...says it all...
Saturday December 9…Last Day in Delhi…for now
I did post a brief description of our last day but I wanted to also share a few photos.
Since Friday night was Surnish’s last night of work he returned around 8am on Saturday and slept until 11am. I stayed up late the night before, so I napped with him as well.
As we made our way into Delhi, Surnish spotted this very interesting spare wheel cover on a two-wheeler:
This ‘bumper’ ad was probably one of the most thought provoking bumpers I’ve seen the world over. I’m almost surprised that more people don’t flash their political messages or philosophical thoughts in areas with high congestion. In this way your almost assured of an audience as people seek distraction from road rage.
We made it to Delhi Haat to meet up with Gagan (Surnish’s cousin) whom we last saw in Mumbai in 2004. From there we all went to Mummy’s cousin’s for lunch.
I took this photo:
Of course lunch at a family member’s house cannot end in just an hour or so. While we arrived around 2pm (nearly an hour late, but by Indian Standard Time (aka IST) it may have actually been an hour early) we didn’t leave until after 5pm.
We had about an hour to rest before we moved on to Surnish’s India-office party (the U.S. one is in another month).
Here are a couple of snaps:
The folks I met were really friendly and had a lot more energy than I felt flowing through my veins. I know that I’m not old at 30, but when you’re keeping pace with folks even a few years younger, it starts making you feel older. There really is a huge difference between 20 and 25 and 30. Seriously, when I think about what I was doing at each of these times, well it’s a HUGE difference.
At 20 I didn’t think I’d be living in New York at 25. At the beginning of 25 I didn’t think that I’d be married for 4 years by 30. Things happen. Wonderful and unexpected things.
Sunday December 10…Rajpura or BUST!
Now I don’t know that I would have made this statement at the beginning of the drive, but by the end it was well warranted.
The first hour-plus was a struggle driving through Delhi and out the other side. Once we escaped the grapples of the city the countryside really started to open up. I saw Pompeii grass and eucalyptus trees abound, neither of which I recall having seen earlier. There was a good deal of fog too, which may in part explain why these plants were there.
The fog was low lying and thick, the way it gets in the early morning on the sea shore. You can’t see very far into it but you sense a great expanse of something lying beyond the end of your sight.
Mixed with the fog was the smell of smoldering harvested crop fields, likely of sugar cane. It was a lovely experience to see and smell these things together.
When lunch time came upon us we stopped a themed restaurant and shopping area called Haveli. There were life-sized statues depicting traditional Punjabi daily activities in the central courtyard, which was edged by eating areas and shops. In some instances I had to double take to be sure I was looking at a statue or a real person as some people’s attire hasn’t changed much…
Many of the sights for the rest of the way to Rajpura were familiar, but I was amused most by some of the anti-drinking and driving campaigns:
We finally made it to Bacchi Mama’s (Bacchi is a nickname, mama refers to mother’s younger brother) for snacks and dinner. It was a chilly but very pleasant evening.
Monday December 11: Off to the Himalayas
I know that I said we were going to visit Shimla, but two things about this adventure I didn’t know…1) Kasauli is closer and 2) Both are part of the Himalayas.
The latter was a real treat to find out as we approached our destination.
Along the way my eye was caught by this young alms beggar:
This boy was dressed as Hanuman, the helper of Ram in recovering Sita from Ravana (from the Ramayana). It was one of the more creative forms of begging I’ve seen and seems to be rather lucrative. People can’t pass up the possibility of displeasing a “god” even when they can pass up a woman claiming to be a starving mother or a man with no legs or fingers.
The sights were lovely all the way up:
And there were new monkeys I hadn’t seen before. Brown and really fuzzy with bright red-pink bums:
Even more intriguing was the roadside work. Not a road expansion or a safety project. Rather it was the laying of fiber optic cables for high speed internet up to this more remote location. The amazing marvels and motivations of modern technology:
Once at Kasauli we stopped at a decent looking hotel by the name of Alasia hotel. I will say that the food was pretty good (the spaghetti was top notch), but it was freezing inside:
Outside gave the evidence we needed for the near bitter cold:
Despite this we were all smiles in the brisk mountain air:
On setting back to Rajpura we spotted this loner monkey…just another excuse for a monkey picture really:
And this Church:
Kasauli was developed by Europeans which is very evident by the legacy of Christianity as well as much of the rock wall and general architecture of the area.
As we headed back down the mountain side we were treated to lovely views again….
AND SNOW….
Yes that’s right folks I saw snow in India!
I feel as if I have nearly completed the ultimate India weather experience in 3 months.
These two were final parting shots as we reached the based of the mountain and began the final straight stretch back to Rajpura:
Overall it was a wonderful day trip!
Tuesday December 12: Driving North Through Punjab
Today we headed out (a tad on the late side) for what we believed to be a lovely 3 hour drive to Amritsar.
It was foggy again as we past the farm fields of Punjab, but the greenery was lovely to behold and fog was lifting nicely by early afternoon.
The first part of the trip revealed a road-side oddity...well two. McDonald's. A freestanding, drive-thru McDonald's. Nowhere else have I or any of my party seen this driving about the country. I made some guesses as to why these were in Punjab, only, but who knows why really.
After lunch at Haveli's (another one), we can upon Ludhiana.
This, I was told, is the largest city in Punjab. We were in it for a only short while before we came to a traffic diversion. This ran us through an army cantonment area. I covered my head because I didn't want to attract attention to the fact that I was a foreigner here. After spending 1/2 an hour navigating through this mess we came back to a main road and promptly got stuck in traffic.
As we crawled along we kept our eyes peeled for signs to the Amritsar by-pass with hope of avoiding further city congestion.
After another 1/2 an hour we finally did happen upon the bypass and again found ourselves promptly caught in another a traffic jam. But this one was even worse.
A political rally (a series really) had been organized for state ministers that were passing through. We crawled through massive crowds along marigold petal strewn streets past flat bed trucks balancing dancers and musicians. Busloads of villagers waving Congress Party flags raced by to a halt as the traffic merged and diverged over a series of fly-overs.
All told we spent over 2 hours stuck in this area. We tried to make the best of it. I was impressed at the turnout and political activity of the common people. Then I was told that most were paid Rs200 a piece and given food to ensure the density of the crowds. Tsk-tsk.
Here is an ALBUM of some of the sights we saw up through that rally debacle.
As a result of this mess we didn't land up at Amritsar until after 7pm (that made for nearly an 8 hour drive...oouch).
However, the night time sights of the Golden Temple (aka Harimandir Sahib) more than made up for it.
This is the holiest site for Sikhs (Surnish's family roots). It is said that the water of the tank-pool around the well can heal any ailment of those who bath in it.
We arrived just in time to see Guru Granth Sahib being put to bed for the night. The holy scripture is considered the 11th and final Guru in the line of Sikh Gurus.
The building which houses the Granth Sahib has an ominous story of it's own. It was the target of Indira Gandhi's Operation Blue Star. I was told that this action was intended to address some terrorist elements of the time, but ultimately it would be the catalyst for her own death.
We made a circuit around the complex and noted its many beauties. One such sight were the tree-birds, or as I like to call them the bird-leaves. There were hundreds if not thousands of these small puffy birds in each of the trees. Silently nesting for the night:
As it was extremely cold and we had to walk barefoot into the complex we may seem a little rigid, but really it is humility that is our motivation.
Thursday December 14: Goodbye to Punjab and a Pass Through Delhi
We had an easy morning and said goodbye to our hosts:
Our return to Delhi was half the time as our departure from it as the roads were clear of accidents and incidents.
We spent most of the rest of the day in Connaught place. We shopped a bit and people watched a lot. We ate at Zen's Chinese Restaurant and took coffee from Cafe Coffee Day. We peeked into the Metro tunnel...the station was as clean as a European Metro, and, thus, cleaner than the NY subway.
This last couple of weekends have also been the most auspicious for weddings so we saw one grouping of people after another. Particularly flashy were the bridegroom processions:
Wednesday December 13: Golden Temple at Sunrise and Back to Rajpura
We awoke at 5am to be at the temple by 6am. Well let the Golden Temple at Sunrise speak for itself...sunrise ALBUM. Sublime.
The crowds were eager to experience their religious and spiritual goals. Each in there own way though. Some pushing hard against others and others sitting silently on the perimeter simply watching in reflection. I'm definitely of the latter sort.
After we were finished there we made a stop at Jallianwala. A massacre occurred here that was a significant catalyst for India's Indepence movement.
Now the area is largely a memorial including artwork and an eternal flame, but there are still original walls with bullet holes framed.
The road trip home was thankfully uneventful. The trip was much quicker as no rallies were encountered along the way.
We did make a pit stop at one of the roadside McDonalds.
Afterwards I napped.
We awoke at 5am to be at the temple by 6am. Well let the Golden Temple at Sunrise speak for itself...sunrise ALBUM. Sublime.
The crowds were eager to experience their religious and spiritual goals. Each in there own way though. Some pushing hard against others and others sitting silently on the perimeter simply watching in reflection. I'm definitely of the latter sort.
After we were finished there we made a stop at Jallianwala. A massacre occurred here that was a significant catalyst for India's Indepence movement.
Now the area is largely a memorial including artwork and an eternal flame, but there are still original walls with bullet holes framed.
The road trip home was thankfully uneventful. The trip was much quicker as no rallies were encountered along the way.
We did make a pit stop at one of the roadside McDonalds.
Afterwards I napped.
Thursday December 14: Goodbye to Punjab and a Pass Through Delhi
We had an easy morning and said goodbye to our hosts:
Our return to Delhi was half the time as our departure from it as the roads were clear of accidents and incidents.
We spent most of the rest of the day in Connaught place. We shopped a bit and people watched a lot. We ate at Zen's Chinese Restaurant and took coffee from Cafe Coffee Day. We peeked into the Metro tunnel...the station was as clean as a European Metro, and, thus, cleaner than the NY subway.
This last couple of weekends have also been the most auspicious for weddings so we saw one grouping of people after another. Particularly flashy were the bridegroom processions:
We slept early and soundly in preparation for the next day's journey.
Friday December 15: The Day We Missed the Train in Jaipur
We parted ways with Delhi for the finally time early in the morning so we could spend the most time possible in Jaipur sight seeing before our 10:30pm train back to Ahmedabad.
Along the way we snapped scenes of the developed and traditional byways of India.
A brick kiln smoke stack...
Does it ever get boring taking pics of lazy cows? Nope.
As we neared Jaipur we received some bad news. Our train had left that morning at 12:40am. Apparantly the schedule for this numbered train had been altered in the beginning of December (which we saw on the ticket) so that instead of 10:30pm departure on the 15th it was moved to the much earlier time.
We had no chance of rebooking and it was really tight in trying to make the last evening flight. Tensions got pretty high as we had been on the road each day for at least 4 hours for the past 5 days. We couldn't imagine enduring the 12+ hours of driving from Jaipur to Ahmedabad, but our options were filling slim.
So we ultimately agreed to stay on in Jaipur for the night.
If you are ever stuck somewhere at last minute and don't want to end up in a total dump of a hotel, check out Trip Advisor.
I've used this site for planning purposes before,but it saved our hides this time.
We were directed first a couple of other hotels that were booked before finally finding Hotel Diggi Palace in Jaipur.
This place was a marvelous oasis and haven for rest from the trials of the day.
At dinner we sat in their dining room and listening to lovely jazz music being pipe in via satelite radio as we sipped wine and whiskey (I the Sula wine, Surnish the Teacher's whiskey).
We happily landed into the welcoming beds shortly after ten and slept soundly through the night. We knew a gruelling day lay ahead of us as we had decided to push our way through to Udaipur the next day.
Saturday December 16th: The Big Fort Before the Big Push
We were greeted by a glorious morning at the hotel.
After getting ready we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and were treated to an amazing sight: Westerners outnumbered Indians at the hotel. In fact Surnish and his parents were the only Indians there other than staff. The hotel wasn't particularly expensive or anything, but perhaps the driver had hit on a good point when we had approached the entrance the night before. The entrance gate was a simple Mughal insipred arch with of soft blue glowing light...
"Are we heading into a mosque?" he asked.
Maybe others had thought the same way.
I had hoped to post on this day, but found that the electricity is turned off from 8-11am each morning, so that was a no go.
Instead we set out through Jaipur ,the Pink City. And yes it was very pink. Mostly painted now, but originally it was the red sandstone that cuased the color.
As soon as my eyes closed I slept soundly right through the night and only stirred with the alarm despite the brightness of the room.
For all the views of the day check out the ALBUM.
Sunday December 17th: Good Morning Udaipur and Goodbye
In the morning we toyed with the idea of sightseeing but realized the idea of getting back to Gandhinagar was far more appealling.
So we did our sightseeing from the roof while we ate breakfast.
Thanks for hanging in there till the end of this piece!
Postings will likely be a little more sparse as we are in 'hang-out' mode, but I promise there will be a few more before I go.
Friday December 15: The Day We Missed the Train in Jaipur
We parted ways with Delhi for the finally time early in the morning so we could spend the most time possible in Jaipur sight seeing before our 10:30pm train back to Ahmedabad.
Along the way we snapped scenes of the developed and traditional byways of India.
A brick kiln smoke stack...
Surnish napped for a bit...hee-hee sneaky snap.
Does it ever get boring taking pics of lazy cows? Nope.
As we neared Jaipur we received some bad news. Our train had left that morning at 12:40am. Apparantly the schedule for this numbered train had been altered in the beginning of December (which we saw on the ticket) so that instead of 10:30pm departure on the 15th it was moved to the much earlier time.
We had no chance of rebooking and it was really tight in trying to make the last evening flight. Tensions got pretty high as we had been on the road each day for at least 4 hours for the past 5 days. We couldn't imagine enduring the 12+ hours of driving from Jaipur to Ahmedabad, but our options were filling slim.
So we ultimately agreed to stay on in Jaipur for the night.
If you are ever stuck somewhere at last minute and don't want to end up in a total dump of a hotel, check out Trip Advisor.
I've used this site for planning purposes before,but it saved our hides this time.
We were directed first a couple of other hotels that were booked before finally finding Hotel Diggi Palace in Jaipur.
This place was a marvelous oasis and haven for rest from the trials of the day.
At dinner we sat in their dining room and listening to lovely jazz music being pipe in via satelite radio as we sipped wine and whiskey (I the Sula wine, Surnish the Teacher's whiskey).
We happily landed into the welcoming beds shortly after ten and slept soundly through the night. We knew a gruelling day lay ahead of us as we had decided to push our way through to Udaipur the next day.
Saturday December 16th: The Big Fort Before the Big Push
We were greeted by a glorious morning at the hotel.
After getting ready we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and were treated to an amazing sight: Westerners outnumbered Indians at the hotel. In fact Surnish and his parents were the only Indians there other than staff. The hotel wasn't particularly expensive or anything, but perhaps the driver had hit on a good point when we had approached the entrance the night before. The entrance gate was a simple Mughal insipred arch with of soft blue glowing light...
"Are we heading into a mosque?" he asked.
Maybe others had thought the same way.
I had hoped to post on this day, but found that the electricity is turned off from 8-11am each morning, so that was a no go.
Instead we set out through Jaipur ,the Pink City. And yes it was very pink. Mostly painted now, but originally it was the red sandstone that cuased the color.
It was pretty darn cool as forts go in India and the tour guide gave us some funny stories about its history.
After an hour of touring and another hour of fighting city traffic we said farewell to Jaipur and hello to National Hwy 8.
Our spirits were in good shape as we thought we would make decent time to Udaipur...at least less than 7 hours.
Here is some evindence of the levity in the vehicle...oh Surnish...sat sri akal.
After an hour of touring and another hour of fighting city traffic we said farewell to Jaipur and hello to National Hwy 8.
Our spirits were in good shape as we thought we would make decent time to Udaipur...at least less than 7 hours.
Here is some evindence of the levity in the vehicle...oh Surnish...sat sri akal.
When Hwy 8 narrowed from four lanes to two was the first sign that our optimism had been misplaced. When it didn't return to four after Ajmer we knew our arrival time would be pushed way back.
We made it to Udaipur just before 10pm; nearly 8 hours after leaving Jaipur city limits. We checked in at our second Trip Advisor find: Hotel Udai Kothi. While it was a bit more pricey than Diggi Palace it was just as comfortable and then some.
From the way the both were decorated they were likely owned by the same hotel group.
We squeezed into the restaurant in time for a 'final-call' dinner on the roof top. The views were lovely, the food tasty and the service okay, considering they were kept waiting for us alone.
We made it to Udaipur just before 10pm; nearly 8 hours after leaving Jaipur city limits. We checked in at our second Trip Advisor find: Hotel Udai Kothi. While it was a bit more pricey than Diggi Palace it was just as comfortable and then some.
From the way the both were decorated they were likely owned by the same hotel group.
We squeezed into the restaurant in time for a 'final-call' dinner on the roof top. The views were lovely, the food tasty and the service okay, considering they were kept waiting for us alone.
As soon as my eyes closed I slept soundly right through the night and only stirred with the alarm despite the brightness of the room.
For all the views of the day check out the ALBUM.
Sunday December 17th: Good Morning Udaipur and Goodbye
In the morning we toyed with the idea of sightseeing but realized the idea of getting back to Gandhinagar was far more appealling.
So we did our sightseeing from the roof while we ate breakfast.
We hit the narrow switch back streets leading us out of the neighborhood of the hotel and emptied out onto the slightly wider roads of the city. We then were happy to find that National Hwy 8 from Udaipur to Ahmedabad was 4 lanes again...thank god for small favors.
Despite the expanse, one still must be prepared for the occasional road blocks:
Despite the expanse, one still must be prepared for the occasional road blocks:
Here are all of the final Udaipur and trekking snaps...ALBUM.
After 240km and nearly 4 hours on the road we were home at last.
Did I only say 240km? I meant after 916km (over 520 miles) from Delhi to Ahmedabad we were home.
After 240km and nearly 4 hours on the road we were home at last.
Did I only say 240km? I meant after 916km (over 520 miles) from Delhi to Ahmedabad we were home.
The driver we had was like a demon on the roads, but a safe one that drives fast and not scary so we were glad for that.
Shortly after returning we were greeted by Hormazd...Surnish's best friend for nearly ever.
In the end we have travsersed more parts of India than most Indians.
I'm glad to be spending these last couple of weeks relaxing at home.
I think I'll need this time to get ready for the 30+hour trip back to the States.
I'm glad to be spending these last couple of weeks relaxing at home.
I think I'll need this time to get ready for the 30+hour trip back to the States.
Thanks for hanging in there till the end of this piece!
Postings will likely be a little more sparse as we are in 'hang-out' mode, but I promise there will be a few more before I go.
A Pink American
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