Wednesday 3rd October: The Trident Hotel Gurgaon - Delhi
Our day started with a bang at the breakfast buffet. The food was fabulous : the yoghurt was pronounced delicious, there was smoked salmon and eggs en cocotte, and the pastries divine. Of course NONE of us ate all of that!
Before long we found ourselves on the bus embroiled in seven lanes of peak hour traffic all headed into Delhi. It was a long slow trip as the bus driver Sunil tried to weave in and out of the almost stationary traffic. Huge shopping malls and multi-storey office buildings and hotels contrasted with the rickshaws and tuk tuks that competed with us for space on the road. Clearly public toilets are not a focus of the infrastructure here, as a number of young men were urinating on the side of the road nonchalantly.
Eventually we made it to Gandhi Smitri which is now a memorial on the site of his assassination in 1948.
We traced the footsteps of his last walk from his bedroom in a private guesthouse to a small pergola where he was to meet with hundreds of people. A young man who was a radical pushed his way through the crowd and shot him three times.
There was lots of information about his life and his many achievements. It was a very moving experience as we remembered and learnt more about this amazing man.
Then it was time to focus on the present achievements of Delhi as we drove around the boulevardes where all of the embassies and government departments are accommodated in huge buildings with wide streets and lots of greenery.
We saw the India Gate, a huge memorial arch which commemorates the 90,000 Indians killed in the first World War. We passed the Prime Ministers house protected by multiple security men and gates. We can all recognise him as he features on multiple billboards everywhere we've been.
Then, heaven forbid we hit the shops for an hour of quick shopping. the Khan Market is actually a small few streets of nice shops mixed with smaller stalls. Good Earth and Fabindia were favourites as they sold beautiful indian products from cushions to clothes to candles.
Next was Havemore restaurant near the embassies, one of our guide Jessica's favourite places to eat. Again it was lovely food and the signature dish was butter chicken, enjoyed by all. We were also served small bowls of red pickled onions that were delicious.
Then it was back to the Hotel which I have to say is one of the loveliest I've ever been in. Swims and some relaxation were in order before preparing for our final dinner together before we fly out tomorrow.
Three of us decided that as the dinner was to be held in an Indian family home we would attempt to put on the saris that Jenny had given the presenters at the Conference.
The first step was to look up saris for dummies on Youtube. I found one about dressing yourself in a sari to make you look slimmer. I unravelled the 5 1/2 metres of material and got into a terrible mess, much to Karin's entertainment! The doorbell rang and I had to struggle to the door with a long train of purple material trailing behind me. Jan and Anne arrived clutching their saris and with no better idea than me about what to do with them.
Then Jan had a brilliant idea: call the Housekeeper and request assistance! A lovely young woman called Mapta arrived and within minutes, and with the application of a number of Marianne's safety pins, we were dressed! Then she told us that we needed to have a bindi on our foreheads and she dashed off to her room and arrived with three stick-on bindis and her bright red lipstick, which was exceptionally kind of her.
Trying not to trip over, and trying very hard to look elegant we headed for the bus and the home of the Maliks: Ash, Neeta (his sister), Dachna (his wife), their daughter Ashna and her grandmother.
Their Tour company Destinations Unlimited has been integral to our wonderful trip and Jenny has become close friends with them.
Very kindly, they hosted us in their beautiful home to a very wonderful multi-course dinner. Dachna had been with us through Kerala so we were all very pleased to see her again.
The food was sensational and the company was great: the perfect end to our tour.
your too well fed correspondent
Dianne
Our day started with a bang at the breakfast buffet. The food was fabulous : the yoghurt was pronounced delicious, there was smoked salmon and eggs en cocotte, and the pastries divine. Of course NONE of us ate all of that!
Before long we found ourselves on the bus embroiled in seven lanes of peak hour traffic all headed into Delhi. It was a long slow trip as the bus driver Sunil tried to weave in and out of the almost stationary traffic. Huge shopping malls and multi-storey office buildings and hotels contrasted with the rickshaws and tuk tuks that competed with us for space on the road. Clearly public toilets are not a focus of the infrastructure here, as a number of young men were urinating on the side of the road nonchalantly.
Eventually we made it to Gandhi Smitri which is now a memorial on the site of his assassination in 1948.
 |
 |
There was lots of information about his life and his many achievements. It was a very moving experience as we remembered and learnt more about this amazing man.
 |
 |
We saw the India Gate, a huge memorial arch which commemorates the 90,000 Indians killed in the first World War. We passed the Prime Ministers house protected by multiple security men and gates. We can all recognise him as he features on multiple billboards everywhere we've been.
Then, heaven forbid we hit the shops for an hour of quick shopping. the Khan Market is actually a small few streets of nice shops mixed with smaller stalls. Good Earth and Fabindia were favourites as they sold beautiful indian products from cushions to clothes to candles.
Next was Havemore restaurant near the embassies, one of our guide Jessica's favourite places to eat. Again it was lovely food and the signature dish was butter chicken, enjoyed by all. We were also served small bowls of red pickled onions that were delicious.
Then it was back to the Hotel which I have to say is one of the loveliest I've ever been in. Swims and some relaxation were in order before preparing for our final dinner together before we fly out tomorrow.
Three of us decided that as the dinner was to be held in an Indian family home we would attempt to put on the saris that Jenny had given the presenters at the Conference.
The first step was to look up saris for dummies on Youtube. I found one about dressing yourself in a sari to make you look slimmer. I unravelled the 5 1/2 metres of material and got into a terrible mess, much to Karin's entertainment! The doorbell rang and I had to struggle to the door with a long train of purple material trailing behind me. Jan and Anne arrived clutching their saris and with no better idea than me about what to do with them.
 |
| Mission accomplished |
 |
| The very elegant result! |
Then Jan had a brilliant idea: call the Housekeeper and request assistance! A lovely young woman called Mapta arrived and within minutes, and with the application of a number of Marianne's safety pins, we were dressed! Then she told us that we needed to have a bindi on our foreheads and she dashed off to her room and arrived with three stick-on bindis and her bright red lipstick, which was exceptionally kind of her.
Their Tour company Destinations Unlimited has been integral to our wonderful trip and Jenny has become close friends with them.
The food was sensational and the company was great: the perfect end to our tour.
your too well fed correspondent
Dianne
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