Keeping fit

Well I've done something that no one will ever believe! I've joined a Gym! I've never belonged to a gym in all my life! 

Before I came to India, I was hoping that the 'delhi belly' would help me out and make me lose loads of weight but that hasn't happened yet so I guess I'm gonna have to lose weight the old fashioned way - Excercise! (However I am glad I haven't been ill yet, it seems like a horrible thing to go through!) 

Aga Khan Palace

We wanted to visit somewhere 'touristy' and with a bit of history and looking on the internet I found that just a short walk from our apartment was Aga Khan Palace.

It was built in 1892 by Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah Aga Khan III and was donated to the government of india in 1962. It is most famous for being the place where Gandhi and his family were kept under house arrest in the1940's. Both his wife and Secretary died there of dysentry and it has memorials to them both. It also has some of Gandhi's ashes in the grounds aswell, which is quite cool to see.

Meeting Tom's work buddies

On Friday 11th February Tom rang me on his way out of work and invited me out for drinks with him and some of his workmates at ABC Farms. I tried to get an auto rickshaw there but every driver I asked either refused to go that way or wanted 70 rupees for the journey, which was ridiculous because it should only cost 15 max! They can be quite grumpy and stubborn sometimes! So in the end I just had to walk. 

Wanting to do good

Before coming to Pune, I researched places that I could maybe volunteer for whilst I'm here. I think it would be really great to not only do some good but also to alleviate my boredom. As nice as it is sitting around all day playing on the computer and watching TV, it can get a bit mundane after a while. 

German Bakery

I wanted to make it my mission to find the German Bakery as we couldn’t find it the first time that we went to Koregaon Park. (Although now I know it no longer exists and will never be found.)

It was a really lovely day on Wednesday 9^th February, the sun was strong and intense but there was a good breeze which helped to take the edge off the heat somewhat. I decided I’d walk all the way to the other end of Koregaon Park which is nearly two miles!

The view

One of my favourite things to do every day is to sit on the terrace and watch the sun set. (A nice G&T would top off the experience, but surprisingly, I haven’t bought any yet).

End of 1st week in Pune - Feb 6th

We went out for dinner at a place called ABC Farms, which is basically a collection of about six restaurants on a piece of land that used to belong to a farm. In fact you can still get dairy products at the back of the complex.

Exploring nearby

Another area that Tom was considering as one of the places we could live is a place called Koregaon Park, which is one of the most expensive areas to live in Pune. It is just the other side of the Mula-Mutha River, about a 10 minute walk from our apartment in Kalyani Nagar.

First Friday

Well on my first Friday in Pune (4^th February), we were supposed to be meeting up with some of Tom’s work mates at a place called The Ship. Unfortunately they all had to cancel on us last minute which was disappointing because I had really been looking forward to going out and meeting them all. I decided that we should still go to The Ship anyway, just the two of us.

Tom's Work

On Friday 4^th Feb Tom texted me at 11ish saying he’d forgotten some papers he needed and could I bring them to his work? I agreed as I was curious to see where it was he went to everyday.

I walked across from the apartment and got a rickshaw from the rank. Apparently the rickshaw should have only cost 50 rupees, but the driver wouldn’t budge on 60 rupees or use the meter! So reluctantly I had to pay that, even though his meter was running after all and said only 48 rupees when I arrived!

Learning lessons

Throughout my first week I got braver and more and more used to my surroundings. One day I decided to take a rickshaw to a shopping mall called Ishanya Mall that I’d seen on a map that I had. It is a about 2 miles away in an area called Yerwada, which is very near to where Tom works.

Making a home - 3rd full day

Tom gave me the idea of buying a few plants for the apartment, to make it feel a bit more like home; well it’ll only really feel like home when I've killed them, but hey!

Bedding down

My mission on my first full day in the apartment on my own was to buy some bedding. We didn't realise until it was time to go to bed on that first night after our meal with dad that there wasn't any; no pillows, covers, sheets, nothing! It was a good job it is nice and warm here otherwise if we were in England we would have been sleeping with all of the clothes that we own on!