Eat, Pray, Shop in Pushkar

The first weekend of May was a long weekend - we had both Friday and Monday off school - so I wanted to get away to a small place with not too much travel involved.  So for this trip we went to Pushkar, a town of pilgrimage, where legend claims its lake was created from the petals that fell from the hands of Brahma, the Creator.  Today life revolves around its lakeside ghats, temples and vibrant colourful bazaars.

In Pushkar, rows of ghats lead down to the mystically placid lake from hundreds of milky-blue temples.

Pushkar also has the only Brahma Temple in the world.  This is because according to legend Brahma's wife Savitri, annoyed that he married another wife (Gayatri), vowed that this would be the only place where he would be worshipped.  There are temples to both Savitri and Gayatri on the surrounding hills.

On our first day we walked around the ghats, and then in the early evening went to the Sunset Cafe for Sizzlers and to watch the sun go down.

Moving to Bandra

After 3 years in Kohinoor City - not the nicest part of Mumbai - we are going to move to Bandra, the Queen of the Suburbs.  We will be living in a greener place, a more cosmopolitan place, and near to the coast (walking distance).  It will be a bit of a further commute, but I think it will be worth it.  At the weekend Lex and I went to check out our new neighbourhood.

Guru Nanak Park, one street behind where I am going to be living, is a tranquil corner in my new neighbourhood.  I'm planning on walking on the track around this park in the evenings - just 4 rupees to enter. I love the green in this park and the shade it provides.

This guy's stall is on the corner of my road. I'm really looking forward to buying fresh fruit from him.

My new apartment - exterior view only here (I will take photos of the inside when I move in June). Huge terrace at the back.  I'm looking forward to decorating.

Tiger Safari

We went on 3 safaris to the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve.  There were around 10 different tracks around the park that we could drive on, and about 60 tigers in total in the park.

You had to be very patient, but we got to see this magnificent tiger in the wild.

Ranthambore Fort

This building is the main part of our hotel - it has been built like a Rajasthani palace.  However the real palace is to be found in Ranthambore Fort, which is right inside the park.  We spent Saturday morning exploring the buildings.  

The fort is the second largest in Rajasthan and is reached by a climb up around 100 steps (full of monkeys!)  Once at the top there are lots of buildings, for the kings and queens, and there are religious buildings too such as shrines and mosques.

Rachel in Ranthambore

Rachel came over for her Easter holidays and we went to Ranthambore National Park on a tiger safari.  We travelled up on the train overnight from Mumbai Central - it wasn't great but I guess it was OK. 

We then checked into a great hotel and spent the time lounging around the pool and eating delicious food when we were not out and about watching tigers.

Another birthday

Not so much to say about this birthday, except that I'm now closer to 60 than to 50.  Eeeeek!!!

My Switzerland

At the start of March I went to Switzerland for a week to do the second part of Cognitive Coaching.  The workshop was held at the Inter-Community School in Zurich, but I went to Glenda's for the weekend.  It was such a joy to see old friends, breathe clean air, and look at beautiful views.

On my second day in Switzerland I went out for a morning walk with Leon.  We did a great walk around Morschach with beautiful views out over the Vierwäldstattersee.  It was such a beautiful time of year to be there!

On Sunday afternoon Glenda and I went into Zug and met friends at the Skybar.  Once again it was great to look out over my "old" views of the Zugersee.

For the days of the course itself I went and stayed with David and Ruth in Forch.  On my first day there I went into Zurich for the day with Erica.  We had a good walk through the streets and into several churches and then ended up at the Lindt factory.

While staying with David and Ruth, we met up with Vitor in Zurich.  As Vitor said "This is the beginning of the end."  We were such a great team - and now none of us work at ISZL anymore.

My dear friend Karen was due to have surgery and I planned to meet her after this at the hospital in Zurich.  David even went along to the hospital - only to find that her operation had been postponed because she'd picked up an infection.  So I went to visit her at her home instead (which was actually much nicer than going to see her in hospital).

After visiting Karen, I met Katja and we walked from Cham, along the lake, through Zug to Oberwil.  Again a fabulous spring day and so many lovely memories of when I lived there.

It was a great week and I hope it's not too long before I'm back in this great place with all my great friends again.