Saras India

I am kinda living the dream life right now. Lots of travels, and it is so much fun. Tonight I am off to Kerala and after that it is straight to Pondicherry, where I have been wanting to go forever. 

Here are a few selections of my trips to Hampi and Thailand.

 

 

After Amritsar I actually went to Delhi. Well, I  came back to Bangalore, repacked, booked a new ticket and went to Delhi for a few more days with the boys. But I am waiting for some nice pictures from that place, so even the post will have to wait. 

 

I had plans of going to Pondicherry this weekend, it is a long weekend here because to day is the Ganesh festival, but it was apparently raining a lot over there so we had to postpone that trip. Instead I went to a waterfall, Hogenakkal, in Tamil nadu, which is the state next to the one where I live, Karnataka. We started early morning, around 7 am, and I had been out the night before that, so I slept very few hours. I was really tired and slept almost the whole ride to the falls, so much for that roadtrip! 

 

It was very warm in Tamil nadu, but the falls cooled us down a little. It was a totally relaxing day, with many beautiful sights and a lovely boatride on the river. We were back in the city around 8 pm, but I didnt get back home until 11pm because I went for dinner. My absolute favourite pizzaplace in the world; Papa John´s. Their garlic sauce is to die for!

 

The train to Amritsar only took some 4-5 hours from Chandigarh. We reached around 12 in the night, and by then it was raining a lot! And it had been raining a lot too! Roads were flooded and it was impossible to walk far to get a cheap auto to the hotel. As soon as we reached the hotel we just went to bed. The morning after was an amazing day. Well, it didnt start out well for the mexican, he stayed home because he was a little sick, so me and the colombian went to the most amazing place ever - The golden temple. It was a 5 minute walk from our hotel, and this place was just outstanding. I dont have words to describe this place, or pictures to give justice to it. Since it is a temple, for sikhs I think, we had to remove our shoes and be barefoot inside, and cover our heads. 

 

The golden temple is my absolute favourite place in India so far. It was even more amazing than the Taj mahal. It was so peaceful inside and it was just magical. We spent a few hours here, which was too less time. We wanted to enter inside the golden temple, but the line was too long, so we decided to do it late in the evening instead. We needed to get back to the hotel, the mexican and the cab that we had booked to take us to Waga border, the border between Pakistan and India. 

We went to the border on August 15th, which is Indias Independence day. I dont know if there were more people than usual, but I guess so. Once we reached, and our driver found a parkingspace, we started walking towards the border but we were told to wait in the crowd. I have no idea for what we were waiting. But once the police told us we could walk, everyone started running, well except for me, the mexican, the colombian and all the oldies. There was a securitycheck for everyone, one line for ladies and one line for men. I had to wait for the guys for a very long time, ladies line is always shorter. And by this time, it had started to rain. A lot. And we were all without rain phonchos and umbrellas.

 

We were at the border for around 3-4 hours to watch the ceremonies and during these hours it rained non stop! Heavy, heavy monsoon rain and thunders. We were completely drenched, not a single inch of us were dry, our passports were completely wet, and my name and passportnumber is no longer visible on my indian visa (little scared of leaving the country now). The colombian were brave enough to use his mobile to take lots of pictures and videos, which I am still waiting for, by the way. It was an amazing experience to be at the border, it was, believe it or not, even more amazing and memorable with all the rain. Now when I look back, I cant help but laugh at the memory. 

 

When the ceremony at the border was over we went to the car, had dinner while freezing in our drenched clothes (yes, we kept teasing the colombian for the espicy food he could not eat) and kept freezing in the car on the way home because the driver insisted on having the AC on. When we reached the hotel we decided to go to the Golden temple again. It was even more amazing in the night than in the day. There were very less people in so we could even enter inside the temple. It was just magical, unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures inside, so you just have to go there and explore it yourselves. But it will definately be worth it. I would any day go back to Amritsar just to visit the golden temple again. 

 

When we came back to the hotel late in the evening, all of us had the best shower we ever had. We were still completely wet, cold, dirty and sticky from the day and it was just an amazing shower (I mean, we all had one each, not one in total). The next day there was only time for lunch, I wanted to go to the temple again, but I had a flight back to Bangalore to catch. It felt really bad to leave, I had had so much fun and I didnt want the trip to end. But like I said, I had a flight to cath, to my next destinaton - Bangalore.

 

The train ride to Chandigarh was so much fun. We were watching all the fun and weird pictures and videos we took in Jaipur. I laughed so much that I started crying. While the mexican was writing, me and the colombian were talking. He talkes a lot! Its like never-ending-talk with him. And he needs to hear sounds all the time. If its not the sound from talking, he has to listen to music. Whenever he is sleeping or taking a shower, he listens to music. Anyways, back to my story. We stayed up half the night and just talked, before we decided that it would be a good idea to get atleast a few hours of sleep before our one day in Chandigarh!

 

We arrived early morning. So early that nothing were open, not even a restaurant to have breakfast. We went all over the city to find a restaurant, the autoguy couldnt find anything and anyone we asked didnt know of anything that was open. I guess people do not eat breakfast in Chandigarh. We eventually did find a hotel that were nice enough to serve us some food. We were there for 2 hours or so, to freshen up, eat food and decide what to do. The guys came up with the great idea to drink alcohol. But since it was 9 am in the morning I had to tell them: "Lets do some sightseeing instead". Luckily they agreed to that! 

 

So we went to a place called Rock garden or also known as Rock-estone by the spanish-speakers. It was kind of a weird place, but we still had fun. The boys were performing on stage, singing "The time of your life" to me and dancing. It was not only me who enjoyed it, they were asked by another lady to sing more songs and some guys were recording them and taking their pictures... After Rock garden we went to Sukhana lake. Thats where we spent around 5 hours before we needed to go to the train station. Chandigarh is like Bangalore, I guess. A great city to live in, but there is not much to do as a tourist. It was really hot this day, and just next to the lake there was a restaurant, so we decided to go inside and sit in the AC. I couldnt stop the boys any longer, so they started drinking beer. It was after 12, so it felt okay. And it was Chandigarh, apparently people from there drink a lot. 

 

So this was where we were all day! In a restaurant. I think the people working in the restaurant and those sitting there eating were quite disturbed by my very loud laughs. But I couldnt help it, they boys were just too funny.For example, The colombian can not eat any spicy food. And I mean not even a single tiny, tiny bit of spice, of course we teased him about that too. "I think I am getting better, this was not so espicy" was a comment by the colombian after having some ketchup, haha! (Poor the colombian, we teased him not only for his colorblindness, but his inability to eat espicy food, and his way of talking; "espicy, esleep, estatement, estupid, rock-estar, rock-estone" etc..)

 

After dinner and beers, some sleeping and photosessions in the sun it was time for us to leave for the train station and our next destination - Amritsar.

 

Quite long back, my ex-roomie told me that her 2 very good friends where coming to India and that I had to go and meet them. They were going to travel to Delhi and Jaipur which are cities that I really hate, so I told her "yes, maybe" which in my head meant NO FREAKING WAY! But after a lot of forcing from ex-roomie, "Sara, you HAVE TO meet my friends" "You have to travel with them" "You will have so much fun, I promise" and a promise from ex-roomies friends that I would have "The time of my life" I finally booked my tickets. Had I known how much fun I would have had, I would never have hesitated so much. 

 

So I started this trip in Jaipur. I didnt like Jaipur because last time I was there, well, it wasnt very nice, lets leave it with that. But now, awesome place! First day, we hardly left the hotel. I arrived late in the afternoon, so we decided to stay in the hotel and have dinner and some drinks on the roofterrace. One of the guys (The mexican) are really good at singing and playing guitar, so thats what we were doing all night. He played, and me and the other guy (The colombian) were singing. I know how that sounds to everyone who knows me. "Sara, singing?!" I didnt really have a choice, and it was actually fun. Even the other guests on the roofterrace joined in singing and applauding. I guess it was mostly thanks to the mexican. Since I was hanging out with lations, I was also taught how to dance Salsa and Merengue. I had a super-fun night and I started to think that my ex-roomie was right...

 

The second day we spent sightseeing. We were walking around in the pink city, which the colombian could not enjoy since he is colorblind, (yes, we teased him a lot about that). We later on went to Amber Fort where we spent a few hours and it was amazingly fun. After that it was the water temple, Hawa Mahal and some other place I forgot the name of. This sightseeing would have taken me two days, but since we only had one full day it had to be done. I was extremely tired after Amber fort, could have been because we were climbing  on very high and steep steps in 30+ degrees and blazing sun! 

 

Eventhough I was extremely tired it was an AMAZING day in Jaipur, we had so much fun, or atleast I had so much fun, I cant speak for the boys. After all the sightseeing we had to hurry back to the hotel, have dinner, change, check-out and leave for the trainstation and my second destination - Chandigarh!

 

Not very long ago I was travelling up north with new friends of mine, I will write about this later. And after I came back to Bangalore I felt like leaving for a trip again. Since all of my friends here are working and are not able to travel to that extend that I would want, weekendtrips is all we can do. So after a lot of persuasion from my side, we went to a place called Sangam yesterday. Just a few hours outside the city of Bangalore you reach this heaven. I had the most amazing day ever!

 

 

I have had some problems falling asleep lately, it is taking me a few hours these days.. Every person in India has their own solution to all the problems in this world. I have already tried a few, and another solution, according to my friend was to have a massage. Well, even if that doesnt work, a massage is always nice. So off I went, to a nice and lovely spa in Koramangala and booked a fullbody Swedish massage. And when I say full body, I mean fuuulll body! my ears, my eyebrows and my armpits got what it needed. And to be frank, if it was not a lady giving me the massage, I would have felt very, very  uncomfortable. I even had to tell her, please do not massage my thighs that high up, I am very ticklish. 

 

Anyway, the massage was lovely and afterwards I had plans of going home and relax. I bought some mangoes that I was planning to eat while relaxing in my big and comfy bed. But little did I know what was coming my way...My ex-roomie texted me on my way home and asked me if we could book some traintickets for her friends who are coming to India in August. Nice as I am, I said I would do it. We had to book 4 tickets. 4. Not 40, only 4. It took us 2 hours! 2! And when we were finished, it turned out we had only booked 3 tickets! 3! So we still have one more ticket to book! And before this, ex-roomie had already tried a few days to book these bloody tickets. I mean, how bloody hard can it be to book traintickets in India! And out of a million sites, only 1 site works with non-indian credit cards! Cooome ooon,why are they making it so hard for foreigners to travel in India?

 

Me and ex-roomie needed a break after those two hours, we decided that Monday will be a good day to book the last ticket! Hopefully we will both have a long and relaxed weekend before...

I went to a liqour shop today, I wanted to have a bottle of rose wine at home. I dont really know my area very well yet, so I was walking around a bit before I found a small, quite shabby store. I went inside, where old men where drinking whiskey, and asked for a bottle of rose wine. 

 

Me: Do you have rose wine?

Man: Full or half bottle?
Me: Full bottle.

Man: What do you want?
Me: Rose wine, full bottle.

Man: Okay. Red or white?

Me: Rose wine!

Man handles me a half bottle with red wine.

Me: Not red wine! ROSE! You have rose wine? Pink wine?!

Man: Sula (brand name) is okay?

Me: Yes. Full bottle please.

Man handles me a full bottle with white wine.

Me: Not white wine, not red wine! I want rose wine, it is pink! 

Man: Sorry, we dont have rose wine madam. 

Me: Aaah! Then please say that right away! 

 

So home I went, without my rose wine. I have to ask my roommates for a better alcohol store...

Perfect temperature inside and perfect temperature outside. The only thing missing is the sun. I cant even leave the house in this weather. If only I had my own car...

 

 

Haha, got this funny receipt when I was in Kolkata.. This girl better not move to Sweden. Her name is not a very nice word in swedish.

It has been kinda hectic since I came back from Kolkata. Since my werid day on Friday,I have been out for lunches and out for dinners and drinks with some friends. I have been out shopping, I rode the metro for the first time and absolutely loved it! I live just 2 minutes away from the metro so I can just walk there, hop on the metro and be on MG road in 5 minutes! I have been unpacking, hanging out with my new roommates, cooking food etc. 

 

Today, I met some friends for lunch close to MG road, so I obviously took the metro, I left them around 2.30 pm and went for my second lunch - to celebrate Keerthinas 7th birthday! 

 

Keerthina was still in school when I came, but her older sister Mamtha was there so I got a chance to talk to her. She was so happy to see me, I got the longest hug from her. She told me all about her wedding, her husband, her life and her house. When Keerthina came, it was fuuuun. She opened all her gifts, a badminton-set from a friend, Manicure-set from her sister and Walkie talkies from me. She had to play with all her gifts right away! I had to do Keerthinas nails, glue them on her fingers and paint them, every other pink and purple. Then Mamtha wanted her nails done also, so I did hers as well... When I finally finished, Mamtha went to get the cake, and eventhough it was not my birthday I was the one who ended up with most cake on my face! I hate the cake -on-your-face thing, I guess thats why... 

 

It was a lovely, lovely day! I had so much fun and when I left, Keerthina hardly noticed because she was busy playing with her walkie talkies with her friends♥. 

 

This was a weird day. I was out shopping some stuff to the new house, like blanket and laundrybag etc. It was raining so I brought my umbrella that I bought in New York back in 2008. While walking around I got 2 compliments for it. When I got back home, I just left it outside because it was so wet, thought I would just leave it there for few minutes. I forgot about the umbrella and few hours later, when I needed to go out again, it was gone! Oh, I cant believe someone stole my umbrella! 

 

Its a one of a kind umbrella, so if I see it I know it will be mine! And this is not all! I have been unpacking my bags today, my room is a total mess and I am still far from done. But I have gone through all my belongings and I see that candy is missing! One tablettask - Svarta katten and two packs of milkduds!  Seriously, who is stealing all my stuff? My friend told me I must have hid it somewhere, but I have only had my two bags! Ah, well atleast I have my Grillchips, thats most important.

 

I am back in Bangalore again. As soon as I landed I took the airportbus to Indiranagar, where my new home is. I moved in last night and it is a huge house and I have my own huge balcony and there is a rooftop terrace as well.I brought the rest of my stuff this morning so I now have everything here. All I need to do now is unpack, which I hate, so I will do it later..

 

So I came home around 7 yesterday, left my stuff in the house and went to see my friend. We were supposed to go for dinner and drinks, but we decided to just have amazing dinner instead. We went to one of my favourite punjabi restaurants in Koramangala, Chandni chowk, and I had a sweet lassi, masala papad (finally, this is my all time favorite), murg bhuna - chicken gravy dish and a butter garlic naan! The food was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I dont think you realize just how awesome their food is.. 

 

I sent this picture to my old roomie, Chandni chowk was our place, and asked her; Where am I? She replied with; I feel like you are cheating on me!

What can I say? Kolkata is extremely hot and it is so humid that even when you are not moving you are sweating. And I mean REALLY sweating, it runs down your back and chest, your face is completely moist and you’re sweaty under the sunglasses. Due to this and due to some heavy rains, I didn’t do much! I went to see the Victoria Memorial, a British monument, walking around on Park Street and went to shopping malls. The malls were where I spent most of my time, unfortunately, but it was just soooo hot outside. And raining at the same time. So it wasn’t very much fun to be outside. And on the top of this, I was extremely homesick! It was way too early to leave my safe, beloved, fresh, cool and awesome Bangalore after just 2 weeks!

But if Kolkata ever gets little cooler, I can think of coming back just because I didnt see very much this time..

I slept most of the time on the train to Kolkata. I don’t know what it is with Indian trains, but you get really sleepy. It is rocking so nicely that you just can’t stay awake no matter how hard you try. It’s the same on Indian flights; I fall asleep in those too. When I was about to get off the train some older man helped me with my bag, he asked where I was going and when he realized we were going to the same part of the city we decided to share a taxi. He paid the full fare, I guess he just wanted my company and some help and advise on how to move to Sweden.

I checked in to the hotel, they had managed to oversee my online booking, but luckily there was still a room for me. Once I left the check-in desk, I heard that someone got a huge scolding! I just left my bags inside the room, went outside to have dinner at McDonalds, came back and slept for 12 hours! It was so nice to finally sleep without anyone waking me up with a; “Sara tea, tea, TEA IS READY!” Since I came back to India I have slept between 5-7 hours a night. I fall asleep very late, and I am woken up quite early with the “Sara tea, tea, TEA IS READY!” and have to get up right away!

 

 

The hotelowner said he was a photagrapher, so he was having many photoshoots with us. Here are some of the pre-wedding pictures..

 

Finally the day arrived, July 14th the weddingday of Kathrine and Manish! All the guys left around 4, to go to Manish house and dance outside in the heat! Once they left, some girls came to drape our sarees. None of us knows how it is done, so we all needed help. 

 

Yesterday, we were all invited to the grooms house to see the rituals and have some food. It was a long, sweaty and fun day (Only 4 hours but felt like it was the whole day).

 

In the evening all the girls were invited to the Mehendi, putting henna on their hands. We were supposed to start around 8, but since it is India, and since our food came after 1,5 hours, we didnt start until 10.30 pm. And for those of you who have done mehendi, knows that it takes a long time. Specially the brides mehendi. Around 2 am we were all finished, and off to bed we went! 

 

Beacuse the mehendi was finished so late, we all slept with it on our hands, otherwise you can start peeling it off your skin after an hour or so. I have always been told that I sleep like a dead person. I lie on my back, hands on my belly, and hardly breathe. Once I slept at my sisters place, she woke up in the night and had to check if I was actually alive! So it was a totally surprise for me to wake up and see that my whole bed was covered in peeled of henna. It was everywhere, and thats not all! I have had my hands in weird places, like my armpit, my chest and on my butt. How do I know this, you wonder? Well, I have henna in those places as well. Not as dark as it is on my hands, but I do have a light hennadesign in my armpit, on my chest and on my butt!

 

 

 

 

When I arrived to Jamshedpur my friend and her husband to be, came to pick me up at the station. According to Internet, my train was late but I was actually right on time so I had to wait for half an hour for them to arrive. I sent a text to my friend "Help! Come fast! Im hiding in a corner!"  I had forgotten just how much smalltown people stare and make you feel uncomfortable! 

 

Anyways, we came to the hotel and I got the chance to freshen up a little after my stressful day. We all went out for dinner in the evening, the dinner consisted of awesome food (I had fish), and pictures being taken of the food! Not one, not two, but maybe 50 food pictures! I dont know what they will do with all of the pictures...

 

We came home around 1am in the morning (Oh, how I miss being able to have late and long dinners), and most of us went to sleep!