Twenty- five Seven

Personally speaking

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  • China 2011 – The Great Wall

    Welcome back!

    Real travellers like to go off the beaten path to actually discover things that still remain undiscovered by ordinary people. But I’m not a real traveler ; I like to travel in comfort and do the tried and tested. So The Great Wall of China was definitely a must see on my list of things to do during my visit to China.

    We walked the section that is accessible from Badaling a small town around 70 km north of Beijing. We started off early enough but the sun was really high by the time we reached so we had to buy the hats being sold at “Chaxi” stand. Vendors were also hawking bottles of cold water, some of them actually frozen!

    Hundreds of people climbing the Great Wall

     We got into the free bus which took us to the foot of the wall from which we could begin our lazy ascent. According to Chinese legend, a man can only call himself a man after he has climbed the Great Wall. We had planned to go up to three watchtowers but had to abandon our plans as a water bottle later and a steep gradient that left me breathless made us realise that the wall looked deceptively simple, just lazily snaking up the hillside .

    Seemingly easy, the wall has steep gradients in parts

    But the Great Wall was a great experience : with a festive atmosphere prevailing with the Chinese national flags fluttering in the wind, the sun beating down strongly and hordes of people puffing their way up, this is truly a must do activity. Of course the more adventurous can climb other steeper parts but not me.

    As usual, the arrangements at this tourist spot are faultless – clean restrooms, attentive salespersons in the museum shops and neat orderly crowds. Truly this spectacular construction built over hundreds of years deserves a place in the Wonders of the World.

  • China 2011

    Welcome back!

    I just returned after a wonderful 9 days in China and couldn’t help sharing this beautiful photo I managed to capture during a warm, sunny day on the Bund.

    China was an incredible surprise that made my eyes grow bigger and bigger with every moment. First off, the International airport at Beijing was a marvel. Its sheer size made me gasp and the efficiency with which things worked there puts every developed country to shame.

    Despite the fact that hardly anyone speaks English and even the knowledge of those who did was limited, we managed our way around. Visiting the standard tourist destinations we climbed the Great Wall, visited the Temple of Heaven and walked around Tia’Anamen Square and abandoned the Forbidden City half way, so tired were we with all that walking!

    In Beijing we stayed at the old fashioned and modest Jianguo Hotel which is renowned for its rock pools with koi fish and fountains running through the entire hotel. The Staff was attentive and the hotel had a great homey feel to it. Best of all it is conveniently located right next to the Subway station and that Mecca of Indian Tourists: the Silk Market.

  • Puneri Jode and Nav vari Sari

    May is really not the best time to visit Pune especially since every Thursday the Pune Municipality in all its wisdom deprives its denizens of electricity for several hours. But since I wanted to be with my father on his 1000th Full Moon Birthday I decided to spend a few days there irrespective of the heat and dust. My mother in law had just celebrated her own land mark 1000th Full Moon birthday a day before my father did so the last week was one hectic activity of eating and meeting.

    But no visit to Pune is complete without shopping in its traditional markets a task made all the more daunting by the chaotic movement of  rickshaws, cycles, buses, cars (and even bullock carts in some places) competing with  hundreds of  people rushing to someplace or the other. Known for our foolhardiness, my mother and I decided to scout around for the perfect Nine Yard Saree while we scoured the market for the traditional Peshwa style footwear known as the Puneri Jode.

    A chance remark by Hubby dear that Puneri Jode’s were not to be found for the love of money set me on the hunt for the Last Pair on this planet. Alas! I was ten years too late. It seems that the last surviving cobbler who could fashion this Peshwa style foot wear died several years ago and the last existing chappal was bought even before his demise.

    The closest to Puneri Jode

    So the closest I got to the Puneri Jode was at Sahyadri Footwear,62 Budhwar Peth, Ganpati Chowk, Laxmi Road, Pune  a three storied shop with  an unbelievable collection of footwear for both men and women. Unlike most Pune shop keepers, the owners are polite and more than willing to serve. As it is now the “season” the shop is open all days of the week. It even has a branch at Hadapsar but this shop doesn’t stock the Jode. Surprisingly the owner accepts credit cards, has an email address and even accepts orders on line. All you have to do is email ( sahyadri.lr@gmail.com) a scanned copy of your foot and within days your specially crafted Puneri Jode will be delivered at your doorstep. Of course I haven’t yet tried this service  myself but having gone to the shop and experienced their excellent customer service, I am sure Mail Order will work with them.

    Shoe shopping over, we continued with our quest for the perfect Nine yard sari and

    A gorgeous Benarasi in typical Patihani aubergine

    we hopped into a rickshaw and made our way to Pratibha, a store once known as the shop where the famous singer Lata Mangeshkar used to source her Paithanis from. Unfortunately Lata doesn’t shop here any more and the shop keeper has stopped stocking her favourite saris. However we were directed to Hind, a shop known for its exquisite collection of wedding saris.
    The traditional Paithani with contrasting border

    I was quite suprised when I was shown the traditional Nine yard in a Benaras weave! I must say I was quite impressed with both the workmanship and the concept – wearing a traditional sari in a non-traditional weave.

    A nine yard Benarasi with contrasting border
    A dream of a sari – Nine yards of Gorgeous silk with star shaped butti
    and a rich double pallu 

    Pune shop keepers are known for their bluntness ” Are you really going to buy?” they ask potential customers. “If so, I will show you the wares. Otherwise you can just have a look.” Obviously this is a thing of the past as the shopkeepers were more than willing to show us their stock, actually shared information that more saris would be available next week as it was closer to the wedding season and finally even allowed me to take photos!

    Peshwai another shop off Laxmi Road had the most gorgeous silk saris and it was hard to walk away without picking up a piece.

    Finally at the other end of Pune right on Karve Road we found the perfect nine yard sari at Cassat. This lovely mango coloured silk with paisley buttis and border was a Benarasi Nine Yard

    Finally the perfect Benarasi Nine Yard

    p.s. A 1000 Full Moons is supposed to signify 80 years but my mother told me that this is not true. Even if one were to calculate the full moons on the leap years and in the extra month it still doesn’t work out to 80. So what does? I forgot to ask her.

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