Hometown Antics

*posted by Jeet

Baroda (now known as Vadodara) is my hometown, the city where I was born. I've always loved Baroda - it's small for an Indian city, and has a much different feel than anywhere else I've been to in India. Quite frankly, things are pretty normal around these parts, but that doesn't mean Baroda doesn't have some awesome things to see.

Our first day here we visited Eme Mandir, which is a temple complex run by the local military school. Terrorism is a very real threat for everyday Indians, particularly in Western India, and the military presence in Baroda was very obvious. Regardless, my Didun told me that I used to love going to the Eme Mandir and playing there as a child. Katie, Arny and I checked it out, and it was a very peaceful place indeed - exactly what we needed at this point in the trip when we were utterly exhausted.The mandir complex itself was basically a small park with statues from all point of Indian-Hindu history, and the mandir had structural elements which represented five different religions in India: Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism, and Christianity.

Our second day in Baroda was also pretty eventful. We checked out an old palace museum of Baroda which had artwork and statues from all over the world. It was small but sweet. After that we went and toured the Laxmi Vilas Palace, the epic dwelling of the old royal family of Baroda. The tour was complete with MP3 guides that were in English, just for us.

Finally we went to my favorite spot in Baroda: the zoo. I can still remember this zoo from my baby days - Didun tells me that I used to refuse to go to school unless she took me to see the birds in the morning. And for good reason - the bird collection at the Baroda zoo is massive, and there are many other animals at the zoo from all over India and the world. Clearly this is where my love for nature started, and it was awesome to be able to share the zoo experience with Katie and Arny.

Family In Baroda & BBQ Nation

If you like grilling out and kabobs then Barbeque Nation is for you. 

Tushar Uncle and Dipali Auntie took us out for dinner tonight and we are convinced this place would be quite popular in the US. We sat down in a booth that was extra comfy and had pillows to keep us propped up. There were two places for charcoal grills at our table and sauces/oils for flavoring. It works like this: the waiters brings out cooked meat and veggies on sticks and place them over the charcoal grills to keep them warm. Each person sitting down is welcome to take whatever they want - fish, chicken, shrimp, paneer, peppers... and however much of what they want because this is buffet style and never ending. During this grilling buffet, waiters also come around with more food that can't be cooked on a stick (clearly they've never been to the Minnesota State Fair).  It was so delicious!

But that wasn't the end. After we decided that we had had our fill of the grill portion we moved onto a traditional buffet filled with soup, rice, dahl, chicken, veg, noodles and dessert.

Can anyone say stuffed?

A huge thank you to everyone we met in Baroda! We'll be back sooner then later!
 

First Class

*posted by Kayd

This train ride was much different that our previous train rides to and from Puri.

For one thing, we were in first class. That means we have a little compartment to ourselves, complete with two bunk-beds. Another huge difference was: there was food! Apparently this train line offers food to all the passengers.

First we were greeted by the 'manager' and were each given a rose to welcome us.

Then we got cheese sandwichs, tea, samosas, and some desserts. We thought we were in heaven. Our bunk mate Priya told us this was just the snack, and that dinner would come in a few hours.

I don't know what it is about trains, or maybe it was the fact that I had only eaten brownies and ice cream on very little sleep, but I didn't feel good the rest of the trip so I laid down and slept.

For dinner, we were given soup, a choice of veg or non veg, and a dessert. The boys said the food wasn't that great (what mass produced travel food ever is?) but it was good to have something in the stomach for the 10 hour train ride. 

Despite the crappy food we were lucky to have an awesome bunk mate. Priya was from South India, where things are generally much more orthodox than other parts of the country, but she herself was really chill. It turned out she was also a follower of Ramakrishna, whose mission we had visited in Kolkata at the beginning of the trip. We told her about our adventures thus far and the various places we had been to. She was very down to earth, and we were happy to hear that she felt the same way as we did about Akshardham (the government sponsored temple in Delhi). She was also a big fan of bhang, and told us it's best to drink on hot summer days. Thank goodness for good conversation!