I Need to Get Myself a Spice Box!

Udaipur, India
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Nik and I left Ranakpur around 9am and were in Udaipur by 10:30am or so.  Ram did his last ditch attempt to get us to stay at a place that he recommended, but Nik and I each had recommendations on the same place, so were going to stick with staying there.  Ram parked a bit away from the guesthouse since the area we were staying in had narrow lanes.  We checked out Hotel Udai Niwas and were happy to stay there.

We then headed back to Ram where we had to settle up.  I handed him the last installment and then he said he needed more money for the trip to Bundi and Osian.  Nik explained that he had talked to Bitoo (or was it Titoo?) and had been told that for Bundi there would be no extra charge.  Then Ram started in about the gas etc.  As we stood there, wondering what to do and annoyed that this came up at the last minute, Ram told us to give him what we thought fair.  We gave him some extra money, but we were not happy about it at all.  It was a shame because it felt like a struggle the whole way with him, when it needn't have been, and this last thing just put a bad taste in our mouths.

Temple, Udaipur, India
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We went back to the guesthouse, now able to check in as the room still had to be cleaned when we first showed up.  We then headed off to search for a cooking school, Spice Box, that had been recommended in my guidebook.  I was really eager to take a class and time was running out.  Nik and I then decided to part ways, since we had different agendas we wanted to accomplish and I don't think he was as interested in the cooking class as I was.

I grabbed lunch and had a really cheap meal, especially for a pizza, which was more like chopped tomatoes on bread, but still very good.  I then wandered around the town, not taking a map, to see what it was like.  I definitely headed up into some of the residential area, not really knowing where I was going.

Cooking Class at Spice Box, Udaipur, India
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I made it back just before my class started at 4:30pm.  There were two couples and me and we were taken across the street and up some stairs to a room.  I was a little disappointed at first, because it looked like it was going to be a demonstration class and I really enjoyed the hands on classes I had taken before.  Our instructor came who was one of the owners (truly the owner!) and handed us the recipes, most of which we were going to make.

It turned out that we each took a turn at cooking one of the recipes.  I lucked out with being able to cook one of the main dishes, which was good for me to see how it was done up close.  The class took over two hours where a number of items were made, including chapatti.  Mine definitely was not round, something I shall have to work on!  Then we had the chance to eat everything we had made, along with some vegetables that had been prepared on the side.  After stuffing ourselves full, dessert was served which were these round dough balls, seeped in a sugar syrup called gulab jamun.  I swear, I think they were the sweetest things I had ever eaten - a heart attack waiting to happen.  It didn't help that every time you finished one, the owner would put another one in your bowl until you begged him to stop.  I think the one guy next to me ate about 6!

Clocktower, Udaipur, India
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Totally stuffed, I met up with Nik who hadn't eaten dinner yet, but lured me to have dinner with him in with the promise of a glass of wine.  So we headed to Savage Garden where Nik had some excellent pasta and my glass of wine, which turned out to be Indian wine, was ok, but I don't think I shall be having anymore!

We headed back to the guesthouse, wanting to see what was on at 9pm on HBO or Star Movies.  I can't remember what was on HBO, but we had both seen it, so we turned to Star Movies where Tom Yum Goong was playing which was a hilarious Thai movie that had been dubbed into English, but with Indian accents.  We got about 3/4 of the way before we couldn't take much more of it and had to turn it off.