Blogs from Punjab, India, Asia - page 5

After the epic failure of our first few hours in Delhi, the two of us spent most of the afternoon and evening holed up in our hotel room, watching Indian TV, playing cards, practicing our Hindi numbers, and trying to stay awake to overcome our jet lag. We did make a brief foray out into the streets for lunch. Before we left our hotel room, we loaded up both our backpacks with everything we were afraid to part with if our hotel got broken into - most of our belongings. We got a recommendation of where to go from the front desk at the hotel. He even drew us a map. We walked down the street and found it without too much trouble. It clearly catered to tourists, and was on the pricey side. But the ... read more

Our vacation was interrupted by the original purpose of our trip. Leo needed to conduct some business. I used these few days to read, catch up on my blogging, shop and get some laundry done. Nothing I need to fill in the details on, but I thought I would share some observations. For your information, We were in the state of Punjab in Chandigarh and in the state of Himachal Predesh in Paonta Sahib. Grey and Brown When we arrived in New Delhi the first time, I thought how grey and brown the city looks. Our first morning, I thought the sky seemed hazy and overcast. After 2 weeks, I now feel that India is just ‘dingy’. According to our local guide, hazy and overcast are the normal weather conditions. We haven’t seen too much sun ... read more

Bon bien ca l'air que mon voyage tire a sa fin; je suis dans mon dernier pays! Comment decrire la fameuse, l'immense, la complexe, l'epeurante Inde?!? J'ai tellement eu de mauvais commentaires, de mises en garde de plein de gens differents (meme des indiens) que j'etais un peu stressee et craintive de l'Inde. Je me rassurais en me disant que j'etais avec Nicole et on avait un guide aussi qui allait nous accompagner tout le long. Finalement, apres plus d'une semaine en territoire indien, je me dis qu'il n'y a rien la. Je crois que tous les pays visites auparavant m'ont tres bien prepares pour ici; j'ai eu le temps d'assimiler differentes realites asiatiques au cours des derniers 4 mois ce qui fait que je ne suis pas traumatisee ici plus qu'ailleurs. On est arrive a ... read more

We had a great deal of difficulty leaving Dharamsala after only three nights, so we extended our stay there by one day, which meant only one day available for Amritsar. As the bus ride from Dharamsala was reputed to be a ten hour nightmare, we found ourselves once again hiring a taxi to get us to our destination in half the time. The trip was not specifically eventful, but there was a noticeable difference in atmosphere once we entered the territory of Punjab. For one, the language spoken here is Punjabi, not Hindi, which of course, doesn't make a whole lot of difference to us, as we understand neither, but the closer we got to Amritsar, the more prevalent the Sik population became, as it is the city which houses The Golden Temple, sacred destination point ... read more

What did Ali call it in one of his overdue tales? Oh yes, "blog lag". It must be infectious because here I am, more than two months after our return home, still trying to complete blogs of our travels around India. A lot of water has gone under that proverbial bridge, but my memories of the amazing things we did, the great people we met and the wondrous places we saw remain as clear as the day. Well, most of them do. Any that are a bit murky are quickly brought to mind by my camera, which has a photographic memory! Copious photos and videos, you see, are my crutches as I don't write down things as I go along - perhaps I should as it's said that 190,000 brain cells die each day and, at ... read more