Someone said to me the other day, that while they enjoyed the recent blog entries and the places James and I visited together, they were missing the in between.
Well, that's what this is about.
So I'm going to warn you up front, this one is gonna be kinda long. Not only are there alot of pics covering quite a few places and people and all of your other favourite type of nouns, but I've also got some random notes, some of my mental snapshots, that I want to toss in for good measure, plus my usual, I have no idea what I'm going to say which results in me saying lots of nothing.
You've been warned.
This is Jantar Mantar, or more specifically this is the biggest frickin' sundial that I have ever seen, and it's at Jantar Mantar, or, to be more specific again, the Jantar Mantar in Delhi. This particular 70 foot high triangle and surrounding Cinderella staircases that swirl beautifully but lead absolutely nowhere (unless of course you've timed your climb with the arrival of the mothership, then Huzza! to you) is called Samrat Yantra, which means Supreme Instrument.
Just imagine Diana Ross perched at the top of that belting "You Can't Hurry Love" - certainly better than if it were Phil Collins. If that were the case though then it would have to have been called the Genesis Instrument, which sounds more like something that Khan would detonate on a Federation ship. But hey, at least it meant we eventually get Spock back.
And this is who I thought of every time I heard the name Jantar Mantar.
There is no good excuse for that.
Built in the early 18th century the Jantar Mantar in Delhi is one of five in India. There is also, for example, one in Jaipur, which is apparently much larger. James and I had considered comparing Jantar Mantars to determine if whether, at this scale, size truly did matter, but one day of sickness and a general lack of enthusiasm for that much pacing did that idea in.
The Jantar Mantars were built by the Maharaja Jai Singh II, who had been given the task of revising the calendar and star charts by the Mughal emperor at the time, Muhammad Shah. And apparently these constructions allowed him to do precisely that.
That one there is my favourite and is called the Misra Yantra, and was responsible for calculating the shortest and longest days of the year, and exactly when noon hit. Personally the size strikes me as overkill for figuring out when the tiffin courier is going to show up with your lunch, but heck, maybe they took their 30 minutes or it's free really seriously.
And who could argue.
One of these lovely folk might, but they probably wouldn't.
Other than James I can't tell you who any of them are. Just a group of folk who wanted their picture taken with James. This happened alot. Either with James, or with the two of us. So you'll be seeing these pop up randomly along the way, which is kinda what happened with us. Just walking along and all of a sudden someone would come along and ask for their picture to be taken with us. Always of course with their camera. And for some reason they were then surprised when we insisted we got one with our camera too.
I'd originally planned on popping all of these types of shots into one entry, and then I changed my mind. Unfortunately that change of mind means you didn't get the Jaipur and Agra random people shots at the forts or Taj Mahal. But you'll get them now.
Remember a couple of entries ago when I wasted your time on story arcs and all that crud. Ya, sorry about that. Totally out the window now.
I think this one is Jai Prakash Yantra, but I could be wrong about that. They were under repair, and are quite bizarre in shape. And yes, "they". There are two. So without the aid of a crane and a degree in astronomy and advanced mathematics, all I can provide you is something that looks like a home reno done by Beetlejuice.
Those sun glasses cost James five bucks at the underground mall at the centre of Connaught Place in New Delhi. They likely did more damage then good, but some sacrifices do need to be made.
James, by the way, can haggle. And he's quite good at it. Haggling is a skill I have yet to pick up, and likely never will. I'm constantly doing this math in my head to what it would be in Canadian dollars, and if I feel that that is a reasonable price to pay for it, then I will. Apparently this is not the approach to be taken.
This is Agrasen ki Baoli. James and I sat here for a bit after having visited Jantar Mantar on the day where we wandered around parts of New Delhi. We'd been thwarted in our attempt to visit India Gate and the parliament buildings as Obama was coming for Republic Day on the 26th (weeks away at that point) and I guess they needed the time to sweep and secure.
Or perhaps just sweep. There's a lot of dust in Delhi.
This is probably the place that I found most peaceful, just sitting at the top on one of it's one-hundred-and-so steps looking out over it. Seriously, quite serene. And I nearly didn't spoil it all by talking, but of course, when I encounter a tranquil moment I need to comment on that.
Aloud.
I suck.
Anyway this is one of those moments when the internet really tells you something super cool.
This step well was rebuilt in the 14th century, and is believed to have been built originally by Maharaja Agrasen, who is thought to be a contemporary of Lord Krishna, meaning he lived around 3100 BC. So it goes back a ways.
The really cool graffiti outside of the walls that surround the complex where the well is? Newer I imagine.
James has way cooler pics of dogs than I do, but here's a fella we walked by most days on our way to the metro.
And that's Kiri. On the left. She'd met up with James and I for breakfast before heading for Jaipur with a couple of friends. I know I told you that already.
Anyway, we couldn't find an actual restaurant open and serving breakfast, so we decided to "risk it" and go for the street food. So many people warn you away from doing this, but seriously, do it.
By far one of the yummiest meals we had.
Unless we're talking about this, which is a fried potato pancake type thingy with all this good stuff piled on top.
Or these momos.
Both snacks are courtesy of a food stall quite near the apartment in the Malyiva Nagar market that has a sign saying "Snacky Point" but which goes under a different name. I'll need to get a picture of this place and the people who work there as I've become addicted to their chili garlic noodles, and am somewhat of a regular.
They wave. It's nice.
It's a bonfire waiting to happen. Yep, that's right. And it's not the only one we saw being set up around the hood.
That's because it was Lohri, a Punjabi festival day that celebrates the end of the winter solstace, and connects with another festival, Makar Sankranti, in which, if you happened to be in Jaipur, like Kiri was, you could see a heck of a lot of kites.
This is Dheeraj.
And this is his Lohri bonfire.
And this is what happens when it's night time, you're sitting in your apartment after a long day chilling out to some brain in the bucket movie, and you hear the raucous of drums, turn to your friend and ask "I wonder what that is?"
Which get's followed up with, "I don't know. Wanna go find out?"
"Yeah, let's."
Dheeraj lives around the corner, so we didn't have far to go to ask to have our photo taken by yet another random stranger, (now better known as Dheeraj - probably then too, just not by us), but then have that turn into having Lohri explained to us, over tea, outside, while these guys drummed and these passing young girls were asked to dance. Which they did.
If that shot looks a bit weird it's only because it does a good job of summing up that particular evening. Friendly and fun though. No complaining here.
A more tranquil evening happened the next evening, or perhaps the next after that when James and I met up with Minati and Maya.
That of course is James in the centre, getting ready to let you in on his real estate scheme.
We had met up with Minati, and then Maya, in Hauz Khas Village, with an apparent goal of finding a ladies night so that they could have free drinks. It was this evening that James introduced me to the whiskey sour. A drink which not only do I like, but given we were all incredibly well behaved, did not learn to regret. Yet.
And that's the band wherever we were.
No comment.
That's the veg guy who passes by the apartment every morning yelling about his, I presume, vegetables for sale. Else he is very angry.
Remember we went to Jaipur, and took the bus? Well, this is the tree growing around, over top, through, or whatever this building thing. I just liked the tree.
One of the fun things about taking the bus in India is that each state has their own state run bus line, and I don't know if all of them do, but at least Rajasthan, which is where Jaipur is, and Uttar Pradesh, which is where Agra is, have their own bus stations in Delhi. Agra's was the sad one.
New Delhi the city, along with most of the rest of Delhi the city, is in Delhi the state. Delhi the city though seems to extend into the state of Haryana, or at least it's metro system does as it connects to Gurgaon, which is where I went for lunch today.
I cannot comment on it's bus terminal.
Above and below is the park which is in the centre of Connaught Place, a large shopping and business area in New Delhi, that is made up of, I think, three ring roads. Guess who built that?
Somehow James and I were able to avoid the allure of the Sony Store that a nice florist had insisted we visit when he began "helping" us once we alighted from our auto-rickshaw after the failed attempt to visit India Gate.
Now, I love it when people are friendly and helpful, in fact, I've kinda depended upon it quite heavily over the past several months. I'll say here though that helpful stops being helpful when the person doesn't listen and insists that whatever you are doing it is not the right thing to be doing and you should in fact visit the Sony Store. Or, if you don't want to do that, then hop into this other auto-rickshaw and they'll take you to another market that has far better shopping.
Somehow we avoided being whisked away and made it into the park.
I do really like this building. It screams RoboCop to me for some reason.
That one doesn't, but I thought, what the heck.
There is a very big flag flying atop a not very tall flagpole pretty much in the centre of the park. I mean, it's pretty tall, but I don't think it's quite tall enough for the scale.
If you're from Toronto, then perhaps you've seen the Canadian flag flying in front of the Molson's near the 401? Kinda like that.
Quidditch storage is how James put it.
Now that's Pham and June.
Pham is blowing out his birthday cake, June is watching on because they've been together for near 40 years, and I'm taking the picture because they were our roommates at the apartment so it was only right that we got to eat cake too. That's how it works. James is waiting to eat cake.
Pham and June are a lovely couple from California. The American one. They were here before I got here, and they left just a couple of days ago, and during all that time in-between we got plenty of opportunities to chat about everything you could encapsulate in the number 42.
Okay, change of pace.
Old Delhi.
All I'm really gonna say is that we spent the better part of a day wandering about Old Delhi, getting lost, figuring it out, getting lost, figuring it out. All pretty much intentionally. You've seen the major sites located in Old Delhi that we visited - The Red Fort, and that really big mosque I never remember the name of. Here though is a very small amount of all the other stuff.
And for a peaceful break, I give you James, looking at his red rice tea, at what is officially my favourite restaurant in Delhi, Rosang. It's all north eastern food, which is quite different from anything I've had, and is located in an area called Green Park, which is quite close to Deer Park and Hauz Khas.
I also give you the people we met at the Red Fort in Old Delhi, likely the spot where we were most popular.
Oh, and the guys at Hauz Khas, just at a different point than the tea.
And the Qutub Minar Six.
Kinda like the Jackson Five, but not. Really, really not.
This is a market in Jaipur, which is nowhere near Hauz Khas, the Qutub Minar, the Red Fort, or Neverland Ranch.
These few pictures are included purely as proof that I went, and was well enough to wander around on the second day.
Remember the kites of Makar Sankranti. Well, these are the spools for the kites of Makar Sankranti.
This, as you might guess from the sign over the door, is the Indian Coffee House. It's where we had lunch. It was really good. It's been around for a long time, and while we were sitting there an older gentleman told us a story of why a particular chair was so famous. No, it wasn't the one that was ignoring Neil Diamond.
Dang. I can't remember who it was. One of the former presidents of India.
James, help me out here. Who was it?
Above is an area alongside the road on the way out of Jaipur, or I guess the way in depending on which way you're headed at the time.
Below is the street leading up to the west gate of the Taj Mahal. This street is in Agra, not Jaipur. You may have figured that out without my help. But maybe not. Just trying to keep the group together, which is more than I can say for the young guy herding these cows along.
Mind you, in his defense, he was busy cleaning up the trail of cow pies they were leaving in their wake.
With his hands.
These are the lovely random people we met at the Taj Mahal.
And I'm tellin' ya, I'm not just jamming these random people pictures in and holding back on some awesome story that happened before or after. Seriously, the awesome story is the same one every time, and the picture says it all.
"Can we take a picture with you?"
"Sure."
Click.
"Thank you." Starts to walk away.
"Nope, hold on. Wait. We get to take a picture too."
Click.
"Cool. Thanks."
All I know is I got really good at group selfies. Not as good as Ellen Degeneres perhaps. But who is I ask you? Who is?
And here's our post Taj Mahal lunch.
The fun thing about this lunch was the monkies. See, we sat on one of the upper patios of this restaurant, and thought it would be nice to sit under where this tree comes out over the patio. Well, unlike the raccoons at The Duke of York, the monkies (monkeys is also a valid spelling apparently) have no issue nosing around. None came directly up to the table, but a couple got quite close.
I'm not sure that the guy with the slingshot trying to get rid of them helped matters much, as I think James and I were more nervous of him seriously ticking one of them off. You may recall my story about the guide I met in Imlil who told the story of being beaten up by an orangutan. Yeah, I've got some respect for our furry cousins. As my father once wrote me "Beware the furries".
Good advice.
On another day, inbetween catching glimpses of a 100 ft monkey god, James and I went for a cooking lesson.
This is Veena.
And these are her spices.
You may recall that there are five spices that are used in a traditional tagine in Moroccan cooking. Well, in Indian dishes there are about nine standards. Starting from the top left...
Column 1: Cumin, Salt, Fenugreek
Column 2: Garan Masala (which in turn is a combo of cumin, black pepper, bay leaf, black and green cardamon, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and caraway), coriander seeds, tumerick
Column 3: Garlic, Ginger, Ground Coriander, Chili
And there you go.
That's pizza.
And this is what you end up with after a few hours of good conversation, alot of taking of notes so you can do it back home, and a quick lesson in how to kneed bread properly so you can make it all layered and scrunchy.
When I first put this picture in I was going to tell you that I figured it was some sort of offering, because that's what James and I were thinking it might be when we passed it tied to a fence along the way to find the 100 ft. tall Hanuman, which by the way, can be missed if you're not on the lookout. Not saying he could knock over a 7/11 or anything. But do keep your eyes open.
I came across another one, almost identical, on a walk I did yesterday in Old Delhi with some friends from the Delhi Photo Club meetup group that I've spent some time with, and another meetup group called Delhi Lovers, or something like that. We came across one so I asked, and it's not an offering. It's actually a nazar battu, and it's a charm used to ward off evil.
I'm sure the peppers work wonders.
I wish this bus would just make up it's mind.
I'm gonna end with the band.
These are not random people.
This was posted on Facebook early on in our time hanging out, and is likely what has made me smile more widely than anything else in India, and possibly this trip.
The jam session.
James also liked the idea of tabla lessons, so I'd arranged for us both to get them one week while he was here. Well, the lesson was great. James is a drummer so was picking up the beat patterns way better than I was. Go figure.
Lesson ends.
Oh, I should mention that before the lesson, one of the piano teachers at the music school asked me to play the piano a little bit. So I did and we chatted. And we also got into a conversation with other folk who worked there, and it came out that James was a drummer, or perhaps I mentioned that the previous week when I had told them James was coming or whatever. Anyway, we all get talking and somewhere along the line we got invited to jam for a bit with some guys who work at the music school who are in a band, and who rehearse there.
And that's exactly what happened.
And where am I? Well, I'm busy taking pictures and avoiding profoundly screwing things up by attempting to play the piano along to Sweet Child of Mine.
Something we should all be thankful for.
Well, that's what this is about.
So I'm going to warn you up front, this one is gonna be kinda long. Not only are there alot of pics covering quite a few places and people and all of your other favourite type of nouns, but I've also got some random notes, some of my mental snapshots, that I want to toss in for good measure, plus my usual, I have no idea what I'm going to say which results in me saying lots of nothing.
You've been warned.
This is Jantar Mantar, or more specifically this is the biggest frickin' sundial that I have ever seen, and it's at Jantar Mantar, or, to be more specific again, the Jantar Mantar in Delhi. This particular 70 foot high triangle and surrounding Cinderella staircases that swirl beautifully but lead absolutely nowhere (unless of course you've timed your climb with the arrival of the mothership, then Huzza! to you) is called Samrat Yantra, which means Supreme Instrument.
Just imagine Diana Ross perched at the top of that belting "You Can't Hurry Love" - certainly better than if it were Phil Collins. If that were the case though then it would have to have been called the Genesis Instrument, which sounds more like something that Khan would detonate on a Federation ship. But hey, at least it meant we eventually get Spock back.
And this is who I thought of every time I heard the name Jantar Mantar.
There is no good excuse for that.
Built in the early 18th century the Jantar Mantar in Delhi is one of five in India. There is also, for example, one in Jaipur, which is apparently much larger. James and I had considered comparing Jantar Mantars to determine if whether, at this scale, size truly did matter, but one day of sickness and a general lack of enthusiasm for that much pacing did that idea in.
The Jantar Mantars were built by the Maharaja Jai Singh II, who had been given the task of revising the calendar and star charts by the Mughal emperor at the time, Muhammad Shah. And apparently these constructions allowed him to do precisely that.
That one there is my favourite and is called the Misra Yantra, and was responsible for calculating the shortest and longest days of the year, and exactly when noon hit. Personally the size strikes me as overkill for figuring out when the tiffin courier is going to show up with your lunch, but heck, maybe they took their 30 minutes or it's free really seriously.
And who could argue.
One of these lovely folk might, but they probably wouldn't.
Other than James I can't tell you who any of them are. Just a group of folk who wanted their picture taken with James. This happened alot. Either with James, or with the two of us. So you'll be seeing these pop up randomly along the way, which is kinda what happened with us. Just walking along and all of a sudden someone would come along and ask for their picture to be taken with us. Always of course with their camera. And for some reason they were then surprised when we insisted we got one with our camera too.
I'd originally planned on popping all of these types of shots into one entry, and then I changed my mind. Unfortunately that change of mind means you didn't get the Jaipur and Agra random people shots at the forts or Taj Mahal. But you'll get them now.
Remember a couple of entries ago when I wasted your time on story arcs and all that crud. Ya, sorry about that. Totally out the window now.
I think this one is Jai Prakash Yantra, but I could be wrong about that. They were under repair, and are quite bizarre in shape. And yes, "they". There are two. So without the aid of a crane and a degree in astronomy and advanced mathematics, all I can provide you is something that looks like a home reno done by Beetlejuice.
James, by the way, can haggle. And he's quite good at it. Haggling is a skill I have yet to pick up, and likely never will. I'm constantly doing this math in my head to what it would be in Canadian dollars, and if I feel that that is a reasonable price to pay for it, then I will. Apparently this is not the approach to be taken.
This is Agrasen ki Baoli. James and I sat here for a bit after having visited Jantar Mantar on the day where we wandered around parts of New Delhi. We'd been thwarted in our attempt to visit India Gate and the parliament buildings as Obama was coming for Republic Day on the 26th (weeks away at that point) and I guess they needed the time to sweep and secure.
Or perhaps just sweep. There's a lot of dust in Delhi.
This is probably the place that I found most peaceful, just sitting at the top on one of it's one-hundred-and-so steps looking out over it. Seriously, quite serene. And I nearly didn't spoil it all by talking, but of course, when I encounter a tranquil moment I need to comment on that.
Aloud.
I suck.
Anyway this is one of those moments when the internet really tells you something super cool.
This step well was rebuilt in the 14th century, and is believed to have been built originally by Maharaja Agrasen, who is thought to be a contemporary of Lord Krishna, meaning he lived around 3100 BC. So it goes back a ways.
The really cool graffiti outside of the walls that surround the complex where the well is? Newer I imagine.
James has way cooler pics of dogs than I do, but here's a fella we walked by most days on our way to the metro.
And that's Kiri. On the left. She'd met up with James and I for breakfast before heading for Jaipur with a couple of friends. I know I told you that already.
Anyway, we couldn't find an actual restaurant open and serving breakfast, so we decided to "risk it" and go for the street food. So many people warn you away from doing this, but seriously, do it.
By far one of the yummiest meals we had.
Or these momos.
Both snacks are courtesy of a food stall quite near the apartment in the Malyiva Nagar market that has a sign saying "Snacky Point" but which goes under a different name. I'll need to get a picture of this place and the people who work there as I've become addicted to their chili garlic noodles, and am somewhat of a regular.
They wave. It's nice.
It's a bonfire waiting to happen. Yep, that's right. And it's not the only one we saw being set up around the hood.
That's because it was Lohri, a Punjabi festival day that celebrates the end of the winter solstace, and connects with another festival, Makar Sankranti, in which, if you happened to be in Jaipur, like Kiri was, you could see a heck of a lot of kites.
This is Dheeraj.
And this is his Lohri bonfire.
And this is what happens when it's night time, you're sitting in your apartment after a long day chilling out to some brain in the bucket movie, and you hear the raucous of drums, turn to your friend and ask "I wonder what that is?"
Which get's followed up with, "I don't know. Wanna go find out?"
"Yeah, let's."
Dheeraj lives around the corner, so we didn't have far to go to ask to have our photo taken by yet another random stranger, (now better known as Dheeraj - probably then too, just not by us), but then have that turn into having Lohri explained to us, over tea, outside, while these guys drummed and these passing young girls were asked to dance. Which they did.
If that shot looks a bit weird it's only because it does a good job of summing up that particular evening. Friendly and fun though. No complaining here.
A more tranquil evening happened the next evening, or perhaps the next after that when James and I met up with Minati and Maya.
That of course is James in the centre, getting ready to let you in on his real estate scheme.
We had met up with Minati, and then Maya, in Hauz Khas Village, with an apparent goal of finding a ladies night so that they could have free drinks. It was this evening that James introduced me to the whiskey sour. A drink which not only do I like, but given we were all incredibly well behaved, did not learn to regret. Yet.
And that's the band wherever we were.
No comment.
That's the veg guy who passes by the apartment every morning yelling about his, I presume, vegetables for sale. Else he is very angry.
Remember we went to Jaipur, and took the bus? Well, this is the tree growing around, over top, through, or whatever this building thing. I just liked the tree.
One of the fun things about taking the bus in India is that each state has their own state run bus line, and I don't know if all of them do, but at least Rajasthan, which is where Jaipur is, and Uttar Pradesh, which is where Agra is, have their own bus stations in Delhi. Agra's was the sad one.
New Delhi the city, along with most of the rest of Delhi the city, is in Delhi the state. Delhi the city though seems to extend into the state of Haryana, or at least it's metro system does as it connects to Gurgaon, which is where I went for lunch today.
I cannot comment on it's bus terminal.
Above and below is the park which is in the centre of Connaught Place, a large shopping and business area in New Delhi, that is made up of, I think, three ring roads. Guess who built that?
Somehow James and I were able to avoid the allure of the Sony Store that a nice florist had insisted we visit when he began "helping" us once we alighted from our auto-rickshaw after the failed attempt to visit India Gate.
Now, I love it when people are friendly and helpful, in fact, I've kinda depended upon it quite heavily over the past several months. I'll say here though that helpful stops being helpful when the person doesn't listen and insists that whatever you are doing it is not the right thing to be doing and you should in fact visit the Sony Store. Or, if you don't want to do that, then hop into this other auto-rickshaw and they'll take you to another market that has far better shopping.
Somehow we avoided being whisked away and made it into the park.
I do really like this building. It screams RoboCop to me for some reason.
That one doesn't, but I thought, what the heck.
There is a very big flag flying atop a not very tall flagpole pretty much in the centre of the park. I mean, it's pretty tall, but I don't think it's quite tall enough for the scale.
If you're from Toronto, then perhaps you've seen the Canadian flag flying in front of the Molson's near the 401? Kinda like that.
Quidditch storage is how James put it.
Now that's Pham and June.
Pham is blowing out his birthday cake, June is watching on because they've been together for near 40 years, and I'm taking the picture because they were our roommates at the apartment so it was only right that we got to eat cake too. That's how it works. James is waiting to eat cake.
Pham and June are a lovely couple from California. The American one. They were here before I got here, and they left just a couple of days ago, and during all that time in-between we got plenty of opportunities to chat about everything you could encapsulate in the number 42.
Okay, change of pace.
Old Delhi.
All I'm really gonna say is that we spent the better part of a day wandering about Old Delhi, getting lost, figuring it out, getting lost, figuring it out. All pretty much intentionally. You've seen the major sites located in Old Delhi that we visited - The Red Fort, and that really big mosque I never remember the name of. Here though is a very small amount of all the other stuff.
And for a peaceful break, I give you James, looking at his red rice tea, at what is officially my favourite restaurant in Delhi, Rosang. It's all north eastern food, which is quite different from anything I've had, and is located in an area called Green Park, which is quite close to Deer Park and Hauz Khas.
I also give you the people we met at the Red Fort in Old Delhi, likely the spot where we were most popular.
Oh, and the guys at Hauz Khas, just at a different point than the tea.
Kinda like the Jackson Five, but not. Really, really not.
This is a market in Jaipur, which is nowhere near Hauz Khas, the Qutub Minar, the Red Fort, or Neverland Ranch.
These few pictures are included purely as proof that I went, and was well enough to wander around on the second day.
Remember the kites of Makar Sankranti. Well, these are the spools for the kites of Makar Sankranti.
This, as you might guess from the sign over the door, is the Indian Coffee House. It's where we had lunch. It was really good. It's been around for a long time, and while we were sitting there an older gentleman told us a story of why a particular chair was so famous. No, it wasn't the one that was ignoring Neil Diamond.
Dang. I can't remember who it was. One of the former presidents of India.
James, help me out here. Who was it?
Above is an area alongside the road on the way out of Jaipur, or I guess the way in depending on which way you're headed at the time.
Below is the street leading up to the west gate of the Taj Mahal. This street is in Agra, not Jaipur. You may have figured that out without my help. But maybe not. Just trying to keep the group together, which is more than I can say for the young guy herding these cows along.
Mind you, in his defense, he was busy cleaning up the trail of cow pies they were leaving in their wake.
With his hands.
These are the lovely random people we met at the Taj Mahal.
And I'm tellin' ya, I'm not just jamming these random people pictures in and holding back on some awesome story that happened before or after. Seriously, the awesome story is the same one every time, and the picture says it all.
"Can we take a picture with you?"
"Sure."
Click.
"Thank you." Starts to walk away.
"Nope, hold on. Wait. We get to take a picture too."
Click.
"Cool. Thanks."
All I know is I got really good at group selfies. Not as good as Ellen Degeneres perhaps. But who is I ask you? Who is?
And here's our post Taj Mahal lunch.
The fun thing about this lunch was the monkies. See, we sat on one of the upper patios of this restaurant, and thought it would be nice to sit under where this tree comes out over the patio. Well, unlike the raccoons at The Duke of York, the monkies (monkeys is also a valid spelling apparently) have no issue nosing around. None came directly up to the table, but a couple got quite close.
I'm not sure that the guy with the slingshot trying to get rid of them helped matters much, as I think James and I were more nervous of him seriously ticking one of them off. You may recall my story about the guide I met in Imlil who told the story of being beaten up by an orangutan. Yeah, I've got some respect for our furry cousins. As my father once wrote me "Beware the furries".
Good advice.
On another day, inbetween catching glimpses of a 100 ft monkey god, James and I went for a cooking lesson.
This is Veena.
And these are her spices.
You may recall that there are five spices that are used in a traditional tagine in Moroccan cooking. Well, in Indian dishes there are about nine standards. Starting from the top left...
Column 1: Cumin, Salt, Fenugreek
Column 2: Garan Masala (which in turn is a combo of cumin, black pepper, bay leaf, black and green cardamon, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and caraway), coriander seeds, tumerick
Column 3: Garlic, Ginger, Ground Coriander, Chili
And there you go.
That's pizza.
And this is what you end up with after a few hours of good conversation, alot of taking of notes so you can do it back home, and a quick lesson in how to kneed bread properly so you can make it all layered and scrunchy.
When I first put this picture in I was going to tell you that I figured it was some sort of offering, because that's what James and I were thinking it might be when we passed it tied to a fence along the way to find the 100 ft. tall Hanuman, which by the way, can be missed if you're not on the lookout. Not saying he could knock over a 7/11 or anything. But do keep your eyes open.
I came across another one, almost identical, on a walk I did yesterday in Old Delhi with some friends from the Delhi Photo Club meetup group that I've spent some time with, and another meetup group called Delhi Lovers, or something like that. We came across one so I asked, and it's not an offering. It's actually a nazar battu, and it's a charm used to ward off evil.
I'm sure the peppers work wonders.
I wish this bus would just make up it's mind.
I'm gonna end with the band.
These are not random people.
This was posted on Facebook early on in our time hanging out, and is likely what has made me smile more widely than anything else in India, and possibly this trip.
The jam session.
James also liked the idea of tabla lessons, so I'd arranged for us both to get them one week while he was here. Well, the lesson was great. James is a drummer so was picking up the beat patterns way better than I was. Go figure.
Lesson ends.
Oh, I should mention that before the lesson, one of the piano teachers at the music school asked me to play the piano a little bit. So I did and we chatted. And we also got into a conversation with other folk who worked there, and it came out that James was a drummer, or perhaps I mentioned that the previous week when I had told them James was coming or whatever. Anyway, we all get talking and somewhere along the line we got invited to jam for a bit with some guys who work at the music school who are in a band, and who rehearse there.
And that's exactly what happened.
And where am I? Well, I'm busy taking pictures and avoiding profoundly screwing things up by attempting to play the piano along to Sweet Child of Mine.
Something we should all be thankful for.
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