Food In India, The Good The Bad And The Spicy

The first thing you have to understand about Indian food is that, whatever non-sweetened dish you order, it will be at least somewhat spicy. India is home to several fast food chains from the West, including McDonalds, KFC, Subways, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, and even Chile's, however even these chains we all know so well use Indian spices in all or most of their menu items. Even the Fanta tastes different! Another difference is that you can not get beef in India! Many Indians are Hindus who do not believe in eating beef, so a restaurant that wants to sell beef in India must get a special license from the government. Most people don't realize how hot Indian cuisine really is, the stuff they serve at Indian restaurants in North America is far from the real thing. However, if we asked a restaurant owner with a lot of tourist experience to not make the food too hot, he or she usually understood and downsized on the spices a lot. I found that what the Indians call "curd"(we would call it unsweetened yogurt) can really battle the heat of an Indian meal with it's sourness. Indian cuisine can really be quite enjoyable, just so long as it is not served as hot as the Indians like it (unless you really like it that way of course). We enjoyed the food for the most part during the first three weeks, but after that we mostly felt the need for food closer to what we were used to and ate at some fast food chains. The worst restaurant we ate at was in Shimla , the atmosphere was nice, but the food was horrible, I ordered a lasagne, but what I got was far from that. The cook basically just cooked the lasagne noodles, and then put them in a dish and poured (what seemed like) uncooked meat sauce with ginger over it. He then sprinkled cheese over it and served it. It wasn't even warm. The best Indian restaurant we went to was in Jaipur, and run by a lady who understood tourists and that they do not like their food burning hot. We all ordered an Indian dish, and it was very good. So over all the Indian food was good, just long as the owner of the restaurant knew tourists

Travel In India

Whether riding a swaying camel, trying to get a breath of fresh air while being crammed along with seven other people in a rickshaw, trying not to look at the ground as you sit on a elephant, or riding a train, travel is very different in India than in the West. Most of the travel me and my family did was in trains. Our longest train trip spanned three days! I did a LOT of reading. I also played chess on the computer with my Dad and carried on a few conversations with Indians. Rectangular back cushions on the trains in India can be folded up and attached to another bunk above it  by chains with hooks on the end. Forming three layers of beds, the seats (more like a padded bench really, you do don't get your own seat) the backrest which has been folded up, and a stationary bunk at the top. Before we went to bed, a steward came down the isle handing out blankets, sheets, and small pillows. The problem with sleeping on a train is that while you are asleep, vendors come through the aisle every time the train stops at a station announcing their wares, and often waking you up. The most annoying vendors were the ones who sold coffee from a big container, they would walk down the isle calling out "chai, chai, chai coffee"in a high, nasal voice. We also rode on camels and elephants while we were in India! But I will discuss that more in depth later on.

The toy train ascending to Shimla.