New Delhi Fish Market

Chittaranjan Park is a neighborhood in South New Delhi that was set up in the late 1960s to accommodate migrants who had fled East Pakistan. Originally called EPDP (East Pakistan Displaced Persons) Colony, the name was changed in the 80s to honor the prominent freedom-fighter and lawyer Chittaranjan Das.

New Delhi Chittaranjan Park Fish Market Vendor

Today, Chittaranjan Park remains a major centre of Bengali cultural life in New Delhi and is home to one of the city’s main markets for freshwater fish, an integral part of Bengali cuisine, a large Kali temple, several cultural centres,four big markets specialising in Bengali sweets and as well as numerous stalls selling Calcutta style street food – chops, cutlets, etc.

New Delhi Chittaranjan Park Fish Market

If you’re headed to New Delhi or India, you can either look for the best all inclusive deals or you can do it like we did: backpacking style. Either way, be sure to sample the amazing Indian food…especially the Thali.

All historical info on Chittaranjan Park courtesy of the good folks at Wikipedia.

A fruits and veggies vendor takes a break to chat at the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

The Floating Market of Damnoen Saduak is a highlight of the tourist trail through Thailand and one of the main reasons we booked one final week in the country. Boats line up to take visitors on a tour of the canals that weave their way behind and through a large neighborhood. All along the water are shops and stalls on stilts as well as hundreds of locals in canoes selling everything from fruits to hats, snacks, souvenirs, housewares and more.

For an hour, our motorboat drove us around the bustling floating market, stopping at various vendors along the way to shop for souvenirs. However, once our pilot realized that we were not actually going to buy anything, these pauses became less frequent. Instead, we got to see a slice of Thai life that was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Vendors were pretty evenly split between men and women of all ages, though my favorite were the old women who often were too busy chatting with each other across their boats to stop and try and hawk their wares.

All smiles for this female coconut vendor at the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Unfortunately, as the floating market it is close to Bangkok, thousands of day-trippers descended on the market by 9am. We tried make it all the way from Kanchanaburi before they arrived, but by the time we began our tour there were more tourist motorboats than actual vendor canoes. The waterways were narrow and every time a boat zipped by, all the others around it would splash around.

Boat traffic jams were frequent and the most common sight was of a Western tourist snapping a photo: not that I wasn’t amongst the guilty in this regard. In addition, the arrival of all these tourists has transformed the market into just another tourist trap trying to sell Buddha statues and other souvenirs. Gone are the days when it was frequented by locals just hopping onto their dingy for a quick trip to the veggie boat. Still, well worth a visit.

The view from off the balcony of the hotel we finally found in Da Lat

Da Lat is the most popular local tourist destination in Southern Vietnam; every weekend thousands of people swarm into the mountains to enjoy the cool weather and check out the sights. On our first day there, after a long hotel search with our heavy packs on our backs, we checked into a little room with a balcony and an amazing view of farmland, the city and the mountains. Next, it was off to the local market where we walked through row after row of dried food stalls, veggie shops and little eateries

Rain ended our day there, but the next day I rented a motorcycle and, with Carrie on the back, started my crash course in shifting gears in the mountains. Our first stop were cable cars that traveled over a jungle canopy. The ride was long, as were the lines, and it seemed like a lot of time and money just to see the top of trees. So we left without ever getting on one.

The town of Da Lat

Next we stopped at the Dalanta waterfall and were instantly greeted by nearly 50 tour buses in the parking lot. The inside, including the walk down the mountain side, was as crowded as one would imagine. However, Vietnam did put a unique twist on activities at the waterfall. For a price, one could take a photo with a guy in a bear costume, ride a roller coaster controlled by hand breaks down or up the mountain above the falls, rent an American Indian costume (complete with spears) and take photos in it, shoot a bow and arrow or chuck a spear at a target. The falls were unspectacular, but the scene was like nothing I have ever seen.

The Da Lat Crazy House

After more mountain, highway and city driving, we finally came to the last stop of the day: the Crazy House…which was completely crazy. Modeled as an Alice and Wonderland playground/Dr. Seuss fantasy land for adults, the place featured imaginative and far out architecture, crazy rooms and staircases, funky windows and more.

Bedrooms had animal statues with red Christmas lights for eyes above the bed and the whole place had a very out of this world quality to it. For sure a place I would love to return when it is completed in 2015.

A rollercoaster ride down to the Datanla Waterfall