Parvati Hill

Well, its the weekend, so off I went again to explore the city. Again I headed towards the downtown area of Pune, specifically Saras Baug and Parvati Hill. Saras Baug is a local rest area and park. Parvati Hill is a hill fort with four temples, all of which appear to be dedicated to different forms of the Hindi goddess Parvati.


First to Saras Baug. One of the first things I noticed was a wonderful rest area, that even was made to be multi-species friendly.


I even found a good Travel Froggie-sized temple. All around, a very nice place.


After my relaxing morning at Saras Baug, I decided to ascend the hill. Upon making the summit, I found a wonderful little hill-fort complex. More importantly though, I made some new friends.


I won't include all the temples here, just click on one of them to be taken to my Picasa album with more pictures. I must say that the colors were amazing, as bright and lively as a small child's toy. Some of these temples date back over 400 years, and to see them so well preserved was nice.


In addition to the lovely temples, there is also a museum on top of the hill showcasing many historical artifacts from the region, including coins used thousands of years ago. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the museum, but I was allowed to snap a few shots in the foyer. The murals in the foyer depicted scenes from Maharashta's golden years under Shivaji.


After seeing the sights there, I headed back to the hotel for a brief respite before trekking out for a five mile walk to visit a local palace. More on that next time. Ta-ta for now.

Dining Out

Well as any good traveler abroad knows, eating the local cuisine, made by the locals, is one of the best perks of traveling. Today, my friends Rahul and Kishore took me out to eat at a lovely place call Singree. Their commitment to fresh food and simple flavor was a welcome change from the more common spice-laden Indian food. Simple kabobs, a buffet style, and good ice cream (come on, we all know what draws me) made for a wonderful dining experience. Unfortunately, I was so busy eating that I didn't get any pictures of their wonderful food.

I did get a picture of myself in the restaurant though. You can see the buffet in the background.


I also was able to snap a shot of my friends. Behind them you see the glass-encased kitchen area where the food was prepared.


Finally, I did get this shot of my evening meal back at the hotel. They have some great food here, but sometimes you just need the classics. Hurray for grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Slide Show

So I figured out how to do something cool. I can embed a slide show of the pictures I have taken for the day into my blog post. That way, instead of seeing just the few that directly relate to my post, or trying to post all the photos and taking up way too much real-estate, you can see all the photos in one compact space. Here are all the photos from my recent travels in Pune.

Shaniwar Wada and others

Today I traveled around and visited some of the sites here in Pune. My first stop was the Shaniwar Wada.


Originally started in 1730 as just a few palaces for the prime ministers of the Maratha Empire, it was later expanded into a fort with many palaces inside. The front gate even had a fairly good elephant ramming deterrent.


Unfortunately, most of the complex was burnt to the ground in a large fire that occurred here in 1828, lasting seven days. The fire destroyed everything except the walls and the foundations. Some nice gardens have been replanted though.


After that, I went to visit the Lal Mahal. It was built by Shahaji in 1636 as the home for his wife and his son Shivaji, later to become Shivaji the Great, founder of the Maratha Empire. It was taken over by Sheista Khan in 1660 but recaptured by Shivaji in 1663. It now houses a museum devoted to Shivaji in the upper rooms. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside.


After that, it was off to the Dagdusheth Ganpati Temple, also referred to as the Dagdusheth Halwai Mandir. No photos were allowed of this beautiful temple, either outside or in, but I did find a few photos of it on the internet. Here you can see the temple at night, and get a glimpse of the architecture.


And here you can see a closeup of the main shrine in the temple.


After the temple, I went to see the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum. It was not the most well maintained museum, but it did have a great history of Pune, going back over 1400 years. Very informative. Here you can see the mock throne-room they have in the museum.


And that is all for now. Ta-ta.

Going to Pune

Well, I've been here for almost a week now, I suppose its about time I blogged about the trip.

My adventure started the night before in Noida. While staying at the hotel, I received a call from a local friend asking where I was and if I was alright. Somewhat confused, I said I was at the hotel and was fine. He replied that there had been a series of terrorist attacks in Delhi, about 20 miles from where I was staying, two of them in places I had been touring earlier that day.

Five bombs had gone off in different locations around the city. With 20 killed and over 100 wounded, it was a horrible tragedy.

My friend advised me to stay in the hotel. I was supposed to travel the next day, so I called my local travel guide to check on those plans and whether I would need to talk to the hotel about staying longer. He said that for now, nothing would change but he would stay on top of things and let me know. In the end, I did travel that Sunday.

I headed out to the airport. I got there, and the security guard asked for my boarding pass. I handed it to him, at which point he said that this was for the following week. Aghast I looked at the pass and sure enough, I had booked it for the wrong week. Good thing I was three hours early. I went to the airline desk and was able to change the reservation.

I then headed out to the gate. They announced my flight was boarding. Expecting to then head onto the plane, instead we all boarded a bus for a five minute trip across the runway, around moving planes until we finally reached ours.


Here I am aboard my plane:


After a two hour flight, we landed in the wonderful city of Pune:


All in all, it was a great trip. The room here is nicer than the Stellar, but the city is not quite as nice. More modern than the somewhat laid back Delhi area.

Playing at the Stellar

Well, I have already made the trip from Noida further south to a city called Pune. This was done on Sunday, but I still have adventures to update on from the day before. I will post these over the next few days.

Today I am going to recount my play-time at the Stellar Gymkhana. In addition to having a great swimming pool upstairs, and a nice outside playground, they also have an indoor play area. This includes a ping-pong table, a pool table, foosball, and a whole area that is enclosed in glass and air-conditioned, filled with toys just for toddlers.

My first trip was to the ping-pong table. As anyone who knows me is aware, I am an avid player and quite good at the game. Here I am reclining between matches.


Next I headed over to the slide. One of my favorite toys. I just love going down the slide, especially when no-one is around so I can squeal real loudly as I go down.


I also found a wonderful writing table. I always need to practice my letters, so I took some time to work on my CAPITALS.


After spending some time with my friends Tigger and Pooh,


I headed upstairs for a nice dip with the fishies.


And that is all for today. Tomorrow I will talk a bit about the gym at the Steller Gymkhana. Even a Froggie has to work on his form occasionally.

Raj Ghat

Today I visited someplace very special. The place is called the Raj Ghat. It is where the memorials for many of India's most important modern leaders are.


The center-piece of the site is the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, considered the father of modern-day India. It is a wonderful place, completely walled in. They pipe in nice music and you can just walk around and enjoy the peace. Like all the memorials, you are required to remove your shoes before entering, which was especially difficult for a laminated frog like myself. In the end, I took pictures from the rim above.


Further down is the Forest of Peace, or Shanti Vana. Two memorials are housed in this forest. The inscriptions were very nice and spoke of their love for India.


Along the paths between the memorial sites are many rock gardens. Beautiful examples of native Indian rock. Since I know Frog Prince is an avid rock affectionado, I have taken some pictures of the good stone.

Here is my future palace.


And here is a sample that they date back to 1.5 billion years ago. Not even Papa was alive then.


Finally, I found the rock monument itself. This is the memorial of Indira Gandhi.

Playing Around

So today I decided to just play around some. No sightseeing, no far-away places, just a little fun at the hotel.

We started it off with a good breakfast. Some bacon, an omelet, maybe some fresh fruit, and some orange juice.


Next it is time to get to playing. Fortunately for a Froggie like me, they have a wonderful play area outside here. I tackled the slide:


Then the teeter-totter:


And finally the swing:


After so much playing, I needed a little rest. Since I am a frog, the lake around the hotel seemed like a natural choice. I did not want to get my coat wet though, so instead of swimming, I rented one of the lovely paddle-boats that were available. Very relaxing.


That's all for now. Perhaps I will adventure again some other day.

First Attempt at Church

So last week, I was not able to make it to church. The hotel was washing Daddy's clothes and didn't have them back in time. Needless to say, I was ready and was not the reason we didn't go.

This week however, Daddy planned a little further ahead, and we were ready to go. Unfortunately, the taxi was not. While waiting, we met another LDS man in the lobby who was also waiting for his taxi. His showed up first, so we told the hotel to cancel ours and off we went.

Well, the first stop was actually the Lotus Temple. The driver thought that since we had told him we were going to church in Lajpat Nagar, naturally this is where we meant. Well, after getting this resolved and directing him to the correct location we arrived at the branch building.


Quite the nice branch location, isn't it. We were rather surprised. After walking in, we could not find anyone about. Walking back out we found a security guard who told us that apparently today was stake conference. Foiled again. Anyway, here are some photos of the church.






Finally, on the way back, I managed to finally snap a shot of the family motorcycle outing. I have seen this a few times before, but I didn't get my camera out in time. Here is a shot of the family. I was especially impressed with the women riding side-saddle. Maybe I should see if my family wants a ride on the motorcycle once I get back...

Red Fort

Well, today was a day for sightseeing. I headed out as usual and made my way into Delhi. Along the way, I saw this. Maybe I could try this with Daddy when I we get back.


My first stop was Humayun's Tomb. Humayun was the second of the Mughal rulers (the first being Babur, or Babar). He ruled during the 1600s. Shortly after he came to power, he lost the empire won by his father to Sher Shah Suni, or Sher Khan as he was also known. The first tomb in the complex is that of Isa Khan, who was the chief assistant to Sher Khan. It is a beautifully symetric octagonal tomb.


After this, I headed on to Humayun's Tomb. After losing the kingdom to Sher Khan, and being forced into exile in Persia, Humayun built his forces there. Eventually he was strong enough to return and reclaim the empire built by his father, and then some. Shortly after reconquering the empire, he was walking up the stairs in his library. The prayer bell tolled and he, being the faithful Muslim he was, fell to his knees. Unfortunately, he tripped on his robe on the way down, and ended up falling down the stairs and hitting his head on an outcropping at the bottom. His wife had this tomb built for him.


It was the first example of what was to become the Mughal style of architecture. Influenced by both Mongol and Persian, it is the same style Humayun's great-grandson Shah Jahan used when building the Taj Mahal.


Speaking of Shah Jahan, I continued my travels to the Red Fort. This fort was built by Shah Jahan when he moved his capitol from Agra to Delhi. I has walls between 60 and 110 feet in height that surroung and area 1.5 miles across.


Inside the Jahal Gate was the Diwan-i-Am, or public receiving hall. Here Shah Jahan would listen to public disputes and sit in judgement on public affairs.


Inside the walls lived some 3000 people, including the imperial family. Behind the Diwan-i-Am, the homes of the royal family extended in a line against one wall of the fort, and had channel flowing through them called the Stream of Paradise. The princesses of the kingdom lived in the Colored Palace, which had intricate designs and even mirrors in the ceilings. It also including a large marble bath in the middle through which the Stream flowed.


Shah Jahan's private residence was just upstream from this, and included a balcony covered with a dome where he would make daily addresses to his subjects each morning.


Further upstream was the Diwan-i-Khan (private receiving place) or Khan Mahal (private palace), used for entertaining guests of state. It was on this pedastal that the famous Peacock Throne sat.


Rounding out the main complex was the baths, in a Turkish style, and the Pearl Mosque. Built of the same white marble as the rest of the imperial palaces, it was inlaid with many jewels, and then surrounded by a wall for privacy.


The princes lived off by them selves, and the queens lived in a slightly smaller building further downstream from the princesses. It was removed from the main three to offer them more privacy. It was a long day, so on my way out I just had to stop for a drink.


And take this snap of the massive walls and moat that surround this fort.


After such extensive travels, I was in shambles. It is very rigorous travelling for a paper Froggie such as myself. With the risk of being retired after this trip, I resorted to extreme measures to keep myself alive. Super-plastination should do the trick. Maybe I will submit myself to the Body Worlds exhibit when I finish my travels...