2011: Hello, Woollen Socks!

There has been activity galore in the last ten days. While the Goa plan could not materialise yet another time, I did check two other trips that were pending. 

Mother had been wanting to go to Chintpurni, HP since last summer. We finally managed to go there during the 19-20 November weekend. The highlight was the fact that Dad agreed to come along. I don't remember the last time the entire family took a trip together. So, Mom, Dad, Bhai, the bhabhi, and me started by taking a long walk towards the Amritsar Shatabdi on 19th morning. As always, I was excited to get on to a train. But after having travelled by the Bhopal Shatabdi earlier this year, I was disappointed to see the uncomfortable seats and  the badly maintained coaches. Maybe it was just an old coach of an old train, but I liked the Bhopal Shatabdi more. Nevertheless, the view of foggy mustard fields into Punjab made up for it all. 

We took the train till Ludhiana, and then took a cab up to the hills. Highlights:

• Lunch at Baabe da Vaishno Dhaba by the state highway in Hoshiarpur was to die for! 
• I saw the process of making jaggery at a small setup in the fields near the dhaba, and the smell & taste of the freshly made sugar was absolutely delicious.
• Our driver, Amandeep was hard of hearing and did not use his rear view mirror for driving. I think the gods did know that we were making the trip only for them. 
• Evening is a good time to visit Chintpurni. At least you can breathe. Things were bad when I visited in the morning in 2006.
• The HP Tourism hotel at Jwala Ji is decent to live in, but wouldn't recommend eating there. Their kitchen sucks. 
• The evening aarti at Jwala Ji, on cold nights, is heart warming.
• Matar kulcha on the road outside Jwala Ji is also worth a try.

A goof-up on Sunday night led to a long, unwanted drive from Ludhiana to Delhi, but I did enjoy the little chill in the air and oh-so-amazing paranthas at Sukhdev's in Murthal!

Some mobile uploads:

Processing sugarcane juice

Drying jaggery

Sadda Punjab :P

Mother and Sis-in-Law

A flat tyre in the middle of nowhere

I had to rush to work as soon as we got home. And I worked, fell ill, and attended several meetings until Friday evening arrived and I rushed to pack again for the next trip.