How Many Gods do you Have? What about the one with extra arms?

    Wanted to back up a little bit and review a few things ...

    .... that have taken place in the last week.  It's been a pretty rapid travel sequence and there were some noteworthy things that happened. 
    Before we left India, on the last full day there, we spent the day out in the rural countryside, at our small Eco (short for ecological) Lodge.  It was a long way out from any city, and a bit hard to get to and plus, it was pretty much off the grid.  
    They had a small sustainable organic farm, utilizing solar power and environmentally safe practices.  Frankly, the environment in India is not the best, with a lot of waste, garbage, unhealthy surroundings, and air pollution.  But these guys are doing their part. 

One thing they offered there was a cooking class

    So Fiona and I attended an Indian cooking class, which lasted a few hours and was very fun and interesting.  First off, Indian cooking is pretty unique, and since most Indians are Hindu and don't eat meat, the class was vegetarian cooking.

    Indian cooking is all about the spices.  We made a stuffed eggplant dish that was out of this world.  And we made a potato curry dish that was terrific.  Of course, we had a professional instructor, a long time chef.  

    Then we made Chai tea, which they drink all the time here everywhere.  And we made a Dahl dish, a staple in Indian food, which uses lentils.  To wrap things up (pardon the pun) we made a bunch of delicious Indian flat bread, chapati and peratha, which they eat with every meal.  

    We love Indian food and intend to put some of this cooking into action when we return home.

    Spices used were: cloves, cinnamon, pepper, chili powder, mustard seed, coriander (cilantro), star anise, cumin, bay leaves, salt, fennel, curry, garlic, ginger, mango powder, mint, basil, saffron, turmeric, sesame, and peanut oil.  

    Just putting all that stuff in a pan and heating it up was enough to send the senses soaring, it was mind altering!

Riding a Camel is fun ... for a while

    We went for a pretty long camel ride in the afternoon, way out into the country, really out in the sticks.  It was pretty fun to start, but eventually became rather uncomfortable.  It was definitely a treat however. 

    We were on a camel cart actually, there was a French couple in a second cart.  We rode several kilometers out into the bush, and ultimately came to a farm where one of the camel drivers lived.  They made us some Chai tea there and we had a nice visit.

    We had a female camel, and the driver was very good with her, even dressed her up real pretty!

     It got hot that afternoon, and it's a dusty dry place in the region where we stayed, so by the time we were done with the ride, we were tired.  But not too tired, so we went out for dinner at a nearby hotel restaurant, where we ate ... curry!  Yesss!

The Hindu religion can be confusing to an outsider

    The day we left, we drove a long ways to get back to New Delhi, and during that time, we passed what looked like a parade of people.  They were pilgrims on a march to a distant Hindu temple.     

    I was curious about their religious beliefs because they have a lot of gods.  In fact we were told by one of our occasional guides that that they have 36 million gods!  

    So we asked our driver Jile (pronounced Jillay) - "how do you keep track of that many gods?" 

    "There are only a few main gods, the really important ones, and the rest ... well, you know ... "

Me: "what about the god with the eight arms?"

Him:  "No god with eight arms, sir"  (he always called us sir, even Fiona)

Me: "Doesn't Krishna or one of the main gods have eight arms?"

Him: "No, only four arms, sir"

Me: "So, the lesser gods are not as good as the big three?"  The big three are Vishnu, Krisha, and Shiva.

Him: "No sir, they must keep being reincarnated until they get better."

Me: "How long does that take?"

Him: (chuckling) "Long time, sir, it depends on their Karma."

    It was a wonderful time in India, and as we finished our last full day, we were met with a nice sunset.   Fun times!