Travel Souvenirs

Old Indian Railway tickets

Every travel is unique and so is every place. Even if two places are in the vicinity of each other there is always a contrast. I have met people who will tell, if you have visited the hills or mountains they are all same. I am sure some may agree but anyone who has seen a couple of places will vouch that there is a world of difference eg.between Mussoorie and Nainital though both happen to be in the UP. To keep the memories of the travel alive in our minds, we pick up souvenirs from the places we go to for the uniqueness associated with the place.These also come in handy as gifts to friends and relatives who we meet on return.

When visiting places of pilgrimage like Haridwar, or Varanasi or even the Char -Dham( Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri) the most common souvenir is the ' Ganga Jal'( water from the sacred River Ganges) carried in small urns or plastic bottles. Other item is the prasad ( offerings to god) in the temples that have a long shelf life. Now a days people get key chains, magnets displaying images for the fridges etc. I once remember having bought a small decorative stool made of marble from Jabalpur , near BhedaGhat, and when I unwrapped, it was in pieces, leaving me heart broken.
Sometimes the souvenirs turn out to be a steal in shopping deals and over a period of time what had been purchased at the spur of a moment turns out to be a real value for money. Many years ago, while strolling on the Mall in Shimla in autumn, I spotted a sale at Gandhi Ashram during the October festivities. I spotted a pure wool jacket costing around Rs 600/-( just about US $12)! It was very comfortable and I have continued to use it over the years and it is a perfect shield for the winters in Delhi!

Tickets from various journeys and museum visits

Some other souvenirs that I like to collect are the local tickets, passes etc issued by the rail , road networks, museums etc. I still have some train tickets which once were issued manually on the card board type hard paper a a short stub and used to be franked by the Indian Railways using manual stamping by a small iron press!Among the many other I have collected are the Brit Rail passes, RER tickets and carnets issued by French rail, Oyster card issued by HK Travel authority, SMRT pass by Singapore Metro Rail Authority, Ferry tickets issued between travel from Picton to Wellington in New Zealand, and many others! The nostalgia of each trip comes to life when I pull these out from the collection.

Whatever, one fancies while traveling, does  shopping accordingly. I am yet to come across someone who does no kind of shopping no matter how small when traveling. I am sure you all too must have bought souvenirs or gifts , while traveling Do mention what kind of gifts you like to buy when traveling.

PS - Image of old Indian railway ticket kind courtesy www.irfca.org