Shortly after our morning encounter, our breakfast pal Vikram checked out our website and gave us a call. He hoped to facilitate our India experience by adding a bit of refinement to it.
A few phone calls and a couple of hours later, we were scheduled to meet with Rajan Sharma, the head chef at the Taj Hotel Chandigarh’s Dera Restaurant. Continue Reading »
- Breakfast in Chandigarh: Samosas at Sai Sweets
- Lunch with Friends in Chandigarh: Methi Muttar Malai and Aloo Gobi
- A Five Star Dinner at the Taj Dera Chandigarh
Filed Under: Food, India, Travel by: Daniel Noll
3 Comments | 22 April 2008
Not long after breakfast, we were sitting with Sharan and his business partner Rajiv, our previously virtual friends. They were the reason we had come to Chandigarh. Sharan had completed a small software project for me (to help put the finishing touches on our photo gallery) the year before. After the project, Sharan and I continued to stay in touch.
When he found out we were coming to India, we received an invitation to visit. Continue Reading »
- Breakfast in Chandigarh: Samosas at Sai Sweets
- Lunch with Friends in Chandigarh: Methi Muttar Malai and Aloo Gobi
- A Five Star Dinner at the Taj Dera Chandigarh
Filed Under: Food, India, Travel by: Daniel Noll
No Comments | 22 April 2008
“Chandigarh??” Travelers often squawk in confusion when we share our India itinerary with them. While places like Rajasthan, Kerala, and Varanasi register as usual suspects for visits to India, Chandigarh – a planned and rather atypical city in the northern Indian state of Punjab – rarely finds itself on travelers’ must-see checklists.
Our primary motivation to stop in Chandigarh was to visit a friend, one we’d never met in person. (Actually he’s the programmer we hired last year to help us tune some parts of our website photo gallery.)
As it turns out, our high expectations for the visit were far exceeded. We solidified a friendship, developed some new ones, gained insights into India’s culture, and even peeked into its future.
Continue Reading »
- Breakfast in Chandigarh: Samosas at Sai Sweets
- Lunch with Friends in Chandigarh: Methi Muttar Malai and Aloo Gobi
- A Five Star Dinner at the Taj Dera Chandigarh
Filed Under: Food, India, Travel by: Daniel Noll
12 Comments | 22 April 2008
Posting photos from China when we happen to be in India probably seems odd. But we discovered an open wifi connection somewhere in the building here in Kolkata (Calcutta) and are taking the opportunity to catch up with photos and family calls on Skype before someone finds out that we’re taking advantage of their internet connection. Shhh, don’t tell. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Photography, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
No Comments | 21 April 2008
It was our India moment. You know, the kind of travel moment when you’re on a trip and you think to yourself, “Now this is why I came here.”
No, we weren’t sipping masala tea and eating chicken tikka while admiring the image of the Taj Mahal in its reflecting pool. Rather, we were tucked into the sticky folds and the dingy creases of an uncontrived real-life Indian experience.
It was awful; it was amazing. Maybe not amazing, but eye-opening. Uncomfortable, certainly.
Most of all, we wondered how on Earth our overnight Indian tourist sleeper bus transformed into a chicken bus stuffed to the gills with what seemed like a crowd of refugees. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: India, Perspectives, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
21 Comments | 6 April 2008
