This 11-day adventure travels through the Eastern Himalayas, one of India’s most revered regions.

This excursion starts with a visit to the wholesale market. It's a busy market and your guide will stop amongst the chaos so you can take some photos. At the market, you’ll witness three-ton trucks from which people will be manually unloading packages of vegetables, each weighing around 200kg. Bengalis love their food and a daily visit to the market is one of the most important chores of the day.

Afterwards you will either have lunch or dinner with a family or your guide may invite you to their home for a meal. A typical meal may include a vegetarian dish like shukto which incorporates gourd (similar to squash) banana, papaya, potato and sometimes bitter neem leaves. Then sides like paturi which is ground fish baked in mustard seed sauce and green chilli. It’s a great way to learn about the different Indian flavours as well as interacting with local Bengalis.

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Bamboo Retreat is perfectly positioned in the fertile foothills of the Himalayas and showcases ethnic cuisine. The focus is mainly on Tibetan and northern Indian food such as momo dumplings and the noodle soups you find in Sikkim. Bamboo Retreat has the benefit of its own farm which makes for the freshest lunches using cow peas, mung beans and fava beans to make dal.

When you arrive at the retreat, you will be offered a range of herbal teas including mint and stevia grown from the garden. If it’s a sunny day you can admire the city of Gangtok surrounded by mountains and acres of lush green farmland.

You will get to see some of the more unusual vegetables, native to Sikkim that aren’t as widely used. For example, water cress and four different types of nettles is made into soup. You don’t have to be a great cook to join the class, but you need to be willing to explore your culinary horizons. You’ll learn just how simple it is to prepare a healthy and delicious meal. Visitors can explore the orchards and gardens growing herbs for medicine, edible flowers, and fruit to make jams.

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