How to be dairy free in India??
So hello. My inaugural post. Eight days in? From India to Nepal, Jaipur to Kathmandu. Sorry for not writing earlier, India ate me up. Not bugs or anything like that, but the experience. India demands full immersion. Absorbing all the smells, sounds, sights.. the jet lag.. it left me so full there was little space for introspection (and newsletter writing).
But now we’re in Nepal and taking it slower. So here I am in your inbox.
Dear diary.. indulge me as work through how I want to write here. I told too many people I’d do this so now I have to.
Some highlights from Jaipur, such a magical city. The hawkers were annoying but otherwise we were met with such kindness.
We hit the tourist spots of course. Visited Amber Fort, saw the twelve rooms for the twelve wives of the king obsessed with astrology. And The Taj Mahal, a surreal experience, so hot and bright it felt like walking on the sun.
But my new obsession is block printing. We visited Bagru, known for its textiles. Toured the block carving workshops, saw artisans dyeing and printing the fabric. The indigo vats used for dyeing are ten feet deep and the ground around them stained a deep blue. The blocks are hand carved from wood that’s sat drying for a year. The resist printing is still done with a mud mixture. And they sell to Anthropologie.
Julia and I left India with five new scarves each.
Let’s close this out with some tips that won’t be helpful to any of you. How to be diary free in India:
- Take a cooking class and tell them you can’t have dairy ahead of time. Then cook and eat the most delicious meal of your life.
- Make friends with an English speaking teenager at dinner and ask her to communicate your dietary needs in Hindi. If you’re lucky, she’ll like you and invite you to eat with her and her adorable grandma.
- Book an all day block printing workshop. Again, tell them you can’t have dairy. Enjoy a traditional North Indian lunch worry free.
- Take five or six or seven lactaids before every meal.
And now we’re in Nepal. We set out on the Manaslu Circuit Trek in a few days. Until then we’re relaxing in Patan, watching the rain.. hope it stops before our trek..and drinking endless cups of tea.
Love you guys, thanks for reading. Xoxo Alex
PS hmmm
elephants!
the indigo vats
textiles drying in the sun
The Taj Mahal, where I learned how it feels to be a celebrity because everyone wanted a photo with us