India: A Paan Adventure

Tasting time.

Our first night in Agra, Adam decided he wanted paan and suggested we try it. Paan is in general a betel leaf filled with areca nut and other things. It is used as a digestive and mouth freshener and comes in many varieties. I tried sweet paan, which you simply chew and swallow. There is also a tobacco variety, which you chew and then spit out red juice. You can tell Indian men who chew it all the time because their teeth are stained.

Making our paan.

We headed down the street, assuming we'd soon see a paanwala. We stopped at a shop and were told the best paanwala was "around the corner." So we rounded the corner and walked down that street and asked again. Once again, we were told it was "just down the street." This happened about five times on the dark night streets of Agra before we finally arrived at the paanwala (which was actually several streets and corners away from where we began).

I think we amused the locals with our ceremonial tasting of paan.

Paanwala stand.