Clubbing it

One of the benefits of my job is the "Softening Mumbai" package which has allowed me to buy club vouchers.  Here is the pool at my "club", the Taj Lands End.  It's a 10 minute rickshaw ride away from home and is mostly deserted at the weekends.  It's a lovely place to relax and unwind from the week, and to plan for the following week.  

Staying local - a long weekend at the Taj Palace

We had a long weekend and nothing planned.  It was Jenni's last long weekend before she departs Mumbai to South Africa, and something we had both wanted to do was to do a staycation at the Taj Palace in downtown Mumbai.  She booked it, and I went along.

 

From the start we were lucky as we got upgraded from the Tower Wing (the modern bit) into the Palace Wing (the heritage bit).  As well as that we got the upgraded service which included butler service, food and drinks throughout the day including high tea, cocktails, cognac and chocolates.  The palace has the feel of a colonial building, but in fact it was built by Indians for Indians (because the British refused to let them use their hotels).  It contains many different styles of architecture and it really is a beautiful building.

The Taj Mahal Palace opened in Mumbai, then Bombay, in 1903, and now overlooks the Gateway of India (though of course that wasn't built until later). This hotel has been visited by dignitaries from across the globe, including most recently Wills and Kate.

  

We spent the first day checking out the amenities of the hotel, including tapas in the evening on the top floor of the Tower Wing, overlooking the harbour.  We went on the Heritage Tour around the palace as well.  On the Sunday I spent a lot of the day by the pool.  We checked out very late, and then went for afternoon tea and cocktails in the Sea Lounge where we watched the sunset reflected on the Gateway of India.  It was a really great couple of days - well worth the money as it was a once in a lifetime experience.

Goa with my Girlie

Rachel came over for a couple of weeks at Easter.  We spent time hanging out in Mumbai and then went to Goa for a 3 day weekend.

It was really hot in Goa - we basically managed to walk up the beach, walk down the beach and walk round the town.  We did a bit of shopping, sat in some cafes, drank some happy hour cocktails and sat on the beach and watched the stars.  Oh, and we also launched a fire lantern and made a wish.

Rishikesh - White Water Rafting

Rishikesh is famous for its white water rafting down the Ganges.  We decided we'd give it a go! Although I was very nervous and for several rapids I stowed my paddle in the middle of the raft and simply clung onto the ropes along the side, after a while (when I realised that people were not falling out and the boats were not capsizing) I did manage to paddle through the final few.  It was good fun, and the scenery was lovely.  I didn't go into the water - and I heard it was freezing.  In total I think we paddled around 20 km.

Rishikesh - The Beatles Ashram

Another day in Rishikesh we walked along the river and through some of the big ashrams, and went in search of the Beatle's Ashram (actually called Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram).  The Beatles came here in 1968 to attend transcendental meditation training here.  

Aparently their visit was one of the band's most productive periods, and also led to a change in Western attitudes about Indian spirituality and the study of Transcendental Meditation.  Along with their wives, girlfriends, assistants and numerous reporters, the Beatles arrived in India in February 1968 and joined the group of 60 people who were training to be TM teachers. While there the Beatles wrote many songs that they later recorded on The White Album and Abbey Road.

It was quite an eerie place - completely deserted now and in ruins.  We wandered around the grounds and looked at the places where the Beatles and others had lived.  All in all it was quite amazing.

Rocking Around Rishikesh

For our Spring Break, Lex and I went to Rishikesh.  Rishikesh is a town in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand, in the Himalayan foothills beside the Ganges River. The river is considered holy, and the city is renowned as a centre for studying yoga and meditation. Temples and ashrams line the river banks.  

We arrived at the end of the International Yoga Festival, which has been taking place in Rishikesh since 1989.  Yoga teachers, students and seekers come from every corner of the globe to participate in this program. There were certainly a lot of them around, including Mooji.

While I was in Rishikesh I decided to explore some yoga and meditation apps on my iPhone.  I did the "Fear of Flying" one on the way there, and then regularly stopped to do other mindfulness meditations in and around the town.  One day we hiked up to a waterfall where I did an outdoor meditation.

Hanging out in Hyderabad - Lunch at the Falaknuma Palace

Last year our friends Jan and Paul came to stay - and after 10 weeks of touring around southern India they announced that Hyderabad was their favourite place of all - it was quite a surprise to me - until I went to the Falaknuma Palace (where they stayed) and could see why.

The palace was at one time owned by the Nizams of Hyderabad.   It was built by one of the Prime Ministers and the name Falak-numa means "like the sky" or "mirror of the sky" in Urdu.  The palace is built in the shape of a scorpion, with 2 wings (representing the stings) extending out from the main part.  It's difficult to see them in this photo as they are on the sides and I couldn't get far back enough to photograph the whole building.  The architecture is a blend of Italian and Tudor.

We phoned ahead to book for lunch, but even so it was difficult.  We were told they did not take "walk-ins" and that they were fully booked.  However during the whole time there we only saw one other couple in the dining room!  It really is a beautiful place though!

The photo above is not of the palace - it's the gateway into the palace.  From here you have to take either a golf cart of a horse-drawn carriage up to the actual palace.  

The palace must have hosted many important guests during its history, however since the 1950s it was mostly kept closed until around 2000 when it was given on lease to the Taj group of hotels who undertook a 10 year restoration programme to restore it to its original grandeur.  The restoration was led by Princess Esra Jah, the first wife of the 8th Nizam of Hyderabad whom he apparently divorced when she did not want to move to Australia with him.

The palace is really amazing and has a famous dining room (not the one we used) with a huge table that can seat 100 guests - it's considered the largest in the world. There is also a library which is a replica of the one in Windsor Castle.