Food

Being in India one would expect that we would be eating only Indian food. Not so. There is quite an industry here serving the many cultures that visit the area. At breakfast, the international community here spoke of the various places to eat. While we haven't gone there yet, there is apparently an excellent Tibetan restuarant, several good Thai restaurants and some outsanding thin crust, wood fired pizzas.

Yesterday, we had lunch at an Indian restaurant where we ate Thali - this is a dish served on a banana leaf with several sauces and small dishes which you mix into the rice at the centre of the plate. In true Indian fashion, you use one hand to do the mixing, create a little pile of the food and then with yoru fingers scoop it into your mouth.  I brag that I have developed a workable style. The food was maginificent and cost about $3 for a full meal.

At the other end of the spectrum, we had dinner at a local pizza place but did not have pizza. Instead, had pan seared calamari to start followed by grilled fish (the whole fish) along with salad and roasted potatoes. The dinner finished with fresh strawberries. All this for about $9 per person - expensive on Indian standards.

In town yesterday, also stopped at a chai stand to have a proper vendor masala chai - he heats the milk on a little gas burner, throws in some magical spices and then holds the mixture in a hot boiling pot up over another container where he, with a long pour, moves it back and forth between the pots and suddenly it appears in a glass in front of you. Magical, wonderful and taste that cannot be replicated.

Food starts to occupy a central part of the day because there is so much to experience.

It is hard to describe the environment where the street vendor was that we bought the chai as it is full of sensual experiences - sounds, people, movement, smells - all in a blend that needs the other for the real feeling. A picture cannot describe it. Everwhere you look, there is something happening. Crossing a street requires your full attention.