How to Travel in India [Lily]
We are now back from our vacation in Orissa, where we had lots and lots of fun. We took a train there that had beds on it. It started at 10:00 PM, so that explained the beds. I’d never been on a train before that. It was boringer than I’d thought it’d be..
Our first stop was in Bubheneshwar. (Which is, by the way, pronounced Boo-Ben-ish-war.) (“Ish” is said “ish” as in fish.) (And “war” is not said like “war” as in “battle;” it is “war” as in “a word I don’t think has a meaning, but rhymes with “far.”) Anyway; our first stop was in Bubheneshwar, (see previous three sentences for pronunciation) where we stayed at a five star hotel called the Mayfair. There was a huge breakfast buffet that came free with your room, as well as two main restaurants—Indian and Chinese—and two snack places; one of them including cheese dosas on the menu that scored high on the Heavenliness Scale. There was also room service, which was good, because the only place my parents let us get room service is at Indian hotels. It also had wonderful landscaping; with lots of gardens and a lagoon, which you can paddle around on, on these paddle boat things. There were many statues around the hotel and gardens, some of which Clara named (names such as Mr. Piggy—who was her favorite statue, and who we have a picture of Clara hugging--; Shorty Guy; Bob the Soldier; Horse the Bird; Fatso the Baker; Bread Man the Baker; Poko—another of Clara’s favorites, who is a gold giraffe--;and Mrs. Giraffe, Poko’s mother.) and said hello to every time we passed them. The hotel had a big pool we always swam in that was ice cold all the time with. (the pool had mermaid statues; you may be aware that Clara adores Mermaids, but she stubbornly refused to be in a picture with them because—says Clara-- “They had two tails and real mermaids only have one tail. They were not mermaids. They were meanies who thought they were mermaids, but they weren’t.” This was a real quote.) The only sightseeing we did there was a trip to the zoo, where we saw white Bengal tigers, monkeys, alligators, parrots, hippos, and lots of other animals. There were wild monkeys all over the zoo—climbing up trees, sitting on benches, scampering around on the paths, etc.
Our next destination was Puri, a town by the beach. The hotel we stayed at there was one we’d stayed at five years ago on our last trip here. It was called Hans Coco Palms. We went down to the beach a lot (six days before Christmas, I made a sandcastle) and there were giant sea slugs that squirted purple goo at Emma because she poked them too much. There was a pool at this hotel, too, and a nice patio area where we ate at a few mealtimes. We took a trip to Lake Chilka, where we saw real live freshwater dolphins and had freshly caught crab and giant prawns for lunch. My mother and I took a bicycle rickshaw to a shopping area, and apparently my mother paid a good price for the trip because the driver waited outside the shop we went to so he could take us back, too. There were lizards running around outside the hotel in the gardens that were really scary and spiky and ugly, though, oddly, Emma thought they were cute.
We took a train back, too, and it was equally boring to the first one. Actually, no; it was more boring, because it started earlier than the first, so it was a longer time before we fell asleep. Oh, and by the way, never take an Indian train; take an Indian plane. They’re cleaner.
Our first stop was in Bubheneshwar. (Which is, by the way, pronounced Boo-Ben-ish-war.) (“Ish” is said “ish” as in fish.) (And “war” is not said like “war” as in “battle;” it is “war” as in “a word I don’t think has a meaning, but rhymes with “far.”) Anyway; our first stop was in Bubheneshwar, (see previous three sentences for pronunciation) where we stayed at a five star hotel called the Mayfair. There was a huge breakfast buffet that came free with your room, as well as two main restaurants—Indian and Chinese—and two snack places; one of them including cheese dosas on the menu that scored high on the Heavenliness Scale. There was also room service, which was good, because the only place my parents let us get room service is at Indian hotels. It also had wonderful landscaping; with lots of gardens and a lagoon, which you can paddle around on, on these paddle boat things. There were many statues around the hotel and gardens, some of which Clara named (names such as Mr. Piggy—who was her favorite statue, and who we have a picture of Clara hugging--; Shorty Guy; Bob the Soldier; Horse the Bird; Fatso the Baker; Bread Man the Baker; Poko—another of Clara’s favorites, who is a gold giraffe--;and Mrs. Giraffe, Poko’s mother.) and said hello to every time we passed them. The hotel had a big pool we always swam in that was ice cold all the time with. (the pool had mermaid statues; you may be aware that Clara adores Mermaids, but she stubbornly refused to be in a picture with them because—says Clara-- “They had two tails and real mermaids only have one tail. They were not mermaids. They were meanies who thought they were mermaids, but they weren’t.” This was a real quote.) The only sightseeing we did there was a trip to the zoo, where we saw white Bengal tigers, monkeys, alligators, parrots, hippos, and lots of other animals. There were wild monkeys all over the zoo—climbing up trees, sitting on benches, scampering around on the paths, etc.
Our next destination was Puri, a town by the beach. The hotel we stayed at there was one we’d stayed at five years ago on our last trip here. It was called Hans Coco Palms. We went down to the beach a lot (six days before Christmas, I made a sandcastle) and there were giant sea slugs that squirted purple goo at Emma because she poked them too much. There was a pool at this hotel, too, and a nice patio area where we ate at a few mealtimes. We took a trip to Lake Chilka, where we saw real live freshwater dolphins and had freshly caught crab and giant prawns for lunch. My mother and I took a bicycle rickshaw to a shopping area, and apparently my mother paid a good price for the trip because the driver waited outside the shop we went to so he could take us back, too. There were lizards running around outside the hotel in the gardens that were really scary and spiky and ugly, though, oddly, Emma thought they were cute.
We took a train back, too, and it was equally boring to the first one. Actually, no; it was more boring, because it started earlier than the first, so it was a longer time before we fell asleep. Oh, and by the way, never take an Indian train; take an Indian plane. They’re cleaner.
posted by Jim Hartley | 9:19 AM
1 Comments:
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!
Love, The Hutchinsons
Post a Comment
<< Home