Crazy rock people. Aghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Our four hour train journey from Delhi to Chandigarh turned into a seven hour one without any explaination but we are starting to get used to India's funny little ways and weren't bothered too much. Also sitting on a crowded train for seven hours is still preferable to being in Delhi.

It was late and hungry that we arrived at our hotel so first thing we did was look for somewhere to eat. We had been told that Punjabi food would be similar to Indian food that we have in the UK and they weren't wrong. We were also told that people here are friendlier which is definately true. We found a curry house that sold chicken and ordered what was essentially a chicken tikka massala. As at home we were given a ridiculous amount of food that we couldn't possibly eat all of. It was quite late at night and we were sat near a group of drunk men who wanted to talk to us and were really friendly. It did feel just like a curry house in England with a group of drunk guys coming for a curry straight after the pub. One of the men offered us a lift back to our hotel but looking at the state of him it would not have been a good idea.

The reason we came to Chandigarh was to see Nek Chand's rock garden. Chandigarh is a fairly new city and as such is a strange place. Designed by Le Corbusier it is built in blocks called sections so the map is divided into sections 1-40something. Compared to other Indian cities it is very clean and has lots of green spaces so it was nice for a change.

Whilst it was being built a man named Nek Chand saw how much material was being wasted and dumped so decided to make use of it. He would ride around on his bike and pick up pieces of rubbish and built it into the amazing rock garden filled with characters and animals, waterfalls and crazy statues. Seeing it for ourselves it is hard to believe that one man could have built it all. You walk through little tunnels through which you meet monkeys made out of broken tea cups, or round a corner to see princesses made of discarded bracelets, then through a waterfall into an army of small animals.

When it was eventually discovered the town had the good forsight not to tear it down but actually helped him finish his project and it is now a huge tourist attraction. We had loads of fun here and the people are really friendly. People kept stopping to ask us for a photograph and welcoming us to India.

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Comments

[Inderpreet]

Hello
I was searching for blog written on Chandigarh. Yeah people are friendly especially to foreigners... I like the comment on one of your pictures "These guys wanted to buy Helen but they didn't have enough money.". did you visit Panjab University?