Jaipur

After seeing the tiger on 6/11, we got back on the bus for a 6-hour drive to Jaipur, home to many grand palaces and forts. We arrived late and had a very late dinner at a traditional Rajasthani restaurant. The food was very spicy and definitely distinct from other regions of India. One of the specialties of the region is Lal Mans (lamb in spicy red gravy), which translates to “red meat.” My favorite dish was a large sphere of ground lamb surrounded by dough. The meat was tender and spiced deliciously; the spicy red gravy served on the side was great too. In general I have enjoyed North Indian food more than this type of Rajasthani cuisine, but I am glad I got to try this delicious dish.

On 6/12, we started the day by visiting the Amber Fort, a large fortress built in the late 16^th century. We drove to the base of the hill on which the fort sits then rode elephants up the hill to begin the tour! The elephant ride was great—Rose and I had an older elephant so we were moving more slowly than the other groups. There were many hawkers that followed us up the hill trying to sell us blankets and many people who took our pictures as we rode, hoping to sell them to us after we reached the fort. We ended up buying lots of prints (approximately 20) for a total of 400 rupees. We had some time to roam free and explore the fort and its secret passageways on our own. In one room there was a wheel contraption used to pull water up from a well. There was a long rope with clay pots attached to it so as the wheel turned, water would be carried up to the top floor of the palace. This water wheel was the final stage in an elegant system comprised of pools and similar wheels to bring water up from the base of the hill to the fort.

After visiting the Amber Fort, we went back downtown to the city palace. On the way in, I got a kulfi, a cashew ice cream popular in northern India. The city palace lies inside the walls of the old city. It is home to the Guiness World Record “Largest Jar.” Two humongous silver jars (about 5 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter) used to carry water for a prince’s visit abroad reside in the city palace. We left the palace to get lunch and go shopping downtown on the market street. I went to lunch with Rose and Charles, a student on the trip. We had thali, a collection of dishes served in small bowls with a large helping of rice and breads. The portions, though small, are indeed unlimited—as many refills as you can eat! It is hard to go wrong with a thali, as usually I thoroughly enjoy at least one of the many dishes on the plate. We proceeded to the market street to shop, where we got pulled into a shop to look at scarves and shirts for about an hour. The three of us bought our goods all together so that we got a “discount.” We probably paid a bit more than we should have, but the shopkeepers gave us tea, it was nice and cool inside, and the stuff was still very cheap compared to US prices.

In the evening we returned back into town to have more thali at a place a few doors down from where we ate lunch. This one was even cheaper, less than 200 rupees per person for unlimited food. Once we finished dinner, we walked across the street to have kulfi (this dessert was much better than the one outside the city palace) and find an ATM. Finding cash was a bit of a saga, as the first two ATMs our group of ten found said “cash not available” after I went through all the screens to withdraw money. We eventually headed back to the hotel with full stomachs and money in hand. On 6/13, we drive to Udaipur.

The drive to Udaipur was 9 hours long, including our breaks. We stopped for lunch about 2.5 hours into the drive at a small restaurant along the highway. We ordered a set menu for each table to speed up the lunch process so that we could get back on the road. Once the meal finished, the restaurant tried to charge us an outrageous amount for the food (800 rupees per person!) This type of price is unheard of for a relatively simple lunch—our guide Poonam and Professor Ganguly were fuming. A great battle ensued between Poonam and the restaurant workers to barter over the price of the meal. Highlights include Poonam throwing the receipt down onto the table in anger and threatening to walk out without paying. We ended up paying 500 rupees per person and Poonam vowed never to bring any of her tour groups back to this restaurant again. The rest of the drive to Udaipur was relatively uneventful compared to lunch; upon our arrival we went to a great thali place. Here, instead of being served a full plate of food, we sat down at places in front of empty dishes and watched in amazement as many Indian men whizzed around the table scooping curries, lentils, rice, and naan onto our small bowls and onto our plates.