Today was hectic – but so is India. We woke up at 5 am to meet our tour in the Pink City. This morning we went on a bike tour of Jaipur, and while we were 30 minutes late due to our hotel not allowing tuk-tuks to enter, we made it. It turned out the tour was only us and two French girls.
For 4 hours, we cycled 11km through Jaipur. We stopped at the local flower market, at a lassi stand, at a marble carving shop, and at a local resident’s home for some daal and roti. We ended the tour at a factory style milk processing center, where locals brought in buffalo and cow milk and boiled it off for sale at local shops. India loves their milk, and we sampled some of the famous rasmalai after our tour was done.
Next, we headed straight to a cooking class we booked with the same company. It was just us and our private chef, Payal for the rest of the day. Payal took us to the local market where we learned about all of the Indian staples including many types of lentils and grains, and then we headed to the vegetable market to decide on what we’d be cooking. We settled on cauliflower, onion, chick peas, tomato, capsicum (green pepper), and a few other ingredients.
The cooking class was fantastic. Payal showed us how to make a base masala sauce, and we cooked paneer masala. We also made chickpea daal, rice with mustard seed, a spicy cauliflower and pepper dish which was amazing, and even our own chapati. We kneaded the dough and learned how to cook them over the flame which is somewhat of an art form.
Our day ended after an unsuccessful trip to the train station in Jaipur. We’d booked two tickets that said confirmed on them, but at the station learned we were waitlisted and didn’t make the train. It was the first time on the trip we’ve felt cheated out of something. Instead of heading to Jaisalmer as planned, we’ve now decided to move our camel safari to Jodhpur and spend 3 days in Goa. Our day-of-flight cost only $260, so it’s an affordable detour. Looking forward to relaxing in the sun!