Report Nov. 2009 –May 2010
| Since its inception ,Delhi Metro Walks has strived to create new walk areas in & around Delhi. On the website, in the Walk Archives section, you will find a host of diverse walks. We have to our credit atleast 7 walk routes in Chandni Chowk, a Gandhi Walk to the lesser known sites of Delhi, another 5 walks in North Delhi, 6 in Central Delhi and 5 in South Delhi. These figures do not include the walks covering the ‘7 cities of Delhi’. The Street Food walk in Old Delhi commenced with 3 interesting spots mentioned in Fiona Caulfield’s “Love Delhi Travel Guide”. Watch out for the reprint scheduled for September this year. We’re grateful to Fiona for introducing Aap ki Pasand, a Tea House in Daryaganj, which was an instant success in most private tours. In addition to regular walks on weekends, another instant success was the ‘Moms & Kids’ Walk & ‘School Children’ Walk. Here moms (& sometimes dads) enthusiastically joined their kids in listening to what both Surekha and the kids had to say; thereafter they participated actively in puzzles and quizzes especially designed for each walk area. Read a Moms experience in the link ‘ Walks Experience’ section in what others say. The Indian School took keen interest in Surekha’s power point presentation on the 7 cities of Delhi that culminated into walks of 1911 British Delhi and Red Fort last year and Chandni Chowk last week. More in http://theindianschool.in/unilrn/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=578 To bring about an awareness of the monuments in our colonies, a walk was designed for South Delhi. Stranded in Delhi was another interesting endeavor wherein visitors both tourists and friends joined in to appreciate Delhi’s rich historic, natural, and architectural heritage.. Read more walk experiences in the ‘What others say’ section. Delhi Metro Walks now also plans trips to Shimla and Dehradun that combine historic heritage with the natural beauty of these places. More in ‘Short trips’ around Delhi. In May, Delhi’s heat is unbearable and even Dehradun and Rishikesh offer no respitebecause the rapid concretisation has taken over the enviable scenic beauty. However, we recommend your own private dip in the Ganges at Vyas Ghat – (a place just above Devprayag,only 2 hours by taxi from Rishikesh) – a place where Sage Vyasa meditated before he wrote the Mahabharat; and a lovely homestay at anandarainbow ( another hour’sdrive, then an hour’s walk to Purmushi village. see http://www.anandarainbow.org/ The ‘Photo Gallery’ has been updated with photos of Shimla, Stranded in Delhiand Indian School for the Red Fort & 1911 walks etc. In the Monthly Walks Calendar Surekha will be in London as per details. Plans for Aug. 2010: We will be commencing our regular weekend walks, mostly in Delhi in Aug. 2010. So if you have missed any of the 25 walks mentioned above, before we venture in the latter part of the year to find more routes with on the Delhi Metro — do send in your suggestions. These will be repeated at 7 am either on Sat. or Sun. And finally a special thanks to all the heritage walkers who joined me last year, especially Nick, Andre, Milly, Jaishree, Shabri, Ronjana, Keya, Jagat, Amy, Saibal, Eadie, Clarissa, Jason, Sandy, Willy, Guy etc for all their comments as testimonials and walk experiences. In New are the recommendations in Trip advisor, New York Times Travel section etc. Don’t miss the newspaper clippings — All in What others say…. Do forward this email to friends who are interested to see Delhi has a Heritage City by walking with us in 2010. Surekha Narain |
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