2 May 2013

Today has been a crazy day.  First off, we woke up to find that Parker had been up the entire night with a stomach bug.  He woke up not feeling any better, so we knew that we were going to have to take it a bit easy throughout the day.  We went to breakfast with Marlo at Karnatka Restaurant on behalf of his request to officially meet us.  Marlo is the man whom arranged for our stay in New Delhi and we wanted to show our thanks and gratitude for everything he had done for us.  Karnatka is a chain restaurant in India that serves both Northern and Southern Indian food.  Since he grew up in Kerala he ordered a traditional Southern breakfast favorite, paper dosa, potato dosa, and garlic dosa with coconut chutney and vegetable chutney.  Dosa is a thin crispy bread made out of rice flour and water and flavored with different spices and toppings.  Just as you eat naan bread with curry, the dosa is eaten with different chutneys for a flavorful breakfast feast.

Above: Leaving New Delhi

After breakfast was where the real trouble set in.  We were debating on where to start our adventure, in the Northern province of Kashmir or the Eastern province near Nepal.  We probably debated for over two hours as to what to do next and eventually we decided on flying to the North, to a city called Srinagar in the province of Kashmir.  Kashmir is the northernmost province of India, just to the east of Pakistan.  We are in Srinagar, a city built around the beautiful lake dal in the middle of the Himalayas. When we arrived in Kashmir it only took a few minutes to realize that it was definitely the most hostile place I have ever been to.  The airport is a military base and the strict security was a bit overwhelming.  They were definitely the most strict of any airport security that I have ever seen.

Above: pictures of our houseboat and the surrounding areas.

We are staying in a beautiful houseboat on the shores of lake Dal, which is a huge lake around which surrounds the city of Srinagar.  We have a “host” who takes care of us in our houseboat and makes us both breakfast and dinner.  This is something that is a completely new concept to me.  The people who take care of us treat us as though we are kings and queens.  It is a bit unnerving in my mind that people think so highly of us.  Growing up in a country and religion that preaches “all people equal” ingrained in my mind the importance of understanding that all people are of equal importance.  Being in a society that does not believe this is something I am not used to.  He served us dinner at eight today and it was absolutely great.  It is interesting just how different the food is in each area of India.  We were served a vegetable curry made of cauliflower and potatoes, dal (Indian lentils), “French rice”, and spicy lamb.  The food is drastically different here than that of New Delhi or Agra.

 Above: Kashmiri Vegetable curry and rice. Above: Dal and Lamb.

Above: Kashmiri Tea: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger, and Saffron

Kashmiri Vegetable curry: Coming soon!

2 May 2013

Today has been a crazy day.  First off, we woke up to find that Parker had been up the entire night with a stomach bug.  He woke up not feeling any better, so we knew that we were going to have to take it a bit easy throughout the day.  We went to breakfast with Marlo at Karnatka Restaurant on behalf of his request to officially meet us.  Marlo is the man whom arranged for our stay in New Delhi and we wanted to show our thanks and gratitude for everything he had done for us.  Karnatka is a chain restaurant in India that serves both Northern and Southern Indian food.  Since he grew up in Kerala he ordered a traditional Southern breakfast favorite, paper dosa, potato dosa, and garlic dosa with coconut chutney and vegetable chutney.  Dosa is a thin crispy bread made out of rice flour and water and flavored with different spices and toppings.  Just as you eat naan bread with curry, the dosa is eaten with different chutneys for a flavorful breakfast feast.

Above: Leaving New Delhi

After breakfast was where the real trouble set in.  We were debating on where to start our adventure, in the Northern province of Kashmir or the Eastern province near Nepal.  We probably debated for over two hours as to what to do next and eventually we decided on flying to the North, to a city called Srinagar in the province of Kashmir.  Kashmir is the northernmost province of India, just to the east of Pakistan.  We are in Srinagar, a city built around the beautiful lake dal in the middle of the Himalayas. When we arrived in Kashmir it only took a few minutes to realize that it was definitely the most hostile place I have ever been to.  The airport is a military base and the strict security was a bit overwhelming.  They were definitely the most strict of any airport security that I have ever seen.

Above: pictures of our houseboat and the surrounding areas.

We are staying in a beautiful houseboat on the shores of lake Dal, which is a huge lake around which surrounds the city of Srinagar.  We have a “host” who takes care of us in our houseboat and makes us both breakfast and dinner.  This is something that is a completely new concept to me.  The people who take care of us treat us as though we are kings and queens.  It is a bit unnerving in my mind that people think so highly of us.  Growing up in a country and religion that preaches “all people equal” ingrained in my mind the importance of understanding that all people are of equal importance.  Being in a society that does not believe this is something I am not used to.  He served us dinner at eight today and it was absolutely great.  It is interesting just how different the food is in each area of India.  We were served a vegetable curry made of cauliflower and potatoes, dal (Indian lentils), “French rice”, and spicy lamb.  The food is drastically different here than that of New Delhi or Agra.

 Above: Kashmiri Vegetable curry and rice. Above: Dal and Lamb.

Above: Kashmiri Tea: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger, and Saffron

Kashmiri Vegetable curry: Coming soon!