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I am now walking back through the Rock Garden which I have covered in some detail earlier in this album. I will therefore now only point out things as I see them. Despite the broad sweep of the Rock Garden, we did encounter some truly narrow pathways. Here is a doorway on the way to the exit. Now this one is really low, and a local tourist ahead of me has to really bend to get through. Note that the wall is made entirely from broken wall sockets and plugs. The brown wall to the right is made from broken drainage pipes. Detailed notes about the Rock Garden appear in previous captions earlier in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

This is my sis in law and I at the breakfast table at the Lemon Tree, Chandigarh. My brother did not join us due to his Delhi Belly, but we did take something light back for him. There was some confusion before we got here, as Lemon Tree generally does a buffet breakfast spread, and in my experience, hotels that do this do not serve a la carte breakkie at the table. The hotel agreed, surprisingly, but eventually served things out of the breakkie buffet, like miniature 'uttappa' (thick lentil crepe with onions, hot chilly peppers and tomatoes) instead of the regular sized ones. The foods wasn't too bad actually, though the uttappa was lacking in flavour due to their diminutive size.(Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

Here is a metal face mask from the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh- further notes not available. Judging from the large dot on the forehead, I thought this mask originated in Maharashtra but no, this is from Himachal Pradesh. This is the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, detailed notes about which appear earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

There was no caption to this painting in the natural history museum in Chandigarh apart from the label 'Mousterian burial'. I could not get any more einformation about this. Later, referring to Wikepedia, I gathered that Mouseterian refers to humans in one particular era or block of time. According to Wikipedia, the Mousterian largely defines the latter part of the Middle Paleolithic, the middle of the West Eurasian Old Stone Age. It lasted roughly from 315,000 BP to 35,000-30,000 BP. Detailed notes about the Chandigarh Museum and Art Galleary appear earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

I had mentioned briefly a local painter from the Punjab, SG Thakar Singh, and I had even featured one of his paintings earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). His ultimate masterpiece yet has to be the woman with wet clothes just out of the bath. That painting appears soon after this (see subsequent pictures), but here is a notice about the master painter himself, with some of his most notable works of art featuring in the panels on either side of the description column. The note is fairly self explanatory if viewed in full scree or expaded mode, so I will save you the commentary. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

A notice near the impressive and large waterfall at the other end of Nek Chand's Rock Garden outlining some basic behaviour guidelines. Indeed, it is sad that some people have to be warned of the obvious! Super ape with superior intelligence you said? Hmmmm. Detailed notes about the Rock Garden appear in previous captions earlier in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

Another squint eyed selfie near the large waterfall in the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, arguably Chandigarh's most famous landmark. This one was much larger and more powerful than the one I'd seen and photographed earlier. Love the cascade pattern of the water's fall- this is the first time I am seeing such a steeply angled cascade! I learned the hard way to use the front camera next time for selfies, to avoid clumsy facial gymnastics and bizarre expressions! Detailed notes about the Rock Garden appear in previous captions in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

In the natural history wing of the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh is this large painting showing a chance encounter between two species of ancient man- Australopethicus and Paranthropus. Frankly I'd not heard about these species before and so it was quite an education. And judging from the pose of the humans in the painting, the encounter probably did not end well! Tragically, despite all the fantastic developments man has gone through as he evolved into what he is today, war mongering is something that man has not given up entirely on. Or is it only the USA which goes into meaningless wars all over the world by bullying weaker nations under the garb of spreading 'democracy and freedom'? (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

This is the signage with some rather extensive Buddhist religious notes about what you will see in the next picture. Now I am not particularly religious, and heavy religious stuff usually goes over my head. So I will leave you to figure this out for yourself, if you can understand it. The picture is fairly self explanatory if viewed in full screen or expanded mode. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

That's me by the famous Hand sculpture in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh. Said to depict the fact that the city welcomes one and all, the hand is the very symbol for Chandigarh city. The metal structure with vanes is 14 metres (46 ft) high, weighs 50 short tons, and despite it's gynormous size, was designed to rotate in the wind. It wasn't very windy when I visited so I could not witness the hand turning. I only wish I'd realized earlier that the front camera of the cellphone is better for taking selfies- I wouldn't be so self conscious and squint eyed otherwise, struggling as I was with guesswork by using the rear one with the screen pointing the other way! (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

A far shot of the pavilion I'd mentioned in previous captions. You can see the ladies I had isolated in previous shots here- the lday in pink is to the right and the two ladies in blue are just behind the man in the centre, who walked into the frame just as I was shooting. Amazingly spacious, and most of Nek Chand's Rock Garden is created out of junk. Now over twenty five acres of several thousand sculptures set in large mosaic courtyards linked by walled paths and deep gorges, Nek Chand's creation also combines huge buildings with a series of interlinking waterfalls. The Rock Garden is now acknowledged as one of the modern wonders of the world. Over 5000 visitors each day, some 12 million people so far, walk around this vast creation - the greatest artistic achievement seen in India since the Taj Mahal. Detailed notes about the Rock Garden, arguably Chandigarh's most famous landmark, appear in previous captions in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

Ice cream and cold drink vendors outside Chandigarh's famous Rose Garden- yes, we will get there in a moment. With my brother down with the Delhi Belly and my sis in law off to look up their son in his hostel accommodation on the outskirts of town, we could not really explore Chandigarh's other main attraction, the Sukhna Lake. (there is a town in Bangladesh with the same name!). My sis in law did try later that evening but the Uber car we booked never turned up. So that then was that. So this is for all practical purposes my final stop in Chandigarh- I'd seen most of the attractions in the day and a half I'd had at my disposal. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

And here is the painting itself- this is a copy of another of the frescoes from the Ajanta Caves near Aurangabad in Western India. I was rather surprised, as I almost thought this was a scene from Thailand! Which is probably not way off the mark, as Thailand is a Buddhist country as well. I have been to the Ajanta caves way back in 1983 but I do not recall having seen the original fresco of this painting there. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

This is the signage for what must arguably be local Punjab painter SG Thakar's Singh's ultimate masterpiece: 'after bath'. I will not keep you waiting much longer and will take you directly to the painting- see next picture. This is in the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, detailed notes about which appear earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

I am now walking back through the famous Rock Garden, back to the main entrance/ exit as I seek to exit the park. I will therefore save the commentary and simply point out things I see as we go along. Here is a stork, again made from broken ceramic times. Love that white bird contrasting with the clear blue cloud-less sky! Detailed notes about the Rock Garden appear in previous captions earlier in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

The Rock Garden is amazingly spacious in places! Despite being a one man effort to create a garden for himself out of junk, local and international pressure forced the Chandigarh civic authorities to abandon their plans to sabotage the garden and to build a road right through it. They half heartedly then began to support it in dribs and drabs and despite their reluctance, the Rock Garden grew to be one of Chandigarh's most prominent landmarks, if not arguably the first. Here is a large waterfall built in the style of a palace. This is a famous selfie spot in the park and it is sometimes difficult to get an empty or suitable spot for your own selfie with hundreds queueing up to take their selfies. Detailed notes about the Rock Garden appear in previous captions in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

I really could not make out what this artwork was all about- just seems to be a random artificial rock wall made from assorted bits and pieces of rock and stone. There was some water trickling over the stones, if that is of any significance. This is in Nek Chand's Rock Garden in Chandigarh. Detailed notes about the Rock Garden appear in previous captions earlier in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

There are places the Rock Garden in Chandigarh resembles a fortress! Here we come across a solid wall with directions signs and notes to keep the garden clean. It is paradoxical that the civic authorities now post all these notices in the garden, probably because they have now come to terms with the popularity of the garden both at home and abroad and the consequent international pressure. Just a few years earlier, the same civic authorities were trying to demolish the garden and build a road right through it for VIP movement. (don't you simply detest this idiotic VIP culture in India?) Detailed notes about the Rock Garden appear in previous captions in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

After enduring a five and a half hour train ride from Amritsar to Chandigarh in a crowded aircon car of a fast train which kept stopping at every other station nonetheless, we were much worse for the wear when we finally landed at the Lemon Tree Hotel in Chandigarh. We were thoroughly pooped and my brother was pretty down and out as well due to his Delhi Belly. Despite having a confirmed reservation through booking.com, the hotel had screwed up and had double booked. They were short of rooms and made us wait for nearly half an hour at the reception. My sis in law eventually blew her top only after which they started budging a bit. They eventually rather grudgingly gave my bro and sis in law a room on the first floor and shunted me off the the fifth, which pissed her off even more. So after arriving Chandigarh around 22:30, we were eventually able to move to our rooms only around nearly midnight. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)

Back to the big waterfall, the sheer size and power of this waterfall was impressive to say the least. In fact I found many people seemed to be standing and staring first, before making their selfies. This is the first time I was seeing such a tall artificial waterfall, in a cascading pattern. There is a tall one in the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore, an indoor one at that, but that is a single stream of water. We are now at the far end of the Rock Garden. Detailed notes about the Rock Garden appear in previous captions earlier in this album. (Chandigarh, north India, Nov. 2017)