Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Getting to Jaipur by train was a no go with three separate bastards trying to “help” redirect me to an inflated bus ticket or a taxi for “only” 10x the cost. Eventually I took the Rajastan government bus which was nice and A/C and $4.50. I sat next to an Indian kid from Katmahndu who shared my ipod, snacks (”American” flavor chips: sour cream and onion) and told me a bunch of stuff about his school and friends and Nepal. He is 10 and speaks three languages fluently.

Anyways, as I was rolling in, it started to rain so I called from my mobile and made a reservation for the night and got a tuk-tuk there. Once …

Even though I have come to enjoy Indian cuisine in the past couple of years, India wasn’t originally on my radar as a destination to visit. In college I went to this giant Indian buffet near El Camino and Lawrence Expressway and I only remember being overwhelmed and uninformed. The other thing I used to associate with Indian food was the permanent stench of curry baked into the hallways of an apartment I helped an ex-girlfriend move into (curiously, just two blocks from the restaurant above although these two experiences were 4 years apart).

Suffice to say, this wasn’t putting Indian food in a position to compete with my all-time fave, Mexican. Indian food at this point …