Food, Glorious Food

For those of you who were loyal Peaches readers during the first incarnation of this blog, you have probably realized a notable absence in this version thus far: full and detailed descriptions of each and every meal eaten.

If it is not already obvious, I am a proud foodie. Certainly there are a handful of things I will probably never eat (brains come to mind, no pun intended) but there are only three things I've tried that I actually dislike the flavor of: papaya (tastes of vomit), beets (taste like dirt), and ketchup (just disgusting.) I'm proud to report that in addition to recently retrying ketchup, (yup, still hate it) during this trip I tackled both my papaya and my beet phobias. I had a piece of papaya a few days ago at breakfast, and while it remains my least favorite tropical fruit, I will admit that it is tolerable. Last week at Devi Garh, Bobo (also not a fan of the beet root) and I drank carrot-beet juice, and actually enjoyed it.

Anyway, onto much more exciting details of delightful Indian delicacies. The variety of food is, as one might expect in a country so large, incredible. Delicious lamb stews and kebabs in the north, aromatic coconut curry prawns in the beaches of the south, and tender, flavorful veggies just about everywhere. The food map of India very much resembles the geographic map of India; Food in the northwest of the country tastes more like Middle Eastern fare, whereas the spicier stews and sauces that flavor foods in the south resemble dishes I sampled in countries like Thailand and Cambodia.

In fact, it was while backpacking Southeast Asia that one of my travel companions, Fritz Ravine, bestowed upon me the epithet of "lady in the street, freak at the buffet." I. Love. Buffets. And last night's New Years' Eve gala here at the Leela Kovalam was a buffet to end all buffets.

A good buffet is like a culinary version of those choose-your-own-adventure books I used to read as a kid. If you start out with sushi, you might move onto BBQ lobster; If you begin with homemade pita chips, hummous and giant capers, you have a nice segue into veggie kebabs. You never really know exactly where the buffet will take you, and each trip up to the table is like a new chapter in an ongoing quest for satiation.

This buffet had it all: from calamari to cucumber salad, pasta to palak paneer. There were entire sections of this buffet that we did not even have the time to explore, much less the stomachs large enough to sample. Dessert stretched the entire middle section of tables, and featured triple chocolate mousse cake, pistachio napoleons, tropical fruit mini-tarts, yule logs of all colors and flavors, and a make-your-own-sundae station.

The delicious feast, coupled with entertainment that included fire-eaters, a Bollywood dance troupe, a bellydancer, and a live DJ, made for a fantastic New Year's Eve on the beach under the stars.

Pink Is the Navy Blue of India

Ok I did see a snake today…it was a cobra in a basket at the Amber Palace in Jaipur. I tried to stay as far as possible from it while Peaches was happily taking pictures of it. Altogether a non-event….

We shopped for teas and spices today while yesterday Peaches found the sari for the wedding in Bangalore that she needed, it’s peacock blue and very beautiful. I, on the other hand, decided to go for a kurta tunic with pants in pink with beads and little mirrors, I know it sounds hideous and gaudy, but I swear it isn’t and it is one of those things that will be great to wear in the summers and in Jamaica. One cannot come to India and not buy something pink!

Jaipur is the Pink City, beautiful and interesting. It has an ancient capital, Amber, with a fort that you reach on an elephant and the maharajah’s palace in the old city with also great history and wonderful architecture. I got to ride an elephant for the first time in my life, not a particularly comfortable ride, but certainly a fun one!

At our hotel we made friends with a lovely Southern American couple from Atlanta, Michael and Bo-peep, yes, you read correctly, her name, or at least the one she goes by, really is Bo-peep! They are absolutely adorable in a very Southern, charming sort of way, they have been everywhere and they obviously love to live well and have fun. We exchanged addresses and emails and promised to see each other again ,which is something I definitely see happening.

Tomorrow I hope it will be the last of our really early morning rises, we need to get to Bangalore in time for the Mehendi ceremony, so we’ll try and sleep some on the 3 hour flight and maybe catch up later but I still think a 6.00 am flight is totally uncivilized!

Rushmi & Vikram's Wedding is in Two Days!

The countdown begins. Tomorrow we wake at the ungodly hour of 4:00 a.m. to make our early morning flight to Bangalore. Rushmi’s mehendi ceremony will take place tomorrow afternoon; The wedding is the following afternoon, and a reception will take place on the 28th. I have been looking forward to this wedding for so long that I can hardly believe we are almost there!

Sightseeing today in Jaipur was another walking tour of fantastic fortresses and palaces, courtyards and arches, carvings and frescos. The variety in construction materials, architectural style and decorative technique across Rajasthan is quite incredible. One palace is more beautiful than the next, and each and every one seems special in its own way and unique for some reason. The mirrored and carved ceilings at the Amber Fort today were absolutely breathtaking.





Also, I got to ride an elephant for the third time in my life, and that's always a fun thing to do, albeit not exactly the most comfortable way to travel. I love how they paint the elephants faces and trunks. The attention to detail and the appreciation of aesthetics in India is really quite incredible. Every inch of every rickshaw or freight truck or even camel is decorated or adorned.


Not gonna lie, I’m a little bummed to be leaving our “luxury tent” here in Jaipur, but seeing as this trip just keeps getting better and better, and the wedding events begin tomorrow, I am sure we still have lots more to look forward to.

See you in Bangalore!

Merry Christmas from Jaipur, Rajasthan

Us in our Christmas Eve attire!

DO NOT Make Eye Contact With the Squirrels!

"Feeeeeeeeeeed me!"

Apparently, Rajasthan is home to the most gregarious squirrels I have ever met, and I have met some pretty gregarious squirrels in my day. (Those surrounding the Capitol in Washington, DC come to mind; In fact, one bit one of my interns once. I immediately sent her to the Senate Nurse out of fear she would contract rabies, but it turns out that squirrels can't carry rabies--You learn something new every day.)

As we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Maharani Bagh in Ranakpur, we were practically assaulted by about a dozen squirrels in search of a snack. Not only are they completely unafraid of humans, but if you make eve contact with them, they will come right up to you and beg for food. They are utterly shameless. Seriously, my dog doesn't even do that! One basically jumped into Bobo's purse and had to be shooed away; Another climbed on my back as I attempted to photograph its brethren. (Again, I'm really glad they don't transmit rabies. I hope they are also incapable of transmitting leptospirosis.)

"You must be joking! Double-Oh-Seven on an island populated exclusively by women?! We won't see him until dawn!"

I'd like to be / In the middle of a man-made lake / in the Octopussy Garden, late at night

Me Tarzan, You Jain

En route to Udaipur from Jodphur, we stopped at Ranakpur Jain Temple, one of the most spectacular Jain worship houses in all of India, and probably one of the most beautiful temples I have ever seen, period.



The temple features over 1,000 intricately carved marble columns, and no two are alike.



Construction began on the temple over 600 years ago, and at that time, the seed for this tree was planted, and the temple constructed around it.



Followers of Jainism, a dharmic religion with roots in India, believe in a path of non-violence for all living creatures. India is currently home to approximately 5 million followers of the religion.

The Long, Long, Long Road to Jodphur

The morning started with our last game drive at Ranthambore, no tigers this time, but we saw wild boar, antelopes, deer and tons of monkeys. The lack of tiger sighting was also due to the fact that people were allowed to enter the reserve on foot (actually they were all barefoot) for the fourth day after the new moon for the festival of Ganesh. Lots of Indians scampering around the park are not conducive to tigers’ outings.

After leaving, alas not without saying goodbye to our lovely tent, we boarded our minivan, very comfortable, but it was going to be our prison for the next nine hours….
We found out that the Indian style of driving is similar to the one in Naples, basically honk your horn at anything that moves: honk at men, women and children, honk at cows, honk at the ubiquitous not so wild pigs, honk at motorcycles, honk at cows, honk at trucks, honk at cars and, did I mention, honk at cows?

The villages we passed before passing Jaipur where your typical run of the mill, Sunday in any village: the men all out sitting around in bars, the women hardly anywhere to be seen. One interesting thing is though that the Indians refuse to live their lives unadorned , from the fronts of their trucks to the butts of their camels everything is painted, tasseled, bedazzled and even the poorest women in the smallest villages wear the most amazing saris with the most beautiful colors and with nose piercings, bangles on their arms, and beaded, painted, mirrored fabrics.

We finally arrived in Jodhpur in time for a late dinner and our hotel called Raas is absolutely amazing….more to come.

Highlights On the Road to Jodphur

1. Mustard fields as far as the eye can see. Seriously, they must grow the entire world's supply of mustard in Rajasthan. It's bright, practically neon yellow for miles and miles.

2. A camel parked by a gas pump. Two guys were filling up a large gas can resting on a cart being pulled by the camel, but it still appeared as though they were gassing up their camel and it looked amazing. Wish I had been able to snag a photo in time.

3. Wild dogs, eating at a cow carcass. Yummy.

4. "Ramakrishna Women's Teachers' College." [NB: The surname of my friend getting married.]

5. Goats on the highway. On an actual toll road, six lanes across, honest to god highway. And Bobo wonders how it could possible take ten hours to drive 550 km...

Camp, Rajasthani Style

Evenings at SherBagh are delightfully tranquil. After teatime in the library, there is ample time to relax and freshen up before campfire begins around 7:00 p.m. We enjoyed cocktails by the bonfire, followed by traditional North Indian fare in the company of trusty Jusuf as well as the six other guests at the campsite: a family from Kent, England with two tweenagers, and an American couple living in London.

Sadly for us, no tigers made an appearance at dinnertime. Apparently, although unusual, it isn’t completely unheard of for them to wander through camp. I also learned that if you are being charged at by a tiger, you must under no circumstances run, or you are sure to become lunch. If you spot a tree nearby, your best bet is to sprint to it and haul yourself up to the highest branch you can climb. Tigers do not climb trees. I will file this under my growing repertoire of animal defense techniques (such as punching a shark in the gills, running in zigzags to escape a crocodile, and curling up fetal position if being attacked by a bear.) Jusuf claims to have been charged at by both a leopard and a tiger on two separate occasions. I might hear the full stories of both these incidents.

Operation Rescue Lizard

After a five hour train ride that involved sitting up in a sleeper berth too short for people of our height, we finally arrived at Sawai Madhopur, our gateway to exploring Ranthambore National Park. Representatives from the SherBagh met us at the rail station in a swank open-air jeep and drove us to a luxury tent camp bordering the national park. This. Place. Is. Awesome.

Our canvas roofed tent has running hot and cold water, lovely sisal rugs, and mosquito netting. It also had a tiny visitor waiting to welcome us: a pink lizard in the toilet. Once I saw the little dude was definitely alive and kicking, I couldn’t bear to flush it, so mom and I searched our tent for an appropriate lizard removal device, and settled on a water glass. I was able to scoop our friend out of the toilet bowl, but he lost his tail in the process. I released him outside, and after a moment of shock, he scampered off. I’m pretty sure his tail will regenerate, so I don’t think I’m premature in calling Operation Rescue Lizard a success.

While cool with lizards, mom is decidedly not cool with their reptilian brethren the snake. We were assured that the most harmful, poisonous ones are already hibernating for the winter, but that was little comfort for mother, who cannot bear the sight of them. I’m already wishing I had brought along one of those fake rubber ones; Then again, that’d be a fast way to be disowned.

Also worth noting is the presence of our Aide de Camp/Host/Concierge/SherBagh factotum, Yusuf. He is the man. Not only does he speak in the most perfect British English you have ever heard, but he also rocks a serious handlebar mustache which he twists at the edges as a nervous habit.

Ranthambore is home to crocodiles, sloth bears, hyenas, leopards, and--of most interest to me--TIGERS. I read in the guest book that a family leaving today saw not one but two great cats while out on jeep safari, so I’m hoping we have similar luck between tomorrow and the following morning. I brought a tiger leash because I’m all about being prepared.

En Route to Rajasthan

Boarding our train early this morning at the Delhi rail station really was like a scene out of The Darjeeling Limited. Lucky for us, our tour operated-arranged driver negotiated a baggage-lugging price with three porters (he called them coolies, but that just seems wrong to me) and before we knew it, the three men had our suitcases atop their heads and were marching single file towards our train car.

Although we are on this train for a mere four hours, it turns out this train continues south through the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, all the way to Mumbai--a 24 hour train ride from Delhi. Hence, the sleeper berths we are currently using as seats. Not the most comfortable way to travel, but I’m not complaining. Actually, my only complaint thus far is that the train windows are far too small and dirty to see much as we travel, but perhaps we will have better luck on our next train trip to Jaipur,

I’d like to note at this time that until moments ago, someone was blasting Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” through external speakers, and the teenage girl sitting opposite me is reading Twilight.