When Pragati (Lohana) Mahila Mandal under the leadership of Dr Pragnaben Rughani announced their 3 days Amsterdam and Belgium Tour on 14th – 16th April 2007 (ladies only), like many other ladies, I didn't hesitate to book the trip.

We met at 5.15am on Saturday 14th April at Kenton Library. Everyone arrived in time. We left exactly at 5.30am with the tour manager, Mr Jitubhai Seth. Pragnaben made sure everyone was comfortable and got everyone to introduce themselves on the microphone. We were driven leisurly to Dover port, where we boarded the ferry for channel crossing to Calais. All the ‘dabras’ started opening and we enjoyed these munches. At Calais, we stopped to have more food, this time, the best farari shaak which was made and sent by Kamuben Karia, with a message boldly written on the box: “Maja karjo ane Pragnaben nei heran nahi karta”!

We arrived in Hague quite early so we started our tour by first going to Madurodam. Madurodam is a model (miniature) of a Dutch town composed of typical Dutch buildings and landmarks. There we went into the Magic Ice Zoo. This truly is Holland at its very best! We were told that a team of nineteen Chinese artists created a complete animal kingdom using enormous blocks of ice. The exhibition is located in an indoor hall where the temperature is permanently maintained at -10 °C. Body warmers were provided at the entrance. After the exhibition, we enjoyed one of the delicacies at the restaurant. Then proceeded to our hotel.

We had a warm welcome at nH Leeuwenhorst hotel, Jitubhai handed our electronic room keys. A lovely dinner (shrikand, puree, etc) was provided by Taj Tours Chefs. Afterwards as some of us were not tired, we relaxed in the lounge, giggled with jokes.

Next morning at 6am a wake up call to start the hectic day. At 7am we met at the breakfast hall for a healthy continental buffet breakfast. After breakfast we proceeded to visit Keukenhof Gardens to see the beautiful display of tulips and other flowers. This garden is set in 77 acres of wooded park. Keukenhof is one of the world's most spectacular flower gardens. The impact on the eye and nose of overwhelming colour and scent is an unforgettable experience. Dramatic competitive flower arrangements are featured in conservatories, which also display large collections of orchids and more beds of flowers.

We then drove north through the flat landscape of Holland passing ancient windmills. Arrived Volendam for shopping. We proceeded to Amsterdam and took a spectacular canal cruise. We stopped for Maoz falafel. Some of us then went to buy ‘tapelis’ and couple of us were even stopped by the police as we tried to cross the roads when the ‘green’ man was not on! All the excitement to buy ‘tapeli’ heh!

After the diamond factory we went back to the hotel where we had another delicious dinner awaiting, this time gulab jambu, moong, garam garam rotli! After dinner went for a stroll, Amsterdam by night.

Finally on the last day of the trip, we departed for Belgium. We stopped at the Atonium of Brussels for photos. This is made of nine steel spheres connected one to the others by tubes which represent the forces that the various atoms exert, the ones on the others to form this giant molecule.

We came to Manneken Pis ("little man piss" in English), a Brussels landmark. It is a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. We were given time to shop Belgium chocolates and eat the scrumptious waffles!

The hilarious thing was paying to go to the toilets, almost everywhere charges of a minimal amount of 30-40 cents was to be given.

We enjoyed the entire journey by making lots of noises, playing antakshri, listening to CDs and watched two hindi films DVD - ‘Bhagam Bhaag’ & ‘Honeymoon Travels’.

There was non-stop eating on the coach. Everybody brought something or the other, from thepla to many mithias and savouries like chevda, gathiya. The best part was learning new receipes.

We ended up playing bingo on the coach with two lucky winners.

Arrived back to our Pick-Up point, Kenton Library around 10.30pm. It was time to say goodbye/hugs.

Meeting, travelling, and laughing with such a delightful group of ladies, led by our Diva, Pragnaben was one of the highlights of this trip. Talk about magic moments and memories for a lifetime! What an experience to treasure! My horizons beyond words! Great company and a wonderful itinerary made this trip one of the best times too. The beautiful weather was just the icing on the cake.

Every detail of our tour was taken care of. The trip was wonderful and exciting from day one. There was something for everyone . . . historic places to see, shopping, socializing and just plain having a few good laughs together. I felt well taken care of and I enjoyed meeting and socializing.

Thanks again to Pragnaben and her committee. Congratulations for running the Lohana Pragati Mahila Mandal for 2 successful years.

From: Sandhya Gandecha and all the ladies who travelled with her.

BACK