Whizkid, I dont know anything about Chandigarh. But, I hope your move goes very well for both of you. It will be nice if you eventually keep us posted how this goes.
What made you decide to move back to India?
I think the one thing I have noticed is that the cost of living has gone up considerably in India compared to 5-10 years ago.
Traffic is always bad. but, traffic can be bad in any big world city.

i spend about 30-40 nights a year in chandigarh every year....pm me if you have specific questions & i can try to help....

Whizkid,

Chandigarh is a lovely town with great people (especially if you are / can speak North Indian Urban Anglicised Punjabi ;) ). It is one of the best planned cities in India with wide roads, leafy boulevards and lots of greenery. The highway b/w Delhi and Chandigarh is one of the best in the country, and now even has Barista's etc at a couple of places enroute! The Shatabdi is also super convenient.

You are also close to Shimla, which is great as long as you avoid the summer school holiday crush! Even closer are decent day-trip places like Panchkula and Timber Trail in Parwanoo. Pinjore gardens are good for flora and fauna lovers. And also for "just" lovers. ;)

The Taj is currently the nicest hotel in the city, serves awesome tandoori partridge & quail (ask for "titar and bater") as well as excellent keema paranthas!!. A couple of SPG properties are also in the offing and should be opening in the next couple of years. (An aloft in Zzirakpur, and a Sheraton in the city centre IIRC.) So much better than the "Mountview or nothing" option from a few years back! IIRC, sectors 10 and 17 have a lot of happening F&B joints and bars/clubs. Youngsters in the city consider themselves ultra-hip (all skinny jeans, Louis Vuitton handbags and huge wraparound Prada glasses that apparently can be worn even at midnight :D ) and boy can they party like anyone!!

Very very nice city!

Whizkid I agree with AJ's recommendation. I am in and out of Chandigarh a few times a month when I am in India, I also lived there for a a while when I was working there over the last few years.

Traffic is a breeze compared to any other city in India. It is a really nice and clean city.

Guys just returned from a 5 week trip to Punjab, Delhi, Agra / Patna .. Loved it, really miss India :(.. Loved every bit of it, Whizkid I envy you :p ^ all the best with the move. Here's some info I found browsing on cricinfo re Chandigarh (IXC)
posted by local lad Yuvraj Singh :
http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/c...ity=chandigarh. Keep us posted when your down in Chandigarh.
Cheers

Not to mention, Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake.

Spent 3 years of my childhood in Chandimandir Cantonment (past Panchkula - which, back then, was a town just starting to grow).

Does anyone know if the "Tawa" restaurant is still around. I think it was in Panchkula, can't remember which sector, but from memory, it was almost in a basement. More memories of Red Bishop restaurant in Panchkula, and the Dhillon Complex, which has over the last two decades turned into a thriving complex complete with multi screen movie theatres and the like.

GoAir (G8) DEL-PAT-DEL + Patna Sahib trip review
 

Gday guys, on my recent trip to India, I decided to visit Patna to pay homage at Takth Shri Patna Sahib Gurudwara. *Thanks to all as before I left I enquired about my options of getting to PAT*. I booked my flights on GoAir from DEL-PAT-DEL 24/2/11 and returning on 25/2/11. Was really concerned with their cancellations of the 0730 departure **due to fog** so I opted for the 1430 departure out of DEL.

I was travelling from Ludhiana, PB so my options were either take Shtaabdi leaving LDH @ 0700 and arriving into DEL @ 11.15, I didn't realise Metro had connected DEL railwaystation with the airport, however later found out it was on T3, as GoAir and other low cost carriers fly out of Terminal 1D. Thus I decided to play it safe and booked a taxi from Ludhiana to Delhi Airport, left Ludhiana on a really cold, foggy morning @ 0530. As soon as we got out of Ludhiana we encountered heavy fog (near Khanna, Mandi Gobindgarh) on NH1.

Our taxi driver Laxman took refuge behind a Punjab Roadways Bus, guess going from Ludhiana to Patiala and this ensured we maintained a speed of about 70 km/h :D . Thankfully it all cleared up after Sirhind, and as we crossed into the Harayana border near the Shambu Toll Tax barriers, the fog had lifted and we returned to our normal speed of 90km/h in the hired Tata Indigo. We stopped at Pehlwan Da Dhaba in Moorthal, as I think Sukhdev is really over-rated and Is always crowded. Had some Missa Tandoori prothey :p and Special Chaa with Meetha Kum.. Then continued on our journey to the airport. Arrived at DEL 1D at 1230, with 2hours to spare before our departure to PAT.

Checked in at Checkin E, browsed around the terminal, ^ DIAL. Flight was not showing boarding time, due to the late arrival of aircraft from BOM, as this aircraft performs BOM-DEL-PAT-DEL-BOM sectors. 1415 came, but no show of boarding gate on the FIDS, 1430 boarding was announced and we were transferred onto the GoAir buses and taken to our aircraft. Didn't take the reg no. of the a/c but it had the brown tail on the outbound and pink on the inbound. Was quite impressed with the cabin condition and the inflight announcements. 1.40hr later touched down in PAT @ 1635, instead of 1610. Didn't check in any baggage *20kg free checked baggage allowance* and enquired at the Pre-paid Taxi counter for Patna Sahib, quoted RS 500 for a 18km journey, I was like ... ? walked outside, was approached by hawkers, offering to take us Rs 350 in the Autorickshaw, Rs 600 in the Scorpio.

Decided to play it safe and walked back inside the terminal and forked out the Rs 500 for a Pre-Paid cab, the driver was an ex Bihar Tourism Coach driver who had travelled all around India, who pointed out the main attractions on our route to Patna Sahib. Arrived at the Gurdwara at 1730, checked in our room to drop of our bags, the Gurdwara provides VIP rooms with attached bathrooms + hot water system for Rs 100 per night for pilgrims. Had langer and went to bed at 9ish as we were heaps tired from the 7+ hour drive from Ludhiana to Delhi. Woke up next morning at 4am to the hymns of Gurbani on the loud speakers, took a shower and headed to the Gurdwara Sahib to take part in the Amrit Vela service. After that booked another cab internally from the Gurdwara for PAT left at 0730 for a 0925 departure to DEL. All I could see in the morning peak hour was autorickshaws guzzling out diesel and stopping in the middle of the road, 90% of our time our Tata Sumo driver had his hands on the horn.

Upon arrival at PAT, realised due to HEAVY FOG the DEL flight hadn't taken off thus a delay was expected. 0925 ETD, 10.40ATD. Arrived back into DEL at 12.30ish and drove back to Ludhiana. Summary: GoAir is pretty reliable, infact they claim to be India's most reliable on time airline and with 10 young A320s in the industry. Would fly with them again, as can't fault it for Rs 1981 DEL-PAT and Rs 1731 PAT-DEL.
Cheers

flyinsikh

Would you mind splitting the previous post into some paragraphs for our reading pleasure? :)

i was thinking the exact same thing....;)

@Keyser: I just noticed your name change. I was wondering who is this person posting frequently in the India forums!

I guess you get privileges as an Evangelist.^

i wish evangelist came with such privileges....;)

same here.. i was wondering couple of weeks back and then noticed the note..
and yes, i too checked with saad oops keyser on whether this handle change is allowed and sadly its not :(

Wow..you must be special to get the change then!!

not special....just some circumstances which prompted the change....ft was kind enough to go along with it....

^ to FT