Alex's top 5 foods:
1. Dosa (plain with an assortment of chutneys... tomato, coconut, mango, mint...)
2. Banana Lassi (fruit and yogurt smoothie)
3. Papdi Chaat (sweet and spicy tamarind sauce with sour yogurt, mint chutney over some sort of crispy bread... I also had it over "crispy spinach")
4.Tali (vegetarian)
5. Kheer (spicy rice pudding with dried fruits and nuts)
Shelly's top 5 foods:
1. Chicken durbari
2. Mugalai chicken
3. Brain curry (made the train trip to Amaritsur worth it)
4. White fish
5. Tali
Friday, October 12, 2012
The Train
We headed for Amritsar to see the Golden Temple (and some other stuff) by train. According to the tour package, we would travel first class in maharaja and maharani style. Upon pickup and transport to the train station, we learned our tickets were for coach class. (insert ominous music).
There is no American (or European) equivalent to coach seats on an Indian train. The train car was packed. I do not exaggerate when I say that there were more people than seats in our train car. When large families travel together on a train, they dont always by tickets for children (and Im not referring to toddlers...). Consequently, there are always people standing in the narrow aisles. Children bounce in their seat, cry and shout for something. Old men were passing out candy which only exacerbated the bouncing child problem. (However, it probably would have temporarily appeased me). To entertain themselves, people were playing their radios out loud (without headphones). For 7 hours I had the pleasure of listening to screaming children, Bollywood music, religious music and talk radio.
La Toillette, in name only, was a less than charming experience. I was prepared for an experience - not so clean, perhaps a bit smelly... But I was not prepared for a closet-sized room with an open hole in the floor. What ever you put into the hole went directly on the tracks below! I must admit there two important advantages to such "toillettes" First, there is no mysterious water on the floor (because everything has gone out the hole). Second, there is no smell since the room is well ventilated! Nonetheless, I only used the facilities once during the seven hour trip...
The Train was in an experience that will likely make any other train ride seem grande.
There is no American (or European) equivalent to coach seats on an Indian train. The train car was packed. I do not exaggerate when I say that there were more people than seats in our train car. When large families travel together on a train, they dont always by tickets for children (and Im not referring to toddlers...). Consequently, there are always people standing in the narrow aisles. Children bounce in their seat, cry and shout for something. Old men were passing out candy which only exacerbated the bouncing child problem. (However, it probably would have temporarily appeased me). To entertain themselves, people were playing their radios out loud (without headphones). For 7 hours I had the pleasure of listening to screaming children, Bollywood music, religious music and talk radio.
La Toillette, in name only, was a less than charming experience. I was prepared for an experience - not so clean, perhaps a bit smelly... But I was not prepared for a closet-sized room with an open hole in the floor. What ever you put into the hole went directly on the tracks below! I must admit there two important advantages to such "toillettes" First, there is no mysterious water on the floor (because everything has gone out the hole). Second, there is no smell since the room is well ventilated! Nonetheless, I only used the facilities once during the seven hour trip...
The Train was in an experience that will likely make any other train ride seem grande.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Wagah India - PAkistan border
The India / Pakistan border (near Amritser) is a party! The border crossing consists of circular stadium, divided in half by a large double gate with half on each side of the border. Bollywood music blares in the stadium. On the Indian side, people are dancing in the middle of the stadium and waving flags. The PAkistan side was comparatively empty and quiet (though it was hard to see what was happening on that side).
The representatives from the respective militaries take down their flags at sun down in a spectacular ceremony of pomp. A half dozen tall officers march out of the barracks. They line up and the first man screams for as long as he can hold it. Then stomps, kick his leg like a rocket, stomps again, straightens his frilly fan hat and speeds walks to the gate with arms swinging vigorously (repeat several times). They swing the gate open with vigor and lots of screaming. Then remove the flag and speed walk back to the barracks. The whole ceremony takes 20 minutes, withe the crowd screaming for the duration! It was quite possibly one of the most interesting military ceremonies that I have witnessed!
The representatives from the respective militaries take down their flags at sun down in a spectacular ceremony of pomp. A half dozen tall officers march out of the barracks. They line up and the first man screams for as long as he can hold it. Then stomps, kick his leg like a rocket, stomps again, straightens his frilly fan hat and speeds walks to the gate with arms swinging vigorously (repeat several times). They swing the gate open with vigor and lots of screaming. Then remove the flag and speed walk back to the barracks. The whole ceremony takes 20 minutes, withe the crowd screaming for the duration! It was quite possibly one of the most interesting military ceremonies that I have witnessed!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
A bottle of Merrrrrr-LOT!
In India, wine is not easy to come by and is relatively expensive in restaurants/bars (the least expensive bottle costs the same as a moderately priced bottle in the US and it's rarely sold by the glass)
We thought a bottle of wine would be lovely while watching bollywood movies in our hotel room, so we asked our driver if we could stop by a bottle shop before returning to the hotel. The driver got on the phone and call his people and get a bottle for us. He handed the phone to Shelly to give further instruction to our wine-wallah. He requested a "red wine" in a specified price range. And then I shopped!
While shopping, our wine-wallah called through the shop keeper for further instruction as to what sort of wine. Shelly went with merlot (something commonly found and east to spell). I continued to shop.
About 15 minutes later, the wine wallah called again. He find a bottle of "Merrrrrr- LOTTT" (pronounced by rolling the r and emphasizing the last syllable and the final t). He wanted to know if the brand he found was appropriate: (pronounced as) jak-oh-BEEE crrrrr-ACK. Shelly (who is communicating on the phone wi the wine wallah in Hindi - not his proffered language) asked if I had heard of it. I looked up from the cocktail rings I was looking at and said I had no idea...
Ten minutes later, the wine- wallah showed up wi the wine. He places a black plastic bag on the table and pulled out a box of whiskey - not even close to what we asked for. Then he opened the box, and pulled out a cabernet Sauvignon - merrrrrrloTTT blend from Jacobs Creek. This, I was familiar with - Mission Accomplished! The wine wallah was particulaly impressed with himself because he had bargained down the price!
I admit, I was nervous about what we would end up with, but pleasantly surprised! In India, there is always a man who can get you what you want (for a price).
We thought a bottle of wine would be lovely while watching bollywood movies in our hotel room, so we asked our driver if we could stop by a bottle shop before returning to the hotel. The driver got on the phone and call his people and get a bottle for us. He handed the phone to Shelly to give further instruction to our wine-wallah. He requested a "red wine" in a specified price range. And then I shopped!
While shopping, our wine-wallah called through the shop keeper for further instruction as to what sort of wine. Shelly went with merlot (something commonly found and east to spell). I continued to shop.
About 15 minutes later, the wine wallah called again. He find a bottle of "Merrrrrr- LOTTT" (pronounced by rolling the r and emphasizing the last syllable and the final t). He wanted to know if the brand he found was appropriate: (pronounced as) jak-oh-BEEE crrrrr-ACK. Shelly (who is communicating on the phone wi the wine wallah in Hindi - not his proffered language) asked if I had heard of it. I looked up from the cocktail rings I was looking at and said I had no idea...
Ten minutes later, the wine- wallah showed up wi the wine. He places a black plastic bag on the table and pulled out a box of whiskey - not even close to what we asked for. Then he opened the box, and pulled out a cabernet Sauvignon - merrrrrrloTTT blend from Jacobs Creek. This, I was familiar with - Mission Accomplished! The wine wallah was particulaly impressed with himself because he had bargained down the price!
I admit, I was nervous about what we would end up with, but pleasantly surprised! In India, there is always a man who can get you what you want (for a price).
Veranassi
Veranassi is an imporant site for two of the major religions: Hinduism and Buddhism. Nearly 5 million pilgrims and tourists visit the city each year. And yet, the city is intensely poor and rundown. There are people (and cows, and goats, and monkeys, and dogs...) everywhere. As a result, the city has a certain... Scent...
We went to the Ganges at 5:30 in the morning with the pilgrims. The pilgrims
Move in flocks like birds. Many had musical accompaniment for their procession. At the ghats (steps /terraces) along the river, priests sit on platforms under umbrellas and bless the pilgrims as they enter the water to bathe and then exit. The incense they burn mask the other characteristic scents of the city.
From our boat on the water we could see the cremation pores burning. The crematoriums along the water run nearly 24 hours. According to our guide, all Hindus are cremated, except children, pregnant women, individuals who die of snake bites and those die of some sort of viral infection (or chicken pox, small pox etc). The bodies of these people are put into the river. The attach stones to the body with strings. When the strings disintegrate the decomposing corpse rises to the surface.
After the boat ride we walked through the "old" city. The streets are no more than 3feet wide and crowded with people, cows, dogs, monkeys and the occasional bicycle. People are sleep in the gutters. People sweep trash off their stoop into the street, but don't actually move the trash. The streets are intense, dense chaos.
We went to the Ganges at 5:30 in the morning with the pilgrims. The pilgrims
Move in flocks like birds. Many had musical accompaniment for their procession. At the ghats (steps /terraces) along the river, priests sit on platforms under umbrellas and bless the pilgrims as they enter the water to bathe and then exit. The incense they burn mask the other characteristic scents of the city.
From our boat on the water we could see the cremation pores burning. The crematoriums along the water run nearly 24 hours. According to our guide, all Hindus are cremated, except children, pregnant women, individuals who die of snake bites and those die of some sort of viral infection (or chicken pox, small pox etc). The bodies of these people are put into the river. The attach stones to the body with strings. When the strings disintegrate the decomposing corpse rises to the surface.
After the boat ride we walked through the "old" city. The streets are no more than 3feet wide and crowded with people, cows, dogs, monkeys and the occasional bicycle. People are sleep in the gutters. People sweep trash off their stoop into the street, but don't actually move the trash. The streets are intense, dense chaos.
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