Garden of five senses-Delhi

   First- I wish everyone of you a happy new year and hope you get to see more new places this year.
Every year the garden of five senses hosts the garden festival.These pictures are from the festival in 2011...I'm late in blogging on this. It is a feast for the senses and one I recommend you visit if your in the area around the time they host this festival.This one was held in February 2011.

 Otherwise too this garden is worth a visit and is also a nice place to sit and have a meal amidst this beautiful garden-there are a few restaurants on the grounds.At the festival were artisans playing rural music and performing local dances.The kids got to ride on camels and though it rained that day there was gaiety in the air.

The pictures below tell the story ,so,I'll leave you to enjoy the garden and festivities.

Below-Bonsai,the Japanese art of growing trees in small trays or containers.This is a tree you see with fruit in the picture, a full grown tree actually.Not sure how old this one is but, some of the bonsai  trees on display that day were 40/50 years old.

Getting there

Garden of five senses can be reached via Mehrauli- Badarpur road, it's at Said-ul-ajaid village.

Nearest metro- Saket

For further details check Delhi tourism online.

Weekend market-Phuket,Thailand

If your in Phuket don't miss a chance to experience the weekend market.We went on a Saturday evening.It's crowded,  visited by both local and foreign tourists and packed with stalls selling foods,lovely handbags handicrafts,hand-made soaps,candles,garments,shoes(even second hand shoes are sold) all kinds of things.In the picture above is fried quail eggs.And the image below is of a handicapped man who found hope and a way to support his family when he discovered he could play music out of this leaf.Awesome!I heard him play and  was amazed at the sweet sounds that came out of this leaf. He just sits there till the market closes and plays  music.

There's a variety of seafood on sale both raw and cooked.In the pic below is Sushi in a riot of colors.NO! I didn't try this,but,this was popular with the crowd that day.

The weekend market in Phuket is a great place to shop for household goods,souvenirs,craft and more- they have a really good selection and it's cheaper than what one would pay back home in India.You must bargain to get a good deal as not everything comes cheap.Then in case you get tired,you may want to sit down for a bite at the cafes around the market or grab a bite from one of many stalls within the weekend market.

Delightful sweetmeats! Most foodstuff is left open to the elements and it may be a bit of concern if your high on hygiene...I was concerned.

Now,can you guess what's cooking in the picture below? Don't be surprised when I say OCTOPUS! It's common food there and I got a few in the seafood fried rice back at my hotel... baby octopus...tentacles and all.Oh yeah,I tried to chew on them but...COULDN'T swallow! Guess it takes time to get used to stuff like this.

But,this tray of barbecued meats looks tempting.My hubby did try some seafood.

Colorful sweet dumplings in different shapes.Many stalls selling food in this weekend market at Phuket and many takers for the food too.

Then,there's beautiful handi -craft to choose,loved this design on the stool(pic below).

Now,this fruit below in the picture is something I can't  forget too easily-although sweet,it had such a strong smell it made the refrigerator in my hotel room stink.Finally we decided we had enough of this fruit and after a few bites we threw it away.(see pic below of green fruit)

Lots of local fruit  to try here's the Rambutan-tiny red spiky fruit.

                           Sea crabs.

Grilled Octopus meat balls.I had my hubby taste some...

There is so much variety in this weekend market in central Phuket,it's no wonder there are large crowds on Saturday and Sunday week after week. It's cleaner than the markets back home in India and the vendors very polite,always smiling ,most understand a bit of English so that was real convenient.

Getting to the weekend market:
Open on Saturday and Sunday-late noon to around 9 Pm,it's close to Chao fa west road,Chalong-Phuket,ask the locals and they'll guide you,most come by taxi,scooter or just stroll in.Due to the crowds,the Parking lot was packed when we went there,but,we had a fantastic trip.Did you enjoy the tour? Have you been to this weekend market in Phuket before? Care to share some with me do leave a comment below.