March 9, 2011 – Vacation Day 7-8 – Paying the Price
- Flowers on the “cotton Tree” -more later in the post and on Facebook Photo Link
Outdoors until bedtime…beautiful weather for sitting, and still cool enough that mosquitos are not yet a real problem. But staying up and about until this hour, also makes me hungry for more food.
You’d think I’d eaten enough already today….will just have some nuts and dates though…in the end I ordered a fruit salad!
fruit salad - apples, papaya, pineapple, clementina, grapes, pomegranate
Have begun getting myself ready to leave….going through my stuff…what stays, what goes, what I still need to buy etc. Just 5 days left here then I will be for a day and a half in delhi before my flight.
I will begin with the morning of the 9th after the night of the 8th!!
One lesson I have learned in life, and tried to teach to my children as well, is that everything has a price…before you make a decision to do something, consider the price and if you are willing to pay it!
Every year following panchakarma I kind of go crazy when it comes to eating things I shouldn’t, and things I couldn’t eat for the past month. And after a week, this always ends and I go back pretty much to the “straight and narrow”. Of course, this type of indulgence definitely has a price…and I paid most of it last night, and am paying the final installment today!
I don’t get diarrhea or anything, but certainly would be happy if I could vomit (but never manage to)…It is just a feeling of such total discomfort in my stomach and abdomen that I feel like crying…the pain is relieved temporarily with Reiki, which helps to release gas from the area, and by taking lots of ginger oil and drinking hot ginger. But there is no way I could sleep last night, and am still uncomfortable today, and of course tired from no sleep, and weak from not eating. Today I will stick to hot ginger and some dry toast with a drop of ghee. By tomorrow I will be fine, and if truth be told, when I think back on it, except for yesterday (which still makes me nauseous when I picture everything I ate), the week of food fun was worth the price. (It is now evening, and I am not feeling well at all. My stomach seems to be much better, but I am feeling, weak, slightly dizzy and have a very slight fever. Hope it is nothing more serious than just overeating, but tomorrow will tell for sure)
So what did I eat yesterday? Well, that is part of nice story of what I DID yesterday.
I woke up in the morning and decided I had to get back to properly before I head home. Most of the restaurants I eat at are noisy, crowded, with loud music, etc., and also serve only standard meals from the menu. Which means if I want to request with no potatoes, cabbage or cauliflower it is a problem as the veggies are chopped and mixed in the morning for the whole day. I also want a place with a shady outdoor view overlooking the GAnga, which also limits me to where I can go.
So today, I went checking out some new haunts, and after several unsuccessful attempts, came upon Prem’s Namaste Café down in Laxman Jhula, with an upstairs sitting area overlooking the Ganga.
view from Prem's Namaste Cafe
The owner came from Nepal in 2000 and opened the restaurant with the idea of bringing something a little different to the area. And he seems to have succeeded.
He has the standard dishes, but also a more varied menu as well. Some lovely fresh salads, brick overn pizza, lots of tofu dishes and many many veg dishes to choose from. When I asked about things I could not eat, he was very accommodating and promised me a good meal to my liking. It was freshly prepared (which means waiting, but these are always the best meals and the freshest), Everything lived up to his promises and I hope to be back there for my last few days here in Rishikesh to try some other dishes. (obviously I was not there today, and looks like tomorrow I won’t be either).
It is really quiet here, overlooks the Ganga and is very clean as well. 
There is a pleasant cooling breeze coming off the river making it really comfortable..not a drop of sun – probably freezing in the winter, but just perfect now.
SO…what did I eat:
Veggie and tofu dish with beans in it which was scrumptious – not greasy, not spiced in any way – just lovely and something I’ve never tasted before anywhere in India.
I also ordered a butter Naan, the first time I had one this trip, and it was also delicious:
butter naan
And just then, eating, relaxing, enjoying the view
view towards laxman jhula
I had one of those moments when tears of gratitude overwhelm me! I am so blessed to be here and so grateful to all the powers which make this possible for me.
And the final, extra touch, was my chai was served in a holder so that I don’t burn my hands as usual on the hot glass/
chai in holder
There is this gorgeous tree here with amazingly beautiful red flowers. Owner says it is a “cotton tree” and that after the flower and fruit, the tree is covered with cotton! And he says that this tree is one of the blessings of this restaurant for him here in India.
cotton tree-see more lovely photos on the facebook link below
See this link for lots more beautiful photos of this and more from today:
It was just so beautiful I could not leave, and sat and did my needlepoint for quite some time, and just enjoyed the view. At one
YUMMY!!
point, a monkey came along to feast on the cotton flowers and must have eaten more than 20 before taking off.
let's see...what's next
I wonder if you can see how much he enjoyed his lunch from the pictures
And then, coming down the Ganga, was a traveler, with small pack on his back gliding along on what looks like a surfboard with a paddle!!
guy gliding down ganga on surfboard -see more on the facebook link
By this time, I was hungry again, and decided on something sweet. I ordered something called a bhagsu cake, described as layers of cookies, caramel and chocolate – very sweet.
Bhagsu Cake - Sugar Ecstacy
(I am feeling nauseous right now just thinking of it!!!)…Well, it was pure indulgence – sugar ecstasy for sure.
And that is what I ate yesterday and thought I was paying for today, but perhaps it is something else…will see how things go tomorrow.
That’s it for today – Don’t forget to check out the Facebook Link for lots more photos of today…I sat for hours in just one place and so much beauty found me!
Namaste
Jane
Posted by Jane 
India 2008-2015 