Veega Land

The Entrance - surprising clean!

This past summer, Jason and I weren't home to make it to Holiday World but we did attempt to make up for it by going to India's #1 Amusement Park, Veega Land.  <-- click on that link for better pictures and more info.  Putting our fears of Indian construction aside, we rode almost all the rides.  I think the consensus was that we were all impressed.  Our hopes weren't too high considering there are only a handful of amusement parks in India and it only cost $10 a person to get in.

 

One of the water slides

I have a bunch of pictures for this post, but I can't help but post them all so you get the full effect.  Here in India, even at the beaches, women wear sarees.  They don't go out far - most cannot swim - but they still get in the water fully clothed.  The same goes for some of the males too - shirts and shorts or pants.  I knew it was going to be interesting wearing capris and a tshirt down the water slides!  It wasn't as bad as I thought, but at least I wasn't wearing anything revealing!

The racing slides

We started out the day on the water rides (first was the log ride, of course) and the lines were pretty much nonexistent.  They didn't leave the water running continuously, so at times we'd have to wait for the landing pool to fill back up.  They had the staples of water rides - enclosed ones, double tube ones and even the racing slides where you use a mat.  What was unique about those was that they use a hydraulic system to life you up and send you down the slide although not all the them would life at the same time.  It wouldn't be true Indian fashion if they did! We were hoping the lanes were timed like they are at Holiday World, but they weren't.  Remember, we're in India. lol.  Most parks wouldn't want people in sarees (lots of clothing and a loose scarf around the neck) on the rides, but it was a norm here.  And the wave pool..... wow, was it a sight!  They had a sectioned roped for young children and women (women could get in the main area too) and everyone was fully clothed!  I wasn't allowed to get too close with a camera.. but this is the best shot I could get.  I didn't want to be too obvious.

If only that guy wasn't standing there...  but you get the point. 

Jason posing by the mermaid....I really just wanted a picture of the building in the background.  It had a coaster in it.

The log ride

Chicken burger, chicken cutlet and fried banana

For lunch, we didn't have many options besides biryani or curry, go figure.  I was hoping to find a stand for pizza or chicken nuggets (the real deal... not "ground" chicken, yuck!) but our options were Indian food or more Indian food.  We opted for the ground chicken burger (not so good), the chicken cutlet (again ground chicken and not so good) and fried banana (very good).  Fried bananas are a common street vendor food around here and we had yet to try one until then.  We also got a 7Up and a small bag of chips anticipating the chicken wasn't good.  The chips were excellent though!  Total of all that for lunch = $2. 

Riding the water rides in soaking wet clothes is something I will never forget.  We only saw a few other foreigners there so we stood out like a sore thumb. Overall, it was an entertaining (and inexpensive) day although it just made me want to make sure I am home long enough next summer for a trip to Holiday World! And... to top the trip off, I bought a Veega Land shirt for $2.25.  I'm not sure if I bought it for having a souvenir or the fact that it was so cheap.  I bet not many people can say they have a Veega Land shirt.

...and the best pictures to top off the day (which only cost $1 to get):