Day 31 - Calcutta

The last place on the tour - so sad! We are in Calcutta after catching the overnight train from Varanasi to Calcutta.

It has rainied here...

It is still raining here...

..a lot!

We had to check in to our hotel through the raised corridor - as the reception was waist deep high in water! Half the rooms were flooded, but luckily there was still enough for all of us. After settling in we went for an orientation walk and lunch in Flurys Cafe on Park Street. We had to wade through water one foot deep most of the way. Holes had been knocked through walled gardens, and the water poured out like a waterfall - craziness! Lunch was wooonderful. Flurys is like a typical upmarket English cafe - with amazing service and a huuge selection of cakes. We stayed there a while (so full now)

Tonight we are going to a nightclub called Underground, so whilst a few people went for the touristy exploring, most of us girls just went shopping (department stores - oh how I have missed them). We are eating dinner in one of the best and most exclusive restaurants in Calcutta (and it is actually affordable too) so that should be nice.

Ooh, I like Calcutta - despite the flooding!

Day 30 - Varanasi

Another day in crazy Varanasi.

We woke up at sunrise for a boat trip on the Ganges. The boatmen rode us along the Ghats, so we got a great view of everything going on. Hundreds of people were bathing - they all grinned at waved at us as we passed. There was also people washing their clothes - hundreds of saris of every colour were spread on the steps to dry in the sun - very picturesque.

The day was spent pottering about, and sitting on the rooftop cafe of the hotel, avidly reading Shantaram. The wind really picked up, and the sky clouded over, so it was nice and fresh (it's not truly cool very often - so air conditioning and rare cloudy days are relished!).

At sunset we went back out on the boat. We had a couple of musicians, a sitar and tabla player, and they played Rajas whilst we rocked in the boat. We had hundreds of candles with us to light and float on the river, but unfortunately the wind was so strong that every time we lit one it just blew straight out - ah well, was a nice idea.

Day 29 - Varanasi

I'm in Varanasi... holiest of holy towns, after an overnight train from Agra. Holy cows are everywhere (and holy cow poo too). Sadhus on every street corner, and begger girls sell garlands and candles to float on the river.

I can see the Ganges from my balcony - the river is wider and slower flowing than in Rishikesh, and a dull brown colour. Everything is going on here - births and deaths. 30 sewers feed into the ganges, and bodies are contantly being cremated on the burning ghats and sprinkled into the water, whilst right next to all this hundreds of people immerse themselves in the river and use it to wash out their mouths and eyes - it's craziness. But no-one bats an eyelid - the Indians believe that the Ganga is so pure that it cleans everything instantly. It is not rare to see a body float by the boat, thumbs tied to toes, whilst the boatman simultneously leans over to drink from the river.

Shiva's presence is said to be in Varanasi, and all the death ceremonies that go on here are due to the belief that if a Hindu were to have his ashes sprinkled in the Gangta he or she would skip 7 cycles of death and rebirth - even better, if they were to die here they would go straight heaven. So the city is full of people waiting to die - but everyone is somehow quite joyful because they know they will fast-track it to heaven! So, all a bit crazy.

We went to the ghats at sunset to see the ceremony - lots of clanging and music whilst Brahmin priest waves incence and torches around in synch, very cool. Then we had dinner and coffee in a Pizzeria, enjoying the smell of incence on the breeze and a cool wind after a day of burning sunshine - bliss!

Day 28 - Agra

Well... today I was blown away by the Taj Mahal, and I'm all Taj Mahal'ed out.

We got up at sunrise and walked around the Taj's outer gate to get a view of it from the river. The sunrise gave the Taj a warm glow, and we took a boat ride across the river and many pictures.

A gave the fort visit a miss, a instead relaxed and mooched around, saving my wonderlust for the sunset visit to the inside of the Taj Mahal area. We all met up at the hotel at about 3pm, then entered the Taj by the east gate. Initially all you see are the gardens and the red sandstone, so we sat in the shade and Hannah told us a bit about the Taj before we got our first look.

The Taj was built in 1630-1653 by the 5th Mogul emperor, Shah Jahan, as a tomb for his most beloved wife Mumtaz. When Mumtaz died giving birth to her 14 child, Shah Jahan's hair had gone white overnight. The Taj Mahal took 23 years to build, and you can't really tell from the pictures, but it is made from the finest marble, and inlaid with semi-precious stones. It looks exactly the same from all 4 sides, and the gardens and surrounding building are carefully arranged to enhance it's beauty. Shah Jahan had orinally planned to have a second Taj, made of black stone instead of marble, built across the river to house his own body. Unfortunately this never happened - the Emperor's son was a complete nutcase, and took over the rule by killing his brothers and locking up his father. When Shah Jahan died, his body was placed next to that of his wife, and is now the only thing that is not in perfect symmetrical alignment in the entire place.

With this little introduction, we walked throught the main gateway and had our first, utterly surreal, view of the Taj.






So yeah - that was amazing. Below is cheesy photo of the group in front of the Taj - I've scanned it in so quality is not great - but you get the general idea!

Some Indian Recipies....

> See cooking class post

Khadai Paneer (serves 3*) (Khadai - an indian wok used for cooking fresh vegetables, Paneer - cheese - receipe below, but tofu, feta etc. can be substituted)

Ingredients

1. 2 tbsp oil (any type - but not butter)
2. 1 small onion, finely sliced
3. Spices*: 5 black peppercorns, 2 cloves, 1 black cardamom, 2 thin 1 inch pieces of cinnamon stick, 1/2 tsp brown cumin (don't crush or grind, put in whole and remove before serving)
4. 1 tbsp coriander seeds powder, 2 cloves garlic, 2 inches ginger - mixed together in a blender with a small amount of water to form a paste
5. 2 small tomatoes - crushed/ground with a little water, keep seeds and skin!
6. 2 green peppers - cut into smallish pieces
7. 1 small onion - peeled, cut into 4 pices and seperated
8. 100g paneer - cut in cubes (can substitute tofu, feta, mozzerella)

Method

• Heat oil (1) in pan and add onions (2)
• When onions start to brown, add all of the whole spices (3)
• When onions are brown, quickly add powder spices (4) and paste (5) and 1/4 cup of water (1 cup is approx 125ml)
• Simmer on low heat for 3/4 minutes until water has blended in and mixture is thick
• The oil will seperate and run on top of the mixture

-- you now have a basic curry base, and can add anything you like for an alternative meal--

• Add tomato paste (6) and cook again until mixture thickens and oil is on top

-- again, this is a basic curry base - this time tomato-based--

• Add green peppers (7) and onions (8) and mix on heat for about 2 mins (should still be a bit crunchy)
• Add paneer or substitute (9) and mix well for 1 minute
• Remove from heat
• Place in serving bowl,
• Sprinkle with garam masala and grated paneer (optional - see below for explination of Garam Masala**)

* - note on cooking for larger quantities - if you double the servig, you must double all the quantities except the whole spices - these you should just add a little more (say a 1/4 extra)

** - Garam Masala - Mixture of spices that can be made or bought ready made.

Paneer

Ingredients

1. 1 ltr milk - full cream
2. 1/2 lemon or lime

Method

• Bring milk to the boil
• When boiling add lemon/lime (2) and boil for 2/3 mins more
• Turn off heat and strain through cloth (cotton or cheese cloth)
• Take 4 corners of cloth and tighten
• Place on flour surface and put 4-5 kg on tom for between 1/2 to 2 hours
• Remove weight and open cloth, paneer is ready

Chipati* also called Roti (Makes 5-7 chipati/roti)

Ingredients

1. 100g wholewheat/wholemeal flour
2. Pinch salt
3. 125ml water

Method

• Put flour(1) in large plate
• Add salt (2) and mix
• Add 1/4 of water (3) and mix with hand
• Continue adding water by tsp until mixture is a dough (consistancy of chewing gum)
• Form into ping-pong size balls
• Roll in flour then roll into flat disc (about tea saucer size) with a rolling pin - always use flour
• Heat a pan (roti pan, frying pan will prob be ok) - high heat is necessary, the whole process below should take less than a minute per roti!
• Cook on one side till small bubbles appear, then flip
• Cook on other side till big bubbles appear then flip
• Roll up a kitchen towel, and use it to press and turn the roti all the way round - it should puff up like a little pillow, turn over at this point)
• Turn and repeat

*N.B - to make naan breads - recipe is same but use refined white flour instead and add 1/2 an egg to mixture. Roll out thicker than for a chipatti and cook on a lower heat for longer for longer

Well - that is all the recipes for the mo - maybe skip the paneer making if you think it sounds too arduous - I think the Khadai recipe would work just as well, if not better, with one of the mentioned substitutes! Oh, and try the Khadai recipe with other veg maybe, and definately attempt the Chipatis - yummy.

If you try one, put a comment to let me know how it goes. If you like these, I'll type the recipe for Palak Paneer/Aloo Ghobi - indian fast food!

Day 27 - Fatehpur Sikri/Agra

Yeeees! My last grotty bus ride is finished!! Today was the worst travel day to date (maybe excluding the puking bus)...

We left about 5.30 in the morning - it was still dark and the strees were eerie and abandoned. The sun rose about 6.30 and it got hooot. We hopped on an early bus (supposedly luxury - only true in comparison to local buses that is) and travelled for 4 hours until we reached Fatehpur Sikri, the abandoned city. We were heading to Agra, but stopping for lunch and to visit the amazing Moghul-built fort in Fatehpur Sikri. Sweat dripped off our faces the whole journey, but I managed to snatch some sleep, and read the first part of Shantiram (fantastic book, read it read it - and incidently it's about to be made into a movie starring none other than Johnny Depp!).

To reach the fort area we all took horse and carridge, and then met our slick guide, Peter, who would show us round the fort. The fort was built in the 16th century, by the Moghul Emperor Akhbar, and was the capital of the Moghul empire for a brief 10 years. The whole thing was built with great care, and different palaces and temples built in different architectural styles for Akhbar's wives and concubines. His bed was huuuge, and was wide enough to sleep twelve (the real king-sized bed!!)


The day was very hot, and when took our shoes off to enter the mosque, we had to run across the couryard to avoid burning the souls of our feet. I wondered around with my umbrella to avoid getting sunburn!

After the fort we ate homemade thali in a small cafe and caught our last bus. Our destination was Agra - home of the famous Taj Mahal. (I have an amusing picture of me and Lisa crammed into the back of the local bus - will borrow it at some point so I can upload it). Our hotel for the night is a few paces from the East Gate of the Taj Mahal itself and although the Taj is hidden from view, we will wake up at sunrise tomorrow and walk to the lake for a free view of the Taj in the morning light.

Day 26 - Jaipur

Today was a free day - and we did not a lot! I got up early-ish and spent a large amount on a substandard breakfast (India never ceases to amuse me - my experience thus far is the more you spend on your meal, the worse the food is... Anna jokes that we pay for air conditioning). I then joined a few other girls for a browse of the cities high-end shops.

We hopped aboard a waiting rickshaw (they hang about our hotel all day waiting for use to come out) and went to Anokhi, an English style shop with no hassle, higher prices, and a small cafe attached selling the most delicious carrot cake I've ever tasted. We relished the air-conditioning, until the power went out (work on the lines) and we decided to move on.

On foot this time, and sweating like hell (it really was very hot), we traipsed to the next shop, FabIndia, and again languished in the cool air-conditioning. After we were done there, we decided to finish for the day, and grab some lunch. We risked eating a small restaurant that hadn't been recommended on the sheet, but was just across the road. The food was pleasantly suprising - cheap and very delicious. We vowed not to be so worried about which restaurants are recommended and not - Hannah calls the Lonely Planet the 'Lonely Panaroid', and it is sometimes easy to see why!

After lunch we walked back to the hotel, showered, and raced downstairs to join the bollywood contingent. Bad news... we were due to visit the most luxurious cinema in Asia, the Raj Mandir, but the new film, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, is so much anticipated that there have been riots and fights for the tickets (these guys really love their movies - can you imagine that happening in England?), so we are forced to go to Space Cinema instead. Ajit, the trainee guide, queued for tickets for us all day (now that's dedication) so we got tickets in the front row. We loaded up with popcorn and drinks, cranked back our seats, and enjoyed the bollywood goodness for 3 great hours. The film was in Hindi, with no subtitles - but the storyline quite easy to follow, and we roared with laughter all the way through (although usually at different times to everyone else!). People all got very excited - they were cheering, clapping, laughing and crying - it was definately the craziest movie experience ever! I recommend it for some bollywood hilarity...