Being the Tourist--Part Two

The continuation of my fabulous yesterday. (Today, I'm paying the consequences.  I'm back to my hacking self.  At least it's a holiday and I've had a lazy day.  Room service for dinner and an early bedtime)

After leaving the museum, my driver took me to a friend of his who sells authentic pashminas, carpets and Indian art.  I've seen enough here to know that coming to India for cheap stuff is a bit of a myth.  Yes, I can get a cotton shirt for 10 bucks, but when it comes to quality, you pay.  It's still cheaper than we pay, but it's not being given away.

The pashmina store was really fabulous.  In the picture, the gentleman at the back was the current owner of the store and the grandson of the original owner.  The gentleman in the yellow turban was my driver.  One thing I really enjoy here is that when there is business to be conducted, like checking in to a hotel or buying a pashmina, you sit down.  In my case, with the pashmina, you sit down for a long time and chat and drink tea.  The pashminas were gorgeous.  The better ones are hand embroidered and are done so well that it's hard to tell the front from the back, the stitching is so tidy.  These run around 400 dollars and I was tempted, but couldn't bring myself to do it.  I didn't love it that much and had visions of moths destroying it.  Instead, I settled on a lovely purple one.  It's also that lovely, fine cashmere, but it just has a subtle pattern woven into it.  Even that runs about 100 dollars and that's my bargained down price.  I ended up picking up a couple of other little gifts there and the price was adjusted accordingly.  Paying with cash makes a difference, too.  There is a booming, under the table, business here. I like that.

I was coughing quite a bit and when the owner noticed, he offered me a cup of "kahwa".  This is a Kashimiri tea that people drink in the winter time and is renowned for getting rid of headaches and helping with colds.  It was DELICIOUS.  It's a blend of green tea, cinnamon, cardamon and almonds.  It works, too.  No more coughing for a couple of hours after that.  I've posted the recipe below.

While we sipped our tea, I was able to see some of the more valuable pashiminas in the collection.  He had one that was 200 years old and was so heavily embroidered that it almost felt like a a carpet.  It would have taken years for a person to decorate.   The value of it was about $30 000.  He had another that was 150 years old and had less embroidery, but was exquisite all the same.  That one was worth $15 000.   There is also a weaving technique that is used using two small sticks.  The older pashminas created this way had such intricate  patterns and would  literally take months to loom.  He then showed me a current version and it was like looking at a shirt from Target vs.haute couture.  The weave was much looser, the pattern much larger and only at the ends.  No comparison.  The antique ones are hung on the wall as art but wealthy Indians.

When we finally got out of the store (I had to look at carpets, too), my next stop was High Tea at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.  Stunning!  It's considered to be one of the top hotels in Asia.  High tea is served in the Sea Lounge and I had a table overlooking the Gateway to India and the Arabian Sea.  You know, kind of a dull, every day kind of view...NOT.  There were probably about a thousand people milling about the arch.  It's huge and celebrating it's 100th anniversary this year.   The photograph isn't great, I took it through the window from my table.  Around the arch, you can hire a carriage to take you around.  Maybe next time when I have more time. They're covered in hammered tin and totally over the top.  

The tea was all I had hoped for and I'll be going there again before I leave.  Crustless sandwiches, scones.and cream and some Indian treats.  I loved that the tea was loose and had one of the best pots of Earl Grey in my life.  High tea is really an undervalued meal.

The drive home was just long.  What took half an hour in the morning took more than 90 minutes on the drive back to the hotel.  According to the driver, on a weekday, the drive from the Taj to my hotel would take about three hours. One thing I noticed about him, he was a true tour guide and was a wealth of information about the city, but always got very quiet when we drove through a slum or where things were falling apart.  Fixing the infrastructure here would take hundreds of billions of dollars and decades.

Next weekend, I'm hiring my driver again to see some more of the city and have a chance to spend some more time walking around.  I had thought about going to Goa next weekend but somehow the thought of a romantic beach town by myself seems really depressing.  Because of the monsoons, the beaches are closed, and so I'd miss out on the one thing I'd really like to do there, anyway.

As promised, here is the recipe for kahwa (and check out the rings below my tea cup):

Kahwa (Kashmiri Winter Tea)

Ingredients:

4 Cups Water

1/2 tsp. green tea, crushed

2 cardamom pods, crushed

1 cinnamon stick

3-4 shredded almonds

4 strands of saffron

Sugar to taste

Directions:

Pour water in a pot and add green tea and cinnamon.  Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, add the saffron and sugar.  Add the cardamom and almonds.  Cover and boil for a few minutes.  Strain into a cup and enjoy!  It is worth the effort.