We left Jodhpur for Mt. Abu by a night bus. Spent the day in Mt. Abu, seeing the main sights, including a walk around the lake, and walk to "sunset point". In general this place can be skipped, as it is very Indian-tourist-oriented. So most of it is in existence for the sole purpose of tourists, and the place including the lake is really unkept... we were quite disappointed about that. However, given a long visa, I'd still recommend Mt. Abu as a destination for the pure sake of the scenery on the ride from Mt. Abu Road (a town several kilometers away) to Mt. Abu (I know, the names are confusing). Mt. Abu Road is situated in the plains, while Mt. Abu town is 1200 meters high (on a mountain... called Mt. Abu ????). The drive was very spectacular, in particularly because of the trees (which are a monkey's paradise, and hence perhaps the reason for their (the monkeys') abundance).
I shot two amazing pictures from the bus while we were at a "rest stop". In one shot, another bus stopped to let goats cross the road, while in the second shot, it was a string of camels that had to cross. Both had a wonderfull contrast between the black road and the light sand of the desert. I shot both at 300mm zoom, and 1/1000 sec shutter speed... I don't remember my aperature, but the indicator was on the money. For the sake of National Geographic magazine, I sure hope these two turn out!
From Mt. Abu we took another bus to Udaipur (the city of the "lake palace") where we have already spent one night. We are sleeping at a great guesthouse.. great because the dorm beds are 50 rupees and are very clean.. and there are lockers, squating toilets, and hot water.
I am now writing to you on our second day here. We spent the day walking around as usual. We stepped into a number of art galleries.. the best art i've seen in India.. because it's most progressive.. i'm not much into the traditional stuff. We also spent some time at a local museum having a nice large gallery of modern art (local to Udaipur). A lot of it is absolutely amazing.
I think i'm going to rip a hole in my budget and throw down 3 or 4 thousand rupees tomorrow for an amazing painting. Ouch !!! .. anyway, i'll update you within the next one or two days.
Also, while walking around today we stumbled upon a "german bakery" selling some lovely pastries, two of which were Apple Crumble, and Apple Pie. So we ate both, and to my absolute amazement, the Apple Crumble was nearly identical to my Mom's "famous" Apple Cake!!! We continued by having a Rum Ball, followed by a Coconut Corner. We decided to complete sampling the bakery's selection by having the last two remaining things: a Chocolate Ball, and a Chocolate Cake. We both agreed that the apple pasteries were superior, and in fact we're going again tomorrow afternoon; however tomorrow, we're bringing along three folks from Vancouver's West End (Davie/Denmon area), and we'll be having coffee as well, which is supposedly (as per the bakery's guestbook) "the best coffee in India".
Below are two Chai recipies (as promised) and a bonus recipe for a spicy omlette...
Lina's Indian Chai (obtained in Malaysia)
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Boil W cups of water in a pot.
Once boiling, add C cardamom seeds, C cloves, F fennel seeds.
Next add T teaspoons of tea (so this means you must not use bags),
and M cups of milk. When the solution boils again, you can serve it.
Note that these servings are much, much smaller than the Canadian
sizes we're used to. So add 1 teaspoon of sugar per cup poured.
By the way, you will of course have to pour the tea through a mesh
to separate the liquid product from the remaining solid ingredients.
servings W C F T M
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4 1 1/2 8 25 4 2
2 1 5 15 2 1
Chai by Harjap's Mami-Ji (in Jandi, Punjab, India)
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Add X cups of water, Y teaspoons of tea, Y broken cardamom seeds,
3Y teaspoons of sugar.
Cover and let boil.
Once boiling, slightly uncover and leave boiling for 3 more minutes.
Add X cups of milk.
Cover and leaving only a small gap for 1 minute (if the milk is already warm, as from a cow), or until boiling otherwise (if the milk is cold, as from a fridge).
servings X Y
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3 1 1/2 3
This recipe serves 3, but again, think small servings, not the larger western sizes.
For a really different kick from your chai, you can add a washed and pounded small piece of ginger (about the size of your thumb), to the early stage of either of the preparations above.
Lina's Spicy Omlette (obtained in Malaysia)
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Slice (not dice) X small onions.
Slice (not dice) X small fresh (as opposed to dried) red chilly peppers.
Break Y eggs in a mixing bowl and whip the eggs well (until the solution is consistent).
Add Z teaspoons of red chilly powder (different from the chillies diced above).
Add Z teaspoons of ground black pepper powder.
Add W teaspoons of salt.
Mix well, then add the sliced onions and red chillies from above.
Mix again. Add oil to frying pan, and bring to MED heat.
Pour the entire solution into the pan.
Flip when the underside is golden.
Remove from pan and serve when other side is golden too.
servings X Y Z W
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4 1 4 1/4 1/2
2 1/2 2 1/5 1/5
I can't exactly recall, but I think this omlette will taste similarly to street-side evening omlettes available throughout India. We eat these nearly every evening. Super spicy, and super tastey.
malgosia - yes, i'm speaking of Contempt, the old movie. It's in French, but it also comes with English subtitles (which is the version i watched several times). Brigitte Bardot sounds right.
magician - thanks for the update on things in your life. It all sounds really fun. How about that pub night... how do you handle the IIS crowed? I can't imagine... But anyway.. why Seattle ?... why has everyone forgotten about Canada ? What's going on ? Big points on the "null modem" joke.