Saturday, December 8, 2007

Gopal Guesthouse, Jodhpur

There are 3 generations of family living and working in this heart warming, super friendly guesthouse. I was nursing a tender tummy(post 30 hours of the squirts) upon my arrival, and was given a family remedy to help my "iron gut" return to it's natural state.

Unfortunately I could only stay for a few days as I had a pre-arranged plan to meet friends in another town. Gopal is the type of place where 2 weeks would fly by before you realized, such is the friendliness of the family. When they found out I was a chef, I was in the kitchen immediately. They were desperate to improve their "western food" repertiore. My bare-footed lessons included spaghetti and tomato sugo, french toast, poached eggs, greek salad and roast chicken and roast vegies( the later been done in a gas tandoori oven!). In the meantime, I was in turn shown a few local treats.

The rooftop sitting area overlooks the magnificent Meherangarh Fort and is a wonderful place to sit, drink chai and discuss life with Mr. Shatki. Without sounding too cliche, it eally is that home away from home. When it was time to (begrudginly) leave, the family refused to accept any money for the food and drink my "back to normal stomach" had consumed. They also gave me a small gift for the few dishes I had showed them. The genuine hospitality shown at Gopal Guesthouse exemplifies Indian culture and it is the only place you should stay if you ever find yourself in the magical town of Jodhpur.

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