Another thing about food in India is that it's all heavily spiced that comes as no surprise. Really since India is well known across the world as the biggest spice producer and exporter but there's one region that stands out exclusively in this regard the state of Kashmir it's home to the most valuable spice ever saffron. Sure this flower isn't unique to India it also grows in Iran and Spain Kashmir however produces the highest quality and the most expensive saffron in the world the town of Pampore is literally built around saffron fields. There are actually three varieties cultivated there there's manga the most expensive one that costs about 1,600 dollars a pound then you've got lucky which interesting enough is less pricey at $1,000 per pound yet saffron farmers say it's the purest and finally there's Arda it's the cheapest but only compared to other varieties because $250 a pound isn't exactly what I call cheap anyway India's spice game is definitely on point.
So I found a good place to eat and as soon as I saw the menu I remembered that India is also famous for its large variety of teas or as the locals call it chai you should see the sheer number of options. I never thought there could be that many types of tea if you're a tea drinker I'm sure you know Darjeeling and Assam but have you ever heard of Karnataka or Kangra does Munnar ring a bell? I don't blame you I had no idea that these kinds exist either and those are just the tea producing regions there's even more once you get into the types of chai by adding particular spices and herbs take for example masala chai which is made with cinnamon ginger cloves and herbs. I personally fell in love with butter tea it's so thick and creamy. I could drink it by the gallon basically you take tea leaves some butter hot water and salt mix it all up and thank me later.
With a full belly and plenty of chai pumping through my veins I was ready for some sightseeing. I landed in New Delhi so I spent the rest of the day walking around and taking in all the sights. Whenever I go abroad I like to carry a little phrase book in the local language well if you ever find yourself in India you're gonna need a really big book because there are actually twenty-two officially recognized languages their. English is among them so I was okay just sticking to that but those 22 official languages are just a drop in the huge linguistic ocean of the country by different accounts. There are from 122 to 300 major languages spoken in India as well as up to 1600 lesser known ones basically if you travel from one town to another you'll hear people talking a different language and if you happen to go to another state you can forget everything you might have learned in your previous location how they manage to communicate with each other is still beyond me.
New Delhi was awesome I wish I could talk more about it but I had a lot to see. I did find time to take a train up to Amritsar and see the Golden Temple ah how do I even begin to describe it the whole thing is covered in gold and sits in the middle of a huge pool of water. Here a vegetarian meal is given to any and everyone who comes to the temple regardless of their background or beliefs. just imagine the golden temple provides a free meal to over 50,000 people a day and on special occasions it can feed up to 200 thousand I got a free meal too and it was really delicious you can volunteer there as well I did just that because I was in so much wonder about the place I didn't want to leave what I actually regret is that I didn't get to see the Khumba Mela in action it's one of the greatest celebrations of India and apparently it's a sight to behold in 2011 so many pilgrims gathered in one place that the whole congregation of 75 million people was even visible from space.
In fact whatever India does it does it on a huge scale for example it has the largest number of post offices in the world. Wherever you go you'll stumble upon one literally on every corner. The irony of this is that it doesn't really help the situation with delivery times one Indian guy told me it's totally normal to wait for your package to be delivered in two weeks time even if it was sent from a nearby town but hey patience is a virtue but it doesn't stop there India places third in terms of the number of Guinness world record holders the world's fastest nose typer the most expensive wedding ever held and the most selfies taken together are just a few of the bizarre world records held in this country what else the largest railroad network in the world check well almost since the United States does technically have more but anyway India has built over 3.5 million miles of railroads which considering the smaller size of the country still means easier transit within and between different locations with that in mind it shouldn't really be a huge surprise that Indian Railways is also the largest employer in the world it has over a million employees and considering the country's extensive
railway network these people are scattered throughout India from the smallest villages to the biggest cities the number of jobs grows every year so it looks like you could always get a job there if you're looking for employment in India. Anyway what can I say about my final impressions I was blown away and I seriously didn't want to leave this fascinating place visiting it was like going to a whole new world for me I tried to get as many souvenirs as I could but I almost forgot one important thing if you ever go there by the way you'd better remember it too no one is allowed to take India's national currency in or out of the country it's actually against the law so make sure you change your money before you cross the border.
Can you tell me anything else about India that I missed?
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