a wonderful charming palace/fort called Neemrana 2,5 hours drive from New Delhi.(100 km) It had five wings built over elven levels.

Me and Ell/My sitting on the lion chairs!

It was a bit rundown but located beautifully at a hillside.
The fort was from the 14:th century. The rooms were something I had never experienced. All the rooms had names like:

Deva Mahal (Palace of Gods)
Aman Vilas (Abode of Peace)
Ramji Mahal ( Palace of Rama)
Surya Mahal (Palace of sun)


Our room had two floors. You felt like you where living in a fort from the ancient time.

On the walls they had pictures of the people that lived in the fort a long time ago.

We also went to a yoga lesson and took a bath in the pool several times.

Carl and his dad Arne resting after a spectacular aerial zip line journey!

In the evening we went to a dance and fire performance. Carl enjoyed it a lot and was invited to participate at the end of the show.


Thanks to my incredible children, Ell/My and Carl, for teaching me the meaning of unconditional love and genuine joy!!Thank you for letting me be your mum and making my birthday special! I love you more than word can say!


My husband and my best friend in life Arne!
It was a magic evening with lot's of stars and the moon !

Thanks to everyone who made my day special in so many ways, sending postcard, calling, sending email, sending Facebook notes, making paintings, buying flowers, sending text messages, taking me out for a nice dinner, bringing me to a yoga class, and giving me many thoughts and buying presents. Believe me or not I felt it all the way to India! One more wish though - please give me some comments about anything!

One of the greatest regrets a person can ever have is getting to the end of their lives and realizing they did not do their dreams.

I love travelling, taking pictures and being with my family. Looking at my pictures I belive this is a dream coming true for me. I am looking forward to the next trip!!

Back home in India!

Hej!

Feels still very strange to call India your home!

After a nice two months holiday in Sweden with ups and downs I am now back in India with my daughter ( she is going back to Sweden to study at Ib, Sigtuna SSHL , the end of this month), my son and my husband. It's nice to have the whole family together again.

Sunset at our summer house along High Coast, Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. It's amazing!

My dad (80 years old!!) and my sister racing and we WON!!! I couldn't have asked for a better ending of my holiday in Sweden! Thank you!

Back in Inda my Indian neighbour Shanti took us to experience KANWAR MELA . Thousands of Kanwarias (Shiva devotees) converge for a dip in the Ganges. We saw hundreds of them walking ( about 250-300 km) carrying gaily decorated kanwars(vessels hung on bamboo poles).It's the largest religious congregation after the Kumbh Mela. Hindu legend has it that during a war over the urn of immortal nectar between the gods and demons, Vishnu gave the urn to Garuda, his winged mount. During his flight , four drops of the nectar fell on four places (Haridwar was one the places). A Kumbh Mela is thus held at each spot in turn every three years, when certain planetary configurations, transform the waters of Ganges into nectar. Pilgrims all over India, converge at the Kumbh Mela to wash away their sins, making it the world's largest religious gathering!

As they carry the water from Ganges they are not allowed to put the poles down on the ground!! We visit some of the camps along the road.

Shanti told us the story about Kanwar Mela and the story about the god Shiva. Fascinating! In some minutes we were surrounded by the Kanwarias. In the background you can see the god Shiva.

This is what I like about India. Fascinating stories and their beliefs in the religion. It will be more to experience in the future!

What I don't like is me becoming sick after 5 days. I stayed in my bed for one day but did recovered fine with good vegetable soup from the cook. My daughter is enjoying his skill as a cook. It's always a big smile on her face when we are eating!! Everything taste so much more here.

Now I have to go shopping with my daughter.Hope you all had a good summer! Thank you for reading my blog!