Moving on from the global cuisine of London, intrepid contributor C.C. finds herself in an old outpost of the British Empire: McLeod Ganj, India, home of the Dalai Lama and the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile. She eats, prays she won’t develop a stomach virus, and loves much of what she finds—especially the chocolate desserts.
In a particularly efficient way of checking major experiences off life’s to-do list, C.C. has fulfilled two lifelong goals simultaneously by going to McLeod Ganj, India to do a yoga teacher training course. It’s a rigorous program with early morning meditation, classes in anatomy, philosophy, ayurveda, yoga ethics/business, and four hours of asana practice a day, which makes a girl hungry and justified to eat whatever she wants, even typically taboo foods like crepes, cupcakes, and pizza.
This is a good thing, since 14 of the 16 people on the course become predictably ill as will happen to western travelers to India, thus requiring a paranoid girl like C.C. to beef up her attempts to avoid parasites, amoebas, bacterias, giardia, hepatitis, and all other manner of unsavory stowaway germs lurking in the hill town’s water supply and on any cooking or cutting surface. She assiduously avoids anything that may have been grown in manure like fresh vegetables, things with absorbent qualities like tofu, and all meat—not a big deal for C.C. and really appropriate in mostly veg-India anyway, not to mention yogic.

CC and the monkey disagree on dietary restrictions
This means restricting her diet to very cooked and safe foods like bread (C.C. has no appreciation for rice, which she considers a useless carb. Sorry, Asia.); omelets (thankfully McLeod Ganj isn’t that vegetarian); “curd,” which is the most relentlessly watery yogurt known to humankind and may quite possibly be crying as you eat it, such is the endless seepage of water that spews forth; pizza; and the occasional curry when feeling daring.
>> C.C. finds a lot to eat in McLeod Ganj, India – even some leafy greens. >>
Tags: carpe diem, dalai lama, dokebi, first cup, india, khana nirvana, mcleod ganj, moonpeak espresso, peak art gallery, restaurants











