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March 15 A mixed bagAnother Friday in and out of Kabul
Actually I wanted to sleep in, but then I woke up at seven. So after lazing around a bit and having a shower I decided that this was not going to be a day in Kabul. I decided to rent a car and drive to Panjshir. But before that I had my usual Friday breakfast at the French restaurant Le Bistro near Chicken Street. Then I had the car delivered there and drove off to Panjshir where I arrived some two hours later. For some reason here spring had already advanced further than in Kabul. Some fields are dressed in fresh green and many trees already carry buds just about to pop. Another fourty five minutes later I was at Massoud's tomb. I spent about an hour there, then drove back to Kabul - this time not via the major road but via the Old Bagram Road. At five o'clock I was back and went to one of the two Chinese restaurants in town. So this is how much variety you can experience in one day here: French in the morning, Afghanistan during the day and Chinese in the afternoon. All without a hitch - peaceful and enjoyable.
March 02 India Trip, 25th - 29th February 2008
When we arrived in Delhi the air was warm, not too warm though, and there were no queues at the pre-paid taxi counter. So we swiftly climbed into our taxi and made our way to Old Delhi. Once we got out of the airport's huzzle and buzzle and the warm air was blowing into the cab we could relax and shifted to holiday-mode. 4.5 days of unobstrcted sightseeing and shopping stretched before us ... I knew the hotel, I had stayed there with my husband then and since I knew it was decent I booked it for us as well. Not a thought reminded me of the fact that I had been here before under different circumstances until my friend mentioned that he didn't feel too good about this fact. We went to New Delhi, to Agra and to Ajmer in Rajestan. Except for Ajmer I had seen the sights but it was nice to "do" them again. And somehow this time I took in everything deeply. I smelled the flowers, I felt the grass under my feet as we walked from India Gate to the Houses of Parliament. The beauty of the Taj seemed more present than when I came here last. Maybe it was because I was with someone who took a real interest in everything, had historical knowledge of these places - or maybe it was just because he put his arm around me, held my hand and kissed me often. Ajmer is famous for the tomb of Hazrat Mu'inuddin Chishti, the founder of the Chishti Sufi order, one of the most important Sufi organizations in India and Pakistan. Sufi teachers were important missionaries of Islam, through their piety, charisma, blessings, and service. Muinuddin lived in Ajmer from 1190 until his death in 1232, and the reverence in which he was held after his death can be seen in the patronage his tomb attracted. The "crown" on the tomb's summit is made of solid gold, and the open space in the foreground is a mosque built by the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan. This is a holy site were all religions come to and pray for their wishes to be heard. I love to visit such mulit-religious holy sites. They have good vibrations. On the negative side I felt that India has become more money-grabbing than last time. There is not a piece of information which comes for free, not a little service provided out of sheer kindness. Everything has a price. The ultimate rip-off attempt we were confronted with occured in Ajmer were the rickshaw wala actually wanted to charge us 350 rupees for a 5 min ride. After throughing 50 in his face we left him standing. But other than that it was a great break - a beautiful and memorable time together. |
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