It looks so easy ... but if this is all you do all day I guess you soon become expert at it.
Friday, 22 November 2019
Stand clear of the doors - Train passing through the flower market area at Kolkata
In Kalkata (Calcutta) we visited the Mullik flower market near the Howrah Bridge over the river Hooghly.
As we tried to leave, the barriers were put down across our exit route to allow a train through. Most of the 'locals' simply ignored the barriers and climbed under/over them to cross the tracks. When the train eventually passed by people were unconcernedly chatting away sitting on the barrier or standing on the wrong side .... quite an eye opener!
As we tried to leave, the barriers were put down across our exit route to allow a train through. Most of the 'locals' simply ignored the barriers and climbed under/over them to cross the tracks. When the train eventually passed by people were unconcernedly chatting away sitting on the barrier or standing on the wrong side .... quite an eye opener!
Varanasi. Visitors arriving for the Dev Deepawali festival on the Ganges 12 November 2019
We were in Varanasi for Dev Deepawali which is a Hindu festival celebrated on the Ganges every year on the occasion of Kartik Poornima (full moon) 15 days after Diwali (festival of lights). This year the date was Tuesday 12 November
At dusk the steps of the 88 Ghats leading down to the river are illuminated with thousands of small clay pots/oil lamps called diyas.
Devotees flock to the holy city at Dev Deepawali to take a dip in the river Ganges as this supposed to rid a person of his/her sins.
Our Hotel/balcony directly overlooked the river and some of the Ghats. These are the (very steep) steps leading from the Ghats to our hotel and this little video was taken fairly early in the morning of Dev Deepawali when visitors were flooding into the city. By afternoon/evening the place was jam packed full.
At dusk the steps of the 88 Ghats leading down to the river are illuminated with thousands of small clay pots/oil lamps called diyas.
Devotees flock to the holy city at Dev Deepawali to take a dip in the river Ganges as this supposed to rid a person of his/her sins.
Our Hotel/balcony directly overlooked the river and some of the Ghats. These are the (very steep) steps leading from the Ghats to our hotel and this little video was taken fairly early in the morning of Dev Deepawali when visitors were flooding into the city. By afternoon/evening the place was jam packed full.
Atari/Wagah Flag lowering ceremony - India/Pakistan border
The flag lowering ceremony at the Atari/Wagah India/Pakistan border. Viewed from the Indian side. This ceremony takes place every evening at dusk with the audiences and soldiers from both sides trying to outdo each other in noise and posturing.
Sniffer Dogs at Wagah/Atari Border Closing Ceremony
In 2014 a suicide bomber detonated a device at the Border Closing/flag lowering ceremony which takes place every evening on the Pakistan/India Border at Wagah/Atari. The device killed more than 60 people and injured hundreds more.
Realising he wouldn't get past the security cordon the bomber waited outside the parade ground and blew himself up as people were leaving after the border closing ceremony. If he'd got into the packed arena the death toll would have been much higher as the tiered seating accommodates hundreds/thousands of visitors
There's a huge military/army presence on both sides of the border and before the main event sniffer dogs marched with their handlers and made their 'salute'
Realising he wouldn't get past the security cordon the bomber waited outside the parade ground and blew himself up as people were leaving after the border closing ceremony. If he'd got into the packed arena the death toll would have been much higher as the tiered seating accommodates hundreds/thousands of visitors
There's a huge military/army presence on both sides of the border and before the main event sniffer dogs marched with their handlers and made their 'salute'
Thursday, 21 November 2019
Equestrian Display. Changing of the Guard Ceremony. Delhi
I've only just realised whilst watching this video that the horses are segregated according to colour ... bright bays in one 'team' and dark bays in another. That has to be deliberate?
The changing of the Guard at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of the President of India in New Delhi. This is the President's Body Guard, the most senior Regiment of the Indian Army.
Men of the President's Bodyguard consists of the old warrior classes of the Rajputs, Sikhs and the Jat.
The changing of the Guard at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of the President of India in New Delhi. This is the President's Body Guard, the most senior Regiment of the Indian Army.
Men of the President's Bodyguard consists of the old warrior classes of the Rajputs, Sikhs and the Jat.
Gurkhas: Changing of the Guard Ceremony - Delhi. Video 9 Nov
Changing of the Guard at the Presidents Palace, New Delhi. The current regular army guard is the Fifth Battalion, the First Gurkha Rifles
Wednesday, 20 November 2019
20 Nov WEDS. Farewell to India (till the next time)!
On this trip we visited 6 major Cities in the North of India and so we probably had fewer opportunities for R&R than when we head out into the 'sticks' but we've enjoyed it.
Our favourite places were definitely Amritsar and Varanasi but we have a soft spot for Mumbai and feel comfortable here.
On our first evening in Delhi (Friday 8th) we did a 'night street food tour' which I'd pre-booked through Viator. We were really pleased to find out that the tour guide works for Reality Tours (and Viator was just the booking platform). Whilst we were in the Delhi spice market, on our tour, our guide greeted a fellow Indian and introduced him as Krishna Pujari, co-founder of Reality Tours who is normally based in Mumbai but was visiting Delhi with a friend..
We've used Reality Tours in Mumbai in the past to do a fascinating walking tour of the Dharavi slums where over 1 million people live and also a street food tour which gave us an insight into dishes commonly seen 'on the street food stalls' which we'd never have dared try on our own. In fact, it introduced us to some of the 'street food' which featured in the High Tea menu at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.
Reality Tours is a profit-sharing model and funds its sister organisation 'Reality Gives', an NGO (non-governmental organisation). 80% of their post-tax profit goes back into the community to educate the kids, teaching them English, computer and life-style skills to help them break out of the cycle of poverty.
Krishna was thrilled to hear that we'd been on a couple of the Mumbai tours (especially the slum one) as he said that had been the most difficult to get off the ground. He's so passionate about what he does (he's very inspirational).
He and a friend founded Reality Tours in August 2005 but didn’t run a Dharavi slum tour until January 2006 because they couldn't convince anyone to visit a slum. Hotels wouldn’t work with them because they wouldn’t pay commission and people were sceptical of flyers being handed out on the street. He didn't give up though and despite only having 350 visitors in 2006 he knew that Dharavi was a fascinating place and that the tour was an important step to raise awareness. Their big break came when Lonely Planet included Reality tours in their 2007 guidebook.
In 2014 they expanded into Delhi doing much the same thing and they're going from strength to strength. We'd highly recommend them if ever you're looking to do tours in Mumbai, Delhi (and I believe they're starting up in Agra). They're doing great things for the kids living in poverty and their tours are fun and informative.
Sorry, the reason I went off on a tangent is that Krishna asked me whether I preferred Mumbai or Delhi and was very pleased when I said Mumbai (no contest). Delhi is a much newer city and has the advantage of being planned/built with wider roads and lots of green parks - but it doesn't have the 'personality' of Mumbai (IMHO).
So, we left our 'budget' hotel at 9.30pm and set off for the airport and to experience the 'First Class' experience from Mumbai to Heathrow. Our flight was at 2.15am this morning.
We weren't impressed with the baggage check-in desk at Mumbai. Just one desk and it served both First Class and business class and was extremely slow. It took us around 30 minutes to check our cases and we'd have been faster going through the economy section we reckon.
But, once that was sorted, the experience picked up. The lounge serves Business and First class passengers but First Class is segregated by a pretty screen/wall. Business class get self-service buffet food and First class get silver service a la carte offerings and unlimited drinks.
David opted for scallops to start followed by rack of lamb and I started with a lamb dish (can't remember what it was called but it was gorgeous) followed by seared duck breast. We had a few glasses of Moet & Chandon and then retired to comfortable lounge chairs until it was time to head for our gate
Our BA First Class flight to Delhi 3 weeks ago was good and the staff were very slick. This trip from Mumbai to London was somewhat different. I was OK, the stewards were very attentive to me but David felt a bit like a second class citizen he said. I had to ask one of 'my' stewards to get him a coffee at one stage and it was irritating things like bringing him breakfast cereal - but no spoon and then disappearing for 5 minutes so he had nobody to ask. The seating configuration in the First Class cabin is 1, 2, 1 and we'd opted for 2 seats in the centre - they have a divider panel which can be drawn across for privacy or left open so passengers can see and talk to each other. David had different crew members on 'his' side of the cabin.
My tv remote control was faulty. It was the type thats attached to a sort of bungee rope cord that you pull out of the wall. Its supposed to pull out and then stay out but mine just kept flying back into its cubby hole. I asked a steward to help and he yanked it hard and the remote broke away from the cord so was totally useless. He pointed out that I could still use the screen as a touch screen .... but no, I couldn't ....
The decision was made to reset the system so everyone lost their entertainment for 10 minutes . After the reset I still struggled. I wanted to watch Red Joan (Judi Dench) but the film kept stalling, running backwards to the beginning, and the sound quality was awful so I gave up and decided to get a couple of hours sleep. Because its a night flight I hadn't planned to watch more than one film anyway but it would have been a different matter on a daytime flight.
The seats turned into comfortable flat beds but, unlike the flight out, it wasn't possible to sit upright and simply raise the leg support section. Its all or nothing - upright seat or flat bed. It was a much older plane and was showing signs of wear.
Just before landing, David went to the loo and en route had a word with the Cabin Crew Manager and said we would put in a complaint about my faulty entertainment equipment and he hoped she would report it too as the next person to occupy my seat would have the same problems. 10 minutes later the Manager came to talk to me, she'd been aware of the initial problem but thought it had been resolved. The plane was full so re-seating me wouldn't have been an option. She was very nice and by way of apology has arranged to transfer 20,000 avios points to my BA account and then she came back with a bottle of champagne for us to take away. I think the avios points are worth around £200-£250 so that kind of commits us to flying BA again ... but its a nice gesture.
Tuesday, 19 November 2019
19 Nov TUES: Iconic Buildings Mumbai (VT Station, Post Office, Crawford Market)
We transferred to our new (temporary) budget hotel which is in a very busy, central part of Mumbai then went out for a brief walk as we wanted to buy some peppercorns, spices and Assam tea from nearby Crawford Market.
Our Hotel is within a 20 minute walk of a couple of iconic buildings that we've always admired.First off is the General Post Office building. at 120,000 sq ft it is HUGE. It was designed by a British architect, John Begg in 1902. Work started in 1904 and was completed in 1913. Its in need of a bit of TLC/cleaning but is still a stunning building.
Because of the scale of the building, and the difficulty in finding a good vantage point without risking life and limb standing in the middle of the busy road, its hard to photograph and this is the best I could do.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station, was designed by British architect Frederick William Stevens in 1878 and completed in 1888. It was named the Victoria Terminus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's rule in 1987, but had a name change in 1996. (Its still largely referred to as VT - well the current name doesn't really trip off the tongue).
Its the HQ of the Indian central railway and the busiest station in India and is very ornate both inside and outside
Inside the ticket office
and the main station/tracks
It was so hot/humid when we left Crawford Market we couldn't face the walk so took a Uber taxi back to our hotel and I photographed VT through the car window as we were further away so I could get more of the building in the frame
Across the road from the VT building is another grand one. This is the Mumicipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai offices (Council offices).
The MCGM is the governing civic body of Mumbai and India's richest municipal corporation. It is responsible for the civic infrastructure and admin of the city and some of its suburbs
The building was designed by British architect, Frederick William Stevens, the same man who designed the VT station building. It was completed in 1893. He was certainly a busy bee and a great designer of wonderfully ornate buildings
Crawford Market is a popular market which sells everything from perfumes and cosmetics, clothing, fruit & vegetables, cheese, chocolate and confectionary, meat and animals/birds. Its spread over a large area of around 72,000 sq yds.
It was designed in a Gothic style by William Emerson (another British architect) and built in 1871. It has a skylight awning about 50ft above ground level which allows light into the market. It was apparently the first market in India to receive electricity (1882).
Photographed from across the very busy road in front of the main facade
We bought our peppercorns (so much nicer than the ones you get in UK supermarkets) and some spices and loose leaf Assam tea for his lordship. I won't post photos of the market stalls as they don't differ much from all the ones I've shown previously.
We would have liked to visit a few more of the iconic buildings in the area but the temperature was in the mid 30s and very humid so we called it a day and that's the end of our Indian adventures
We've done so many more things than mentioned in the Blog but its very difficult keeping the posts up to date. This happens every time I write a travel Blog and I always vow to go through the photos again when we're back home and fill in the gaps in the Blog ... but it never happens.
Our Hotel is within a 20 minute walk of a couple of iconic buildings that we've always admired.First off is the General Post Office building. at 120,000 sq ft it is HUGE. It was designed by a British architect, John Begg in 1902. Work started in 1904 and was completed in 1913. Its in need of a bit of TLC/cleaning but is still a stunning building.
Because of the scale of the building, and the difficulty in finding a good vantage point without risking life and limb standing in the middle of the busy road, its hard to photograph and this is the best I could do.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station, was designed by British architect Frederick William Stevens in 1878 and completed in 1888. It was named the Victoria Terminus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's rule in 1987, but had a name change in 1996. (Its still largely referred to as VT - well the current name doesn't really trip off the tongue).
Its the HQ of the Indian central railway and the busiest station in India and is very ornate both inside and outside
Inside the ticket office
and the main station/tracks
It was so hot/humid when we left Crawford Market we couldn't face the walk so took a Uber taxi back to our hotel and I photographed VT through the car window as we were further away so I could get more of the building in the frame
Across the road from the VT building is another grand one. This is the Mumicipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai offices (Council offices).
The MCGM is the governing civic body of Mumbai and India's richest municipal corporation. It is responsible for the civic infrastructure and admin of the city and some of its suburbs
The building was designed by British architect, Frederick William Stevens, the same man who designed the VT station building. It was completed in 1893. He was certainly a busy bee and a great designer of wonderfully ornate buildings
Crawford Market is a popular market which sells everything from perfumes and cosmetics, clothing, fruit & vegetables, cheese, chocolate and confectionary, meat and animals/birds. Its spread over a large area of around 72,000 sq yds.
It was designed in a Gothic style by William Emerson (another British architect) and built in 1871. It has a skylight awning about 50ft above ground level which allows light into the market. It was apparently the first market in India to receive electricity (1882).
Photographed from across the very busy road in front of the main facade
We bought our peppercorns (so much nicer than the ones you get in UK supermarkets) and some spices and loose leaf Assam tea for his lordship. I won't post photos of the market stalls as they don't differ much from all the ones I've shown previously.
We would have liked to visit a few more of the iconic buildings in the area but the temperature was in the mid 30s and very humid so we called it a day and that's the end of our Indian adventures
We've done so many more things than mentioned in the Blog but its very difficult keeping the posts up to date. This happens every time I write a travel Blog and I always vow to go through the photos again when we're back home and fill in the gaps in the Blog ... but it never happens.
19th Nov TUES: Morning Walk to Sassoon Dock - Fish Market
This is our final day in Mumbai (in India, in fact). Our flight to the UK doesn't leave until 02.15 tomorrow and we'd planned to ask for a day room at our boutique hotel, or to hang on to our existing room for a little longer.
However, the hotel charges 50% room rate to hold the room for 4 extra hours till 4pm which seems a bit steep and not very helpful as we won't be leaving for the airport till 10pm.
So we've booked a night at a much cheaper hotel in town. Its close to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, a historic railway station which used to be known as the Victoria Terminus Railway (VT) station and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its a good location from which to walk around a different area of Mumbai then we'll be able to shower and change clothes before leaving for the airport.
We set off to walk to Sassoon Dock just after 7am this morning and this time we found the dock/market.
It was suggested that the best time to go is 5am to watch the fishing boats come in and unload their catches, but there was still plenty of action at 7.30 when we got there In fact it was so packed it was difficult to take photos and we were constantly dodging men/women with dripping bowls of fish/ice on their heads and also the over-long wooden carts they use to transport large boxes of fish.
I'm glad we saw it though - it was noisy and smelly (but I guess most fish markets are the same) and there was a huge array of different fish on display/sale. I could readily imagine Rick Stein being there and waving a dead fish round whilst telling us just how he'd prepare and cook this in his restaurant!
Waiting for their share
A lot of the guys who work at this market, live here too. The accommodation is very basic .... its certainly a hard life for some
Then it was back to the hotel to shower and wash away the fishy pong! Breakfast and then check out time.
However, the hotel charges 50% room rate to hold the room for 4 extra hours till 4pm which seems a bit steep and not very helpful as we won't be leaving for the airport till 10pm.
So we've booked a night at a much cheaper hotel in town. Its close to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, a historic railway station which used to be known as the Victoria Terminus Railway (VT) station and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its a good location from which to walk around a different area of Mumbai then we'll be able to shower and change clothes before leaving for the airport.
We set off to walk to Sassoon Dock just after 7am this morning and this time we found the dock/market.
It was suggested that the best time to go is 5am to watch the fishing boats come in and unload their catches, but there was still plenty of action at 7.30 when we got there In fact it was so packed it was difficult to take photos and we were constantly dodging men/women with dripping bowls of fish/ice on their heads and also the over-long wooden carts they use to transport large boxes of fish.
I'm glad we saw it though - it was noisy and smelly (but I guess most fish markets are the same) and there was a huge array of different fish on display/sale. I could readily imagine Rick Stein being there and waving a dead fish round whilst telling us just how he'd prepare and cook this in his restaurant!
Waiting for their share
 |
A lot of the guys who work at this market, live here too. The accommodation is very basic .... its certainly a hard life for some
Then it was back to the hotel to shower and wash away the fishy pong! Breakfast and then check out time.
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