Place: Roof of the Spice Market

We were told that this was the largest spice market in all of Asia, and probably all of the world since most spices come from Asia. Yet this place doesn’t have a formal name. It used to be communal homes during the Mughal empire, but now the land isn’t really owned by anyone. The upper floors are used for storage for spices now, and the lower floors and surrounding streets are where the sales go on.

People have lived here for generations selling spices. Supposedly even those that’ve made good money won’t leave because they’re attached to here.

It’s funny to think that most of the spices we consume probably come from here. Because of how pungent it is, everyone is constantly coughing and sneezing, and those bodily fluids probably at least partially get mixed into the spices. And yet when we get the spices, they come in nice packages and seem very sanitary.

Food: Chai

Chai literally just means tea, and yet when people order chai they seem to refer to a specific kind of tea. Chai is milk, sugar, and black tea leaves. It’s not made with water, unlike other tea cultures. I wasn’t able to figure out which strain of black tea it was. People vary in how often they drink it obviously, but it’s common for people to drink it at least twice a day. Laborers drink it more often for the energy.

The tea we got from a shop under the table of another shop. Literally. The guy was sitting beneath the other shop’s table with a teapot and cups making chai