Believable or not, the Nashik area, among others, is known for its wine grapes and we had a quick tour in the afternoon of the Jula Winery. It was started in 1996 by a local landowner who called on expertise from California to establish a vinyard. The wines sold are always a year old, and despite "tasting" many, we really could not find one that we wished to purchase. They cost about 490 to 690 Rps a bottle (about $15 to $21), so not really cheap. It felt very weird to all of us to be "wine tasting" in India!
The town of Nashik is quite special and is about 6 hrs drive from Mumbai. If we thought Mumbai was frenetic, this is madness! The noise of the horns is excruciating; the narrow roads in the centre of town are a heaving mass of people, animals, produce, goods, scooters, bicycles, carts - all mixed into one moving writing, heaving bundle. In the truck we feel like dignataries as so many people wave at us as we go by, but there still some beggars coming to the truck windows begging for money.
The drive out of Mumbai started at 6 a.m. just ahead of the morning rush and we made good time. We stopped once out of the city at a roadside restaurant for chai (tea) which was delicious - I think its ginger, cardomen, masala, milk and sugar.
The route initially wound through pretty flat, parched countryside until we came to the hills. These were brownish/yellow and rutted with channels from the monsoon rains.
After the wine tour we had a nice swim in the hotel pool - very welcome in this 40+C heat, then a group dinner. The group seems very nice and are quite varied in ages; probably out of the 19 7 are over 50 or around. We have a doctor, a psychologist, an opera singer, a couple on their gap year; a couple at university and they are from Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Scotland, and Ireland. The truck "Daphne" is similar to the truck on the South American trip but a little smaller I think. It does have seats on the roof, so we are promised some open air travel which will surely give us the true feeling of being in India.
Tomorrow we are off to see the Elora Caves and then on to some "wild camps" - so stay tuned.
1 comment:
And I thought London was noisy! Hopefully your memory of English lanes, footpaths and the Wind in the Willows will sustain you.
When things get hectic, I sometimes I retreat to a memory of Skye, with one lane roads, the baaing of sheep and the wind in the heather. Much like Islay, I imagine.
Randall.
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