I recently shared our stories of Chandigarh with a group of new friends over a beer and was shocked to find someone who not only knew of Chandigarh but also asked me what I thought about the “Rock Garden.”
As cool as the Nek Chand Rock Garden is, the story of its construction and evolution in the unlikely city of Chandigarh is even cooler. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: India, Panorama by: Daniel Noll
9 Comments | 13 August 2010
The driver carved his way across northern West Bengal through territory unknown to most, including the mapmakers. Our SUV eventually rolled to a stop at the end of a dirt road where a group of village women dressed in their best and brightest saris were seated in a semi-circle on the ground. They had been waiting for hours.
And they were waiting for us.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: India, Perspectives by: Audrey Scott
9 Comments | 19 September 2009
To say that you’ve seen the world before seeing India is like saying you know yourself before taking a good long look at your naked body in the mirror.
Evening Puja (Prayers) in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Click Fullscreen (4 arrows) and move around the panoramic image.
Author’s Note: As we begin to write about our last visit to India in greater depth, I’m reminded of my first trip there — also my first trip abroad that I took solo in 1997. Those were the days of traveler’s checks, thick stapled wads of Indian rupees, and exorbitantly priced, poor quality phone calls booked from telephone wallahs on the street. The ATM machines, internet cafes and easy-to-purchase mobile phone SIM cards of today’s India seemed only a pipe dream back then.
This is the first of a multi-part series chronicling the bizarre experiences and lessons – about India, travel and me – that first visit imparted. No other trip since has affected me in quite the same way. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: India, Perspectives, Travel by: Daniel Noll
24 Comments | 31 August 2009
Astute Chinese women told us what they thought about men in Ten Secrets of Women Call.
Now, men get their say.
For all the women out there who spend countless hours wondering what annoys men, this one’s for you. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Humor, India by: Audrey Scott
5 Comments | 3 September 2008
While sifting through papers tonight, I found this Kolkata (Calcutta) newspaper clipping from our time there in April 2008. I couldn’t have made this up if I tried.
Man swaps wife for goat
A Bulgarian farmer has swapped his wife for a goat – because she couldn’t give him kids. Stoil Panayotov exchanged his third wife with Elena, the eight-year-old goat at a livestock market. The extraordinary deal was concluded in front of a stunned crowd in the market town of Plovdiv, central Bulgaria. “The day before, a friend told me that he has had no luck with women and that he really liked my wife,” says the 54-year-old. “The deal was reached when my wife gave her approval. The goat has given birth to three kids and my wife to none. So this deal was more profitable to the goat owner, I got a secondhand goat and he got a brand new wife.”
Filed Under: Europe, Humor, India, NAST by: Audrey Scott
1 Comment | 20 August 2008
I’m not normally moved to poetry, but India is a place of firsts. I wrote this in Kolkata (Calcutta), but was reminded of it today as I walked the streets of Thamel, Kathmandu’s backpacker ghetto.
This poem is for all who ceaselessly sidle up to me as I walk down the street, befriending me only for the sake of a sale. Although I’m certain those who inspired this poem are unlikely to ever see it, I offer it just the same. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Humor, India by: Audrey Scott
6 Comments | 30 May 2008
Wondering where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to? Our recent Twitter updates from the hills of Sikkim were all a facade.
We ran out of money. So Audrey went looking for work in Varanasi, India’s holiest city. And this is what she found.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Food, Humor, India, Travel, Videos by: Daniel Noll
15 Comments | 6 May 2008
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
No 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
9 Comments | 22 April 2008
