Blogs from National Capital Territory, India, Asia - page 7

We left Amritsar in the evening, travelling by train to Delhi. I was very grateful that Rakesh took us to the station, found the right platform and took us to our seats. Amritsar station was really overwhelming with the volume of passengers, noise level, beggars, hawkers, and porters jostling for the opportunity to carry our luggage. Having negotiated the general chaos, we found ourselves in a first-class carriage which was luxurious. Our leather seats were very comfortable and the taller members of the family were thrilled with the generous leg room. Our six-hour journey ran very smoothly and was punctuated with regular deliveries of food and drink served on trays like an airline. We had samosas, soup with fennel seed flecked bread sticks, vegetable dhal and rice, and finished off with ice cream. We arrived at ... read more

My first time in India left me in wonder at the strange sight of cows wandering the streets of Delhi freely. In my travels I've witnessed cows sleeping peacefully in the middle of busy streets and winding hill station roads, only to have the buses and traffic veer their path around the holy cow, leaving the sleeping beast undisturbed. Its a known fact that cows in India are worshipped. Sacred animals of Lord Krishna. Now that's fine and dandy...but I'm from the United States, the country known for eating beef. Although I spent my years travelling abroad avoiding cheeseburgers and steaks until my yearly trip back to California, there was something about living in India eating strictly vegetarian food that made me just plain old miss cheeseburgers. Hell even in the McDonalds in India the only ... read more

Welcome to the Festival of Colours as we celebrate the beginning of spring in India with the festival of Holi. This year was my first Holi Festival and already I'm looking forward to the years to come. I first came to India last July with the words: Ïndia, you either Love it...or Hate it" in my mind. Two weeks of temples, sightseeing, religious pilgrimages, cows in the streets, monkeys in the trees, crazy rickshaw drivers and now here I am in India to stay. Holi is celebrated with colors, paints, squirt guns, water balloons and a good sense of humour -or in my case utter paranoia as I roam the streets a prime target for any and all potential water balloon or paint attacks. I decided to keep indoors for the early morning Holi-fest, however the ... read more

A last catch up with family by phone at the boarding gate and I climbed on board the Emirates A380 airbus. This was quite a revelation. My seat was a window seat in the 4th row back next to the stairs up to the cocktail lounge and upper level. The plane was very light and airy with lots of presumably fake walnut finish around. Hostesses were all beautifully dressed and immaculately turned out. The plane was very smooth and quiet and we were very regularly fed and watered. A first for me was the onboard WiFi which I must admit I was quite sceptical about until I tried it. It was fast and reliable and the ability to send texts and WhatsApp messages with photos from 40,000 feet was amazing. Stop over in Dubai was unremarkable ... read more

Anyone travelling to India on a budget will soon discover the joys of travelling via rickshaw. "Joys." My experience with the auto drivers can be summarized quite simply. "You need auto ma'am?? Auto??" "Haan auto to....(insert destination)... How much?" "Theek hai, ok ok 250 rupees." Now any foreigner not living in India and working off Indian salrary will think: "250 rupees?! Thats only $5 USD!!! Awesome! " Krystal, however is not one of those foreigners with American dollars. So here is how my conversations generally go: "250 Rupees!!! Nay Nay its 30 Rupees distance." "Ma'am 250 rupees." "Nay nay 50 rupees bes." Auto driver attempts to haggle for several minutes. I start to walk away in search of another Auto. "Ok ok ma'am 70 rupees." (And of course after getting into the auto and driving away ... read more