C & I have now exited the land of the coconuts and Mughal palaces, and she wrote this list for her blog (Iowa Guru in the Land of the Coconuts) with which I concur. I put my comments in italics following her comments.
1. Mangoes, the best I’ve
ever consumed. Also the Keralan delights of appam, dosas, and the coconut
curries, and the paneer of the north and the lassis from M.I. Road in Jaipur. C made some of the most delicious mango lassis ever consumed by any human being. We even had the national mango festival across the road from us!
2. Fabulous Textiles,
hand-block prints, embroidery work, silks, and cottons. I scored a lot of good shorts. Although I'm not a clothes-horse, even my limited aesthetic can appreciate the incredible beauty and workmanship.
3. Mughal era
Palaces: Udaipur’s, Jodphur’s, and Jaipur’s were all winners. These were quite amazing. We were living the life of Jackie O (visitor to the majaraja's palace in Udaipur) for a few minutes.
4. Sari Shops: Both
the products and the shopping experience. Saris are the funnest clothing
I’ve ever worn. C learned to rock the sari as did No. 1 daughter. Ladies of all ages look good in these beautiful clothes, although given the temperatures, they look a bit hot.
5. Nature, from the
gorgeous coffee plantations of Wayanad, to the especially exotic birds like
kingfishers, green bee eaters, and water fowl of every color of the rainbow. India has degraded far too much of its environment, but the parts that are preserved provide some beautiful viewing, except for the tigers we never saw!
6. The beach at Kovalam,
30 minutes from our home in Trivandrum. We didn’t get there often enough,
but it was enough just to know it was there if we needed to escape. We could have had a good life as beach bums. Really a nice to hear the waves lapping up on the shore.
7. Great traditions and
festivals of both the Rajastanis and Keralan people, especially Devali in
Jaipur and Onam in Trivandrum. I will never forget Jaipur during Devali: like a war zone so many fire crackers were exploding around us. Definitely a fun time. But C did fail to mention the kite festival of Jaipur, in which we watched (but could not master) the art of aerial combat with kites.
8. The people, all the
friends we made and all the people who were friendly and curious and very
pro-American. This was the best. We made some wonderful friends and had some great experiences with people. Anti-American? Only one drunken auto-rickshaw driver in Jaipur.
9. Cheap books. I bought too many--wait, that's a non-sequitur. But we both bought a lot. Nothing like the less expensive south Asian editions to whet your appetite to buy.
10. JLF: Jaipur Literature Festival:
enuf said. What a treat!
Thank you, India!
Thank you, India!
