Marathon - Day 6, Part 1

Our day started at 9.30 when we were picked up by Sanjay and greeted by our tour guide for the day and were driven to our first stop of the day.

The first place was Jama Masjid Mosque in Old Delhi, which was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (the builder of the Taj Mahal), and completed in the year 1628 AD, it is the largest and best-known mosque in India. It’s constructed of red sandstone and black and white marble. It has three entrances that lead into a huge courtyard that is big enough to house up to 25000 worshippers at any one time.

Jama Masjid Mosque

Marathon - Day 5

The day started off with a short trip via an auto rickshaw to Pune airport and then a two hour flight to Delhi in the North of India.

Delhi airport was massive! It seemed like we were walking for at least 20 minutes before we got to the baggage carousel. In the arrivals hall, there was an amazing display on the wall. There were 9 large metallic hands that depicted various hand gestures called Mudras surrounded by large copper discs that were either concave or convex. 

Arrivals

Marathon - Day 4

We went to visit Pune’s very own caves called the Pataleshwar Cave Temple. It is a rock cut excavation that was made in 8-9^th century AD. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu God, Lord Shiva. The caves and carvings are nowhere near as impressive as the Karla Caves but I still find it all quite amazing considering that when they were made the tools they would’ve used were very limited.

Marathon - Day 3

Day 3 was a slow start. Before coming out here, my dad was trying to organise a sightseeing trip for us all to see Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Unfortunately the trip we had fell through so organising another one is what we spent most of the day doing. After waiting for email responses and phone calls back and forth, we finally got another tour sorted through Go Heritage Journeys India. Phew! It was a relief considering we were supposed to be going in two days from then.

Marathon - Day 2

Day 2 of our sightseeing was a spot of retail therapy in Pune. I wanted to show my parents a popular shopping area called Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road or Main Street where they have everything from small independent sellers to Reebok and The United Colors of Benetton. It’s a 15 minute auto rickshaw ride away and we arrived just after 1pm. Unfortunately we were a bit early for most of the shops, here, they tend to open up in the morning, close for a few hours at lunch and then open up again in the afternoon. We did have a walk up and down the street though and looked at all the old buildings with their closed shops hidden behind old rickety wooden shutters.

Sightseeing Marathon!

Well, sorry I haven’t been around for a while, my parents have been over visiting us and we have all been on a marathon of sightseeing both here in Pune then onto Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

The first stop of our sightseeing marathon was the Karla Caves which are impressive man made Buddhist caves that date back to approximately to the 2nd century BC. They are near a small hill station called Lonavala, which is located high up in the mountains on the National Highway that connects Mumbai and Pune. It is a popular destination for locals who want to escape the hustle and bustle of the cities and get some respite from the heat.

Cycling Madness! (Oh and a bit of volunteering)

I decided to cycle to Deep Griha Society on my first day. It is about 3 miles away and fortunately most of the journey is on level ground.

I got up, was dressed and ready to leave on time only to find that my bike had flat tyres and I didn't have a pump or anything to fix them! Luckily, just opposite my apartment is a little man that sits at the side of the road fixing bicycles for people. I walked over with my bike and asked him to pump my tyres, he charged me 30 rupees, pumped them up and I was then ready to be on my way.

Me Too!

As I am known for being a "Me Too" by my family, and not wanting to miss out, I have bought myself some wheels as well! 

I'd mentioned the fact that I wanted a bike to Hiren, (one of Tom's work mate's) and he kindly took us to Laxmi Road (which is a crazy, busy shopping area in town) to buy one.

Tom's wheels

Tom decided he was fed up of having to rely on taxi's and auto rickshaws to get to and from work, so he has bought himself a blue Pulsar motor bike! According to him it's only a small one, however all his work mate's seem to reckon its quite big really.

In Pune and as in a lot of India, it isn't compulsory to wear a helmet when riding so you very rarely see people wearing one. However, Tom has said he will go in search of a helmet as soon as possible, as he knows what its like to come off a bike and it's better to be safe than sorry. There's no way I'm going to get on the back of it without one either. Back in the UK I'd refused to get on Tom's bike but I am warming to it and may just give it a go. I've got to get a bit braver and it'll give us both more independence if I do, plus Tom would really like me to.

I'm back!

Well after a short trip back to the UK, I am now back in India so my blog will be up and running properly again.

Now I have successfully changed my visa from a tourist to an employment one, I can do some voluntary work over here. Tomorrow I am off to the charity Deep Griha Society that I visited last month and I will begin working there 3-4 times a week which will be fun. I am really looking forward to it as it not only gives me something to get out of bed for in the morning, I actually feel like I will be doing some good and helping the people of Pune. I will let you all know how it goes!

Making friends

I've been going to the gym everyday and it is exhausting but also really (surprisingly) fun! Everyday at 11am there is some sort of aerobics class. Tuesdays and Saturdays are Bollywood themed and focus mainly on learning a set of moves and putting them all together into a routine to Bollywood songs. It is really good, however I have found out that I am not very good at it. There is a lot of hip wiggling and it is a bit tricky to make myself look graceful. I seem to look like a gyrating hippo in the mirrors that we dance in front of!

First an apology, then a thank you.

Apology then Thank you

So sorry I haven't been updating for a while. I have had to pop over to the UK in order to change my Indian Visa and been running around all over the place! I am going back to India in a few days and I promise I will get right back on top of regular blog updates.

Thanks to all of you who have been reading and commenting. I have now had over 1000 views and I am well chuffed! So thanks to you all and keep following me because I have loads more to tell!

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.