Hi Steemit friends!
Today we continue our journey through India, this time in Rishikesh. Here is my post from Mumbai & my other from Varanasi. Be sure to follow me if you want to see more posts about India & Travel. I love exploring, and I love food too. So I share them both!
Even with my first visit to Varanasi, I loved India, but when I arrived in Rishikesh, I feel even deeper in love and was taken aback by how beautiful the city is. Being set in the mountains, and also having the Ganga (the holy river also called "The Ganges" in the US), adds to the beauty and appeal of Rishikesh. Also Rishikesh is a very holy city, so that means no alcohol is sold here and no meat either.
By the time the Ganga flows down into Varanasi, the water isn't as clear as it is here. So I took the opportunity to get my feet in the holy river.
In addition to the beautiful setting, there's tons of great food here. I LOVE Indian food, but I don't exactly eat like a traditional Indian does...
This is a typical meal for me: Aloo Gobi (potatoes & cauliflower) and Dal (lentils) - I got this at a restaurant called Purple Dhaba. Notice what's missing??? I ordered it without rice or any bread haha. When ever I order like this in India, people look at me like I'm crazy. And they always ask, "But how will you eat it???" And I always reply, "With a spoon." LOL. In India, rice and bread are staples. The type of bread, and bread vs rice, is certainly a regional difference, but people pretty much always eat one or the other with any meal. But I prefer to eat just the veggies.
I also really love dosas. I got this one at a restaurant called Rajasthani. And the masala dosa was amazing. I actually didn't expect it to be good at all because it's clearly a Rajasthani restaurant (Rajasthan is in the North), and dosas are from the South. So I was really pleasantly surprised. If you've never had a dosa, they're great! The wrap is somewhat similar to a crepe but the batter is made from rice flour and lentils, and it's fermented. It's then filled with a spiced potato mixture, and served with 2 chutneys (sauces), and sambhar (a spicy lentil soup that I wish I could eat every day lol)
There are also places that have really good Western food. I really love a place called Pumpernickel German bakery. They even have tons of vegan options on the menu! (This is not the case everywhere in India, but it's easy to find in Rishikesh).
This is a tofu scramble with eggplant, sweet potato, avocado and cashew cheese on top! It was so good. Oh and I even got it with gluten free buckwheat roti on the side. This place clearly caters to tourists! And I like it. As much as I love India food, I also like mixing it up from time to time and having different things too!
I had such a good time in India, and one of my favorite parts of India, aside from the food, was definitely all of the cows!
Cows definitely just roam the streets in India. This one was just hanging outside in front of my hostel. I guess he just wanted to greet everyone as they came and went LOL I really enjoyed it.
If you want to see more of my travels in India, you can check out my youtube channel here!
And if you enjoyed this post, Please remember to Upvote it, so I can continue to share this journey with you.
Also, you can check out my facebook page and follow me here. On this page I post daily vlogs about travel, and what it's really like becoming a digital nomad. I'm transitioning from being a traveler to a real DN. Thanks for reading :)