Last days in Delhi

Back in Delhi I made it to the Red Fort - a little damp and misty - but that just adds to the atmosphere - and by the time I got there it wasn't actually raining
As part of the main entrance there is an arcade of shops

It's a big complex and inside the walls are a variety of other buildings - meeting/reception area, sleeping quarters, place of prayer etc. Some in the red stone and then, for a change, marble

I also got to Humayun's Tomb - I had planned to go at sunset when it was supposed to be particularly photogenic - but ended up there at midday by mistake. I thought the auto-rickshaw was taking me to the Craft Museum - but he didn't know where it was and by the time I realised that I'd already paid him and he'd gone.

It is a kind of mini Taj Mahal - in red stone - and a lot less crowded.

I found a local market near my guest house - and here they were doing henna decoration. It is commonly done for brides and when I asked the woman about it it turned out she was getting married in a few days time. It is beautiful work and lasts several weeks apparently

There were a couple of building and renovating projects near my guesthouse - I just love the scaffolding.

Rock Garden wrap

A few final images from the Rock Garden

The wee white zig-zag threads grew daily - busy spider - click to enlarge

The Rock Garden was popular for weddings, functions and this day they were filming a guy lip-synch-ing a song. Priceless.

A local cycle factory (Hero) had donated some bikes and these were brilliant for getting around town. I often felt like I was dicing with death as I cycled home in the dark from the internet cafe with just my Kathmandu headlamp strapped to my arm, facing backwards and on strobe.

The Police Post in the carpark of the Rock Garden.

There were odd sculptures in stray places - these were in the bush by our guesthouse

On my last night we go to a place I hadn't seen before. It's not a public area and is way above the waterfall area - vistas I hadn't seen before

A magical farewell to my co-workers: Cory and Nicole
and my roommate - Dominique

Good bye Rock Garden
Good bye Chandigarh

One for my siblings

One night we went out to the Cowboy Bar (picture Indians in jeans, cowboy hats) and passed this en route. So the following Sunday I returned in daylight for some photos.

Recognise this?
this?

You must remember this?

Yes - it's the Austin A40. The car of our childhood. The car that carried Mum and Dad and 5 kids (no seat belts back then) on our migration from Thames, in the North Island, down to Dunedin in the South Island. A journey that took days.

What a classic!

Rock Garden people

Well - let's start with the most important - on the right is Anket, our cook for lunch and dinner (rice, chapattis, lentil curry and vegetable curry usually) and on the left is Ram Raj - custodian of the walls (he yells at visitors to get off places they shouldn't be), chief bottle washer and the man who comes every morning and takes us out to the front gate for chai.

And this is our chai man - making endless glasses of masala chai (mixed with crushed ginger and spices)

Above is Jogo - the guy who knows the most about tiling, mosaics, cement, walls etc

And his brother, Arjun (and someone else behind). Behind them is a bigger guesthouse being built.

And on the left is Ranjeet, who did all the hard work building more wall, and on the right is Chandin - the ever cheerful 'boy' who mixed our cement and did any other odd job that was required. I was always amazed when he turned up every morning in another lovely clean shirt...

And finally - the volunteers and Nek Chand

Animals in the Rock Garden

There is a camel for rides

Peacocks roam freely - and make a huge racket at night. There are probably around 8-10 of them

There are a bunch of smelly porcupines in a cage out near the workshops

OK - this isn't an animal - more a very big wasp - building something out of mud at our living quarters

And there are these squirrel-type animals - they move very fast and jump/fly onto branches. I actually took this photo in Delhi as I'd never been able to get a photo of any in the Rock Garden

Holi Day

Our first week at the Rock Garden coincided with Holi Day - a Hindu Spring Festival that seems to involve people throwing coloured powder at each other.

It seems it can happen anywhere - and the Rock Garden was no exception. Plus there was plenty of water around there to wash it off or to keep cool.

Above are two tourists in the Rock Garden.

And below - here's Nicole and Cory with some of the women who lived and worked in the Rock Garden. Look how clean they are.

Then they went to a Holi Day party in the Rock Garden - and came back looking like this !