I was waiting eagerly for 26 Aug for weeks and told all my friends about my trip.

Finally on 26 Aug, we woke up early, at 5:00, bathed and changed, packed our toiletries and waited for the taxi from Uber which was to take us to Indira Gandhi International Airport for our flight.

The taxi arrived 10 minutes after we got completely ready. It was a Mahindra Xylo. We reached the airport in half an hour. We showed our identity proof’s at the entrance of the airport and then went inside. We went to our flight’s (SpiceJet) check-in counter. We deposited all our bags there to be taken to the flight and put tags, which contained “OK for Cabin” on them on our hand baggages. Then we went forward for another security check and entrance to the area where there were Restaurants for flight-goers, duty-free counters and gates to go to the aeroplane at the flight time in shuttle buses.

We got 3 Rice Meals from KFC for our flight.

Then after another half an hour, we finally went to the gate from where we had to take the shuttle bus to the plane. The plane had Spicejet written on the sides, the tail and the wings. My younger sister, Gurbani couldn’t pronounce it properly and kept saying “SpicyJet” instead of SpiceJet. Our plane also had Saffron written on it at the sides, which was to identify the particular plane from the fleet.

Then we boarded our plane. I sat on a window seat and got comfortable on the seat and took out my stuff from my bag which I would need for the flight. But then the flight hostess came and told that it was an emergency exit seat and people under the age of 15 couldn’t sit there. So we shifted our seats with someone else’s. Then after 15 minutes, the plane started moving. Gurbani got frightened because we started moving too suddenly and because of the continous pain in our ears. Then we ate our breakfast in plane i.e. the rice meals we had brought from KFC.

After eating, I started listening songs on my phone and reading a book and playing Logo Quiz on my phone. After an hour, my years started paining a lot, and after a minute we landed at Jammu, which was a shock to me and Gurbani as we had to go to Srinagar. But then we realized that this was a connecting flight with a stop-over at Jammu, so we sat in our seats while the staff checked the aeroplane and cleaned it. There were only 7 people left in the plane, four were us and there were 3 other individuals. Then we shifted our seats again and we got 6 seats to us at the back of the plane. Then other people who had to go from Jammu to Srinagar boarded the plane and it got filled again. After 10 minutes we took off again and my years pained even harder. But after some time in the air, they didn’t pain any more. I started reading my book once again and then after 10 minutes we could see snow-claden mountains and all of my attention shifted to them. We could see many greenery and sloping houses. We also saw a dried-out stream. Then after another 20 minutes we reached the Srinagar airport. My ears didn’t pain as much as they had did when landing at Jammu. We exited from the front exit which had an aerobridge attached to it. We then went inside and took our baggage. The airport was a small one as compared to other airports. We then went outside and looked for our taxi which we had already booked prior to coming to Kashmir. We had booked an Innova but the driver brought a Tavera with him. We then went to visit an uncle who was known to my father. We went to their home and it was very big with a garden and a kitchen garden. We went with them to their living room and they served us fruits and pastries. We sat with them for a while and then bid goodbye to them. Then we went to our hotel, The Lalit Grand Palace, Srinagar. We took our room keys and I enquired for WiFi at the reception desk but they told me that WiFi was paid and cost Rs. 800 per day for upto 3 devices. Then we went to our room. Our room no. was 1110. The room was very big with a washroom at the entrance, cupboards opposite the bathroom and then was the room.  It had 1 bed, 1 sofa, 2 chairs and one center tables. When we came in our room, there was a plate with 2 apples and another plate with some chocolates as a complimentary gift. We changed our clothes and rested in our room for an hour. Then we went to Chasmeshahi which is a natural water spring with very cool and fresh water coming from the top. We entered the garden and there was a small and wide river-like line of water in exactly the center coming from the top of the garden and there were stairs on each side of the line. We went straight up to the top. There was a dome-shaped big box up and the water was flowing from it. The water was very cold and fresh. Some school students had also come for a trip there and were taking turns filling water into their bottles. We then went back to our taxi and then we went to Pari Mahal. It is the ruins of an old palace and provides a very nice view of Srinagar city. It also has gardens and watchtowers on each corner. We then went back to our hotel.

Shall post about the next day soon!

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We chose the Buffet. In the starters there was Live Salad, Fried Chicken with Garlic or Hot Garlic sauce among some other mouthwatering dishes. I went with the Fried Chicken. Then came the Main Course. There were Hakka Noodles, Curried Mac and Cheese, Daal, Shahi Paneer, Rumaali Roti, Steamed Rice. I ate Curried Mac and Cheese, Rice and Shahi Paneer. They were very nice. Then while my parents and Gurbani were still eating their food, I went and grabbed myself a plate of Ice Cream. Then I also tried Chocolate Mousse which was so soft, creamy and yummy that I ate three plates full.

Then we went to Ambience Mall. We parked our car in the parking and went to the first floor.

There we took an inside Golf Cart Ride inside the mall on the first floor. I and Gurbani were sitting on the back where there was no handle to hold, so we were jumping in and out of the back seat to the ground. One time we couldn’t jump back in, so the cart had to stop.

Then we went to Stellar’s Museum. We brought two tickets, one each for me and Gurbani. It was free for the adults.

So we went inside the museum. We went into the first room. There were hoops there and we had to make paper planes and make them go inside them. There was a pipe which pumped air into one of six big glass containers which made its contents levitate. Then just beside it was a log tube which extended from behind the six containers and below it and we had to put in a ball which would come back through the same place 45 seconds later. Then there was a mini race track around the size of a table on which we had to make cars with blocks and make them race. Beside that was a board covered with glass and it had iron filling inside it and we had to make patterns with the iron fillings.

Then we went to the next room. There was a big car frame on which we had to put plastic sheets, steel plates and nuts and bolts. Along that were big thin cardboards with which we had to make helicopters and innovative things like that. Then there was a pile of many Jenga blocks and we could even make a palace the height of an infant with it. At the back wall there was a metallic whiteboard on which gears including one gear which rang a bell and two gears for holding and moving the others. We had to arrange the gears in such a way that when we move the first gear the bell rings.

Then there were some household items made out of steel nailed to the wall and there was a drumstick with it. We could make music of different tones and voices by just hitting on them with the sticks.

There was also a long and wide tube with two inflated globes in it and we had to push the globes through small holes to the top where it would touch a bell and ring it.

Then we went into the next room which was made like a city. There were sections divided for market, house, kitchen, Doctor’s clinic and many more common places in the Doctor’s clinic there was even a machine which detected your heart beat rate and played a drum according to it. In the market, there were artificial vegetables and fruits.

Then there were also some tubes and some slippers outside the room to make music we could hit on the hollow tubes with the slippers and then voices would come depending on the size of the tube.

Then there was a room which had some things related to each continent. And there was also a sheet in each continent listing the general facts. And there was a box in each continent on which there were two buttons, Population and Water. If we pressed on Water, all the part of that continent which had water was highlighted in blue and if we pressed Population, the area of that continent where people lived was highlighted in red. First came Antartica, it had a tunnel to which a fan was attached to make it feel like Antartica. Then came Europe, there were some souvenirs from Europe and even a smellbox which contained some smells native to Europe.  Then came Asia, it also had a smellbox. The next was Australia. It even had a board which had four columns Speak, Listen, Hear and Smell. And each of them had a button. If we pressed on Hear button, the native voice would be heard and so on. Then came Africa. It had the same things as Australia. Then the Americas. It also was the same as Australia.

There was also a birthday party area in the end which also had a play area. Then I went to the play area. It had a tree hut like appearance. There was also one more place where there was a bridge connecting two mini towers which had holes in them for the children to pass through.

Then there was a big room which had a big table full of water and there were water wheels, boats, water barriers and many more things. From both the ends of the table water was flowing out into the main table. I played with it for 15 minutes testing different water barriers and many more things.

Besides that was a painting Glass for small children. Gurbani drew paintings on the glass. Then we came out as our time was up.

It was a very fun filled day.

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On 5^th June 2014, I, Mamma, Papa, Gurbani and Nani went to Safari World, Bangkok by taxi. It has two parks – Safari Park and Marine Park. We took a package for both of the parks for 1200 THB (2400 INR) per adult and 1000 THB (2000 INR) per child. In Safari Park, they take you on a safari in a bus in a very big park or a very small jungle. There are many animals and birds such as Painted Stork, Pelicans, Giraffes, Sambar Deer, Spotted Deer and Wildebeest. The Painted Storks were very beautiful. There were boards everywhere saying “Please stay in your car” And “Animals have their right of way.”  After that there were two automatic iron doors installed for the safety of the people and animals as there was the lion-tiger zone ahead. First we saw many lions. There were 4-5 lionesses and 2-3 lions. After that there were many tigers, about 10-15 of them. Two tigers were sleeping on the ground, one tiger was hugging the other one but the other one moved away from the first tiger. After that were two more gates which signified the end of the lion-tiger zone. Then there was a peacock with its wings fully open. After that there were many Canadian Bears, some were even in water and there were some Buffaloes also.

It was an amazing experience.

After that we went to Marine Park. We had already missed the Elephant Show, Sea Lion Show, Orangutan Show and Cowboy Stunt Show because they were in the morning and we reached there in the afternoon.

When we entered Marine Park, it was about time for the Dolphin show. When we reached the place where the Dolphin Show was to be held, there were very less people and then many people started to come. About 200 school children had also come for a picnic. For around thirty minutes Thai and Hindi Songs were played and everyone danced, especially the school children.

Then the Dolphin Show started. Three people with a bucket of  fishes each to give to the dolphins were standing on the edge of the semi-circle shaped water tank. Three Dolphins came out from two underwater gates and one Dolphin was allotted to each person. Then the dolphins passed through hoops, did races, jumped very high, wore huge sunglasses and hats, turned their body backwards 180^o and carried a ball between their fins, kissed their trainers on the cheeks and even their trainers stood on the back of the dolphins and did a whole round of the tank. After that the three people went to the backside to relax and three other people came. Now two Dolphins were allotted to each person. All the six Dolphins jumped at the same time and for the same height. The Dolphin Show was awesome.

After twenty minutes was the Spy War Show. Till that time, we went to the crocodile watching terrace. There were about 20-30 crocodiles. Ten minutes were still left so we watched some Orangutans.

When we reached the place of the Spy War Show, there were boards everywhere on which it was written “Caution: Laser Hazard” and “Caution: Radiation Hazard.”  Then the show started. The best parts of the show were

• One man is hanged on a board and smoke comes and the man’s body changes into a skeleton.
• A lady shoots bullets with a gun at a barrel of oil and some parts of the artificial lake which had been made for the show catches fire.
• A bomb is thrown on a helicopter and the helicopter burns.

I and Gurbani clicked photos with a man who has been dressed as a robot and Papa clicked photos with the main actor in the show. The Spy War Show was the best thing in the whole Safari World.

The next and the last show was Bird Show which was after half an hour. In the way, there were many birds in very big cages. I also saw a tiger which was very big and very close to me. There I even saw a Python, which is the longest snake. It was the first time I saw a snake in real.

In the Bird Show, the birds were singing songs, taking a 500 THB note out of a boy’s hand, dancing, spelling the words of different animals, making the voices of different animals and even playing the keyboard. My sister, Gurbani liked the Bird Show the best.

After that we went to feed Giraffes with two baskets of bananas at the Giraffe Feeding Terrace. There were over three hundred giraffes. It was the world’s largest herd of giraffes. I and Gurbani had very much fun in feeding the giraffes.

The Overall experience was Super-Awesome with a capital S and a capital A.

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