Cooking Class in Jaipur, India

The best thing so far on this trip was the cooking class in Jaipur, India (at least until we took the Himalayan plane trip).

We had a guide before the cooking class -- I had thought it would be the chef but it was a regular guide. I disliked him from the very beginning. He was full of himself. He took us to bazaars that we didn't want to see (textiles and jewelry) and short-changed us on the food and spice bazaars we did want to spend time in. He did have us taste some street food which was fantastic and we never would have even tried them otherwise. 

The totally new treat were "water balls." These are little bubbles of fried dough that when you order them, the vendor punches his thumb into one to make a hole and fills it with "water" yogurt/tamarind or spicy cilantro. 

We learned there is a difference between pakora and pakori. What we had on the street are pakori. They were spicy and accompanied with mint and cilantro chutney, Costing about 50 cents for 15 of them! These were totally new tastes. However, I wasn't sure of the cleanliness of the cooks. We paid the price later and that's what I suspect was the source of our traveler's dilemma!

The final audacity of the guide was that he attended the cooking class with us as though he was a paying client! Subhash later confirmed that this was not standard practice. All the time this marvelous cook was demonstrating, Daulot kept saying under his breath, "That's exactly how I do it." The class went on an hour longer than predicted and I am sure it was because of the extra bazaars and caused us to leave Jaipur during rush hour.

Sameer Gupta (Uncle Sam) is a world class chef. He has cooked for the James Beard foundation and several presidents on the US and has been the guest chef in restaurants around the world. He's collaborated with Madhur Jaffrey (whose cookbooks we've loved) and he's in the process of writing his won cook book. But mainly, he loves to teach and holds almost daily classes in his kitchen. Our class was attended to by his wife, daughter, and son and a hired boy to do the clean up. He had marvelous tips and cooked us an amazing meal. 

Here's a tip he gave us -- start a charcoal briquet on the gas stove (I never knew you could do that!). When you've boiled the rice, add pomegranate seeds, green chilies and chopped bell peppers. Make a space in the middle of the pan for a little metal bowl with the coals and some asafetida. Put a lid on the whole pan for 10 or so minutes to smoke the rice. It's incredible!

The beads and the pashmina from Jaipur

The mittens are because it's cold in Nepal

The amazing thing occurred when I told Chef Gupta it was our anniversary. That kicked him into high gear. First he offered us beer (unusual in a religious family), then as we were leaving he gave us a little ceramic Buddha and his wife gave me some deep red beads made of horn (that go with almost everything I own)! They were so happy that we had been married for 33 years. Their effusive goodbye made me cry. 

Kamikazi Driving in India

Here's the short version of our trip from Jaipur to Delhi! 

Harrowing! 

The long version: It was the worst driving/riding experience of our lives. It took 8 hours instead of the predicted 5 to travel 180 miles. We arrived at midnight rather than 7-8 pm as had been scheduled. I have never seen so many trucks in my life, usually 4 lanes of traffic on 3 lanes of pavement. 

Then there were the camel carts, the bicycle rickshaws, and the motor cycles interspersed with cars and trucks -- with the local businesses only a few feet away. Subhash was a master of weaving through the maze at breakneck speeds. I wanted him to slow down but then we never would have gotten to Delhi. His car had not a dent, which is a testament to his driving skill, but it was very difficult to watch every maneuver unfold. Jim couldn't stop watching while I drifted into occasional uneasy sleep or waited for a quiet moment when I could ask questions:

1. Why do all the trucks say "Blow Horn" on the back? (To remind us to blow the horn when we are passing! Ha. They blow horns all the time, passing, stopping, and in dangerous situations that no one can do anything about.)

2. What does "Use Dipper at Night" mean? It's on the back of every truck. (It means to blink your lights when you are passing. The whole country uses a misnomer: dipper = dimmer? And no one does it anyway! They just blow their horns. If 15 seconds passes without a horn blowing, then you must be alone or dead, the later more likely than the former!)

3. What are those tassles on the rearview mirros that look like someone is waving their arm out the passenger window to tell you to pass? (Decorations.)

I love the looks of the trucks. They are all tricked out. I think this is one idea that could be adopted by American truckers -- sort of like tats on athletes! It makes a statement about who you are! I don't understand the symbols, but they look festive. Sorry, I have no pictures. Either we were going too fast or when we were stopped the trucks were only a millimeter away from the rear view mirror.

Even when Jim is not driving, he's still driving in his mind. He anticipated many of Subhash's moves and often thought:

A. I wouldn't do that.

B. That's impossible.

And then Subhash did it anyway -- successfully! Jim says, "If I were my own life insurance agency, I would have cancelled my policy half way through the trip." My thought is, "If I had been driving, I would never have gotten out of the first round about."

Here's the rest of the kamikaze aspects of the trip: At any given time, a truck or car (or ten of them) would be coming the wrong way because they wanted a short cut to the U-turn! Really. Here you are, driving at 50 MPH and in your lane comes a semi going the other direction! 

Then as the evening drew on, we'd see many trucks stopped in the slow lane! It turns out there is a curfew in Delhi and trucks can't enter between 9:30PM and 6AM. So why not just stop where you are? 

The highway is also under construction with many miles of 2 bumpy lanes and the slow lane sometimes being used by sleeping truck drivers and camel carts going the wrong way! At times we were stopped between huge trucks for 20 -30 minutes! It was nuts! 

There's great honking and blinking of lights when there's absolutely no place to go! Subhash was judicious with the horn, thank goodness.

We got in late, slept 6 hours, got up, showered, repacked for plane travel, had breakfast, and were on the road to the airport by 8. 

We had a new driver for that little trip who told us what makes a good driver in India: 

Good Brakes. 

Good Horn. 

Good Luck!

The Top of the World

We had no plans for our week in Kathmandu, but that all changed when an ambitious young man, Pramod, accosted us at the airport, drove us to our hotel, and convinced us to sign up for a series of activities. The Monkey Temple (see Jacquie's blog) was the first. This morning it was the Himalayas.

Pramod sent us a car at 5:30AM and we went back to the airport. It did not occur to us to bring our passports, since this was a local one-hour flight, but they accepted our claim to know our passport numbers, which we wrote down on their form, and off we went.

Well, not right away. We were all boarded, 19 of us for the 19 window seats of the turbo-prop. After a long preflight check and a gathering of a committee on the tarmac next to us (safety meeting!) they decided not to let the plane go due to an engine problem. We reloaded into our bus and waited another half hour while they found and prepared another plane.

I was in seat 1A, and on the first plane this seat had a slightly awkwardly placed window. Seat 2A had no window and thus no passenger. On the new plane, 1A had a small window but 2A had a normal one, so I moved back. I was the only true beneficiary of the change.

We finally took off about an hour late. Jacquie tried to call Pramod to let our waiting driver know about the delay but could only leave a text.

We were up next to the mountains in very little time, and the port-side passengers enjoyed the view for the first half of the trip. Great bonus - each if us got a chance to get a view from the cockpit! We were just making the mid-flight turnaround when it was my turn to go up front, so I got a fantastic look at Everest. You don't have to lose fingers and toes to see the Hillary Step up (fairly) close. The return trip was notably closer to the peaks, so I moved across the plane next to Jacquie for a review of all the same scenery.

Gauri Shanker, 7134m (23405ft)

Melungtse, 7161m (23560ft)

  
 

Not sure, but pretty!

Cho-oyu 8210m (26906ft)

The big one, Sagarmatha (Everest), 8848m (29028ft) and Lhotse 8516m (27940ft)

                                                                Everest panorama

Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal were the two bucket list items on this vacation, and I was going to settle for being able to see any of these magnificent mountains. But to see Everest up close like this more than makes up for the foggy shroud around the Taj. What luck!

Monkey Temples

Subhash

We were toured and shopped out and asked Subhash to suggest something different. He'd been driving us for four days, so he had some sense of our tastes. He asked if we'd like the monkey temple! Indeed, by Jove, yes!

On the way out of town, through Jaipur's poorest of poor, Subhash bought 4 pounds of bananas. Aha! A clue about the monkeys! There were lots of sacred cows on our way and in that area, people feed them and sell greens to tourists to feed them.

When we arrived and paid the fee, a volunteer guide showed up who seemed to know Subhash. He definitely knew how to manage the monkeys -- how to get them to back off, who was the king monkey and had to be fed first, who was a hungry monkey with little ones to feed, that kind of thing. He took some great photos with my camera and even a video of a monkey family. 

As we approached the temple of Hanuman, we began to see lots of women gathering. They came to wash in the "pure" water and to sing and dance for the monkey god who is one of the sons of Shiva (along with Ganesh, the elephant guy). 

It seemed a special festival for praise of the monkey god and the monkey's were very grateful -- at least to us because we brought bananas!

On our way up to the temple, there were snake charmers, and yes, that is a cobra! Yikes! I'm not a lover of snakes! There were also lepers begging, but no small children trying to pick our pockets. So far, we've not encountered the problems we've had in Rome and other places in Europe with pickpockets and people being pushy trying to sell things. Regardless, we are mighty careful.

The monkeys were up to typical monkey business, trying to steal the bunch of bananas out of our hands or running off with the plastic bag as though it was a prize. The architecture was really interesting -- it seemed abandoned, but it was occupied according to Subhash. All over Asia, it seems they've used inferior paint. While bright colors abound in many areas, the paint is almost always washed out.

We fed monkeys and looked at the pretty girls and took photos and had a lovely time. It was a great interlude between seeing ancient stuff and mind-blowing driving!

Later, in Kathmandu, we went to their monkey temple but it wasn't a temple to Hanuman at all -- it was a Buddhist/Hindu temple, complete with monkeys! There were also many sleeping dogs and no cows, although cows are sacred in Nepal too. Many temples in Asia have influences from more than one religion, depending on who is in power at the time. The power of the century spends a lot of time trying to change the style of the temple to match the current belief. Remember the temples in Cambodia where the Buddhist carved huge Buddha heads in the Hindu temples. This was true in Nepal also. Here's a Hindu carving right beside all the Buddhist prayer wheels.  

A Day in Jaipur

I'd had enough touring of palaces, temples, forts, and mausoleums. So we started the day with a little shopping. Subhash took us to a Thali Rajastan Emporium that had three+ floors of shopping wonders. We were greeted by a "salesman" who stuck with us for all the floors. While he didn't make any power sales pitches, he was more than willing to show us everything in the emporium and each time I was interested, I had to say, "How much?" There were some amazing things to buy, but mostly I was thinking of some fabric to make a quilt. 

The fabrics of silk and wool were the same price as cotton back home and the patterns were beautiful. Jim got interested in one particular fabric and the "guide" said, "Make shirt for you. Have in 2 hours!" When it became obvious that Jim really did want a shirt, I asked how much to make. "Nothing to make. We have tailors right here on the forth floor" I had visions of a sweat shop populated by little girls and old women who made 5 cents an hour. It's work, right? I'm not so sure.

Jim ordered the shirt and the next step was, "You want tea? Masala tea?" We love Masala tea and they don't serve it in the morning in India -- but this day, indeed by Jove yes! Not only did we get tea but the whole staff got tea while the guide showed us all kinds of beautiful things. Eventually we got to the versatile bedspread/table cloth section. The bedspread side is a lovely pattern of Indian silks and the table cloth side is a cotton print reminiscent of Provencal tablecloths but with elephants and camels in the design. How could I resist? I wouldn't even have to make the quilt and it saved me the task of choosing fabrics that go together and deciding how much of each I needed. 

Then there was the pashmina section -- how can one resist such beautiful fabrics -- soft and colorful and perfect! We left with all those things and a little painted elephant and a camel made of camel skin (poor camel). Shopping was complete. 

I am so surprised about the camels in India -- I just never expected to see them here. Most of them are pulling carts but occasionally we saw them all decked out along the side of the road, waiting for some unsuspecting tourist to take a ride. I can't imagine that is any more comfortable than elephant riding. Some of the camels have fancy designs shaved into their coats. Some are so skinny you wonder how they can pull the carts ladened with everything imaginable, from veggies to bricks! I never got a picture of a real working camel -- the car was always going too fast and the camel was often too close. Here's a posed camel at the elephant safari site.

Elephant Safari

At first thought this seemed like the most romantic thing we could do for our anniversary (eve). But we hesitated last summer when I was booking this Delhi Magic tour. We asked about how the elephants were treated and if they had been born in captivity or forced most cruelly to behave as the trainer wanted. We did lots of soul searching and then Jim's mom gave us an Anniversary/Christmas check that would cover the cost of the Safari. While in Thailand, we decided to give it a go.

I wish we hadn't. We were rushed from the moment we got out of the car. The waiting elephants were really beautiful -- it was an impressive sight with all the mahouts sitting atop their heads. I should have taken a picture, but honestly, they didn't give us a second to think about what we were dong. 

First they brought us four bananas to feed Rani. They said it was so she would "like us." Ha! I don't believe that for a minute. She did like the bananas though. Then we were rushed through a gate where the band started to play but the head guy told them to stop. I guess we weren't dignitaries. I wanted to take a picture of a camel and cart and just stubbornly stood still for 30 seconds to do that but it was obvious we wanted us up the steps to get on the elephant. Probably Rani gets impatient leaning agains the wall waiting for us to board.

They shooed us onto the "saddle," a platform of pink metal and very thin pillows. They showed us the stirrups, one on each side . OK that's the side leg, what to do with the other one? Curled in front, hanging on to a metal bar -- it all felt precarious and after a minute, extremely uncomfortable. Eventually, I leaned back with the bar gouging my back and propped up my inside foot on the front bar. At least my leg was straighter and I felt pretty securely wedged in. Just then the mahout said our trip would be 1.25 hours! What? Oh my, I was ready to get off right then and probably only 10 minutes had passed. So I learned to get used to the sway of the Rani's gait and look at the setting sun and check out the vegetation that was quite unfamiliar.

Rani had some serious elephant farts and then dropped huge soccer-ball sized scat. Lots! She seemed happier after that. Could I know if she was happy? Not really. I just didn't think that taking tourists on sunset rides had been on her bucket list, to say nothing of her 5km trip to get home.

Eventually, we came to a little platform in the "jungle" where we got a glass of beer and the offer of picture taking. Good thing I brought a camera because you can't see anything of an elephant when you are on top of her! I was fully expecting to be offered a picture of all of us, but no. They didn't offer such things unless you were on a company outing and the company requested it. I somehow got the idea they really weren't happy seeing the likes of us -- but I don't know what they did want to see. 

Finally, we arrived at the beginning where we were asked at least 20 times if we were comfortable! Then we went 30 ft. to the estate where they had lovely fires and chairs for lounging and having a drink and watching the moon rise. It was getting cold, so the fires were welcomed!

As we started to eat, the elephant polo came began. People paid to play polo and the elephants lumbered up and down the field. When I asked later if the elephants enjoy the game, we were told that yes, they do because they don't have to run or carry loads or get poked with sharp metal sticks. Ha, we saw our mahout "stab" Rani when she got a little uppity. 

Dinner was a buffet and it was alright but mostly I just wanted to go back to our hotel and sleep. By then Jim was over his traveler's dilemma and I was starting mine. When we met Subhash at his car, I asked if they gave him a good meal (we were out in the middle of nowhere and I assumed they took care of the drivers). He said they did but it was not good.

Well, this was another disappoint. All-in-all, I can think of a better way to spent $180, but at least we can say -- we rode an elephant. As though that was any claim to fame!

The Taj Mahal

It was to be the highlight of the trip, the reason for coming to Asia in the first place. The timing was dramatic -- a glimpse from the Red Fort in the afternoon, a stroll along the opposite side of the Yamuna River to see it in the almost full moonlight of Christmas Eve, then the actual visit with the classic approach to the reflecting pool and gradual immersion in the details of the most beautiful structure ever created.


But clouds got in my way. These are the ground-level clouds, aka fog, that made our drive from Delhi to Agra totally uninteresting due to the lack of visible scenery. Other than that plus a cracked rib from an overzealous Thai massage and a second bout of gastric distress, things were going quite well. 

I was simply paying for the sins of the East India Tea Company. Those Brits wormed their way into the hearts of trusting Hindustan and proceeded to pillage their economy and their most beloved treasures. The EITC extracted marble, precious stones, and gems for the Taj and dozens of other monuments and palaces to be sold piecemeal to the highest bidders in Europe.

OK, end of diatribe. 

The Taj Mahal, a mausoleum built by emperor Shah Jahan to fulfill his favorite wife's only wish,  is truly wondrous and fortunately now preserved by its nation and the fact that it was built with materials that not only last but retain their luster over the centuries. 

Much thought, not to mention 20,000 skilled and unskilled workers over 22 years, went into its design and construction. For example, the four minarets at the corners are tilted outwards so that if an earthquake hits, they will not fall toward the domed mausoleum.

This is the apex of Mughal architecture, which often combines Muslim and Hindu aesthetics. Complex and graceful geometric patterns reflect the prohibition of representative images in traditional Islam.

Bas-relief floral patterns of dying leaves and blossoms indicate the fact of death and rebirth, a central tenet of the Hindu faith.

The Taj Mahal is part of a larger complex that includes the Red Fort, where many Mughal emperors made their home, with many wives, soldiers, advisers, and laborers. The fort also has features representing multiple belief systems and traditions. Covered passageways and semi-enclosed rooms allowed women to move about unseen by men as decreed my Muslim law. . They could peer through filigree screens or elevated windows to the outside world.

A nearby section has the classic crowned arch found in Hindu temples. The Mughal emperors were both powerful and politically savvy, making interfaith marital alliances, frequently demanding tolerance of different religions, and including symbolism in their art respecting all their surrounding cultures, so that visiting dignitaries might not feel that they were in the domain of an adversary.

The Red Fort is a city fort, with a moat containing crocodiles and alligators, a secondary dry moat populated by tigers, and finally a high battlement for the archers. (A hill fort, by contrast, uses geography in place of moats for defense.)

Next to the fort is what used to be the largest mosque in India.

This was not the experience I had imagined since I was eight years old, when my brother made a drawing of the Taj for an art contest. Our excellent guide, Akshar Jain, said that seeing it through the fog is most appealing, adding to its mystery. I think if I got to see it as often as Akshar, I might agree, but since this is almost certainly my only chance, I would have preferred a clearer view.

I have seen many beautiful things, and hope to see more before I cease to be able to do so. The Taj Mahal may yet be the best of them all. It is definitely the most romantic monument ever conceived. Shah Jahan himself is buried next to his beloved, and unlike in traditional Islam, she remains in the center, while he is off to the side.

Christmas in India

Agra to Jaipur

We were greeted this morning by many Indians with "Merry Christmas." Overnight, our hotel in Agra added red and white balloons and blue snow-flaky things. It couldn't feel less like Christmas, but I hope each of you is having the perfect Christmas!

Yesterday afternoon, we went to the Red Fort, pictured here. The red sand stone has held up much better than the stones of Ankgor Wat. 

We had two tours this morning -- the Taj Mahal and Akbar's fortified city nearby. At noon we took off for the 5 hour trip to Jaipur (of Marigold Hotel fame) and are now ensconced in our lovely Indian room that is far nicer that last night's room. It still does not feel like Christmas and as I write you, dear reader, are all still dreaming of sugar plums. 

I am very curious to read what Jimmy writes about the Taj Mahal because this was his dream come true and it was dreamy all right, just not the way we had envisioned it. There was so much fog yesterday that we saw nothing but the highway on the 5 hour trip from Delhi to Agra. Last night we could not see anything but the outline of the Taj Mahal and the trip to and from that view point was the most harrowing driving I've ever been part of. Our driver is a saint! As two roads converged at the entrance of a two lane bridge at least 100 cars and motorcycles and bicycles and lorries maneuvered to get into the space of one vehicle. 3 inches from the tires of our car two women squatted beside a piece of cloth, sorting the remains of their nut-selling day. Sometimes a bicycle squeezed between them and us! Subhash was patient (outwardly) and skilled to get us through that tangle of metal and humanity!

Today we could not see much of fhe Taj Mahal until we walked right up to it! No reflection in the pool and no dome from any angle. Jim did seem to grin and bear it, but I can't tell how disappointed he is. It became a joke -- our guide kept saying -- if it wasn't foggy, you could see... 

I am now tired of looking at architecture, struggling to understand what's being said, and keeping track of history trying to make sense between what was happening here in India and what was happening in Europe or eventually, the US. We've been so tired every night that we are in bed by 8 and sleeping until 5 or 6. It's sort of like camping -- when it gets dark, there's nothing to do and tiredness wins over ingenuity!

Tomorrow we're going to the bazaar to look at stuff and then to a textile shop. In the late afternoon we go to the elephant safari with dinner on the estate in the evening. The cooking class in the following day.

We were freezing this morning. I wore my fleece shirt and down vest and I was chilly. Jim wore his suede jacket and long sleeved shirt and he was freezing. Now, five hours away it's in the 70s and the swimming pool looks inviting. Tonight this hotel is having a banquet of sorts with fire pits set up between the tables outside. 

The poverty continues to amaze me -- how can so many people be so poor -- and all over the world. Of all the developing countried we've visited over the years, India is the most impoverished. Life here for millions is very hard. I don't think there is anywhere in the US that is as poor as most of the people we see along the roads. 

On a happier note, I love seeing some of the animals, monkeys are everywhere in Agra -- the camel carts, the ox carts, the horse carts all surprised me. The horses are small and spritely. There are water buffalo everywhere, sometimes even inside houses. I didn't think there would be camels here but they are quite prevalent. I have yet to get a photo -- I hope I can on the next trip back to Delhi. (In this city, the animals are absent.) 

The sacred cows are very common when we are out of the city. They just roam around and, like the packs of dogs, eat from the ubiquitous trash heaps. A very few people feed the cows but frankly, I think this is no way to treat an animal you consider sacred -- any more than making elephants (also sacred in Buddhism and Hinduism) a trained entertainer or a working beast. It's just odd or even cruel. 

Well, Merry Christmas -- I hope Santa is good to you one and all!