Vegetarian in Jaipur

Village Woman

Marble Carvers

Assembling Jewelry

Gold Necklace

Our Historic Room at the Rambagh Palace

Vijay (left) and Rohit (only Cathy and Cliff drink wine)

Wonderful Rice Pulao with onion and Garlic

Dual Kofta with Tomato and Spinach

The food was so good!

Ice Cream Sandwiches served over dry ice

We left Amanbagh with a 2-hour drive to Jaipur ahead of us. We drove through a village of marble carvers. There were many stores selling white marble figures of animals, gods and famous people. Artists sat on the ground in front of the stores carving the marble. They were completely covered in marble dust. Vijay had asked them if they get lung disease from the dust, they said no. I hope they are correct.

Once again, as a game, I let Google Maps estimate our arrival time in Jaipur. It was off by 5 minutes, which was a miracle giving the complexity of Indian Driving.

Our destination was the Rambagh Palace, our home in Jaipur. We were met by Rohit who was staying with relatives in Jaipur. His wife just had a baby and she was recuperating for a month at her mother's house here in Jaipur.

After checking in at the Rambagh Vijay drove us to an amazing Jewelry store and Museum: Gem Plaza Jewelry Manufactures. Jaipur is full of jewelry stores. This was one you should visit if you are ever in Jaipur. The current generation of the family has established a huge modern factory to create their designs. Artisans hunched over computers design jewelry, other artisans, grind, cut, mold and assemble the precious gems and materials. There is a hierarchy of craftsman, from the newest to the most senior. I think they said 400 people work there. The entire room is carpeted and each year they burn the carpet to obtain the gold that settled into the carpet as byproducts of the factory.

On the floor above the factory was a truly magnificent private museum. They do not allow pictures, but it is well worth a visit. The founder of the company collected all kinds of objects: Hookah mouthpieces, miniature paintings, textiles, jewels (of course), ancient guns, eye glasses etc. All of the items are well displayed with excellent lighting and documentation. It is well worth visiting this jeweler. Of course, at the end they will be happy to sell you a few baubles. We looked, we shopped, we didn’t buy.

We then let checked out the venue of The Literary Festival. Like a Punjabi wedding event it was complete chaos. However, we know by the time the festival opens it will be ready.

We returned the Rambagh, I used the Spa and then we prepared for drinks and dinner. We met Rohit at the Polo Lounge for cocktails, then headed out to a new restaurant for all of us.

Rohit is a vegetarian and Vijay amazingly was convinced to join us for dinner. He usually refuses our invite. Arun from the Jewelry Store had suggested we try Meraaki Kitchens. It is WONDERFUL.

We always joke that we could be vegetarians in India. This is a place that proves it. The restaurant itself is high design. We ate outside, the night was pleasant. Cathy and I sat on swing as we ate. Vijay, I perceived, at first was out of his comfort zone, but as the food arrived, he really began to enjoy himself. The highlight for me was Dual Kofta made with tomato and spinach. It was delicious. This restaurant is a hit with us! I am sure we will return there once more before the festival is over. At the end for dessert they served ice cream sandwiches placed over a small glass with water and dry ice. The dry ice emitted a fog that enveloped the glass. Vijay was amazed. He promised he would join us again for dinner.

We returned to the hotel and went to sleep.