Hannah BW

New York: Day -6

Loyal readers, my apologies for the protracted absence. The end of my trip was a whirlwind and involved many overnight bus rides. I am so glad to be back, and so proud that I made it through the entire trip without getting seriously ill or losing anything vitally important (though I did sweat all over my passport. Why don't they make those things waterproof?). Photos are up here. There's also a list of recommended places down here, at the bottom of this post.

In Pushkar I met up with Juliana, whose presence really boosted my mood. The monsoon is kind of fun if you have someone with whom you can suffer through it. So when we ate dinner at the Rainbow, and the restaurant filled with insects after dark, it was not only gross but amusing as well. Misery loves company?

I headed onward to Udaipur by myself, choosing to bypass Bundi. Udaipur is supposedly the Venice of the East, and I've never been to Italy, so I thought I should make it there ASAP. It was lovely indeed, and my guesthouse was very cheap. Funny, what would have fazed me at the beginning (communal squat toilets) was by then par for the course. In Udaipur I saw elephants and an amazing palace. I was going to take another promising cooking class, too, about masalas and curries and types of bread. But then AirIndia actually began to be helpful and let me change my ticket! And I found myself hopping a bus back to Mumbai, stat.

To make a long story short, the last legs of this trip were epic. It rained so hard while I was on the bus from Udaipur that the water came in even when the windows were closed. It's not called the rainy season for nothing. Then I had my (18 hour) flight from Mumbai to New York. I was so tired by the time I arrived in Newark that I started weeping by the baggage carousel, because my $3 SmarteCarte with all my vintage Bollywood posters had mysteriously vanished. Then it turned out that an old couple had just taken my cart. So I self-righteously brandished my poster tube at them as they sat in their wheelchairs. And then I had to buy another SmarteCarte, because the suitcase I bought in Mumbai was so crappy that the wheels had fallen off of it.

Then I collapsed and couldn't bring myself to blog for almost a week. Sorry! But while the trip may be over, the blog is not. I just have to figure out how to change it from a food-centric India blog to a food-centric Texas blog. Should not be too difficult. Stay tuned.

Finally, I thought I would put up a list of places (to eat, stay, see) that I recommend in each city that I visited, just in case any of you are planning a trip to the subcontinent any time soon. I highly recommend that you do so, by the way, in case it hasn't been clear.

Mumbai:
To stay: YWCA International Centre
To eat: Baghdadi, Moshe's, Indigo Deli
To see: Chor Bazaar, Banganga Tank

Agra:
To eat: Joney's Place

Amritsar:
To see: the Golden Temple, duh, and the border, and the crazy theme-park temple the name of which I don't know.

McLeod Ganj:
To stay: Pema Thang Guest House
To eat: Lhamo's Croissant, Exile Brothers Café

Shimla:
To eat: Indian Coffee House
To see: Viceregal Lodge

Jodhpur:
To stay: Durag Niwas Guest House
To eat: On The Rocks
To see: Handloom House, Meherengarh Fort

Pushkar: avoid, avoid, avoid.

Udaipur:
To eat: Café Edelweiss, Savage Garden (I know, but the food really is great)
To see: City Palace

posted by HBW @ 6:13 AM