KEY POINTS:
Amanbagh resort in deepest, desert Rajasthan, Northern India, comes upon you as if in a dream.
If you fly into Delhi, an orange-turbaned gentleman will drive you for four hours through the land of the horn. Indians adore noise - particularly tooting, which they indulge in flamboyantly.
If you fly into Jaipur you will be driven through fields of wheat, medieval villages and forts to the dreamland - Amanbagh (peaceful garden), once a walled tiger-hunting camp and now a luxury resort. Soon you are sipping pomegranate juice while listening to a haunting bansi (flute) playing somewhere on this amazing property - home of New Zealander Robyn Bickford and Manav Garewal, formerly of Opou Lodge in Gisborne.
Peacocks and monkeys cross your path and you get used to being called sahiba (lady) and being treated like a princess in about five minutes.
In my case, I went completely native in a few days and found myself wearing my version of faux-Rajasthani outfits. To give you a clue, for Rajasthani women there is no such thing as too much colour or too much jewellery. They love all that shines and even wear tinsel - searing purple, hot pink, turquoise, canary yellow and crimson.
Robyn always dresses in hand-blocked or embroidered cotton, silk or muslin kurtas (tunics) and pants and in the evening adds a gossamer shawl which seems to float around her independently as she walks.
Rajasthani cooking is a mix - spicy and derived from meagre desert resources, but influenced by the Muslims who arrived in the 16th century and made an impact on the culture and cuisine.
The Muslims used liberal amounts of cream and ghee. They added yoghurt, raisins and spices and introduced elaborate rice dishes such as biryanis and pulaos. And they increased the proportion of meat dishes in what had been largely vegetarian cuisine.
The kitchen at Amanbagh produces very good Rajasthani tandoori, and Western and fusion cuisine, and the vegetables come from their organic garden. But the food I enjoyed most was the local, simple things.
One morning, a staff member presented me with a bowl of fresh buffalo curd (yoghurt) from his village - naturally sweet and slightly sour, sprinkled with salt and toasted cumin. At Amanbagh they are very good at anything to do with a lentil - heavenly dal makhani (black dahl), dal moth (lentil salad with lemon and coriander) and dal palak (yellow lentils with spinach and cumin).
I also became fond of a delicious dish called Lucknowi champ, which is New Zealand lamb chops Amanbagh-style.
From Amanbagh you can do walking trips to visit the villages.
I watched the women milking buffalo, making yoghurt, making buttermilk with huge wooden churns and grinding their own flour. You sit down, exchange niceties and sip masala chai - green cardamom, black peppercorn and cinnamon tea.
If you believe that the best way to access a culture is through its food, this is the way to do it.
As they say in these parts - Jai Siya Ram - glory to Lord Ram and Goddess Sita.
- Detours, HoS