Cool May....

Delhi ~ the weather can be very hot and these days we spend most of our free time at swimming pool. But the temperature of the water doesn't help much and will become much hotter soon. Still better then nothing!!!

But according to the weather forecast in Delhi, it is just unusually wet and cool May this year. Last weekend, the temperature dropped from 42 degrees to 22 degrees and when it's raining we spend time at home, doing the sudoku and watching tv. Somewhere on the south of India ~ the southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Monday and in europe it's hardly to follow the Roland Garros tournement that was just started last Sunday because of the rain while it supposed to be summer at the moment. Question is the climate change or not??

Big kiss from NDH / Gros becs de NDH

Thank you Tata.......

Sunday ~ 20 May 2007

The day before we just made a fun of Tata, the lorries which had a difficulties to climb up the mountain but this very day, it was Tata who brought us back home safely. Tata has been pulled the car for more then 300km back to the embassy. That was a part of our adventure and it was really FUN!!!

River rafting.......

Saturday ~ 19 May 2007

After taking a chai (Indian Tea), we were on the road and at the beginning we wanted to go to Manikaran - a place which is famous with its hot springs (hot enough to boil rice and apparently curing anything from rheumatism to bronchitis) but we have changed the plan to do a river rafting. Since it was raining the night before, there was a lots of water in the river and we believed that it would be fun. It was short (25 minutes) but FUN!! All the way through the valley, we could see the MAGIC HERBS, but we are really not a fan of it. The drugs are still illegal in this area and the police make regular arrests. Over the last decade over 160 foreigners have been arrested for drug-related offences and drugs are behind some of it the desappearances and murders of foreigners in the Kullu Valley. So, please becareful when you make a visit to Kullu Valley.

Slowly, we made a way back to Delhi and thought the we could find a place to stay on the way. At first, we wanted to stop at Bilaspur but the city doesn't have much to offer, so we continued. By the time we entered Punjab state, the car stopped for it self. It was too hot!! On the watch showed 6.30pm and it would be dark soon. Laurent managed to start again the car, but after 2km, it became hot again. He tried everything that he could but it kept repeating the same problem. We stopped in front of one restaurant by the road side and tried to fix the problem until 11.30pm. About few kilometres away, there was one hotel waiting for us and we made our way until there. We decided to solve the problem the next day. That night, after having a little beer.....we slept like a baby and forgotten the problem for a while.

Manali & Naggar

Friday ~ 18 May 2007

We visited a ski resort up on the mountain but never expected that the traffic on the top there was horrible. From 9.30am to 12.00noon, we stucked in a huge traffic jam. We've completely forgotten that it was a school holiday in India and with that they go up to the mountain to avoid the hot weather. Anyway, from that place, we went down to Manali and made a little visit in this busy city. Manali is situated in northern end of the Kullu Valley, the popular resort of Manali is the last major settlement in the valley. According to legend, Manu, Hinduism's Noah, alighted his boat here to re-create human life after floods and destroyed the world - Manali means 'Home of Manu'.

After taking our late lunch in Manali, we headed to Naggar. The lovely little village of Naggar, one of the nicest places in the Kullu Valley, is known for its castle, ancient temples and gallery of the Russian painter Nikolai Roerich. It's a superb place to relax - having a glass of red wine, tomatoes and mozarella cheese, a fish from the river and the fruits from the valley. Naggar lies on the eastern Kullu-Manali road but the hotels, temples and gallery are grouped around the castle at the top of steep 2km road.

Vashisht Village

Thursday ~ 17 May 2007

We started early in the morning and made a few stop to take the pictures, for some that we can take and a lots of what we have seen we can only keep in mind as a souvenir. The road to Kullu seems too long but we have been served with a beautiful landscape. It is magnificent!! Up there on the mountain, there is a bit of snow!! IT looks similar to the Alps in Europe.

Instead of finding a place to stay in Kullu, we headed staight to Vashisht and it is a lovely little village northeast of Manali with hot springs, old stone houses, ancient temples, great views but it's definitely a 'scene'and "delicious pizzas".....hmmmmmmp. The village was founded by the sage Vashisht Muni and there are several old temples dedicated to him and the god Rama.

The journey to Kullu Valley & Manali

Wednesday ~ 16 May 2007
We started our journey at 5.00pm to Kullu Valley and Manali(Himachel Pradesh). Arrived at Chandigarh at 11.00pm where we had to make a stop that night. The city offered a lots of hotels and guest houses. Chandigarh is a unique city. The Nehruvian idealism at its core is in stark contrast to the industrial development on the restaurants and other in-transit facilities have mushroomed as a result. The pollution-free air, the short distances, the wide tree-lined boulevards and avenues, the lake and the plush interiors belying the dull exteriors contribute to making Chandigarh a charming place for residents and visitors. Though the Le Corusier architecture tends to get monotonous, the easily defined localities, called "sectors", and general sense-of-organisation are fine compensations.

Mee Jawa ~ Javanese noodles

Ingredients ;
1 kg yellow noodles or egg noodles
1 kg medium prawns
300 gm sirloin beef (boiled)
4 eggs (boiled)
500 gm sweet potatoes (boiled and mashed)
50 gm brown sugar
2 - 3 heaped tbsp cornstrach
1/2 cup oil
2.5 l of water
3 shallots (sliced and fried until the colour turn to brown)
spring onion (chopped)
red chilli (sliced)

Herb paste ;
3 stalks lemon grass
6 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
4 cm ginger
6 cm galanga
5 red chillies
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp curry powder
1 teaspoon coriander seed

Method ;
Heat oil and fry the paste till fragrant. Add prawns stolk, simmer and bring to a boil. Stir in the mashed potatoes and ticken with cornstrach and season with sugar, salt and pepper.

Serve with fried tofu, slices of hard boiled egg, prawns, beansprouts, fried onion, slices red chillies and spring onion.

To make prawn stolk ; Bring 2.5 litre of water to a boil and pour in the prawn. When prawns are cooked, dish tem out. Shell the prawns and keep aside for the noodles. Return the prawn shells to the pot to make prawn stolk. Continue boiling the stolk for another 30 minutes.

P/S : In the picture above I didn't use any prawn due to the hot weather in Delhi and you can add or remove what ever you like or don't like.

Have a nice try and big kiss from Delhi.

Kaba Reception ~ 27 April 2007

Nice reception with the people that we don't even know and with a lots of journalistes too. It came with the nice and beautiful Indian Danse mixed modern and classic. On the kitchen side, there you are the delicious foods.....ummmmmmph the smell also good.

Big kiss from Delhi