Our Journey Begins...
One must always have plane shots... those that you look back on and say ???
On our way to Pune, we stopped at a bathroom that was appropriately labeled by a woman
with a bindi...
It was, unfortunately, not all that spiffy of a facility and out came mom with a look to
describe the circumstances.
Hehe, need I say more?
As mom walked out of the bathroom, both me and Mercedee were smiling away.
A fine start to the trip!
We stopped in Pune for a few days on the way in, but we were so jetlagged that the camera stayed hidden away. We got facials, ate some food and passed the 12-hour time difference in a haze. After a bit of recovery, we drove the few hours to Ahmednagar, checked in, and lounged about the Pilgrim Center for days and days. Thus really begins our journey...
Silence.
The calmness of this sign and it's direction ruled our vacation. It was a time of
reflection, lounging, and naps. And while, for many people, this may seem a pointless way
to run a vacation, it was a much-needed break and just what we needed.
That's me (with the camera) and Mercedee on an excursion up the hill and around the way.
We didn't really know where we were going, but of course, when there's not an itinerary,
anything sounds like a good idea!
When I was little, we had a fantastic rikshaw driver whose name was Abdul. He had a
blue-interior rikshaw and only 2 teeth (which were oddly spaced in the front of his
mouth). When I would go to town, he would drive me. My fondest memory of him is getting
stuck in the rikshaw by a herd of goats and sheep in the middle of an intersection while
my mother zoomed by in a car. I had heard that he retired from rikshaw service, but he was
out of retirement while we were there because of Nancy Wall, also a great fan of Abdul's
driving. We saw him one day and I couldn't believe how ancient he looked, but I was so
excited to see him. Here's Abdul and his rikshaw, with me and my mom (outside the STD
stand).
My mom and Amrit, in front of Meher Manzil.
This was after a day of shopping, laughing, and a delicious lunch (not to mention those
YUMMY sweets). Mom and Amrit ran off on a mini-vacation while we were there and managed to
not kill each other - a fine feat for any Queens!
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This tree is outside of Amrit and Dara's house and it is, by far, the most fascinating
item in nature that I've ever viewed. It's huge, to begin with, but possesses this 'hair'
that comes down. Amrit and Dara are planning to move at some point, so they must leave the
tree and I will thus miss it the next time I visit. (click above for some more views
of the tree)
Mom, Amrit, Dara and Mercedee
Lounging about in the sun!
Mom and Amrit fooling around!
While I ran about taking pictures of the tree, Mercedee climbed to Amrit's roof and
lounged
amidst the flowers, trees, and the rare silence of Ahmednagar.
Meherazad
At least once a week, we would traipse off to Meherazad which is a peaceful place to
lounge, laugh and view the ravines. Me and Mercedee had quite the conversation about the
terminology concerning the ravines for, as she states, they're 'not really ravines'. You
know the land that's at the bottom of mountains that used to be where water flowed and
it's hilly in a ravine sort-of-way? Well, whatever. If there was one thing we did most on
this vacation (besides lounge), it was climb things. Hundreds of stairs, down into bat
caves, up mountains, and around the ravines... we went everywhere. Here is a little taste
of our ravine exploring and our climb up Seclusion Hill.
Seclusion Hill...
and the ravines below :)
Alishya, taking pictures of the ravines (Mercedee thought it was the weirdest thing)
Mercedee, waiting for me to recover from ravine excitement
Amazingly, within the ravines, this HUGE wall sat and just dared us to climb it... which
we didn't do.
But I appreciated the gesture.
While I was taking pictures of plants and bugs and trees, I lost Mercedee. At some point,
having realized that she was no longer behind me listening to my acute comments, I scanned
the horizon and found her waaaaaaay over there. I was always losing her on our climbing
excusions. She'd either ditch me and run ahead, or ditch me and go in a different
direction.
Hmph.
One of those trees I was photographing while I lost Mercedee.
Together again!
I made my way passed all the spiky plants and itchy grass to get Mercedee so we could
climb up Seclusion Hill. Up we went, and weren't we happy when the climb was over!
Vista from atop Seclusion Hill
And from the other side
Taking in the sights...
While we were lounging at the top, I wondered why it was so bumpy where I sat. Was there
something in my back pocket?
Alas, no.
Hehe
A house that we passed on the way down the hill had the most beautiful pink flowers
exploding out of it.
And while I was at the pink flower house, Mercedee was swinging around and making little
giggling noises
(even though she'd deny it)
Aaaah, swings.
While me and Mercedee were plowing though ravines, Mom and Amrit were lounging with the
women mandali.
Here's them on the porch - aren't they cute?
Dr. Goher (the lovely lady on the left) occasionally is in need of a fan for the heat and
whatnot. Mom immediately commented on the fan and discovered its fine use in times of hot
flashes
:)
Our lovely Amrit
Mom and Baba
Amrit and Alishya
As we all know, occasionally a song gets stuck in our heads and we repeat it for hours,
even days. Mom's song lasted all 4 weeks of our vacation. And it's not one of those songs
that you can sing along too, since it's in Japanese. And it's not one of those songs
that's on the radio, since mom learned it at camp when she was 8. But by the end of the
trip, EVERYONE knew this song...
Saa-koo-raa, saa-koo-raa, yay-yo-ee-no-sorawaaaaaaaaaaa
Sheesh.
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