Shopping Bazaars in Jaipur

I visit the bazaars in the city centre a few times. An evening visit was fun to see the colours, the sights, the sounds and the smells. There are different specialist zones, whether it's food, flowers, textiles, carved statues or plumbing. While you should always be wary, be sure not to completely close yourself out to the locals as one of the highlights of Rajasthan is the chance to interact with the people. Nothing comes 'fixed price' in Jaipur, even in the self advertised as 'fixed price' shops & emporiums. Almost everything, from food to to transportation to handicrafts, even accommodation can be bargained down up to a 60% discount on the quoted price. The lowest rates were found in the bazaars. Even here, I compared several shops - each one had a different price for the same item.

I felt weak after not eating any meat for 2 days. There was no non-vegetarian restaurants in the city center. I was forced to eat once in McDounld (in Delhi) and once in Domino Pizza (in Agra), because all other available options would have given my stomach issues. One new friend met in Jaipur introduced me to eat heavily spiced meat at a BBQ store.

For my friends that receive the tea gift set from me. 'Masala' means 'a blend of spices', and 'chai' simply means 'tea.' Consumption of black tea in India remained low until an aggressive promotional campaign by the (British-owned) Indian Tea Association in the early 20th century. Here are the instructions for preparing Masala Chai Tea:

Masala Chai Tea makes one 8 ounce serving 3/4 cup water 1 1/2 teaspoons loose black tea leaves 3/4 cup milk 1 to 1/2 peanut size of Masala spice power Sweetener, to taste (I prefer honey or maple syrup) In a small pot, put in the water and loose black tea leaves boil for 5 minutes; pour into one cup through a fine mesh sieve, and discard the leaves; add milk and simmer for 1 minute; add masala spice and sweetener, to taste. Later on I listened to Tedtalks by photographer Lisa Kristine who has traveled the world, documenting the unbearably harsh realities of modern-day slavery - including forced prostitutes in Nepal, kidnapped labor in Indian textile factories -- illuminating the plight of the 27 million souls enslaved worldwide. I felt guilty of promoting such slavery via purchasing the products produced by the slaves. You can learn more about the slavery at http://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery.html