All posts tagged: Bhopal

A homestay that will steal your heart

It’s 8.30 pm. I’m tired after a long day of work running around Bhopal. All I want to do is sit down for a nice warm meal before going to bed. I’m just praying the lady of the home wasn’t too enthusiastic with spices tonight. My stomach would keep me up all night, if she did. When I look up from the dinning table I see two steaming hot dishes being brought in. They look familiar. I recognise the thick potato mash on top of a mix of vegetables. It looks like what me mum would cook. I’m getting a Dutch stew served at this kitchen table in India. This morning when we talked about Dutch cuisine – which made me blush from embarrassment – she took notes and this afternoon prepared some of my favourite dishes from home. Now that’s something you won’t even find in a five star hotel. Homestay – the word alone seems to go against everything you want to do when you backpack. You’ve packed up a minimal amount of …

Bhopal beyond the disaster a developing tourist destination

Before coming to Bhopal I couldn’t think of a good reason for a tourist to put this destination on the list. It’s the city of lakes yes, but these two man-made ‘pools’ are hardly natural wonders to make a detour for. But after having spent two weeks there to cover the 30-year anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster, I find myself seriously considering going back in the near future. Just to be a tourist this time and not work. For most people Bhopal will always be connected to the gas disaster of December 3th 1984. It’s true that the disaster has left deep marks on the city and continuously effects the people that live there. If you do decided to visit the city, I would say you owe it to the victims to show interest in this side of its history too. Bhopal gas disaster museum. Getting a look into what really happened that night and the many years that followed has become easier since a few days. The Bhopal Holocaust museum was opened on the …