We arrived in India 11 days ago so have passed the halfway mark - so far so good. Delhi Belly has not hit us so I hope I'm not jinxing it by saying that!
Today in Udaipur in the Rajasthan state of India we all were transported to the market ahead to see the real life in the city. Tuk tuk or "auto rickshaw" as it's called here also were the mode of transportation and 2 to a vehicle plus the driver. Quite the bouncy awesome experience. I still marvel every day that we have not seen anyone dead on the streets with all the cows, dogs, foot traffic, delivery trucks, rickshaws, bikes, motorcycles and who knows what else driving fast and honking like crazy. This was the view from my seat:
Then by foot we walked about 90 minutes and were introduced to all the different kinds of "stores". This was perfume and I love the plain and simple name "Modern Perfume Centre".
And a jalebi maker - I've had this several times here and it is sweet! Made of flour, sugar (lots), syrup maybe and made into a string circle thing and deep fried so basically crunchy sugar ring thing as I call it. I guess if you preferred a watch or clock you could buy it here also.
Our guide explaining the bottles of cow urine and Ganges water and how they are used. Cow urine is used a a medical treatment and cancer preventive. Many Hindus drink it because in India the cows are holy as in "Holy Cow". Now I know where that term came from and every day I learn something new.
See the guys doing a little Temple repair from the scaffolding on the right. Ross as the retired electrical engineer is fascinating with the wiring and I just wonder why we don't see sparks fly!
We have seen so many people with huge buckets and packages on their heads delivering things to shops and other places.
The guide said the best oranges in the world are from India.
And at first I identified these as limes but they are really ground cherries. Having grown up with ground cherries on the farm these are HUGE and at least 4 times the size of the ones I know.
Front row - red carrots - and I haven't tasted them yet but they are supposed to be the best and sweetest carrots in the world. I guess if you touch any of the items you have to buy them.
This is the Indian version of the tax information and licensing bureau and Indian version of the DMV where you can also get a driver's and vehicle license. It is used by people who do not have computers and internet at home.
Big hunks of brown sugar and I bet it's good. They have a lot of sugar cane here and they have a lot of sweet treats and other items made with sugar.
Huge bags of chili peppers and apparently each bag is a varying degree of hot!!!
I looked at this pile in the "store" for quite a while and realized it is India's version of Dollar Store - everything you need at a cheap price.
These little Hindu temples are everywhere and there are usually people sitting nearby but we are told not to give them money or 100 people will quickly show up.
This is varying kinds of oils - vegetable oil, olive oil and I'm not sure what other kinds but apparently very popular for making sauces for pasta and meats.
This is a channel seen on every street and the water is a "little smelly" with floating stuff in it. I think it's the version of the storm sewer!!!
This was an ad in front of a hospital and it saying that all of these vaccinations are free and encourages and available all Mondays. I was familiar with a lot of them like Hep A, Hep B, DPT, IPV, MR (measles) and others. It is also a proper picture of a little child.
Not sure what the "Girly Gear" store carries but it did not look risque.
A kitchen and appliance repair store. We were told that Americans throw appliances away when they quit working but that is frowned upon here and they can be repaired over and over again. I do wish we had more of that but at home it's getting worse especially for large appliances - 7-10 years now - ridiculous!
And a bookbinder just in case I publish a book and want to sell it.
So cute - these little kids getting off the school buses all dressed in their school uniforms, clean as a whistle and running to the school.
I don't buy a lot of "stuff on trips" but I got what I wanted for a good price! 3 paintings on small - small size, 2 peacocks and an elephant and the total size fits in my suitcase perfectly and won't break.
And saffron - how could I passed that up at 130 rupees per package - about 1 gram - which is less than $2 a gram. I have a few strands at home that I've been saving for years and I remember it was extremely expensive. Hopefully no problem getting it into the US!!!
So 5pm - that means happy hour in India! Full day of travel tomorrow with bus, plane, layover, plane and bus to get us to Kochi (or Cochin) which is known as the spice capital of the world.
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