Back to the slopes - Zugspitze

This week I decided to try skiing again. More than a year had passed since the accident, the doctor said it's okay and I really longed for the mountains.

So I took a day off and went first to Spitzingsee on Thursday. Although it was raining all the time, it went really well. I had some doubts at first, legs feeling a bit shaking at first and just groped a little bit ahead. But after some 50 meters, I thought "what the heck" and let go. And it was as I had never to take a one-year break.

So the decision for a high mountain was fast taken and Sunday we boarded the Mountain Express at Munich Main Station and an hour later we stood at the foot of the highest mountain of Germany.

Unfortunately, the small cable car took more than 90 minutes to bring us up there, so when we finally started skiing the sun was already burning down, the snow was very soft and the slope transformed itself in moguls.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed it very much. At lunch time, we took the funicular to the top of Germany: Zugspitze (2962 m).

There we had lunch and wandered around, so we found the highest German beer garden:

After some further runs in the afternoon, we went back home but I took quite some time.

Istanbul

The weather in Istanbul was great. After the arrival I took the Havas Bus to Taksim Square where I met Anastasia and her boyfriend. First thing, we had breakfast. Then she showed me her new flat and then we went strolling through the city.

As I had seen all the sights already on my last trip to the city, we just did some window shopping in the Grand Bazaar. At the Spice Market, I bought some Turkish Delight, apple tea and took some pictures.

In the evening, we went to a small dinner party at one of her friend's place and I enjoyed it very much.

Early the next morning, I took the bus back to the airport and caught my flight back home.

Another long journey came to an end, but the memories and souvenirs will stay.

Delhi

In Delhi I stayed again at Ringo's Guest House near Connaught Place.

From there I went to my last sight seeing destination: Jami Masjid. It's the biggest mosque of India built in the 1650s by Shah Jahan. The courtyard offers place for 25.000 muslims at prayer time. In contrast to the mosques I visited in Istanbul, there is no real interior space here. There are just three big cupolas but below them is an open arcade.

In the courtyard, I asked several foreign groups if they could take me up one of the Minaretts as it is not allowed for women to go there without a male companion. Finally, I found an Italian couple and so I could enjoy the view from above on the mosque, the surrounding bazaars and the Red Fort.

Afterwards, I went through the Big Bazaar streets and bought spices, sweets and a lot more.

Late at night, I met a friend of Sankalp and we went for a late night tea at one of the big hotels, before he drove through tremendous fog to the airport. My luggage added up to 38 kg plus hand luggage.

Shimla

I arrived at Spars Lodge after carrying my at 20 kg backpack 30 min up a steep hill. So I treated myself to a medium trout with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Very delicious!!!

Next morning the weather changed and it was raining and very cold. As there is no heating, the cold really gets you. So short before noon when the rain took a break I headed out to The Mall and The Ridge (central Shimla). When it started raining again, I hid in an internet cafe. Later I went to Cafe Sol - nice pizza.

After another cold night, I walked to the Viceregal Lodge, where the Viceroy escaped to in the hot Delhi summers before the independence.

The building is 123 years old and so are the German switches from Siemens and they are still working (good German quality!).

Today it's a research institute, so only some rooms are on display. One of them being the room where the first partition document of India and Pakistan was drafted.

From there I walked back to The Mall and looked for the opening hours of the Gaiety Theatre. Due to a National holiday it was closed today and new tours were conducted, but I could convince somebody to show me around. It looked quite comfortable and I took even a seat in the Viceroy's box for some minutes.

Then I was shown another theatre on the second floor where a Punjabi film shoot took place at that moment and where usually modern plays are staged while downstairs more classical dramas are shown. Walking out of the modern theatre I found myself on The Ridge.

From there I was looking for Chapslee - the summer residence of the Maharaja of Kapurthala (featured in the book "Passion India" of Javier Moro.

On the way back, I passed through Lakkar Bazaar where I bought some wooden jewelry boxes which proved to be a mistake to buy at that time as I was heading for Jakhu Temple. The temple is some 2.5 km away but that was not the issue, but you have to climb some 255 hight meter to 2455 m.

The Jakhu Temple is dedicated to the monkey god Hanuman. And a lot of ordinary monkeys are living there and one decided to read more and stole my glasses. For luck somebody gave them some food and helped me getting them back.

The views from the top were fantastic but I was glad I could get a ride with a local couple as the way is very steep and my knees wanted some relief.

In the evening, I wanted to see the movie "7 khoon maaf" (Susanna's 7 husbands based on a novella by Ruskin Bond) but there was sold only one ticket - mine. Another couple showed up, but they wanted to show the movie only with at least 6 spectators. So I went back over The Mall passing by the City Hall and heading home for some nice dinner. On the way, I bought the book to the movie.

Tomorrow I will go back to Delhi with Taxi and Shatabdi Express.

On the way up to Shimla

As you might have guessed from the last entry, I was quite happy to leave Chandigarh on the Himalayan Queen Express to Kalka and then with the toy train uphill to Shimla.

It takes 6 hours for 90 km, even though it's running on Diesel and not anymore on steam.

Along the way, we passed several arch bridges, ca. 90 galleries & tunnels and many stations.

The weather was nice and sunny from time to time a bit windy, but the mountain views made up for everything.

Chandigarh - a city designed on the drawing board

I arrived in Chandigarh around 10 am and then looked for a hotel, as a lot of them were booked due to a banking exam on Monday.

Chandigarh was designed on the drawing board by the French Le Corbusier who used a lot of concrete in the mid of the 20th century to build the city. Actually, I did not like the city too much, maybe just to modern. It was lacking character.

One place was enchanting nonetheless and this was the Rockgarden designed by Indian Nek Chand.

He used garbage from the city to create formations, structures and figures.

The Rockgarden features water falls, a swing park and a nice surrounding to hang out.

The swing park was amazing, bringing back childhood feeling. As many as 20 to 30 people could swing at the same time under big arches and enjoy themselves.

I would have stayed there, if somebody had hinted me that this was the best part of Chandigarh. But I left to have a look at the Sukhna Lake where an artist made a drawing of me in which I look so old I will never show anybody.

Then I was really big disappointed by the High Court & Secreteriate and nearly blamed the rickshaw wallah for bringing into a concrete construction site, but that was it. So I left in a hurry for the city centre in Sector 17 and had a look at the shops, before heading back to Sector 22 in my hotel.