Ranthambore National Park (Tiger Reserve)

India Travel Essential

I am pretty sure that most of you would list water, hat, sun cream and sun glasses as travel essentials in India, but I argue that the most important item is something less obvious. It is ear plugs!!

We left our Hotel Godwin in Delhi last Friday morning at 11 o’clock. Our first stop was Mehrauli (see Eight cities of Delhi) where we stopped for 1.5 hours. After the visit we returned to the old Delhi-Agra road (see Road from Delhi to Agra), which I now highly regret. The reason why we didn’t take the new road was that I wanted to show Mathura to my parents but unfortunately by the time we reached this famous Hindu site (Krishna’s birthplace) it was so dark and late that we observed the complex only from outside. So, total waste of time!The journey was worse than I remembered (I took this same road in 2008). It was noisy, hot and dusty. By the time we reached our hotel in Agra (just before 9 o’oclock in the evening!!) I was ready to go and buy an hearing aid. My ears were blocked and now, after three days, I still don’t hear well.

This journey put me in a very bad mood and it worsened when we realized that our hotel (Amar Yatri Niwas), booked by a travel & car agency, was appalling. To make things worse, we had the most disappointing dinner ever, which to me is the worst! Had I had a decent meal, I would have been just fine, but no, we were eating a lamb curry that contained liver and who knows what else… What a pity! This said, yesterday we drove from Agra to the Ranthambore National Park and even if it was close to 40C, it was better in some aspects. Roads in Rajasthan (the state where we are now) are generally good, so we were a bit more relaxed. There were some overloaded trucks and occasionally we saw camels crossing the road. All this was much better than motorcycles, tuk tuks, private cars, tourist vans, trucks, buses, etc. all combined!

PS Do not think that ear plugs are only for road trips. In most cases, unless you are paying more money and staying at resorts, usually located a bit outside city centers, your hotel will be noisy too. I have slept every single night with ear plugs…

Religion Talks at Lal Qila

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Indians love talking and meeting foreigners. Sometimes the purpose is trying to make money out of the tourist, but in most cases (at least in my experience) it is out of sincere curiosity. Where do you come from? What is your country dollar? Are you married? Where do you work? What do you think of India? Etc. Etc. Questions never end.

This morning we started by visiting Lal Qila, the famous Red Fort of Delhi. Before entering the fort, my father started talking to a young man from Jharkhand region and eventually four of us spent two hours getting to know each other while visiting the magnificent fort. There is one particular topic we discussed during our time together that I will always remember, so here you go:

Friend: I am Hindu. Have you heard about it?
Me: Yes, I know a little bit about it.
Friend: Good. A big religion. And you, what is your religion?
Me: I am Christian.
Friend: What is the name of your God?
Me: ummm… The God is called the God… ummm
Friend: But what is his name?
Me: He really is just called the God…
(pause)
Me: Well, he does have a son too..
Friend: I don’t understand, your God has a name, doesn’t he?
Me: Yes, there is the God, the father, the main God, and then he has a son called Jesus. So, we have two Gods you can say.
Friend: I know Jesus! He is well known among Hindus! But is that all? Only two?
Me: ummm.. well, technically, if you are a Catholic like the French are, then you also have something called Virgin Mary…. She is kind of like a God, too. But in Finland we don’t believe in her. Not like the French do. She is not our God.
Friend: Ok… (visibly puzzled)
(pause)
Me: So, what is your Hindu God?
Friend: My God is called Bajrangbali. I am single so like all Hindu singles, I believe in him. When I get married, I can change my God.
Me: Ok, I don’t know him. But my husband believes in Hanuman.
Friend: (all happy and smiling) Hanuman and my God are the same!

***

After this conversation we moved onto another one, but that story is for the next time! I am now going to get a glass of red Grover wine from Nandi Hills and eat some tandoori chicken. Adios and be well everyone.

Return to Delhi

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Delhi is much cleaner than it was in 2008. Have not even seen any cows yet (monkeys yes). People are as friendly as I remembered.

Waiting for the 5 o’clock prayers to stop at Jama Masjid. Air is thick, feels like a sandstorm is approaching us. Prayers end, we walk in. The huge, orange sun sets, the rain begins. Tomorrow is an other day.

India –here I come!

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Apologies for the unusual blog silence. My Emirates flight (380 of course!) to Delhi, India leaves in a few hours’ time. Been busy packing and taking care of things that require attention during the month of April when I am not in Paris.

I will spend the first week with my parents pretty much along that same route that I have recently been writing about in my blog (Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan). It is a new travel concept to me (to take my parents to such an exotic destination) and I am even contemplating on adding a new tag word “traveling with parents”. Do you think it would be interesting?

My husbands joins us exactly one week from now and all of us will spend few days together probably at the Neemrana hotel I also already wrote about. After my parents leave, my husband and I hit the road from Delhi toward Varanasi. From Varanasi we will fly to the South India for the rest of the time I think. Free birds go where the wind takes them!

PS Unfortunately I did not have time to finish my India series that I have been writing about (missing posts are about Jodhpur, Pushkar and Udaipur), but I promise to complete the series in May. Meanwhile, I hope you will enjoy this new India trip with me!

Jodhpur: The Blue City

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Jodhpur is located about 300 km from Jaisalmer, and the journey is long and dusty. You look at the map and think the distance is nothing, but 300 km in India is not like 300 km in many other countries… You have huge overloaded trucks, camels, cows and sometimes elephants using the roads too. All this adds to India’s exoticism but affects driving. Be prepared! We spent one afternoon, one full day and one morning visiting Jodhpur, the second-largest city in Rajasthan. Althought its historical importance is evident, the Blue City was not our favorite destination in Rajasthan. It didn’t create the aww effect like many other places did and I still wonder why. This could be because we were getting tired…. tired of sitting in the car and tired of absorbing so much of everything. In fact, I believe that because of the abundance of history and culture in India, one gets overwhelmed. “Cannot take it anymore” is a common feeling some time during the travel, and maybe this was exactly what we were suffering from while in Jodhpur?

Now, years later, I look at the photos and find Jodhpur charming. I would be curious to return and see how I would now feel. Meanwhile, you can make your own impression of the Blue City through my photos!

Some photos of the street view:

It cannot get more blue than this, can it?

FYI: Next post will give more information about the practicalities.

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Note: This is the 19th post about our trip in Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan and Bombay in March-April 2008. Previous posts are:

Part 1. Arrival in Delhi: first impressions
Part 2. Eight cities of Delhi
Part 3. Road from Delhi to Agra
Part 4. Visiting Agra and Taj Mahal
Part 5. Fatehpur Sikri: what a pearl!
Part 6. Neemrana Fort-Palace: the magnificent 15th century palace
Part 7. Breathtaking Amber Fort
Part 8. Chaotic but charming Jaipur (part 1.)
Part 9. Chaotic but charming Jaipur (part 2.)
Part 10. Hotel Pearl Palace in Jaipur
Part 11. Samode Palace: live like a Maharaja
Part 12. Shekhawati: the Haveli Hub
Part 13. Enchanting Hotel Mandawa Haveli
Part 14. Karni Mata Temple (WARNING: includes images of rats)
Part 15. Subtle charm of Bikaner
Part 16. Bhairon Vilas: sleep like a Prime Minister
Part 17. Fort Pokaran: ideal oasis in the Thar Desert
Part 18. Jaisalmer: revisiting the Silk Road

PS Have you already joined Pearlspotting?

Franco-Italian cheese platter

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Eating cheese in France is a true geographic journey! Every region has its own specialties and in total there are more than 500 types of cheese in France. One will never know all 500 types. But this –at least to me– is part of the fun. We go and buy cheese and every time there is so much to discover! No two cheese plates are alike. And in order not to be too nationalistic, we try to add one or two cheese from abroad.

Our last cheese experimentation created this kind of a platter:

Bethmale: French cow-milk cheese from the region of Midi-Pyrénées near the Pyrenees mountains
Banon: goat cheese from the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in the southern part of France
Ossau-Iraty: sheep-milk cheese from the Basque country (French side)
Gorgonzola: Italian blue cheese from the northern part of the country, near Milan
Pecorino with Black Peppers: Tuscany, Italy

To complete the dinner, we also had dried beef (Noix de Bœuf Séchée) and a green salad with avocados. Not the lightest and healthiest dinner, but once in a while just perfect!

Note: For the sake of comparative studies, this was our precious cheese platter: Cheese platter

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PS Do you stick to the same old cheese all the time or do you prefer changing? If yes to the last question, then what is your latest discovery…?

Fish eggs for breakfast anyone?

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I live in Paris where bakeries are full of richly buttered croissants, but to be brutally honest, I eat a croissant approximately once a year! Shocking, isn’t it.

Originally, I come from Finland, which is a country of savory breakfasts, but I don’t eat typical Finnish breakfast (porridge) either. So, what is it, what do I eat? Well, I often have rice cakes with salmon and avocados. Or avocados and cheese. Sometimes I add turkey. Or if I made Indian food the night before, I would eat leftover dal for breakfast. To be honest, my ultimate happiness was found in South India where I could eat idli and sambar for breakfast! Yummy.

I do admit, I have weird breakfast habits but I am afraid they are now getting even more strange (some of you may call them disgusting). For some time now, I have been preparing a salad that consists of fish eggs, grilled artichokes, avocados, truffle oil and fresh herbs (thyme, basil and rosemary). The fish eggs I have been buying are some of the cheapest available in Paris (and apparently the saltiest) and of course it would be better to buy salmon eggs but they are considerably more expensive. Anyhow, apart from these “cheap” eggs, everything in this salad is very good for your health. Most importantly, I love the combination, which fills the stomach, but not the same way wheat does (yes, I try to avoid gluten as often as I can).

Would you eat this salad for breakfast? Do you have a breakfast recipe you like making but think it is utterly crazy? Let me know (and make me feel less weird..)!

Wine Exhibition of Independent Winegrowers is back!

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Is your wine cellar empty? Good, because the Wine Exhibition of Independent Winegrowers returns to Paris this weekend! More than 1000 winemakers from all over France will present their products, often organic and biodynamic, and always of high quality. It is a dream event of all wine lovers and not to be missed! As previously, I have an extra ticket and happy to send it to someone interested in participating the exhibition between March 28-31. It is for two people and includes complimentary wine tasting glasses.

The rules are the same: like Pearlspotting on Facebook, or if you prefer, become my blog’s follower by inserting your email address into the box available on the front page of my blog (https://pearlspotting.wordpress.com). Please write a comment or a brief story about your most memorable wine experience. Do not forget to mention the name of the wine the story involves (if you remember). Can be from anywhere in the world.

At midnight Wednesday (Paris time) I will pick up the winner (call it Internet lottery) and contact this person. Next day I will send the ticket to the address of the winner.

I am looking forward to your wine stories, and meanwhile, my previous posts about this wine exhibition are to be read here: Wine tasting at Salon des Vins des Vignerons Indépendants and Maison Lorgeril from Languedoc-Roussillon.

EXHIBITION WEBSITE: http://www.france-independent-winegrowers.com/index2.php

Jaisalmer: revisiting the Silk Road

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Jaisalmer is magical and outstanding, not least because it was built by yellow sandstone that has given it its nickname The Golden City. Even if Jaisalmer did not make it to my India: Top 10 places to visit, it is one of my favorite places in India.Soon after its creation in the 12th century, Jaisalmer became an important trade center along the Silk Road. Tons of silk, opium and spices passed through Jaisalmer throughout the centuries. Today, it attracts visitors mainly for three reasons: 1) the location (in the middle of the stunning Thar Desert; great for desert and camel safaris) 2) Jaisalmer fort (India’s last remaining living fort) and 3) architecture (exquisite havelis and elaborate Jain temples). The Jain temples, constructed between 12th and the 16th centuries, were indeed very impressive. Some 11th century manuscripts written on palm leaves are kept in the temple complex, too. Tip: be aware of the odd opening hours if you are interested in visiting the temples! We spent two nights in Jaisalmer and loved the fort as well as the city outside the fort. Most of our time was used in walking along the ramparts and tiny streets inside the fort. It felt quite magical and amazing to witness locals, tourists and cows mixing so peacefully. The fort of Jaisalmer reminded me of another fortified city called Bukhara in Uzbekistan, also located along the old Silk Road.Even if we spent most of the time inside the fort, we did walk to the city outside the fort to visit the famous havelis. These 19th century mansions are true pearls and so elaborately carved. Some were open for visits, some weren’t. We also made some great purchases: a bag made of camel skin (we regret of not buying more of those wonderfully handmade bags!!) and silver jewelry. Indeed, shops and bazaars were very well-equipped, making Jaisalmer a great place to buy souvenirs. After all, who wouldn’t be fascinated to revisit the Silk Road trading experience…!?

PRACTICAL INFORMATION: We slept at Suraj Haveli, which is a 500-year old haveli run by a friendly family. We had the Maharaja room, the biggest, and well, what can I say. It was an extraordinarily beautiful room but there were no amenities. It felt like sleeping in an abandoned house. At night we could hear haunted dogs barking. It was a full moon, the sounds were weird, and had a camel caravan arrived in front of our door, we would not have been surprised. Nothing was spooky, but it felt sort of mystical. Well, I guess authentic places feel that way for one reason: they have an old soul! (http://hotelsurajjaisalmer.webs.com/)

Secondly, the first night we ate at a random restaurant inside the fort and it was so disgusting that we left after taking the first bite. The second night we ate at Trio, outside the fort, and it was amazing. Definitely one of the best meals we had in Rajasthan! We ate at the terrace, the musicians were playing and the dinner came to less than 10€ for both of us. Wish I could relive that moment.

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Note: This is the 18th post about our trip in Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan and Bombay in March-April 2008. Previous posts are:

PS Have you already joined Pearlspotting?

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