There's a camel opposite our hotel in Ahmedabad
Trip Start
Nov 04, 2007
1
44
62
Trip End
May 03, 2008
Ahmedabad,
India
Saturday, March 1, 2008
We got an all-day train to Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat and this time we really travelled in style! We had 1AC tickets, which means 1st class Air Conditioned. We didn't particularly want to travel in 1AC but they were the only tickets available. This was much better than our previous 1st class experience (which wasn't AC and was very uncomfortable). We were in our own compartment, there was carpet, and the seats were really really comfortable. The other things you get in 1AC is attendants. No sooner had we set our bags down, two attendants showed up, one with sheets and the other with two bars of soap. They put them down for us, they said "we are going now" and there was a very long pause. Not wanting to tip two men for bringing sheets and soap, I asked if they'd be on the train the whole journey and said I'd call for them if we needed anything. In the end we didn't need anything during the journey, but when we arrived at Ahmedabad three attendants arived at our cabin to tell us we had arrived - the man who brought the sheets, the man who brought the soap, plus another we'd not seen before
Hugh playing scrabble in 1st Class
. Cue another very long pause as they waited in the doorway to see if they'd get a tip - they didn't.We found Hotel Golden Plaza on the internet, and as we pulled-up outside in the auto it looked good. We checked-in, ate some food in the room and went to sleep. The next morning, I telephoned room-service to order some breakfast, and this is the conversation I had:
Room Service Wallah #1: Good morning sir, room service.
Hugh: Hello, could I order some breakfast please?
Room Service Wallah #1: Of course sir, what would you like?
Hugh: Could we have two "toast butter" and two teas please?
Room Service Wallah #1: Two cheese sandwich?
Hugh: No, toast butter.
Room Service Wallah #1: Errr .... bread butter ....?..
Hugh: ..... toast. Two toast butter.
Room Service Wallah #1: One moment please
Adalaj Wav water well, Ahmedabad
.Room Service Wallah #2: Hello sir, how can I help?
Hugh: I'd like to order breakfast please.
Room Service Wallah #2: You want Pepsi?
Hugh: No, no Pepsi. Could we have two toasts with butter and two teas please.
Room Service Wallah #2: Ok sir, no problem.
Hugh: Thank you.
5 minutes later, the phone rang ......
Room Service Wallah #3: Hello sir, this is room service, I'm very sorry but we're not sure what you wanted.
Hugh: That's OK, could we please have two toast butter and two teas?
Room Service Wallah #3: Three toast butter ....
Hugh: No, two toast butter and two teas. Two. One, two
Room Service Wallah #3: OK sir, three toast butter and one tea
Adalaj Wav water well, Ahmedabad
.Hugh: No, two toasts, and two teas.
Room Service Wallah #3: You want cheese toast?
Hugh: No, please listen to me, two toasts with butter and two teas.
Room Service Wallah #3: One moment please.
Room Service Wallah #4: Hello sir, what is it that you'd like?
Hugh: Could we please have two toasts with butter and two teas?
Room Service Wallah #4: Certainly sir, no problem.
5 minutes later our breakfast arrived - as ordered! I should also say that this kind of conversation is not unusual when ordering room service.
Yesterday we went on a visit to a water-well which is 20km out of town. It was in our Dorling Kindersley India book (complete with 3D cut-away picture) and looked impressive. When you get to the well, you have to walk down several levels of steps which lead underground. Each level is supported by pillars with decorative carvings, and lots of chipmonks climbing about! As we got lower, it got really nice and cool, a great relief from the strong sun outside. At the bottom was the well. Now, you really wouldn't want to drink the water in this well, although we were amazed to see fish swimming about!
On the way back to town we stopped at Gandhi's Ashram.
Camel parked outside our hotel
Gandhi started the Ashram when he returned to India from South Africa and it was from here that he started his political movement. The exhibition was made up mostly of quotes from Gandhi, of articles that he had written and speaches he had given, and gave a really good understanding of the way he conducted himself and his political activities.In the afternoon we went to a textile museum where we ended up on a tour showing various religious textiles, paintings and statues. The tour guide was rather a stern woman; when we asked if it was possible to see the other exhibits (the non-religious ones) she marched us over to a notice on the wall, stabbed it very hard with her finger and said "you must read this - it gives you all the information". It told us that we must come back the next morning. So this morning, we arived at 10am and saw the non-religious textile exhibition, which was much more of interest to us. It was the same guide again, so we had various commands like "You! Come in here now!", but the textiles were amazing, with so many different styles, some of which take 3 years to complete by hand.
We're now wandering around the old part of town. We've been on the roof of the old fort and we were walking towards a mosque when we saw this internet cafe, and as it's pretty hot outside we decided to come and update the blog. So there you are - up to date.
Comments
Room service!
Hi guys - the room service thing really made me laugh. Reminded me of when I nearly started a diplomatic incident in Rajasthan over a peanut butter sandwich. I'm still waiting for it.....
Keep having fun!