Lunch at Lodhi with some dhanesh

a lunch at Lodhi garden restaurant is never wrong

it's so green and lush 

when you sit outside upstairs it's almost like sitting in a tree house

if you're lucky you can spot some birds

and I sure did

 spotted some big dhanesh....no, not danish....even though it really sounded like there where danes sitting in the tree when the waiter told me the name of these birds

dhanesh is grey hornbill in hindi

they have two beaks

zoom in a little and you can see...

(they where pretty far away from us so you have to do with the picture I managed to get)

maybe then you'll find the other bird that was hiding even for the photographer

haha, I didn't see it until now when doing the post

 reminds me of Christmas !!??

you know, the parrot that takes a step to the side into the greenery and you only see the eyes

in the Donald Duck cartoon

(well, everybody in Sweden knows what I'm talking about)

I really think it's worth a visit

have a walk in the huge garden filled with monuments and then go for some lunch

we do every tim we have visitors

Enjoy what's left of your weekend dear reader !

An elephant made our Saturday

today we where lucky to meet this wonderful elephant 

wandering the streets around Lodhi garden in Delhi

it's not every day we meet this huge creature

since there are not so many left in Delhi

 that has got to be a good thing though, it can't be good for them to live 

and work in an asphalt jungle like this

look at that "snout"....trunk

the sleeping dogs in the gutter woke up and wondered what was going on

amazing encounter in the green parts of the asphalt jungle Delhi

Todays visit to the cottage emporium in Delhi

today we paid a visit to Janpath in Delhi

(we being me and my mother who is here for a visit)

namely the central cottage industries emporium

which is a 5 story store filled with craft from all over India

loads of artefacts 

you can find everything from tea to fabric to jewellery to these really expensive artefacts

and so much more

walls with art

and yes, I did find some "small" treasures

as always....

it's not difficult to find treasures in this country I tell you

Any water in Surajkund ?

Surajkund is an ancient reservoir from the 10th century !
built in the form of a rising sun with an eastward arc
I thought that since it has actually rained during the monsoon this year

that the "kund" would hold some water

to my surprise it didn't have a drop of the precious water

I so wanted to see it with water
wonder how much rain is needed to see it filled ? and if it ever happens ?

today it was more like scenes out of the jungle book

you see, Surajkund has a huge population of monkeys

if you are scared of monkeys it's not a place to visit because you have to walk among them

grooming each other is a favourite occupation 

 beautiful eucalyptus trees and other greenery surround the reservoir

a little tip :

if you are visiting the huge international crafts mela in the spring

 you should walk over and have a look

hope the weekend has been a good one for you dear reader !

An "old" haveli behind the Sheetla

I found this beautiful old house the other day

I'm not sure if it goes under the name of a haveli but.... 

 I have seen it before but this time I actually got out of the car to have a look

the owner came out to talk to me and she was so happy that I liked her house

I got invited for tea 

I can imagine what it looked like when it was built

hope they will restore it

I thought it was older but it was from 1959

love the tile with  the peacock by the way

this was another great encounter to add to my long list

since it's Friday 

enjoy your cozy friday ! dear reader

see you soon I hope

A humid walk in the amazing greenery

went for a "walk" in the jungle at one of my favourite spots around here

boy was it ever humid ! 

(guess I'm not fully acclimatised yet)

the natural spring still has water

so many butterflies around

they actually feed from the stones....need the minerals

it's amazing how dense the greenery is

it really blocks out the sunshine

did I ever drink a lot of water when I got back in the car again !

and when we drove by the little waterhole 

(first time I've actually seen any water in it)

I couldn't help but to think about getting in the pool

the buffaloes really seemed to enjoy that water and 

so did I when I got in

the pool at home that is...hahaha

enjoy the rest of your Wednesday dear reader

The young students at Sheetla Mata Mandir, Gurgaon

I just had to pay, yet another visit with the young students at the temple

(you can find more posts in the blog about this temple)

they where in the middle of class....singing and chanting

most of them I do recognise and most of them recognises me by now

but there where some new faces who wondered what this strange lady was doing there

reading is in sanskrit

every month their hair is cut

I always bring bananas for the boys as a little thank you 

class was over and they all went for a "fruit break"

I'm intrigued by the fact that any parent would want to send away their young kids to a school like this for so many years

the religion and the impact it has upon people's life here is really difficult to comprehend

I'm not sure I will truly understand but I do make an effort to