India Feb 2018 - 8th Post - Shabbat and Sunday in Pushkar

We arrived in Pushkar on Friday afternoon and checked into our hotel: The Pushkar Palace Hotel. When describing the hotel we can say that two parts of its name are accurate; the third is not: it is in Pushkar and it is a hotel. 

It is an old heritage hotel right on the banks of the “holy” lake in the centre of Pushkar. It really reminded us of the Exotic Marigold Hotel from the movie. The rooms were clean and very large but it was clear that it was old and unlike the two previous heritage properties where we had stayed on this trip, nothing had been done in recent years to improve the property.

Pushkar is famous for a number of things. It is an important Hindu pilgrimage site and devout Hindus are supposed to visit the town at least once in their lives. 

It is also a town with a number of restrictions. Within a five kilometre radius of the city, no one is permitted to possess any meat, chicken, fish, alcohol or eggs. And therefore every restaurant or hotel within the city lines is Vegetarian or what they call in India Pure Veg. And therefore when visiting Chabad for Shabbat, be prepared that there will not be any roast chicken or schnitzel on the menu.

We found out during the course of the weekend that people do “smuggle in” eggs, meat, alcohol and fish into the city. Not sure what happens if they get caught. In fact many of the newer hotels being built will be located just outside the 5 km. radius and will have full meat menus, alcohol and even casinos. 

As our driver Vikram (who has been around many Israelis in his years as a tour company driver) said to us: “many Hindus come to Pushkar to be ‘oleh regel’ “ (a Hebrew phrase that he used, usually used in describing the pilgrimage of Israelis to the Temple in Jerusalem).

There is a lake in the centre of the small town which was said to have been magically formed when Brahma dropped a lotus flower from the heavens on the very spot that is now the centre of the lake. People now come to ritually bathe in this lake. 

Surrounding the lake is a very strange town; it is a combination of a very commercial mile long “Shuk” with people noisily hawking their souvenirs and wares, and about 400 temples of various stripes (Hindu, Sikh, Jain etc), a few mosques and churches; and one solitary Chabad. 

The Shuk is especially interesting because almost every one of the hundreds of merchants knows the basic Hebrew catchphrases used to grab the Jewish traveler’s attention. There are signs everywhere in Hebrew and a couple of restaurants with lengthy menus totally in Hebrew. It is clear that this town is smack right in the heart of the Israeli tourists’ travel route. 

A barber shop:

A local restaurant with an extensive non kosher vegetarian menu; to understand the prices, figure that 100 rupees equal $2.00 Canadian.

And one of the waiters at this restaurant......

A local stall advertising the “best incense in the city”!

And the Rebbe’s picture is everywhere, usually as a marketing gimmick to attract people to their shop or as an actual recognition that places him among the other holy men, gurus or gods, l’havdil!

Lest one think that our use of the description of the town’s Shuk should evoke any sort of comparison with the now gentrified and well organized Shuks in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; understand that Pushkar, like a number of other places we have visited in India, is a total mess; infrastructure work is desperately needed, there is no civic pride in terms of cleanliness or basic neatness; hotels, stores and homes are run down; but the town nevertheless has a particular charm and as such attracts many visitors.

The town is also the site of the annual Pushkar Camel Fair when over 200,000 people visit over the course of one week to purchase and trade camels. 

Around the banks of the lake are 52 ghats or steps that allow the religious pilgrim to descend from the banks to bathe in the “holy” waters and if you are there in the early morning, hundreds of such pilgrims dunk in the lake.

One of the features of their service to their gods is the sound of their “puja” or prayers, which can be heard as a combination of chanting, drums and gongs. Think back to the “hari krishna” groups that used to chant on Avenue Road in Toronto or at airports a number of years ago. I personally experienced this ritual throughout the night on Friday night. After returning from Chabad and getting into bed at about 10 PM and looking forward to a quiet peaceful sleep, the beating of drums and chanting began right outside our window. It went on for hours and my menuchat Shabbat (Shabbat rest) was only accomplished with the use of earplugs. I generally am respectful of religious practices, but not outside my window at 3 AM on a Shabbat! Anyway, back to Friday night at Chabad. 

Chabad is located at the entrance to town in what appears to be a storefront. Outside sits the requisite armed soldiers, who have been assigned by the government to every Chabad house in India since the terror attack in Mumbai in 2008 which took the lives of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the Chabad emissaries to that city.

When you enter the front door, you are inside the main hall where the Synagogue and meeting point for many Israelis is located. If you walk to the end of the room and up a few steps, you are now in the back yard of the centre, which has a huge outdoor patio that can be set up for over 100 diners and is used on Friday nights. Above the Synagogue room that we had just left was a large shaded rooftop sukkah area that is used for the Shabbat morning meal. Surrounding the patio is the commercial kitchen and the home of the Chabad shaliach and his wife, Rabbi Shimmy and Chaya Mushka Goldstein, who have been living in Pushkar for about 17 years. They have 8 children, some of whom are already in israel attending school. 

Rabbi Goldstein’s brother, Moshe, is the person who runs India Kosher Travel, who has arranged most of our adventure in India. 

Rabbi Shimmy and Chaya Mushka are assisted in their duties in Pushkar by a few male Chabad emissaries-in-training and a few female Israeli girls who are doing their Israeli civil service, helping this Chabad Family in Pushkar.

People started streaming in and Rabbi Shimmy told me that there was a bus load of about 20 religious Israelis who were on route from Agra (a seven or eight hour drive) and they had encountered typically horrible Indian traffic and it would be touch and go in terms of their arrival in Pushkar before candlelighting. 

Once again, I offered to read from the Torah and again, there was jubilation in that one of the emissaries in training was off the hook and would not have to prepare the reading, which would take him a few hours on Friday night. 

By the time we began Kabbalat Shabbat, there were about 50 people in the room, a collection of travelers like us and the Israeli group, a number of observant backpackers, an Israeli couple with their small children who had been here for a number of weeks designing and manufacturing clothing for their online “modest clothing” shop in Israel, some tourists, mainly Israeli, who just happened to be walking by and stopped out of curiosity; in short, members of the Jewish people united by the desire to be “with family” during Shabbat. 

We had a very nice so called “Veggie meal” beginning with a wide assortment of freshly prepared delicious salads, tuna patties (I guess they must have smuggled in some cans of tuna) and dessert, ending with chai masala tea (tea with cinnamon, ginger, milk and sugar). It was plentiful and delicious. As well, there was the traditional l’chaim, which was kept hidden in the Aron Kodesh:-). 

Hey, we have seen people here with illegal opium, illegal marijuana and other illegal substances and apparently, because of widespread corruption and payoffs, such rules are not enforceable in this country. So it is really a minor offence to have tuna and a little hard liquor.

On Shabbat morning we walked to shul and passed numerous shopkeepers in the market who wished us Shabbat Shalom and there were about 50 people again in shul. Lunch consisted of salads including egg salad (more illegal substances), a large cholent with delicious vegetarian kubbeh and fruit salad for dessert. There was singing, a few speeches and generally a very nice Shabbat atmosphere. One of the people who spoke, a lady doctor from Holon, and a member of the Israeli group traveling thru India, recounted her story of how she became observant, after growing up in a totally anti religious family in Israel. Her story was fascinating and she retold it with a lot of emotion. 

We walked back to the hotel to meet our guide who was to give us a Shabbat afternoon walking tour of the market and temple area. Many of the shopkeepers tried to attract us into their stalls but we simply said to them “Shabbat” and they understood immediately and replied “come back tomorrow to buy something”.

We returned to Chabad for mincha and maariv (the afternoon and evening prayers) and for Havdala (the ceremony marking the conclusion of Shabbat) and then once again returned in the evening for melave Malka and a meal consisting of shakshuka and french fries. All in all, it was a very pleasant Shabbat. 

On Sunday morning, we went on a camel ride into the nearby desert. We had the choice of riding on the camel or being pulled by the camel in an adorned cart and we chose the latter due to the fact that it was a one hour ride and were worried what such a ride would do to my back. 

Once back in Pushkar, we packed up and headed out to Jaipur, the largest and capital city of Rajasthan. We stayed at the Hilton Hotel and because we had written to the Hilton and told them that this year would be our 50th anniversary, they upgraded us to a beautiful suite, with a complimentary bottle of wine, cookies, fruits and truffles. It was such a nice gesture.

The room was absolutely gorgeous. 

And to prove that we were married, Fran got the requisite red dot that married Indian women proudly wear....hey, it’s a lot cheaper than a wedding ring!

After unpacking we were off to see a Bollywood movie in the famous Raj Mandir movie theatre, one of the most famous movie theatres in the world. It seats 1200 people, was completely full and was featuring a new release called Pad Man. It was quite an experience. It starred one of the most famous Bollywood actors and was entirely in Hindi. What we were not prepared for was the loud cheering from the crowd when the star, their hero, first appeared on the screen and the loud and uncontrolled laughter whenever a joke was made. 

From the visuals, we were able to understand the gist of the story, which centred around the reluctance of many Indian women to not use sanitary pads (it is still estimated that only 12% of all Indian women are currently making use of sanitary napkins). Pad Man is a true story of a man in India who is trying to change all this and since the recent release of the movie, apparently, the percentages are on the rise.

At the intermission, we googled the movie and saw that it was rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and we therefore decided to leave and try to either see the movie in English or with subtitles, so that we could really enjoy the story. What little we understood was very enjoyable. 

Tomorrow, Monday, we tour the city of Jaipur.

All the best, Shabbat Shalom, and Chodesh Tov

Fran and David

India February 2018 - 7th Post - Chhatra Sagar - An Amazing Place

After breakfast on Thursday morning, we thanked Pehap, the catering attendant who was assigned to exclusively assist us with our kosher needs during our stay at Ajit Bhawan Palace Hotel, and were ready to go on our way. But Pehap said to us “would you like to see our cows?”. 

By the way, if you look at the picture above, you will note that the white trousers worn by Pehap, wide at the thighs, are called Johdpurs ( the name of the city we were visiting ), and commonly associated with polo, which was a very popular sport among the wealthy in India. 

That seemed like a very strange question to us as we had already seen our fill of cows on this trip. They are literally everywhere, just casually roaming the streets, the highways, in the centre of the cities...it almost seems that the only places where there are no cows is in the field! 

So we asked, “what cows”? He said that the hotel had its own herd of cows that are kept in a corral (now, that is a novel idea) and are used to provide all the milk in the hotel. They are milked daily, guaranteeing fresh milk for the guests, and the milk is then boiled to pasteurize the milk, which reduces the possibility of bacteria growth in the milk.

He led us 50 feet past where we had just finished breakfast to a bamboo fence and just beyond the fence were ten or twelve cows in a corral. 

This was amazing. All the milk in a 5 star hotel is milked fresh from the hotel’s own herd of cows.

Kosher dietary laws require that all milk that we consume come from kosher animals and therefore we can drink milk from cows, goats, sheep and even buffalo. Camel’s milk would be forbidden. And therefore the rabbis instituted a concept of “chalav yisrael”, milk production under Jewish supervision to ensure that no milk from non kosher animals is in the mixture. In places with a large Orthodox Jewish population, chalav yisrael is regularly available. However, in many areas of the world, there is no chalav yisrael. 

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, of blessed memory, was one of the greatest interpreters of Jewish law in the 20th century. He ruled that in countries where there is a specific law mandating that the source of the milk in the carton be rigidly enforced, one can rely on the company’s assertion that the milk is cow’s milk, just as if there was a Jewish supervisor present. However, he said that this only applied where you had strict reliable government control. Such as the dairy board control in Canada and the USA. In many places in the world, government controls cannot be trusted (read one of our future posts on the enforcement of traffic offences in India!). In those countries, kashrut observing Jews would not be permitted to drink the local milk.

Just yesterday, we visited the early morning milk market in the heart of the city of Jaipur. It is an amazing sight to behold. Farmers from all over the region arrive in the market area with their jugs of fresh unpasteurized milk. Consumers as well as restaurant owners and grocery owners arrive with their empty milk jugs to purchase milk for the day. They pour milk into a small Dixie cup or into the palm of your hand so that you can taste the milk and determine if it is to your liking. Whatever milk is not sold in the morning is made into cheese, so theoretically every day’s batch of milk is fresh.

We asked our guide whether this is all cow’s milk? He said “not necessarily” and “it could be a mixture and could include camel’s milk”. But then he added “if you want to only drink cow’s milk, just ask the farmer “. So much for government control! I guess Rav Moshe Feinstein was correct, in a place like India, a kashrut observant person would not be permitted to drink the local milk. 

We came to India having done our research on the milk situation and therefore we brought with a number of small cartons of UHT Long Life shelf stable milk from Canada so that we could have milk with our coffee. It appears to be the only option and our visit to the cow shed with Pehap and our visit to the milk market has confirmed this for us.

We left on our drive, travelling north toward the small town of Nimaj. On the way, we came to a sectioned off area on the side of the road with many cows. Vikram explained to us that this was a sanctuary for cows and regularly drivers on the highway pull over and feed the cows. On the soft shoulder sat a woman who was selling bunches of freshly cut feed. We bought a couple of bunches for about $1 and fed the cows.

About 2 hours up the road we turned off to a dirt road and saw a sign indicating our destination: Chhatra Sagar Nimaj 4 kms. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. There were fields all around growing various crops (we would learn soon that most of the crops were spices, as India is the spice capital of the world) and the occasional house and then drove past a traditional village that seemed to be functioning as it has done for centuries. 

A kilometre further ahead and we approached a clearing and there were a number of people waiting for us. After greetings of Namaste and the traditional greeting of palms joined together with the thumbs touching the heart and a slight bowing of the head, they unloaded our van and we climbed the steps to the resort of Chhatra Sagar. 

In front of us were two huge tent like areas, one the lounge and one the dining room. Beyond to one side were 11 large white tents. The ground appeared paved from what seemed to be a clay mixture and the borders of the walkway and surrounding each tree or post was what looked like a hand painted border print. Everything looked neat, organized, pristine and yet rustic and natural. 

In front of the row of tents was a large man made lake which was built in the 1890s to capture the monsoon rains and use them to irrigate the entire farm area. A couple of years ago during a particularly difficult drought period, the lake totally dried up. 

The hotel/camp is only open for six months a year. The family who own the camp live in the house next door separated by a bamboo fence. They are actively involved in the operation of the camp, serving as the administration, the chefs, waiters, concierge and nature guides. The land has been owned by them for hundreds of years and 17 years ago they decided to open the resort. 

It takes them a month or so to erect the tents each year and one week to dismantle them. During the very hot and wet monsoon season, living in such a tent would not be comfortable and so they are open only from October till March, the best time to visit Rajasthan. When I asked them what they do the rest of the year, one of the family said, “we work practically 24 hours a day for the six months that we are open, so the rest of the year we rest”.

Harsh, one of the owners, also pointed out to us that the floor of the entire camp was a combination of dried cow dung and limestone and had to be relaid every year. 

We were shown our tent and were totally amazed. In the centre of the large room was a double bed,  beautifully adorned with a luxurious indigo blue and white bedcover. There was electricity in the tent and the entire front of the tent had roll up flaps in front of screened tent material so you could enjoy the natural lake setting from the inside of your tent. Behind the bedroom was a fully equipped bathroom area with a marble sink, modern toilet and slate walled shower enclosure. 

In front of each tent, there is a large patio area right on the edge of the lake with comfortable outdoor lounge furniture. It is serene, quiet, relaxing and the only sounds you hear are the sounds of the many birds flying by. 

The main lounge is the only area where there is functioning wifi and like everything else in this resort, it is included in the price. The nature hikes, explained below, the food (the regular non kosher fare), the drinks, service, room service, snacks etc, are all included and there is a policy of no tipping. The kitchen crew including the two cousins, Harsh and Nandi, who run the place were very eager to understand the mechanics of kosher as they really try to get things right for the customer. 

Our lunches and dinners had arrived by courier from Chabad. We ate lunch and then were told that at 4:30 we were invited to join a number of other guests on a bird watching nature hike. During lunch there was a table nearby with 6 other travelers and toward the end of the meal, one of the women at the table got up and walked over to our table and in a recognizable South African accent said “well, I hope you do not consider me rude, but how did you manage to get kosher food in this far away place”. We explained how we had worked with Chabad and India Kosher Travel and she was so eager to get the information as one of her children was observant and she said, “I really have to pass this info on to my kids”!

We went back to our patio in front of the tent and read and relaxed until the time for our hike. 

There were about 10 other guests who joined on this hike together with Harsh. Each of us was given high powered binoculars and Harsh had a tripod and scope with him. Every couple of minutes, Harsh would say “look at that” and would point out some tiny colourful bird high up in a tree totally invisible to the naked eye. But Harsh would see it and would proceed, with the assistance of his assistant, set up the scope to show us what to look for. How he saw or heard all these species was totally amazing. The assistant would then open up the bird encyclopedia that he was carrying to show us the close up and the technical name of the bird. 

Never thought I would enjoy bird watching but this was a wonderful experience. Along the 2 to 3 kilometre hike, we also saw many antelope, peacocks and wild boars. At the end of the hike, at just about the time of sunset, we reached the other side of the lake and waiting for us were cold drinks and cocktails and two jeeps, so that we would not have to walk all the way back. 

We returned to eat our dinner and then headed back in the almost total silence of the sounds of nature to a wonderfully pleasant night’s sleep. When we arrived in our tent, we noted with pleasure in the coolness of the night, that the staff had turned on the heaters so we would be comfortable. 

After more than a week in loud, raucous and busy India, Chhatra Sagar was the perfect respite from the noise and chaos that surrounded us since our arrival. 

We awoke Friday morning to the most magnificent sunrise right across the lake in front of our tent. When you experience something like this, you can say Modeh Ani (the prayer upon arising after sleep) with the greatest concentration and appreciation of God’s great universe. 

After we had packed and eaten breakfast with eggs prepared together with the staff in our travelling fry pan, we were ready to be on our way, when Nandi asked us whether we would want to join the morning tour to the local farming area and to the village to see how people farm and live in the same manner as they had for hundreds of years. 

We decided to stay the morning after figuring out that leaving by about 1 PM would allow us to arrive in Pushkar with a couple of hours to spare before the beginning of Shabbat.

The farming tour was wonderful as Nandi explained that most of these farms belonged to his family for many generations and were now owned and operated by a number of other local families. The main crops that they grow are spices and we saw fields of cumin, fennel, fenugreek and wheat. Nandi was the perfect guide blending humour and knowledge in his easy manner of delivery. You could actually smell the cumin growing in the picture below.

We then hopped into the waiting jeeps and drove into the village where we visited a local shepherd, a school, a clothes washing area, a carpenter and a silversmith. They all welcomed us into their homes and shops and it was a real education. What set Nandi apart from all the other guides we had up to this point, was that at no time did he herd us into a “local craft shop” where the craftsman suddenly became a salesman for his wares at inflated prices. 

This extremely short 24 hour visit and stay in Chaatra Sagar was such a treat. As we left, we both felt that had we known, we would have scheduled a longer stay. But as they say “hindsight is 20 - 20!”.

It seems difficult in India to get away from it all, but perhaps Chhatra Sagar is the nearest one can get. Relaxing in front of your tent overlooking the lake with just the sound of the birds, watching the animals and bird life on on the other shore was truly delightful.

Before leaving, I went into the kitchen with Nandi to collect our remaining refrigerated items and we passed by a beautiful newly constructed covered outdoor patio. Nandi pointed out that they had built this patio for their family, but it had never been used as dangerous bees had constructed a huge nest in the ceiling and according to Hindu tradition, one cannot kill any of God’s creations, even bees who prevent you from using parts of your own home. Amazing!

We hopped in the SUV and began our 2 hour drive to our stop for Shabbat in Pushkar, the location of the only Chabad House in Rajasthan. 

Our next post will cover this Indian Holy City of Pushkar where Chabad has created a spiritual and material oasis for the Jewish traveler.

All the best

Fran and David

India - Feb 2018 - 6th Post - Wednesday in Jhodpur

First, a little Hindi lesson. You will notice that many of the cities we have visited end with three letters, “pur”. Udaipur, Jhodpur, Jaipur etc. In Hindi, “pur” means “city”. 

We began Wednesday with breakfast at our hotel, the Ajit Bhawan. India Kosher Travel had provided us with a fry pan, spatula, and a bottle of oil and had sent messages to the chefs in each of our hotels regarding the manner in which to prepare our meals. As well, they had wisely suggested to the chefs that they provide us with a relatively private area for us to “eat and pray”.

And so when we arrived for breakfast, once again the hotel had set up a very private area for us on a covered patio area. We accompanied the chef to the gas range and they prepared wonderful eggs for us to get us going for the day.

Our destination this morning was the massive Mehrangarh Fort, built in 1459 and perched high on a 150 metre hill. We think of a “fort”as something from the cowboy movies of the Wild West but here in India a Fort is what we would consider a castle or a palace. 

As we made our way up the hill toward the Fort, we stopped at Jaswant Thada, which is the cremation ground for the Royal Family of Marwar who ruled Jhodpur. There is a beautiful mausoleum or cenotaph on the grounds, built out of intricately carved sheets of highly polished marble. 

Our guide for the day, explained the entire cremation process and its place in the Hindu tradition. It was quite interesting. Here is the view of the fort from the mausoleum grounds.

Seated outside the Mausoleum was a traditionally dressed tribesman, who was playing a sitar like instrument called a ravanhastha. It is made of a bamboo shaft, with half a coconut shell covered with goat skin at the base and 17 metal strings and is played with a bow that has oxtail hairs. It had a beautiful sound and I even tried to teach him to play “hava nagila”.

We continued to the Mehrangarh Fort and spent a couple of hours touring this amazing place. The building of the Fort began in 1459. by Rav Jodha, founder of Jodhpur but most of the construction dates to the Marwar king Jaswant Singh who ruled from 1638 to 1678. They have recently added an elevator to the Fort so that we would not have to climb to the main halls high atop the hill. There are seven gates to the fort and one of these is named Victory Gate, built by Maharajah Ajit Singh in 1806 to mark the defeat of the Mughals. 

Within the fort grounds are several beautiful palaces including the Flower Palace and the Mirror Palace, which house priceless collections of royal cradles, miniatures, costumes and elephant carriages. From the top of the fort, we had an excellent view of the city of Jodhpur, known as the “Blue City”, called by this name for a number of reasons. First, the city had a large number of Brahmins, the priestly class at the top of the caste hierarchy, and so their homes were painted to set them apart from the lower castes. Second, it was thought that the indigo dye kept termites away. And third, it was believed that the blue colour kept homes cooler in the harsh summer heat.

When we left the fort, we made our way to the centre of town and the market area that surrounds the clock tower. Again we passed by many booths making deep fried sweets, spices, milk being transported in old fashioned milk jugs and we enjoyed the hustle bustle and splash of bright colours everywhere.

We spend a couple of afternoon hours relaxing by the hotel pool and and then went on a Jeep safari to the Bishnoi Villages nearby where we were introduced to local tribesmen and local crafts.

First we visited the local potter and Fran worked with him on the wheel making clay pots. His main product was round water jugs which people would carry on their heads to transport potable water to their home. The potter had been doing this for years as had his father and grandfather before him. 

He was a very personable and happy person, spoke English well, and introduced us to his daughter in law and grandchildren, who all lived together in the family compound. His daughter in law had her face covered even though she was in her home, because as Muslims, only the daughter would uncover in her own home. 

We now travelled to a local Bishnoi farmer who demonstrated the art of turban tying and the tradition of opium water tasting. The turban material unravelled measured 9 x 2 metres and he effortlessly, in a matter of seconds created a beautiful turban for himself. He then dressed Fran in a Sari and we took a photo as the typical Rajasthan couple. 

The opium ceremony is part of their religion and even though opium is illegal in India, possession by the Bishnoi is overlooked because it is part of their religious rites. 

The farmer took us out to see his water buffaloes and we noticed piles of cow dung patties stacked up around his field. The local women collect the cow dung, flatten them into patties which are used as fuel for heat and cooking, and they are also apparently effective at keeping insects out of your home. When it is mixed with clay, it can be used for flooring which we would see on Thursday when we arrived at our next overnight location. 

It looked like this was a very primitive and basic lifestyle, until we noticed his smart phone and his nearby motorcycle. 

Our third stop in the village was the home of the weaver. He had a loom and was weaving tightly knit cotton rugs which would last for a long time. The art had been in the family for centuries. When we met the weaver, we did not expect that he would converse with us in English but when he opened his mouth, out came an almost accent free pronunciation of the English language. When I asked him where his English was from, he said with a very straight face, “I spent a number of years at MIT in Boston, where I studied engineering. However, I preferred the basic lifestyle do I moved back here to pursue may career as a weaver”. After I said “wow”, he started laughing and said “I have never gone to school; I was pulling your leg and have learned all my English from tourists like you”.

He gave us a quick lesson on weaving and showed us some finished products and then ended with “we accept all major credit cards and ship by courier anywhere in the world”. It seemed so incongruous given the primitive village where we were standing, but I guess, as seasoned travelers, we should be used to this by now.

We returned to the hotel, and had our dinner; this time inside the restaurant, no chuppah for us tonight. The meal was again delicious....so far Chabad Delhi and India Kosher Travel have delivered.

Tomorrow, Thursday, we travel to near the village of Nimaj, to the tent resort of Chhatra Sagar. We were told that this will be an incredible experience. We will see.

All the best

Fran and David