A MEMORABLE TRIP TO PUNJAB (the land of the five rivers.)

Twelve enthusiastic members from our club I.W.C of  Hyderabad Central representing our district 315 left for Amritsar via Delhi on 13th September 2013.
We had a woman pilot driving us from Delhi to Amritsar.We reached Amritsar by nightfall and our host who received us took us to Gurudwara opposite the famous Golden temple. this proved advantageous s we could make many trips to the temple.
next day we visited the quaint marketplace with numerous cloth shops which was very picturesque.we all dispersed to different shops purchasing shalwar kameez which we got very cheaply compared to the price we pay generally in Hyd. we visited the Wagha border which stirred a lot of patriotic feelings in us as we saw the jawans marching The gastes suddenly opened we saw a equally huge crowd on the other side ,the Pakistan side where they too were shouting their patriotic slogans like us.It was an electrifying moment for all of us.but everything turned out peaceful we saw the jawans march with full fervor of patriotism.
on 15th we left by road to Pathankot where we attended the district meet hosted by the dist 307 who welcomed us with open arms and loaded us with gifts words are inadequate to describe.the hospitality of the Punjabis. they are very warm fun loving people full of vitality and great zest for life. we enjoyed their cuisine the kulchas,rotis,dal tadka and sabzis.
On 16th we We moved from Punjab to Himachal pradesh we went to the famous hill station Dalhousie. The climb was for an hour It as a beautiful hill station.we went anki dori resort and then for boating to Banikhet .and paid our homage to the mata mandir and stayed in their  guest house.the construction was not completed . yet we felt quite comfortable .
On 17th we left for Dharamshala. here Dalai Lama temple is very famous we climbed the temple but we were not allowed to take photographs The pictures and paintings and idols of Buddha we saw there was amazing though I have already been to Srilanka and Bangkok. we visited the famous jyotirlingam temple where Ravana was cutting off his own head one by one till the Lord Shiva appeared before him to grant him the boon desired by him.From there we climbed another hill station discovered by an Englishman by the name of Mcleod .the hill station was named after him  as Mcleod Gunj. this was breathtaking with a long mall road full of shops .We bought silk shawls and pashmina shawls too.
On 18th We left for Palampur, a place where our Indian martyrs had resided there.A  garden was built in their memory.It was heart wrenching  to hear the way the gruesome manner they were put to death when the enemies captured them . we next had darshan in mata Chamundeshwari temple . We visited the Palampur i.w. club and we were entertained  with music and dance.On 19th we visited Baijnath temple and visited a school for handicapped children run by the Rotary club in Palampur. We too donated money there..We then drove to Amritsar for 6 hrs and we visited the amritsar club who entertained us that evening with games,dance and music .
Then the next day o 20th we boarded the plane to Srinagar as we had problem with the Delhi flight. from Srinagar we flew to Delhi and then back to our sweet hometown Hyderabad carrying wonderful memories of this glorious trip.We were homesick and were happy to be back in Hyderabad.

The Golden Buddha in Bangkok

 

A Memorable trip to Bangkok

                                                           Bangkok trip 



My husband and I had a memorable trip to Bangkok in Thailand the "land of the thousand smiles

Everyone greets you with a wide smile.The ride on flyovers from the Suvarnabhumi airport to Hotel Ambassador in Sukhumwit watching multistoreyed buildings was really enjoyable . soon we discovered more exciting things in Bangkok, 'the way side thai food, the colourful stall s the sightseeing spots , the shows, the safari and the exciting cruise on the chaophraos river was indeed a feast to the eyes’

I loved walking in the pavement from my hotel to the Robinson mall. The whole place was colourful .i have never seen such a colourful place though I have travelled nearly all over the world .The colourful tuk tuks , the cabs,etc. Have you ever seen a rose coloured cab ?. There were colours, colours every where we went .



I come from a democratic country and it was so exciting see a country ruled by royal families who are very much respected by the citizens .Bowing to the princess addressing her as “Your Royal Highness” was indeed like going centuries back to kingdoms ruled by kings and queens

King Bhumipol Adulya Dej and queen Sirikit rule Thailand The king is none other than Rama Ix .Rama V had his education in Germany and that explains the western culture in Thailand. The king Bhumipol has 3 children The present princess the youngest of all. She is ChullbhornWalailak rajakumari a scientist married to an airfforce flight lieutenant they are divorced and have two daughters.We had the good fortune to see her in the 2012 Rotary convention which we attend at the Impact Challengers.



The highlight of the tour was the temple tour. The colossal golden Buddha , the 58ft/ Reclining Buddha and the glittering temple of the green Buddha known as Emerald Buddha.It gives great peace to see people sitting in pindrop silence with bowed heads in these temples

The Siam nirhmit show takes you back to the days when Bangkok was known as the Siam kingdom their culture heritage and spirituality, the quick change of scenesof the heaven, the hell and the mystic world is astounding. 150 people enacted this play, all emerging from different sides of the stage thatone knows not where to look. here again The celebration of each festival is depicted in a grand manner.

The safari inside a car close to the tigers all in the open playing with each other and also near the king of the jungle I watched them with a mixture of awe and fear scaring and thrilling .what a journey watching all the animals ,birds and also the dolphin show. There are other shows too like the elephant,the monkey and the birds show .Due to lack of time and it was not possible to do justice to everything .

The trip is not complete without going to the gems factory where you see different gemstones glittering. You see the workmen sitting in a row,silently carving and setting them in gold and silver by heating them.You have variety of them set in both silver and gold. The currency in Thailand is called bhat.One bhatt is 1.7 Rs.So tourists keep converting this money to their own currency mentally before shopping.

I would recommend this paradise of a place, Bangkok to people who have not been there

There are places I did not visit due to lack of time. Phuket ,Pattaya . Do go and enjoy your stay in Thailand.

brahma kamalam

 

What a big gap-How time flies!

It was indeed a thrilling experience when i went to chennai recently to attend my closest childhood friend's daughter's marriage. i met their entire family. there's is a huge family i had seen many members when they very small. i suddenly was introduced to a 40 yr old lady with 2 grown up kids i had seen her as a small girl. Her face had not changed a wee bit. i realised how time and tide waits for no one.my friends kept introducing met to each and every member in an animated manner everyone were thrilled to see me .i feel everyone should keep in touch with close friends ,relatives.i feel more than anything people are important.we go through so many emotions in our span of life but we should cherish good experiences and time heals all bitter experiences.when we meet after a long time every thing changes for the better.We have only one life to live and lets live it to the very best.

Mahabaleshwar trip.

Eleven of us innerwheel club members of Hyderabad Central left for Pune on the 6th evening by the Mumbai Express. we decided to have a pot luck dinner in the train.5 of us were in one coach and 6 others in another coach.As it was a vestibule compartment we kept going from one coach to the other as though we owned the entire train.All of us sat together enjoying the dishes prepared by each member with lots of care and concern.we kept chatting like college students till we realized there are other passengers who would like to call it a day.The next day early in the morning we reached pune and we found our agent who arranged this trip waiting for us with huge van.so off we left for our actual destination Mahabaleshwar.It was raining cats and dogs. we checked in to Bharat hotel. we had four rooms with three members in each room.Though it was foggy and raining a lot nothing dettered us from exploring the hill. when we reached the Harrison point and the Kate point we could see nothing except fog,mist and we were walking between the clouds as Mahabaleshwar was 3000 ft high.we next went to the table point we hire 3 tongas The horses galloped on the mire though scared i enjoyed the daring ride in the rain.
In the shopping area we found huge colourfull umbrellas This area stretched to 2kms
we find lots razais,blankets,woolen clothing a shop full of wooden stuff,.a shop full of cane items.
next day we went to Panchgani. This hill station is famous for strawberries,juices and jams The varities of chikkis can never be found any where. we were soon greeted by the wonderful smell of corn heated in the fire
There is a huge strawberry farm .We could not see it as there was heavy downpour.Though this was not the typical tourist season we want to enjoy every bit in this rainy season getting soaked to the skin, trying to share umbrellas etc.
We came back to Pune . There we found lots of Alfonso mangoes sold by vendors. One of my friends took a whole crate of it back home.i bought lots of juices.We carried all the nice stuff and along with it wonderful memories back home on 10th morning.Every season has its own charm we had a great time holidaying in the rainy season.

Munnar tea estates