Category: India
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Video Dump 5: India and Nepal
It’s time for another round-up of videos we took that didn’t quite make it into our posts. This one will cover India and Nepal. Enjoy! First, from our first stop in India, an aerial view of the madness at the Howrah flower market in Kolkata Click here to see the video from the Howrah flower…
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India 101: Nothing Can Prepare You, But Here’s a Try
Some things you should know: Cows. There are cows everywhere. Big ones. They’re in narrow alleys, blocking your way. There are herds of them crossing the highway, ignorant to all approaching traffic. They’re eating huge piles of smelly trash off the sidewalk of a busy street. And they’re treating the entire country like their toilet.…
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Yum: Thali
The thali was probably our favorite Indian meal, or at least the one we had the most times. Present on nearly every menu in India, and differing a bit from region to region, it’s generally a generous portion of rice, another carb like the crispy, fried papad cracker or a flatbread such as roti or…
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Rajasthan Part II: The “Blue City”
Jodhpur is in western Rajasthan and is known as the “Blue City” due to the large number of light blue painted houses in its old city section. The color was originally reserved for homes of high-caste Brahmins but others started painting their houses the same color, eventually resulting in beautiful splashes of blue all over…
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Yum: Indian Street Food
One of the pleasures of visiting India is the street food. We quickly put aside our fears regarding hygiene and indulged in many of these ubiquitous snacks. Among our favorite were jalebi, bhel puri, and golgappa. Jalebi can best be described as a sweeter, smaller, crunchier, and more syrupy version of American funnel cake. We…
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Rajasthan Part I: The “White City”, Kumbalgarh Fort, and Ranakpur Temples
Our next and last region was the large western state of Rajasthan. Travelers always recommend a visit here; the vivid colors of Rajasthani womens’ bright saris and mens’ colorful turbans, the famous wide and smiling mustaches, and the plethora of forts, temples, and palaces stay engrained in every visitor’s memory. We arrived in Udaipur, Rajasthan’s…
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Delhi and Agra: Friends and the Taj Mahal
We had finally reached the portion of our India trip we were most excited about: meeting up with our friends Amy and Ben, who were coming all the way from Austin, Texas, and staying with friends Bion and Caitlin in Delhi, and then traveling with Ben and Amy to Agra and Rajasthan. Nick and I…
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Yum: South Indian Cooking Class
We found ourselves in Delhi with a couple days to kill and not much of a desire to sight-see, so we signed up for a South Indian cooking class. The class was taught in the home of our teacher Jyoti, a fast-talking and down-to-business expert chef. First, we learned about the main spices and ingredients used…
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Orchha and Datia: Palaces and Temples and Tombs, Oh My!
We had several days to fill between Khajuraho and Delhi, so we headed to Orchha, a riverside town filled with palaces, temples, and chhatris (tombs) built by the Bundela dynasty in the 15th and 16th centuries, but quickly abandoned when the Bundelas had to flee Orchha for safer ground. I won’t bore you with too…
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Khajuraho: Sex Sells
After Varanasi, we got off the spiritual track and threw ourselves full-force into India’s formidable archaeology circuit: the country boasts thousands of palaces, temples, forts, and other historic structures, showing thousands of years of history from dozens of different tribes, kingdoms, and religious sects. We opted to start in Khajuraho, a backwater town famous for…