speshal, famous, mashoor and bangali

I reached Haridwar after a long and hip breaking bus ride from Delhi, and since then thanks to my friend and colleague, we are having a gastronomical adventure of sorts. I don't think I eat this much in Bangalore, no matter how good the food is. I hope the trek we have planned ahead helps us shed all these extra kilos that we are putting on.

the ride to Haridwar deserves a mention. we reached Delhi airport after a not so great flight and waited for like an hour for our baggage to arrive. it was like receiving an old friend at the airport whose flight has been delayed for days, except that this friend arrived on a horizontal conveyor belt.
so we left Delhi airport instructing the taxi driver to stop at any place that would get us some cold lassi. I can say that was the highlight of the day. we reached the bus stand and get to know there is no volvo (as was said by our dear Vijeta) and the ac bus would leave at 4.30 or maybe later coz its not back at the station yet.
in the excitement of getting tickets to a bus which was not ac but had recliner seats, my friend and I just jumped on to the bus getting the last row. just getting on that bus was like climbing a peak in itself. they should've put a board: not suitable for oldies/ladies in sarees and weak of heart and health. when we entered the bus, it was like a coal mine. pitch dark, hot and sweaty with people trying to get into seats and settle their luggage somewhere. somehow we took our seats at the back of the bus and the ride started.
a word of advice for the unknowing, Uttarakhand roadways buses are not so great and the pathetic condition of the roads makes the ride horrible. if you did not have any back problems, you definitely would have 3-4 at the end of the ride, assuming you will make it to your destination.
so after going through all of this, we reached the mid-way where the driver tells us, the bus does not go via Haridwar. it goes straight to Dehradoon. it was hilarious and sad at the same time. why the hell were we on a pathetic bus, when it does not even go where we want to go!
the driver and the conductor, being the friendly people they were, made a small detour to drop us on roorkee highway, from where we took a cycle rickshaw to the bus stand, found a bus ready to go to Haridwar. we scrambled to the express bus and finally reached Haridwar and at our hotel at 10.30 in the night.
food and sleep were the only thoughts on my mind and thankfully this time I got what I wanted. not the best food and not the sweetest of dreams but I managed.

Haridwar is an interesting place. it reminds me of the walled city in Jodhpur, where there are small lanes lined with shops, open sewers and lots of people teeming these lanes to buy something, to go somewhere, to sell something or generally walk around aimlessly. not that the whole city is like that but the part where we are staying. we start the day with lassi and repeat it twice through the day along with kulfi, falooda, thandai, chole bhature and of course chapati and sabzi. as I write this, I am still to have dinner, so lets see what comes our way :)
everything here is either speshal, famous, mashoor or it is bangali. the streets are full of bengali restaurants and people talking in bengali. maybe its a traveling season for them, or its just a coincidence that I noticed.
the food and drink are supposed to be really famous and really special, at least they make it sound like that. I would like to know what normal is just to compare it to the special and famous.
I think I would remember Haridwar with this specialty.
the only specialty I saw was the river Ganga that flows through the city in full speed. it is a beautiful sight, though I would love it to be cleaner and healthier (but I shall not talk about work here)
after a short stay here, we intend to trek to the glacier, heights upto 7000 feet and temperatures as low as 0.
i'm really looking forward to it.

The King and I :)

Swaaadeekhaaa
the thai greeting! and there's typical way to say it that us non thai people just can't copy.
last week I went to bangkok for a work related meeting. yes, quite fancy for somebody as inexperienced and junior in cadre as me. but that's how life is. one gets opportunities that they would'nt have thought of in jobs and places one would'nt have thought of entering.
even though I wasn't in the city of bangkok for more than 2 days, i found the city very comfortable.
maybe its in our nature to find any place similar to home or home country as comfortable, coz bangkok was a lot like India. true, they are a technologically advanced society and have come to terms with a lot of issues we seem to make no heads or tails of, but the city had that peculiar feeling of simplicity in all that jazz.
the people are very friendly even though they try to fleece you out of the meagre thai currency you have left, but they do it in a way that you would'nt feel so bad. women are attracted to infants and the men don't really care. and that's sooo like India!
it was great to visit the city after 10 years. the last time also i went there, the city was preparing for the King's coronation anniversary on May 5 and similar was the case this time. but i must confess he looks very handsome in the picture on the thai bahts :)

moving on, the street food stalls are the best example of thai entrepreneurship. and amazingly they all do good business.
walking through the streets of bangkok was an adventure for the olfactory sense. even though I do not eat a lot of meat and sea food, it is mesmerizing, scary and disgusting all at the same time to see thai street food cooking.
you can choose which creature u want out of a tub of creepy craw-lies and they would cook it right in front of you. be that blue legged tiger prawn or some small fish or some other sea creatures which I prefer not to picture in my mind right now. (frankly, im not fond of marine and aquatic life and am definitely not comfortable with eating them)
thai food stresses a lot on decoration and they go through a lot of trouble to make your food look good for you. but I just cant eat something whose eyes I can still see.

anyway, after 6 long days of eating not so interesting vegetarian thai fare (and looking at ugly non vegetarian and sea fare) I was back at chicken and rice and the general stuff that u don't see people writing a lot about.

bangkok is also an interesting tourist destination especially if u r in the mood of visiting temples. im not one of them but I think it is important to mention the Sleeping Buddha or the reclining Buddha if you may want to say so. the only words I could think of when I entered the temple complex was “O MY GOD!!!”
you cannot take a picture of the whole figure in one shot (especially from a camera phone, which was what I used) the figure is some 100-120 feet in length and made of gold is what i've heard. it was mesmerizing. words fail me as usual but I suggest that one see it to believe it.

another Buddha temple was in the grand palace complex-the emerald buddha. it was the tranquility of the place that is still etched in my memory.

even with time constraints, I managed to visit 2 market areas though I did'nt buy anything except a t-shirt. the chatuchak market is must for shoppers and the night market is great if you want to have live entertainment with thai food and beer.

coming to the drinking bit, I noticed people in Bangkok are beer fans. I am getting there myself and I quite like it, but bangalore being the beer capital of India is nothing compared to Bangkok. I might be wrong, but who cares. the beer is good and it flows :)

the swarnabhumi airport is another attraction (good place to pass time is more like it) it would be difficult to find a place to sit if you have lots of time on your hands but people prefer to saunter at the many duty free shops and that was exactly what I did.

so all in all, a good week spent in a not so foreign country and now I should be back at work.
more later if I get to go to Gangotri, which is on my travel plans next.

Khaapunakhaa :)