ANZAC Day in Delhi

Today was ANZAC Day, a day when Australians and New Zealanders stop to remember those fellow countrymen who fought, and are currently fighting, in wars around the globe. I have been to the ANZAC Day Dawn Service in Perth, Australia, Gallipoli in Turkey and now in New Delhi, India.

The Australian and New Zealand High Commissions in New Delhi join forces every year to commemorate this occasion, taking turns who hosts - this year was the Aussies turn.

So with the alarm set for 4.45am, we woke up, quickly showered and headed to the Delhi War Cemetery. Unfortunately it was so damn early, and not being awake properly, I forgot to take my phone which had our GPS/map..... so we only had some 'old-fashioned' printed directions. It didn't go well and we were convinced we were lost. So at about 5.25am we cracked it and headed for home. Thankfully, regaining composure, we U-turned and tried again. This time we successfully found the ceremony and luckily hadn't missed too much.

The Delhi War Cemetery is really lovely! Surrounded by Indian Army facilities it is in a very quiet little spot which is obviously perfect, by rare, in this city. It is beautifully kept and the morning was lovely and cool. The views from the cemetery obviously didn't rival those of Perth or Gallipoli but it made up for it with its calm and peaceful ambiance. The really lovely part of the day was the number of Aussies and Kiwis that had crawled out of bed at this very early hour to honour the fallen.

There were speeches from the Australians, New Zealanders and Turkish, then wreaths were laid by many different countries including Fiji, USA, UK, and the Indian Armies. Finally they played 'the last post' on the bugle - a must on ANZAC Day.

Our 'nearly 2' year old came with us and enjoyed the bugle and managed to maintain silence for 2 minutes - a miracle!

Following the ceremony we walked around to look at the war graves and saw Australian, New Zealand and UK graves along with many others - all of them so very young.

Then it was time for breakkie. Everyone formed a convoy for the Aussie High Comm where a yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs, baked beans etc..... was put on, which either fuelled the work day for some and footy time for others!

All in all, well worth it and a really nice experience.

Holi Moli

Holi - an amazing day in the Indian calendar - a festival of colour. This country loves good festival but this day seems to be embraced by most and puts a smile on everyones face (until of course the joy of the good party wears off). Holi signals the end of winter and the start of summer - hurrah! From now on all we have to look forward to is watching the mercury climb!

Last year I was pretty new to the scene up here and didn't think an eight month old would really dig getting covered in coloured dye..... wind forward 12 months and we are all over it. We had a great day with some friends in the morning throwing colour, then chilled out in the afternoon with other mates over a couple of drinks listening to the chaos of Holi swirl around us on the streets.

Sophie getting Dad with colours!

 

now Mum's turn....

Napisan required?

 

 

Some locals enjoying the festival.

 

Happy Holi x

One year in ... time for some Hope.

Our family has ticked over one year in this incredible city. We have visited some amazing places but probably one that will be with me for a long time was the Hope Projects walk around Nizamuddin. (I have put in a link to the Hope Project at the bottom of the post. They are an interesting bunch so make sure you have a read.)
We were supposed to meet our guide outside Nizamuddin Police Station at 5.30pm, but like most things here, you never leave the meeting point before waiting at least 15 minutes and making at least 3 phone calls.

Finally our guide arrived and we started weaving our way through the streets of Nizamuddin. Nizamuddin is a primarily Muslim area and a rabbit warren, god knows where we walked, it was incredible.

Nizamuddin is full of beautiful little kids playing cricket and running up and down the small alleyways. There are attar shops that sell lovely little perfumes and chook shops with chickens close to their doom.

It is overwhelming and can feel like you have stepped back in time.

Mosques are aplenty and we arrived around prayer time so rivers of men where winding their way to worship, however we were certainly not welcome to go anywhere near the inside of the mosques.

As the sun set and we could no longer see what we were stepping in or on we hit the real market area. There were flower garlands, incense and the lingering smell of shoes...... always means its never long before you too will have your bare soles on the ground.

So remove our shoes we did and moved in to listen to the Sufi singers. The Sufi music is quite calming and relaxing and watching so many people hit the square to listen to it is quite lovely - men, women, kids, the elderly - everyone! It is busy but quite beautiful.

Since I have arrived here I have learnt that there is often something else going on under the surface at the same time as everything else. I was really confronted when I realised that the music was also used to calm a number of mentally disturbed people whose family bring them here in the belief that the music will cure them.

It's full on..... woman and men thrashing, swaying and beating themselves to the beat of the music. They also wail and moan which accompanies the melodic musicians. I have never experienced anything quite like it.

I couldn't stay there for too long and we moved on past the passage of beggars to the well of sacred water (although I think I am glad it was dark). We asked our guide, a resident of Nizamuddin, whether he believed the sacred water could cure you. His response - 'no, if you're sick you go to the doctor' - righteo then.

The final stop was HQ of the Hope Project which was lovely and we saw the resting place of the founder..... below. Lots of very cute kittens were keeping the tomb warm, so cute!

Of course no trip to Nizamuddin is complete without a good old kebab so off we went to a street food vendor doing a roaring trade in meat products. I won't say I wasn't nervous but I jumped in, enjoyed and ....... no unpleasant lasting results.

End result - a definite Delhi experience with a great organisation.

For more information on the Hope Project here. 

Taj Mahal - you might have heard of it?

My first trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra was back in 2004, I really can't believe it was 7 odd years ago.... and I don't feel that much older.

Back then I caught the train that left at 6 am which was efficient and good, this time I couldn't get a ticket on the train so drove, leaving at 6am. I braced myself as there are horror stories of the road trip taking hours and hours and hours....... thankfully leaving at this early hour on this particular morning was a breeze (with a pillow and iPod in the back of  perfectly comfortable car!). After only 3 hours we arrived in cold, foggy, smoggy Agra.

Agra must be very grateful for the Taj otherwise not many people would be visiting, it's not the prettiest place on the planet but it does have one of the prettiest buildings.

My sister and I got dropped off at the carpark and you get the choice whether to go by electric car or by camel to see her. I left the choice to my sister and the next minute we are in a tray on the back of a camel.

'Romantic' mode of transport

Got to love a good old grumpy smelly camel! Soon Rob and I were at the entrance to the main event. I had to take a picture of the 'cattle lanes', apparently in place to stop people jumping the queue - very effective as an average sized person can barely fit through!

 

Do not overtake!

But all that fades into insignificance when you see this ....

 

No matter how many times I see this building on a postcard it really doesn't compare to the real thing and postcards can't provide you with the 'Princess Diana' moment!

Fact for the day: clever things built the Taj so the minarets all lean slightly out in case there is an earthquake they fall outwards.

 

I can also highly recommend a visit and perhaps lunch at the new Oberoi in Agra - views are amazing!

Then it was time for the drive back..... slightly more hairy that the drive down there and also took two hours longer. The drive back was hairy, who would have thought a truck driving along with a truckload of bricks loosely piled on the back, not tied down would fall off at random intervals and come crashing onto the road. Of course you didn't want to be in the car that might decide to overtake at just the the wrong moment. Thankfully it didn't happen to us, I then decided to match the rest of the trip back to my iPod soundtrack and hope for the best. It helped.

Gurdwara Bangla Sahib

Recently I revisited the beautiful Gurdwara Bangla Sahib near Connaught Place in Delhi. Gurdwara Bangla Sahib 'is the most prominent Sikh gurdwara in Delhi, known for its association with the eighth Sikh Guru, Guru Har Krishan' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurudwara_Bangla_Sahib).  It is a large, lovely building and there is something about it that I really enjoy. It has amazing golden domes and a stunning pond of water lying down at the bottom the marble steps.

As foreigners my sister and I entered firstly through the tourist entrance where we were greeted by a lovely man who instructed us to remove our shoes and cover our head. I thankfully had bought my own head scarf but my sister had to borrow a really lovely scarf! The gentleman then gave us a brief run down on the Gurdwara then took us up to visit the main event.

After stepping through the water trough, to clean our feet, we walked up the steps and entered the temple. It has amazing high ceilings and all the faithful sit on the floor in front of the holy book - Guru Granth Sahib. Inside the temple Gurbani (devotional music) plays and is very calming. Unfortunately no photos are allowed inside.

 

Exiting the temple

On leaving the temple we passed the small room where the Guru Granth Sahib is kept overnight and covered in silk, which is known as the Rumala to protect it.

We then visited the outdoor area on our own, our guide wished us well and told us to enjoy ourselves - very welcoming! We wandered around the pond outside 'Sarovar', this water is considered holy by Sikhs and while we were there there were many people bathing in the pond(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Granth_Sahib).

Reflections and my sister

 

This much space in Delhi is so relaxing.

 

Time to bath

One of my favourite things about the Sikh temples is the langar. This is where anyone and everyone can come for a meal. It doesn't matter what caste or creed, everyone is welcome. It is an amazing place, an amazing kitchen and so many people chipping in to feed others. 

 

Naan anyone?

 

A pot of dahl!

 

What a kitchen... amazing

Apologies if anything here is incorrect, I have done my best to get the facts right but please let me know if I haven't. Cheers x

Udaipur and Jaipur

Now it was time to explore and show off Rajasthan. I was looking forward to taking everyone to the desert as it is commonly seen as the 'real India'. I booked us into nice haveli's and palaces to invoke the romance of the country and experience a bit of a treat over the New Year.

Udaipur was the first place on our hit list. Our first mistake, was early in the trip when we booked Kingfisher Airlines. We booked these flights months ago before the news hit the papers of problems at the airline. In the days leading up to the flight each of us was peppered with text messages and emails letting us know of delays to the flight or just flat out time changes. So while my husband was happily on a Jet Airways flight that was scheduled to take off about 1 hour after us, we waited another 45 mins and landed about 1.5 hours after him. Kingfisher used a tiny twin prop plane and Jet had a nice 737. I dont' think I'll do this again.... maybe I won't get the chance - hey Kingfisher? To top things off a guy decided he would like my assigned seat more than his own, so with my 18 month old I clambered over him and settled in for the hour or so long flight....... but god bless my child for sleeping.

We arrived safely in Udaipur - commonly described as 'Venice of the East', 'City of Lakes' and home to over 3 million people. We met up with my husband, who had kindly waited for us and drove to the airport (another one or so hours away - this became a theme of our holiday).

Eventually we arrived at Fateh Garh - perched high on a hill and looking magnificent! What a beautiful building, lit up at night in all her glory. We put the bub to bed and enjoyed our first evening out of Delhi. Unfortunately this hotel has problems..... and putting us in rooms above a very noisy kitchen was the main one, we moved rooms a number of times but I will not dwell on the negatives. The food was nice and the company was great, so can't complain.  They have also made a lovely looking hotel that invoked relaxation which is what our team was all about.




View of Fateh Garh pool



The friendly hotel dog that just may have been able to eat my child.



A couple of the many vintage cars, common on the property.

During our time in Udaipur we visited the Monsoon Palace which is lovely but in desperate need of some love, it could be magnificent. The palace is swarming in monkeys anticipating food and tourists anticipating the sunset. The road up is windy and a little unnerving but worth the journey.

We reached the summit a while before the sunset, so we appreciated the view, had my child stolen from my arms for photos with some locals, dodged some monkeys, smelt the sweet smell of the urinal but then it was time to 'beat the crowd' and head for the car where 'Uncle' was waiting for us. We missed the sunset, however it was time to head to the English Beer and Wine Shop to get supplies.

The next day we visited the mildly insane City Palace......wow it was crazy. It was Saturday before NYE and every person in the Udaipur vicinity was there. We battled through the maze of the City Palace, dodged, ducked and avoided tour groups and families all hustling toward whatever the point of interest was in whatever particular room we were in. I felt claustrophobic and honestly thought I would never escape the 'Palace'. It is a beautiful building and it deserves more than it served up in the holiday time but you do get a magnificent view of the Lake Palace and a window to the magnificence of what used to be.




Maintenance at the City Palace.

My best mate and I also enjoyed meandering the streets of Udaipur,  a spot of shopping and crossing the lake to enjoy lunch at a lovely lakeside eatery, Ambrai. Unfortunately the Lake Palace is closed to non-guests so we couldn't visit the famous floating hotel. However, Ambrai was a great spot to watch tourists trip around the lake and locals battle with their washing on the banks all in the shadows of the magnificent City Palace.

This was a really lovely day and Udaipur was indeed impressive - pretty yes, Venice not so sure.

Next stop Jaipur...... this was another puzzle of transport - the boys opted for the open road (8 hours), two of the girls took Kingfisher (again with changes in time and delays) and I went via Delhi to collect my sister who arrived that day - Kingfisher again, and again a two hour delay.......

In Jaipur we chose to stay at the 475 year old Samode Palace Hotel...... it is a beautiful old place in the middle of the countryside in 'Samode'. You must be warned however if you stay here it is about 1 hour north of Jaipur and 1.5 hours from the airport (and you must know where you are going!). My driver sadly didn't know these important facts so the drive from the airport took closer to three hours. Needless to say the relationship between the driver and I was slightly fractured by the end of the journey.


But whatever anger or frustration I had died as soon as I walked into this hotel, ordered a G&T and settled my baby into the perfect hotel room for us. She was happy, we were all there safely and life was good again. Samode is a real retreat and it is lovely to relax and chill.





The entrance to Samode



Hotel and hills



Pool ...... ahhhh

We unfortunately decided to veer off the path of relaxation on one of the days and visited Jaipur (a 2.5 hour journey that ended with me in tears). After an almost comical attempt at asking for directions from locals we decided to call the attempt to reach the Fort to an end and instead find the yummy Anokhi cafe for lunch and regroup. We all needed to get out of the car especially Liz who had the short straw of not having a proper seat! After pulling it together we visited the Old City for a spot of cow spotting and shopping - the boys successfully purchased a poker set and my sister a tablecloth. Plus we did get to see the illusive Cowocerous......



Unbelievable......

After a long day on the roads we arrived back at Samode enjoyed beer, poker and a dinner in the hotels fancy Indian restaurant.

The next day was travel day and we were all really looking forward to the 4 hour drive on an Indian National Highway (insert sarcasm here.....). We said farewell to the Samode and hit the road. Indian Highways are insane and I want to make sure I travel on them as rarely as possible for the main reason that the massive trucks are driven by what appear to be very small 12 year old boys and the lane lines are merely suggestions. Hence, there are always accidents and I really do not want to be part of one.

The reality of driving on these roads are never far away and tragically the NH8 served up a fair bit of  reality on the way home. We witnessed the aftermath of a fatal motorcycle accident.... silent and in shock we drove past the undescribable. I never want to witness anything like this ever ever again, it will sit in my head and linger for a very long time. A very sad end to our trip. Thankfully the rest of the journey for us was safe and we arrived back in Delhi by nightfall.

Following on from our exploration around this part of the world, it's fair to say, like the ads, that India is 'incredible' and I think this is how it appeared to my friends:

incredible bad
incredible sad
incredible amazing
incredible beautiful
incredible WTF

........ but always incredible.

I don't know if they'll be back..... but I think we all have memories of a time together in a pretty amazing place.

A special thanks to our friends for visiting our home, it means alot and we miss you x

Ho Ho Ho!

It's been a little quiet from here on the blog front....I've had three weeks Perth and my Mum travelled back to Delhi with me, then it was Xmas and New Year and some of my lovely mates joined us here in Delhi to celebrate both. As a result I haven't had much writing time but I have been out and about showing off my home.

It has been a very interesting time for me as I show visitors around this crazy city. I really wanted them to enjoy Delhi, see it's crazy, quirky elements and be amazed that it all just seems to work - somehow. I became strangely defensive of my home and all its bits and pieces but at the same time India and Delhi made sure it challenged us to ensure my tourist leader job wasn't always easy.

Our itinerary started calmly with a drive to India Gate and down Rajpath. I love this part of the city, I think the buildings and space are stunning. We were reading some of the history while getting out of the car...."You can't stop there"..... we are just getting out of the car to walk "You can't stop there"! OK OK..... so the driver hurried off as we looked at the stunning buildings and I noticed the mass of men and machinery protecting the monument.

We then checked out Humayun's Tomb where, on exiting the car, a man threw a basket at our feet and simply yelled "SNAKE" and proceeded to play his flute. I jumped a mile, it was scary and hilarious as a cobra danced itself out of the basket. We were lucky with timing as about 10 bus loads of school children exited the Tomb as we entered so all we got were the enthusiastic yells of 'hello' and 'what is your name?' This is a really beautiful building. Khan Market was next for lunch and a spot of shopping. Of course after all this we needed a drink and a brilliant meal - look no further than TLR and Gunpowder in Hauz Khas - loved it.

The next day we headed to Old Delhi. We visited Jama Masjid then ate lunch at busy, hectic, aromatic Karim's. We walked the crazy lanes of Kinari Bizarre and caught a cycle rickshaw to the Spice Market where we choked and coughed on the pungent spices. I'm still getting to used to Old Delhi but was reminded of how I quite like wandering through here (when it's not 40 degrees). People who live and work there just go about their business of cooking, eating, selling, talking and buying...... we are merely another group of people who regularly get in the way. I tried out Delhi metro for the first time - so impressed! Clean, efficient an super fast way to get home. 

Xmas was great fun - drinks, food and lots of friends who are away from their families. Then Boxing Day gave us the Boxing Day test on a plate with our Xmas leftovers.

My friends then headed off to Agra.... I didn't make the journey with them but it was a long one in the car. We saw them the next day after another long car ride but the Taj was a spectacle and didn't disappoint.

After this we were to head off to Udaipur and Jaipur for a few days...... more Indian adventures to follow.