Tag: india

On the Road to Agra

M's Adventures

Like millions before, we rented a car with driver for a ride to see the Taj Mahal. 10,000 rupees for the joy of six hours down, pit stop at McDonalds, a guide, eight hours back with pit stop at Moghul style restaurant…. going down was an adventure with a dickey wheel and a taste of the angry side of panhandling. On the border to Utter Pradesh, where our driver had to get out to pay some border tax, I snapped a photo of the monkey. Then the handler banged on the window and yelled at me for five minutes and rattled the door of the car.

Monkey and handler eye next prey.

Later on, within 40 kilometers of Agra, our tire blew. So we stopped for a pleasant cup of tea with some locals while our tire got fixed. One man manually changed the tire while eight watched him.

Do the monks deliver fresh tires?

McDonalds in India

M's Adventures

McDonalds is not in Bangladesh yet but they are in India. McDonalds in India serves a fried paneer (pressed cottage cheese product much like tofu) sandwich with peri peri sauce; masala fries; and chicken nuggets fried not in beef fat (much crispier and lighter tasting). But, they don’t sell “Paneer Nuggets” or “Frozen Mango Lassi.” Both of these omissions in their menu seem a huge loss of cultural product offerings. I hope they will add these.

Mouthful flavored fries.

Eating at the Greatest Indian Restaurant in the World

M's Adventures

Yes, it was that good. Greatest Indian restaurant in the world good. Located in the fancy LTC Maurya hotel, Bukhara restaurant serves food cooked in the tandoor oven. A small menu of tandoori wonders. The paneer (cottage cheese product) cubes were as icebergs of pillowy softness skewered and charred to umami delight. Yes, yes.

The World Famous Bukhara Restaurant.
Lamb chops and lamb shanks fresh from the tandoor.

Enjoy fish, lamb, vegetarian paneer, daal (lentils), raita (yogurt dip), naan, rumali (handkerchief thin flat bread), and fresh watermelon juice…

Marinated Pomfret fresh from the Tandoor oven.

The Rickshaws Are Not the Only Thing That Is Different in Delhi

M's Adventures

Visiting New Delhi for the first time, I was looking forward to what would be different from Dhaka. Fancier roads, oxen in the roads, monkeys on the toe… yes. But, I didn’t expect the rickshaws to be so different. In Delhi, an “auto-rickshaw” is what is called a “CNG” in Dhaka but in Dhaka the CNGs are caged. In Delhi, they are open like the tuktuks of Thailand. The “cycle rickshaw” of Delhi is called a “rickshaw” in Dhaka. The cycle rickshaws of Delhi less colorful and more solid looking than the ones in Dhaka.

The rickshaws are different in Delhi.

I mostly enjoyed the oven temperature breezes from my ride in Azad’s Taxi Service…

Ambassador cab and storytelling cum guide driver.