Blogs from Pune, Maharashtra, India, Asia - page 9

On Friday we left Tirunelveli on the Chennai Express train which left late. There was a heavy police presence at the train station due to a huge DMK political rally in town. I have discovered that I am allergic to Indian trains. At least, the wool blankets they pass out to everyone for making up a bed for sleeping. I coughed all night but at least thought to wrap my upper self in my own shawl so my respiratory passages wouldn't object so much. Some Benedryl helped slightly. The trains we traveled on had separate Western and Indian style toilets. I found out pretty fast that the little cubbyhole space for the Indian facility is a lot roomier but not any cleaner, unfortunately. The toilet basically empties directly onto the tracks below. We visited briefly with ... read more

Day 6 After our first lie in of the trip, and a lesiurely breakfast, we went to the Osho meditation resort. This is a meditation resort where the hippy culture started in India. We did not go to meditate though we just had a guided tour and video presentation. It was eastern in feel, and the gardens were designed in a zen layout. We then returned to the hotel, were given our bus tickets for Goa, and were taken to the Poona club. Unfortunately entry was not permitted as it is an army barracks, but we could see the outside of the buildings. So after a change of plan we went to a juice bar. Now we plan to visit another temple, return to the hotel for a swim, pack and onto the next destination Maragao ... read more

Day 4 We were shouted off the bus, put on an autorickshaw, and we felt after the last 48hrs it was justified to stay in a hotel where you feel you can actually sit on the loo! We have now gone 3rd class to 1st class, staying in a new hotel in Pune with all the mod cons, swimming pool, gym, men waiting at our every need. So after breakfast, a sleep, and a shower we were ready to face Pune's streets. We went to the front desk to make enquiries about more buses and the next thing we knew we were being chaffeur driven to a travel agent with the sales manager of the hotel. We then went to the shops for an hour, and then went to the Aga Khan Palace where Gandhi had ... read more

Vehicle New Ford Ikon - The Josh Machine Route Hyderabad(62km)-Sangareddi(225)-Sholapur(246)-Pune mostly on NH9 Prologue It all started me visiting my friend Ashwani for dinner at Hi-tech City part of Hyderabad on Friday night. After an uneventful dinner we decided go for some drinks at his colleagues place close to Hussein Sagar Lake. Ashwani picked up a fight with the watchman of their apartment regarding the late visit issue. His buddy and local resident, Sunil intercepted at an important moment though when the things were pretty heated up and looked nasty. To lift up the mood we had a long chit-chat and drinking session till 2:00 am in the night and decided to go for a ride with his new “Ford Ikon” car. The Trigger Virtually, wearing the sleeping dresses we, including Sunil roomies and buddies ... read more

this morning i awoke to the sounds of a man excitedly yelling pune, pune, pune....last stop. the overnight bus journey was said to be 12 hours and it was only a quick 10!!! i had a single, lower sleeper box separated by yellow linen curtains vigorously blowing from the open windows breeze, which i eventually tied up. the gentleman above me asked the bus to make a quick stop at a roadside wine shop.....was this a gift for his arrival or was the party about to begin??? in the middle of the night i felt something moist on my leg, i thought i was dreaming and thus paid little attention until the edge of my sheet, pants and dress were quite wet.....hmmmm....i felt around and smelled it and felt some more....what is this wet....then all confused ... read more