Dharma & Nita travel blog

Day 17, Navsari, 18th Dec

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Dharmesh

Another lazy morning in Navsari, Nita joined me for the morning bakery run – the normal fresh buns.

Nothing much was done during the day, after all Navsari is all about taking it easy, especially on Sundays – nothing is open.

Today was also Navsari Mohatsav – Nita headed there with Neha around 2pm – myself and Pooja stayed home, a good move indeed! Nita was back after the interval, apparently it was a very very boring mohatsav – Brisbane mohatsav are sooooooooo much better.

(Neha and Nita ready to head off to Mohatsav)

(Sunday @ Navsari bazaar – more cows then people, me and Pooja on the way home after dropping off Neha and Nita @ Mohatsav)

That evening we wanted to eat some NON-VEG, headed to Sheetal restaurant, on the outskirts of Navsari, Pooja must have been over VEG, she really got into the lollypop chicken. Was a good meal overall.

Got back home and had the best ice-cream we have ever had (had earlier bought 2 packs of AMUL Cookies & Cream and a Butterscotch near our home), it really is the best ice-cream I have ever tasted. Definitely recommend this to everyone.

Neha and I then headed off to watch Mission Impossible 4 @ Laxmi theatres. What an experience it was. Sundays must be the busiest day for being @ the movies. It was packed and lots of action – lots of noise in the lower level of the cinema, must have been filled with crazy idiots, who kept cheering and whistling at every scene. Soon lots of yelling started, other people had complained and now a colourful verbal fight had erupted, took a couple of attendants with lots of whistle blowing to get this under control. All along Neha could not understand what the yelling was all about – to a point I also did not understand! Another surprise was the movie was dubbed in HINDI, really a different experience, the effect is soooooo watered down, may need to see this again in its original form.
Every scene with sexy girls – generated more whistles and horrays from the crowd!! The biggest cheers were however reserved for when Anil Kapoor appeared on the screen, whole crowd went crazy – totally a different experience.
Show finished around midnight, took us a while to find an Auto – was lucky to find and one this late.

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Day 16, Navsar, 17th Dec

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Dharmesh

Night was a bit sleepless, Nita was vomiting, with lots of stomach cramps.

Got awakened around 7:30 am by some guy beeping his horn continuously, luckily got up too see what the fuss was all about from the upper balcony – it was the garbage truck making the rounds. Had to run down quickly and get the garbage from the prior day to the “Kachra wala”.

Nita was now feeling like sh*t, she was also having the runs – was feeling very weak. Took her to the local GP (Sanjay Bodalia), got a shot, and tablets, GPs here are so well stocked with medications – this guy had all the stuff right there, no need to go the pharmacy with prescriptions!

Back home, it was a day of mainly resting – kids were watching TV, Nita was sleeping, and I was updating my blog…. there was nothing else to do. Pooja was still having the runs, no improvement yet.

Nothing fancy that evening – a couple of Pizza’s from US Pizza, one was a Paneer Masala Pizza, the other the standard kids simply cheese.

All had an early night, 50% of the family were sick! Hopefully tomorrow is better.

Posted in India, Navsari | 2 Comments

Day 15, Navsari 16th Dec

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Dharmesh

First morning in Navsari, in the new Kalyan Bhuvan, felt good. Nita wanted to eat some desi biscuits – walked down to local shops, literally down the street and picked up some “Parya Biscuits” and my favourite – Parle G.

Around 9 am, the maid organised by our driver arrived – Mehga. Got her starting in removing all the dust from around the house – lots of dust in Navsari and regular cleaning is definitely required. Also found out that we were missing a few of the essential cleaning materials, had a list ready for afternoon shopping.

Nickesh (my cousin from US) visited later on – the last time we met was in 1985. He was here with his family and today was his last day. Really good to catch up with him.

Arvind kaka and Vinod kaka were also in town – they gave me some great pointers on where too buy everyday stuff from. Apparently fresh Paturi, Kahman and Jalebi were available every morning near our place – also a bakery around the corner had fresh soft bread rolls.

Lunch tiffen arrived – it was Binda, Rice & Dahl today, girls had no problems with the rice.

Pooja was still a bit sick – loose motion continued. We decided to leave the kids home with Megha who was home till 4 pm. Allowed us to quickly cover mota bazaar.

Later on that evening Nickesh and family did visit us. Finally met his family! Little Sanya is soo cute, she had a great time with Pooja’s Mickey toys.
Hopefully would be seeing them soon in Australia for Nick Morris’s wedding!

(Cousins, Neha with Heneal kaki and cousin Sanya)

After dinner, decided to head to the movies – saw Ladies vs Ricky Bahl @ the Jahinger theatre – it was recently renovated and did look like it. Movie was good – more of a timepass. Finished close to midnight, had to wait around 5 – 10 before we got an auto.

Still had NOT worked out how the rubbish was disposed off here, all the rubbish from the day had been stacked in an empty carton, tomorrows mission – find out where to dispose of home garbage.

Posted in India, Navsari | 1 Comment

Day 14, Navsari 15th Dec

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Dharmesh

Still in the train this morning – sleeping in the train was different – continuous rocking motion did feel good . Neha and Pooja were still sleeping @ 8am. Our omelette breakfast was provided around 8:30, was not too bad at all.

Around 10:45 train was at Surat – last stop before Navsari, called Manga (private taxi dude) to let him know of our location. At 11:15 train was @ Navsari, had to prepared with all our luggage near the train exit – train was only stopping at this stop for 2 minutes – had thought that it would be a struggle, however had no issues at all getting all of us and luggage out on time.

Manga was waiting across the rail tracks – walkway to get over the platform was quite a distance, Coolie just got the luggage and walked across the tracks – soon we all followed one at a time, jumping off the platform and slowly making our way across 4 tracks! Felt weird doing that, but it was an achievement – crossing the tracks India style!!

Picked up a carton of of Bisleri water and Milk – the essentials. Arrived at our new home – felt good – home looked sooo much better than previously, what a change it was.

(view of home from outside)

(first looks – livingarea and kitchen)

We all went through the house, kids were excitedly saying – “dada’s new house is soo nice”, coming from the Delhi hotel – this was 5 star!!

Soon after our lunch “tiffen” arrived – Aloo fry & Kitchree – both were very tasty. How good was home delivery tiffen!! Only 120/rs for veg & 180/rs for non veg – and thats for 2!!

(our first lunch tiffen)

All had a shower – felt soo much better after a nice hot shower. Time to visit some of Nita’s family – however had no idea where they lived,- took an Auto to the Bazaar, looking for Sai Pharmacy (Nita’s masi), I roughly knew where they were and managed to find them easily. It was good to catch up again with Tinu and Nita’s masa. Tinu also organised one of his staff to guide us to the other two relatives we wanted to go to.
Nita’s aji was not home, got lucky at Vinod kaka’s (Nita’s dad’s cousin). They were all there and all got a surprise see us. Seeing them again after 5 years – brought back memories of the prior trip.

(Neha and Pooja with Vinod kaka)

Headed back to the bazaar, Navsari bazaar is very narrow and sometimes crowded. Did buy some cleaning stuff for the new house, Nita also picked up some BHUJA. Were back home around 5:30 pm, Pooja was not feeling too well, she had vomited twice. Took her to the local doctor (Sanjay) – more medication for her.

Back home, our evening tiffen arrived, it was chicken curry, rice and roti – home delivered! It was very nice. By 9 pm, most of us had nodded off on the sofas – we were really tired from the train travel – (could be train-leg, as opposed to jetlag)

Posted in India, Navsari | 5 Comments

Day 13, Delhi & Train to Navsari, 14th Dec

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Dharmesh

Last day in Delhi today. Pooja still had a temperature and felt like throwing up. Decided to miss Akshardam and just take it easy – got to leave something for the next trip!
Breakfast was quick, and back in the room – Pooja needed to rest.

I went off to the ICICI Bank to collect my NRI Account deliverables (VISA card, cheque books had arrived). At the branch for 10 minutes I was told to go from one area to another, finally some harsh words made the process start. It still took them a further 15 minutes to locate my stuff. Then another 20 minutes to work out how I could deposit money into the account – but wait they needed authority from some idiot high above on whether I could deposit money now or NOT (It is my account right!!). After close to 1 hour of having made no progress, just asked them to give me the card and cheque book, walked out without depositing a cent! I feel for the people here, service is shockingly slow, everything is “bass pach minute” and another 30 minutes goes past and nothing happens!
(Hopefully I can get this sorted out in Gujarat)

Back at the hotel, Nita and I started the pack up of all our luggage, had to minimise the number of pieces to make getting on and off the train easier.
Went for lunch around 2pm @ Shudh restaurant, ordered some Chinese – Hakka noodles for Kids, we had Chilly Garlic Noodles, and Chilly Paneer entree. The Chilly Paneer tasted just like Chicken manchurian we have in oz, it was amazing, and the Noodles were just as good – Chinese in India is absolutely brilliant. Ordered Pan Fried Noodles as takeaway for the train dinner, kids were having hakka noodles on train.

Got out of the hotel @ 3.30 pm, had hotel cab drop us off to New Delhi Train station – we were booked on the Paschim Express departing @ 4.55 pm.
Got a couple of Coolies to assist with the luggage and arranged for them to take luggage into the cabin as well, made it soo much easier – they had me waiting at the correct place – Indian trains are very long, you do not want to be waiting at the wrong end.

(waiting @ New Delhi station)

(very busy platform – lots of people travelling on Paschim Express)

Waiting at the station, we witnessed some interesting sights – guys who needed to “pee” could not be bothered finding a proper washroom, the world’s biggest washroom was right there in front of them – the trains tracks of course – so what if everyone else was watching, it must be an Indians birth right to pee in front of everyone. Then there were different styles, some just did it the western way (standing up) whilst others were modest, they squatted and finished their business…. below is one modest dude

(people relieving themselves on the tracks – this one directly ops us)

The Coolies who helped us, had suddenly reappeared at he arrival of the train and helped us take all our luggage to the correct cabin. The 1st Class sleeper cabins are soo different from the other ones we have had so far – individual lockable cabins, berths are wider and more space. We even had an attendant call bell in the cabin – did not use this though.

(Neha and Pooja in their upper berths)

Mum called soon after, and we all chatted for a bit – Nita was asking Mum to arrange next days lunch – she wanted home cooked food. Somehow, mum was doing this all from Brisbane!! – love you mum.

Dinner was our takeaway from Shudh – surprisingly it was still warm, by 7pm dinner was all done and Neha was knocked out soon after. I started writing my Agra blog – had lots of time on hand. Finished the blog around 10 pm, and we were all off to sleep soon after.

Posted in Delhi, India, Navsari | Leave a comment

Day 12, Agra, 13th Dec

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Dharmesh

Another early start today, off to Agra on a day trip to see Taj Mahal. Will be using trains to travel to and from Agra – trains take approx 2 hrs each way, whilst cars can take 4 – 5 hours each way. Hate the idea of sitting in a car for 9 hours!

Were all out for breakfast @ 7am. 8am Hotel cab was to drop us off at Nizamuddin train station, for our express train to Agra @ 9.25. (Left some time up our sleeve incase of morning traffic).
Arrived at Nizamuddin station by 8:45 am. This is not as big as the Old Delhi station we had arrived on from Amritsar, and as such had less crowds – suited me just fine. Found our platform with ease – I was now getting the hang of the train systems (I think). It was very cold waiting on the platform and this was just the start of winter! Strange temperatures here, Nights/Mornings are cold, days are perfect for a t-shirt!

(waiting @ Nizamuddin, cleaner on rail tracks after train departed)

Our train (Mangla express) did arrive on time, got in our coach, we had two sleeper seats together, the other 2 way at different places – no problems, kids loved playing on the upper berth, we were on the lower.

(kids had the own playarea on upper berths, Nita and I were on the lower berths)

We had a window sit, giving us a very good view of the outside. Few minutes out of the station, we passed a BASTI (shanti town), what was fascinating was how each home had a Paytv satellite dish on their roofs

(“Basti” on left, most homes have a satellite dish on their roofs)

A few kilometres from Agra station, litter is clearly visible with lots of filth, pigs of different colours and sizes roaming around these dumps…. still the same from the time I last visited in 1998 with Nita.

Train arrived @ 12:15 pm. Getting out, we were immediately swamped by lots of Taxi-wala’s. Got a prepaid Taxi for the entire afternoon from the Government booth and were off for lunch. Asked the driver to take us to TLC Mughul (ex Sheraton), must be his commissions for he was adamant that we should be going to Hotel Clark. He must not have been happy when we did not budge, and a good move it was.

TLC Mughul does not look much from the street, however once in it is WOW!! What a place. The idea was to eat at a nice place, relax, and use their really nice, clean washrooms to change to Indian outfits (for the girls – not me).
We had lunch at one of the multi-cuisine restaurants, food was excellent, and service was tops. Pooja was not eating much, so the guy got her a Garlic bread and Tomato pasta – all on the house, pity she hardly ate any – she had not been feeling too well and had a slight temperature (she was on Panadol – however she was very brave and kept saying I am ok).
After lunch we asked the waiter if it was ok for the Girls to change in the washroom – and he did not even blink, just said of course!

(had lunch here @ TLC Mughul, Kids and Nita after the change of cloths at TLC)

It was already getting close to 3pm, we had a very long & relaxing lunch. Called our driver – we were ready to head off, he drove us to Taj Mahal however not right to the entrance, apparently cars are no longer allowed close to the entrance – they are trying to reduce the emissions around Taj! Took a rickshaw cycle from the car park to Taj (it was approx 1 km away). The guy struggled a bit with all 4 of us in carriage – however it was his doing, I had asked for 2 cycles and he had insisted on the one!!

We were dropped of at the south entrance, awaiting us was a wave of young men, wanting to be our guides and trying to sell all sorts of handicrafts. Avoiding them, made my way to the ticket office, bought two local tickets and to the entrance. Here the entrance ticket collector did query if I was a local, told him I was from Gujarat on a holiday here – that was enough and he let us through! (local ticket = 20/rs, foreigners = 750/rs)

The first view we had was of the great Gate to Taj, kids were like “No!, where is the Taj?”,

(Great Gate of the Taj)

however within a few seconds, Neha had caught a glimpse of the Taj through the gate and was excitedly pointing it out, rushing us all towards it.
Kids were super excited at their first sight of the Taj. They couldn’t contain their excitement of finally being right there!

Nita and I were taking in the views of the Taj, however kids were getting restless and wanted to get into the Taj Mahal. Off through the walkways… and taking lots of pics, lots and lots and lots!! Did not hire those crazy photographers this time, tried to copy them and made some of my own unique ones…

(Neha picking up the Taj)

(magnificent)

(Back of the Taj – Yamuna river side, Pooja wishing she was like Mumtaz!! )

(best sisters)

(girls taking it easy)

(Pooja a bit tired)

(this shot was taken by some Japanese ladies, I was taking pics of the girls and they asked us to pose for them!!! Apparently they found my 3 girls gorgeous in Indian outfits (and added I ALSO looked handsome!!..wow) – the same occurred in ‘98 – Nita was approached by a foreigner for a pic who liked her outfit and the same in this trip, coincidence or just shear beauty!!)

(Taj at dusk)

Finished off the Taj tour around 5:30 pm, it was also getting a bit chilly – walking around barefeet on the Taj Marble also did not help!

Outside we walked back to the Rickshaw who rode us back to our awaiting car. Having a car was great, as we were able to leave some of our bags behind.

Headed back to TLC Mughul for a light meal and Nita changed back to her casual attire. Were at the train station by 7:40pm for our 8:25 train back to Delhi.
Am so glad I did not stay overnight – there really isn’t much to do here – for us anyway. Train was running 30 minutes late, all along guys kept staring at Nita, very weird and uncomfortable as well. Not sure what their issue was! The same seems to have happened at other train stations in this trip – were they thinking she is a bollywood star??? To me it did not seem so from any angle!!

(Kids waiting for Shatabdi express train– running 30 mins late)

We were on the Shatabdi Express – a very clean and modern train, they had water, meals and ice-cream included in the fare price (I was not even aware of it). Nita and Pooja were knocked out pretty much the instant the train took off. Reached Delhi around 10:45pm.

Back at the hotel, we were having mixed emotions about Delhi – this was our last night here!

Posted in Agra, India | 5 Comments

Day 11 – Delhi, 12th Dec

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Dharmesh

Today was planned for sightseeing, visiting Akshardam Temple, Qutab Minar, Delhi Gate and others if any. However had not known Akshardam was closed on Mondays (well they all need a day off!).

With not much of a rush day ahead, we let the girls take it easy and got them ready for breakfast around 9:30. Having had the brilliant breakfast at Country Inn Amritsar, the Swati breakfast felt very plain and lacking, at least the Swati Cappuccinos were good. Girls were ok – they were having CHOCO FLAKES (much like our Milo Cereal in Oz)

Had a Hotel Cab booked for the day and started off around 11 am. First stop was to visit the ICICI bank branch, where I was to receive my new NRI bank account details with the Debit Card. These guys are soooo slow in doing things, even looking up my account took soo long. Finally after some effort, he concluded that he had not received my deliverables!! would be another couple of days, not sure why they rang me in the first place and told me it was there!
Back in the Cab

First stop, Shri Laxmi Narain Temple. A beautiful temple in the middle of Delhi. Camera were not allowed in to the temple, so unfortunately no pics of the beautiful artwork they had inside. Nita bought a Puja thali – which the girls queried, was not until they saw it being presented to the pundit did they realise why.

(Shri Laxmi Narain Temple, putting shoes back on outside of temple)

Next stop was Delhi Gate. This whole area of Delhi, was very clean, compared to Karol Bagh and other areas, driver informed us, Minsters lived in the area – explains a lot. Getting into Delhi Gate, there were some kids making bracelets with names on them. Decided to make some, for Neha & Pooja.
Delhi Gate looks magnificent, very well maintained.

(Delhi gate, notice Neha Pooja with their new Shawls!!)

Could not really get under the gate, that area was fenced with armed guards around. Still it was good. Apparently it was New Delhi’s 100 year anniversary, only found out when out of nowhere a NDTV crew approached me for an interview!! I was like what would I know about Delhi. Basically the question was how do I see the change between Old Delhi and New Delhi. My only experience with Old Delhi was when I got off the Train from Amritsar and on the ride back to the Hotel – Old Delhi does look like a dump! So made some bullsh*t around that!! Hopefully someone who knows me, sees me on NDTV soon.
Whilst there, Nita saw a fruit stall selling fresh sweet potato chat and some other stuff, she had to try them. I did try the sweet potatoes and they were very good.

By the time we got back to the cab, it was close to 1, time for lunch, driver took us to an Indian fusion restaurant nearby “Pindi”. Neha and Pooja were again having the Shahi Paneer, we went for some fusion dishes, not bad, however nothing to rave about.

Post lunch, it was time for Qutab Minar, getting there took us close to 1 hour, Delhi traffic is crazy. On the way to Qutab, caught a glimpse of TATA NANO, the car available for under $2K USD. It did not look bad at all.

Driver tells me, some business people were buying this for short periods rather then renting a car, then selling it away when work was finished – all costing far less than hiring a car!! Maybe I should have done the same.

Neha and Pooja were well asleep when we arrived @ Qutab. Queued up as a local to buy the tickets, locals = 10/rs, foreigners = 250/rs, !! No problems there, just talk like a local!
Since the Mumbai & Delhi bombings, every major tourist attraction here seems to have Metal detectors (like the ones at airports) installed at the Entries. Qutab also had one, however the weird thing was, everyone going thru was setting it off and the guards were on the side gossiping away with no care at all, one guy even walked thru with a Bike helmet – great security!!

Qutab atmosphere was different, so peaceful once inside, you could easily spend an entire afternoon there – if you love history.

(Qutab Minar)

(Girls doing some modelling @ the Qutab!!)

Did lots of walking thru the whole complex, some amazing architecture. Kids also came across lots of squirrels roaming about – fascinated them lots.

By the end kids were getting tired again, got back to the car and asked driver to now stop sightseeing and take us to any big mall near by (it was coffee time & we wanted to see a good mall in Delhi, so far we have only seen the markets). Ended up at the City Walk Mall, this place has all things available here in OZ and a very impressive indeed.

These guys also get into the xmas spirit!!

Needed a quick coffee fix…and this place delivered. Nita had her standard mocha, however the vanilla milkshake was mind-blowing, the best I have had ever, seriously!

(mall courtyard!)

Got back to the cab around 6pm and headed back to the hotel. On the way, I got off at the New Delhi station (Nita & Kids headed back to hotel), had to buy an additional ticket for Pooja for travel to Agra tomorrow. The current reservations had her on Waitlist. New Delhi Railway station has a foreigners ticket office on level 1, they quickly assisted and issued a ticket for Pooja – atleast I have no fear of getting a fine tomorrow from the Ticket collectors on the train.

Back at the hotel, we decided to get room service, as we were all quite tired. Had an early night, tomorrow is an early start for AGRA.

Posted in Delhi, India | 1 Comment

Day 10 Amritsar to Delhi, 11th Dec

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Dharmesh

Another early morning rise. Our train to Delhi was @ 6:25 am, being the one for safety first, I wanted to be at the train station by 5:45 am at the latest. Did not want to take any risks.
Kids again had their showers the night prior – they were loving this! Were up at 4:30am, and down for breakfast @ 5.10am in the hotel’s coffee lounge (only realised the prior night, the lounge is open 24 hrs!!). Kids only had a partial breakfast – could be due to the early start!
Getting out of the hotel around 5:30am, I realised how cold Amritsar is at nights… however the ride to the station in the Auto was freezing, luckily all the girls had jackets on – myself I had thought a long sleeve t-shirt would be fine – how WRONG I was!

Reached train station on time, however finding the correct train was proving difficult, everyone I asked pointed in different directions, finally headed off to the Station Master’s office and what a smashing piece news I got – MY TRAIN WAS CANCELLED!!!, checked with another and it had been cancelled! Apparently this was done over a month ago – not sure how then it was booked just 2 weeks back!!
Asked the Deputy (or whoever that guy in black suit was), to please assist in someway (infact by then I was pleading!!), he took me around to the reservations counter, however I was with him behind the counter whilst a long queue waited on the otherside, knew there would be some extra’s I would need to offer, which I was more than happy to do so, as long as I got on a Train to Delhi! He was able to get us on the 7:10 train for 3000/rs in AC II Class, which was approx double the going rate, no problems atleast we were on a train. The funny bit was, whilst the queue was long on the otherside of the counter (only a SINGLE counter was open, so people were getting frustrated that I was there behind it!!), I was filling in my forms right there in full view of the other queued passengers (next to the counter attendant) and the attendant was processing my tickets before anyone elses …money does wonders, especially here, “MERA BHARAT MAHAAN”!!!

Had not realised that it was a sleeper AC class till we got in, which was good as it offered more room. The problem was we had two seats together and the other two were in different places. Strange but our cubicle was empty and with soo much space, Neha and Pooja made themselves comfortable – there were enjoying climbing up on the upper berths.

(pooja & neha on opps upper berth)

The train ride being so slow, I had lots of time to write up my blog for Days 8 & 9, although at times I felt like it was too much and needed to switch off for a while – possibly all to do with the mornings frustrations.
For most part Pooja and Nita slept, while Neha was finding sleep too boring! (well that was her complain)

We reached Nizamuddin station (Old Delhi) @ 3.15 pm, the train actually took less time than the one to Amritsar, but it felt longer.
Nizamuddin station was busy, very very busy. People were bumping and pushing each other on the platform crossways and stairs, a couple of times Pooja almost lost grip, had to hold her hard.

Taxi to Karol Bagh took almost 50 minutes, did not realise how far Nizamuddin station was – am glad I found out, will be using that on the way to Agra in a couple of days!

Back at the hotel, we all crashed and rested till around 6pm. After which we hit the Karol Bagh market area to do another round and find dinner. Dinner was at Punjab Sweet Corner, another great vegetarian restaurant (am really getting into the Veg stuff and loving it). Kids had their fav, Shahi Paneer (another name for Paneer Makhani, learning the proper names now!!). Nita and I ordered just CHATS and they were YUM. Thinking they would be very small, we ordered two of each, and could not finish it all. The stuffed “GOL GUPPAI” were simply amazing (Pani Puree with stuffing, and all the other floating yoghurt etc… sooooo yummy)

(yummy chats @ Punjab Sweet Corner)

Back on the streets, we visited a couple of Shawl stores (Nita wanted some). Got into the one store, where we saw a really nice Shawl being viewed by a Seth’s wife, turned out the Shawl was worth 65,000/RS (NOT 6,500, it is 65,000), that’s for a Shawl, not a saree!! and she was getting a couple of these and not even blinking!! Amazing.
All the girls got shawls that night, including Neha & Pooja.

By 9:30 pm we were back at the hotel and sleeping, it had been a long day.

Posted in Amritsar, Delhi, India | 5 Comments

Day 9–Amritsar, 10th Dec

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Dharmesh

Fresh chilly morning, night temps do drop rapidly here. Had planned for Nita and Jazz to go out shopping in the first half of the day, and we would meet them for lunch then head off to WAGAH BORDER, this would allow the kids some rest time – they had walked lots lately.

We all had buffet breakfast around 9 am at the hotel, selection was very good as were the omelettes. I finally took my antibiotics which Nita had been nagging me to take for the last 3 days.

Nita went to the markets with Jazz around 10 am, I stayed in the room, finishing off my blog and kids were watching the cartoon channels.

(Amritsar view from our hotel window, Nita & Jazz about to leave for the markets)

Around 12:30 kids were in need of some food, a small debate brew between them. Neha wanted to have Pizza but not home delivery, rather go there in a auto, whilst Pooja wanted home delivery. I had the casting vote, and decided to go the Auto route and head to the local Dominos (I have to support my company). Co-incidence, we met Nita & Jazz in the lobby and all headed to Dominos.

Took the Auto and squeezed all 5 of us in it, Jazz & Neha were sitting on the small ledge behind the driver, and we sat on the seat.

(on the way to Dominos in Amritsar – squeezed in an Auto)

The Dominos in India has quite a few Delivery scooters, compared to only about 2 scooters/cars in Oz, and the stores are sooo busy here.
The pizza’s here are very tasty and big, we ordered a medium (only the kids were eating), and it was equivalent to a large in Aus.
Nita and Jazz had the Lava Cakes!! I reckon these were also much better than those I have had in Aus.

(Dominos home delivery scooters – just a few)

Once kids had finished their Pizza (which Jazz and I helped finish) we were off to a CHAT place, well known to locals “Brijwasi Chat”, ordered a local Chat, Pau Tikki Burger, and Pani Puree (known as GOL GUPPAI in Northern India)

(Brijwasi Chat, front entrance)

(local chat, Pau Tikki Burger, Gol Guppai)

It was back to the hotel for us to freshen up for WAGAH BORDER @ 3pm. Jazz also had to go home and change.
At around 3, we all including Jazz took our pivate taxi to the border. Am glad we did that, it was much faster than the Auto. Once out of the main town, there were a bank of resorts – these are not the same as here, rather these are specialised wedding / receptions areas nicely decorated. Apparently this is the trend now, it is no longer exclusively for the rich and famous.

(all in the car, I think this is the Amritsar gate, on the outskirts)

(“sarso” fields, ute packed with 6 kids – where are the restraints!!)

Arriving near the border, a long long line of trucks are parked on both sides awaiting clearance to go across the border. The border control only allows 200 trucks to cross daily, each one was waiting for its turn

(view of trucks lined up – waiting)

The driver parked our car about 500 mtrs from the Border and then it was on foot. There was a rush amongst people, everyone was rushing to get a good seat. No one is allowed to take any bags what so ever – Cameras are allowed, glad the driver told us to leave our belongings in the car! A checkpoint had military personal hand searching everyone prior to letting them thru. Once past that, people were running towards the border stadium.

(in the car park, walking past the final checkpoint)

The WAGAH BORDER afternoon ceremony is about the bringing down of the Indian and Pakistani flags, and each of their military personal doing there best marches to outclass the other. Friday and Saturdays were the days when the public gathers and cheers for their countries. I could not imagine the patriotism that is within the public until I got to witness the crowds there. Entered the stands to take a seat (or rather stand), we witnessed a full packed stand with a very noisy crowd. People were on the middle of the road dancing to the tunes of Patriotic Hindustan tunes. It was a very patriotic atmosphere…

(crowds dancing in the middle to patriotic hindustan tunes)

(Neha and Pooja with Jazz)

To keep the crowd loud and excited, a young army officer was directing the crowd and achieving great success – it was almost like a Symphony and this young officer was the leader directing different pieces of music. He was wearing a white track suit with the Indian colours.

(army officer in white, directing the crowd to more cheers for India, in the background the same is happening on the Pakistan side)

(Kids with lady officer)

The bringing down of the flag ceremony finished around 5:45, with huge cheers from both sides, although the Indian public was just so much more spirited and made the most noise (in my opinion atleast)

(the border gates – this is as close as we could get to Pakistan)

(same place where Shah Rukh and Pretty Zeinta met in Veer Zaara!!)

(how good is this!)

Our driver was waiting at the Car Park, got to the car around 6pm and headed straight for the hotel. The standing and cheering had left us all tired. Also it was very dry in Amritsar and worse at Wagah Border, the dust was making it worse.

In the hotel, we were all too tired to go anywhere, so decided to get room service, first some tea and coffee and then food.

Whilst waiting for the room service to arrive, Jazz and kids were having a great time playing games. Kids were getting very fond of her!

Food arrived; had a great Chicken Tikka Pizza and Paneer Makhani (again!!) for the kids. Pizza was yum and again my sore throat was not letting me eat much, settled for Rice and Paneer with Pooja.

(Nita and Jazz – Pizza in bed!!)

Around 9, Jazz decided to call it a night, that was the last time we would be seeing her in this trip, Neha and Pooja hugged her lots – amazing when kids get attached so well. Nita and I bid her farewell, saw her get into the Auto and that was it, amazing how a virtual friend of Nita’s (from Indian forum) had become a real life friend and did not feel out of place.

Thanks for giving us a great time Jazz, we really appreciated you coming over all the way from Chandigar to meet Nita and us. The kids miss you lots. You made our trip to Amritsar very memorable!

Our train the next day was at 6:25 am, so off to bed early, tomorrow is goodbye Amritsar and back to Delhi!

Posted in Amritsar, India | 4 Comments

Day 8–Delhi to Amritsar, 9th Dec

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Dharmesh

Early start today, travelling to Amritsar via Train departing @ 6:40 am.

Were up at 5, had already showered the girls at night prior to sleeping, so no need to rush them. Checked out of the hotel @ 6am, Hotel taxi dropped us off @ New Delhi Station, the ride to the station was uneventful, however getting into the station drop off was another matter. Cars were coming in from all directions and was a scene of total chaos.

Got a coolie (porter) to carry our luggage and guide us to the train and correct platform. Am soooo glad we did that, New Delhi station is big, and by no means for the non experienced, especially when racing against time!

Our train was Shane Punjab (Shatabdi is a better express train, unfortunately seats were not available on that). We were seated in II AC, it had coach setting with plenty of legroom.

(view of platform, entrance to our train – not the most appealing!!, Pooja already seated)

Train Journey was comfortable, however quite lengthy. Along the way viewed some amazing scenery, I could picture Namaste London on the farms we passed. Could not really take any good pics, the windows were dirty as hell, and the doors to the coach were closed and I was not game enough to open these in a moving train!

Neha and Pooja had been fine, playing with their toys, a couple of minor fights and back into it again. They have already changed their seats 3 times.

(Neha & Pooja entertaining themselves)
For food: Lots of people selling snacks and drinks so no shortage of food, however I was trying to avoid eating & drinking too much in the train, not sure how bad the loo would be!!
Finally at around 11:30, had to bite the bullet and go to the loo, it was an experience to view the tracks passing by beneath, and leaving my personal signature on the tracks somewhere!! What a relief it was.

(a train station on the way, see the stack of snacks this guys is selling)

Train was 45 minutes late getting into Amritsar, reached at 3 pm. Got a Coolie to take luggage to taxi ranks. Took the Auto to the Hotel. Auto’s in Amritsar are bigger than the Delhi counterparts, this one had a luggage area (boot) as well, plus was soo wide, must have been the luxury version!

We were staying at the Country Inn, this felt like a 5 star hotel when compared to our Delhi hotel.

(Hotel in Amritsar)

The rooms were very well furnished and sooo clean.
All freshened up and changed to visit the Golden Temple, kids changed into the Indian outfits we had bought in Delhi,

Nita was meeting her Indian Forum virtual friend Jazz (Jaspreet), she arrived at our hotel and both were super excited to finally meet in the flesh!

(Nita and Jess, meeting for the first time)

Jazz is a very friendly bubbly girl, she was great company, and knew everything about where to go in Amritsar – I could throw away my tourist guide! Kids also took a liking to her.

First priority was to get some food (we had not eaten on the train), Jazz took us to a nice Amritsar restaurant , “Bharawan Da Dhaba”, a veg restaurant with super food. Getting there however was an experience – we squeezed 5 into a Auto, I was sitting with the driver with half my butt on the seat the other half in open space, the others were squeezed in the back.
At the Dhaba, ordered Parathas, Paneer & Dahl. The paratha’s were mind blowing, unfortunately I had to settle for rice, my killer sore throat was not letting me eat the good stuff Sad smile .

Surprisingly kids loved the Paneer Makhani – took it for Butter Chicken and preferred the Paneer since it was so soft. Told them the truth only after they had finished their meals!! They did not mind, and went on to eat the same for Dinner as well.

(Veg restaurant, Bharawan Da Dhaba, super food)

Next was Jallianwala Bagh, a historic sight and very touching when there.

(historic sights @ Jallianwala Bagh, the round structure is the well where many jumped to their deaths!!)

However historic the sight, there has to be some silliness and Nita and Jazz were providing that. Jazz informs us, the well is now fenced on the perimeter due to a few TOURISTS (like us!!) who had fallen IN, whilst trying to get a GOOD view of the well interior!!! Now that would be something!!

(notice the well fenced, and these 4 taking a photo next to a wall where people where killed!!!, show some respect yaar)

The Golden Temple was next and it was soo worth it. Jazz took us at the perfect time of around 5 pm, we were able to see it both in Day light and at Night. It is an amazing structure in the middle of a large pond, surrounded by the Gates. Jazz was a great guide for us, explaining lots about their religion and about the temple and its structures. The perimeter structure has 4 entrances, signifying their acceptance of all religions – this itself says a lot of about their religion.

(outside the perimeter of the golden temple, Neha and Pooja all ready to get in – everyone wears a scarf over their heads)

Stepping through the gates, our first glimpse of the golden temple was mesmerising! It stood out there proudly in the middle of the giant pond. The water in the pond is considered scared holy water.

(Pooja having a great time running around the perimeter, this is one place where I felt safe to let her go where she wanted)

(kids with Sardar –ji, extensive mosaic work on the walkways)

By the time we had made a half round of the perimeter the skies were getting dark and the lights on the temple were giving it a totally amazing look.

(notice the difference in appearance from daylight to night light)

Jazz took us through the temple providing us a great background of the entire prayer process. Her extensive knowledge of the place was amazing and it made us feel like we did not really know that much about our religion and temples!

Out of the temple gates, we bought steel Punjabi bangles for the kids, for good luck.

Next stop was eating Jalebi’s! You have not eaten real Jalebi unless you have had them fresh. This was a well known Amritsar Jalebi wala who only used Desi Ghee (located very close to the Golden Temple). The Jalebi’s were hot and were melting in the mouth – felt soo good against my sore throat, plus Jazz did mention that these were actually good for throats, on that I had couple more – for medication purposes offcourse!! Pooja and Neha also got right into eating these Yummy yellow things (according to them).

(everyone enjoying fresh Jalebi’s, have never tasted fresh (hot) Jalebi’s this good)

Next was a famous Lassi place, made of pure white butter and other things I cannot remember. I am fond of yoghurts and gave it a miss, Nita and Jazz had a glass. Nita’s expression was – yummy!!

For dinner we decided to go back to the hotel, they had a good buffet on the night. Neha and Pooja were again into the Paneer Makhani.

(Nita and Jazz – dinner time)