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Tag: Ethical Travel

My Vegan Experience in Pushkar, India
Pushkar is one of India’s holiest destinations, popular with Hindu pilgrims, Indian and foreign tourists. The main attraction is centred around the 52 ghats, where you can see people bathing and performing puja (prayer). There is also 550 temples in Pushkar, so lots to see!
Ghat Watching!
It’s nice to walk full circle around the ghats and across the bridge and to look back across the lake, taking in a beautiful scene at every corner. It is especially lovely at sunset and sun rise.
All very interesting….But more importantly for me, its totally pure veg and a dry location, meaning no alcohol, no meat, fish or eggs available – Great for vegans!
This has made my day!
As a travelling vegan I’m always on the look out for vegan restaurants and vegan food, especially cake! Ever so often I look on HappyCow to see if there’s any vegan restaurants in the area.
Vegan cake, coffee and a great view of Pushkar- life is good!
This is where I found the Real German Bakery in Pushkar! As I’ve never been to a 100% vegan bakery in my life, I wasn’t going to get my hopes up that it was still open. I was very excited though at the thought of how many vegan cakes I could eat in my time in Pushkar!
Yes everything you see in the shop window is vegan!
Unfortunately due to our lack of time I never found the Real German Bakery, but I did find their vegan baked goodies all over town! We found vegan sweet treats in the restaurant Out of the Blue and Sun Set Café.
Lots of lovely delights were on offer, including carrot cake, chocolate cake, lemon cake, apple crumble, chocolate and apple tart, peanut cookies, coconut balls, chocolate balls, cinnamon buns, and chocolate croissant- makes me hungry writing this!
Cake, cake and more cake!
We also found a few other good vegan friendly restaurants- Honey and Spice (not a very vegan name I know) with lots of tasty and healthy dishes on the menu. We went to the Tibetan Café twice to get my fix of thentuk after McLeod Ganj! There was also a great street restaurant, serving everything vegan you would want in a wrap, cooked right in front of you! All easy to find on the main backpacker bazaar street.
Vegan sandwich at Honey and Spice
Thenthuk- my favourite Tibetan dish!
It’s wedding season in India at the moment (around December) and in Pushkar it felt like there was one big party happening the whole time we were there. The wedding congregation parades through the narrow streets, blocking all traffic. As you can imagine, it’s a very loud, colourful and a joyous event to be around. Just try to enjoy it if you get struck behind one!
I felt very lucky to be spoilt by vegan food in Pushkar. Have you found a city anywhere in the world that has so many vegan restaurants as this one? I would love to know!
December 31, 2012
Preparing to Travel as a Vegan
I’ve learnt through experience that you can’t prepare enough to travel as a vegan. You will travel happier and more confidently when you know what to expect when it comes to eating!
It’s not hard to travel as a vegan, but doing a bit of research will definitely help!
Here are a few of my tips on how to prepare to travel as a vegan! I hope these can help a few people out:

Print off vegan restaurant names in the countries that you are visiting
HappyCow is full of information on vegan, vegetarian restaurants and health food shops around the world.
It was very useful for me before I went travelling, when I was researching vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the first few countries that we were visiting.
I printed off many restaurant names when we visited the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, China and Mongolia. I don’t think I would of found them otherwise!
Most vegan restaurants on the website will have an address, contact number and a map to find them. I also found hotel staff were always willing to help me locate them on a map, so just ask for help!
Do your research on the local cuisine before you leave. Know what you need to avoid and what vegan options are available
Do you know what the typical cuisine is in the destination that you’re travelling to? What if there’s limited choices and you’ve got a lot of planning to do before you go? It’s good to have an idea on what’s available to the travelling vegan and what key ingredients you need to avoid. You don’t what to arrive not knowing anything.
Take vegan snacks with you as you don’t know when or what your first meal will be
Taking a few emergency vegan snacks with you is a good idea, Unfortunately there may be times when it’s hard to find something to eat!
What if you arrive at night hungry and everything’s closed? Or you cant communicate with a waiter in a local restaurant, as no one speaks the same language and you’re too tired to work out the language?
It’s also comforting to be able to eat something that you know and like from home when you’re experiencing culture shock.
My favourite vegan travel snacks are: peanut butter, marmite and chocolate biccies! Cereal bars and dried fruit and nuts are also great!
Learn the lingo! Knowing the names of vegan friendly dishes (and what to avoid) in the local language!
Meal times will be so much easier if you have written down the names of local vegan dishes and things that vegans can’t eat! It can be irritating for both parties when the waiter can’t understand what you are saying.
If you can communicate with the staff in their language and ask for something in particular, chances are you might get a better vegan meal out of it, rather than just plain old rice!
Take the vegan passport with you!
If you have not heard of the vegan passport, you should definitely check it out! In a few short phrases (in loads of different languages) it describes what a vegan is and what a vegan can and cannot eat. The travelling vegan’s secret weapon!
Good luck preparing to travel as a vegan! I’d love to know if you have any other tips for travelling vegans out there!
Photos: Vegan snacks by snowpea&bokchoi, Cambodian Insects by gregwalters.
December 12, 2012
Is it Hard Travelling as a Vegan?
Is it Hard Travelling as a Vegan?
It’s a question I hear often. I have to admit, sometimes it is…
A lot of people think travelling as a vegan is impossible. Granted choosing a suitable restaurant while travelling can sometimes be harder and take more time to suss out.
The positive thing is that I can still be vegan in every country I go to and there’s always lots of tasty vegan goodies to eat! I just have to look a bit harder sometimes!
I have to do a bit more research on the local cuisine, and hope there’s some fantastic regional vegan dish! I look forward to this and every new destination offers something new.
I’ve tried to answer some basic questions that would-be vegan travellers might ask:
What are the issues that concern a vegan while travelling?
Will there be anything I can eat on the menu?
Unfortunately restaurants tend not to think about vegans when they write their menu. There are times when we’ve gone to a restaurant, looked at a menu and there was nothing vegan on the menu, not even plain rice! Everything was meat, fish, eggs or cheese!
This is rare thankfully and however simple it may be, there is usually something a restaurant will make for you. Remember they want your business!
South Indian Thali
Will the waiter understand my needs?
There’s one thing trying to communicate to a waiter that you are a vegan and what you can and can’t eat, but try explaining that to someone with poor English, who doesn’t understand what a vegan is!
Even harder is yourself trying to explain, in another language what a vegan is and what you can and can’t eat. It is important to stay calm, speak slowly and know a few words in the local language!
Will my food come out vegan?
Once you’ve ordered and hoped they’ve understood your vegan diet, there’s hoping the chef understands and has remembered your requirements. More times than I remember I’ve had to send back pasta and pizza because it came out covered in cheese!
South Indian Masala Dosa
Will there be vegan options in every country?
Yes of course! Every country has something to offer the vegan traveller, even if they don’t know it! Asking for a dish to be made without some key ingredient usually works out fine, as long as it’s freshly made.
There’s always something in every country that a vegan has to request to be left out- Meat / fish stock and meat/ fish oil in China and Vietnam. Fish sauce in Thailand. Milk and butter/ghee and paneer (cottage cheese) in India.
Before we went travelling, Mongolia was my most feared country for vegan food and the negative reviews online for vegans almost put me off going to the country.
I’m so glad it didn’t though, as there was tons of vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the capital Ulaanbaatar! Our tour organisers also understood my vegan dietary requirements and I was served delicious, wholesome and healthy meals while travelling round the Mongolian countryside!
So all you would-be vegan travellers out there, don’t worry and go travelling, see the world as a vegan! It’s all a culinary adventure, go looking and go eat it!
Have you found it hard travelling as a vegan?
November 26, 2012
Things Girls Shouldn’t Forget to Pack
This is ridiculous!
Here are a few things that are in my backpack that I’ve found invaluable. You probably won’t see some of these items on most packing lists, and some might be a bit squeamish about it all.
But I feel girls should be as prepared as possible for what the traveller trail throws at them.
Remember everything you bring you’ll be carrying on your back. If there’s something you’re thinking about packing just in case, leave it! Most things can be bought in any country.
Moon Cup
This is a genius creation for girls to use instead of tampons and sanitary towels whilst on their period. Before I came travelling I had never used a Moon Cup before, but had heard of them and never gave it much thought.
Thinking about how many tampons I would have to pack and if I could find them in every country made me research into the Moon Cup.
I have never looked back. Of course you should give it a couple of months trial before you set off travelling to see if it’s for you. They come in 2 different sizes so pick the right one and see how easy it is to use. Also, pack a large metal mug to sterilise the Moon Cup, using boiling water before and after your period.
Shewee
Disgusting toilets, squatting, no toilets, no privacy– All these worries led me to purchase the Shewee.
I used to work in an camping shop and would get a few embarrassed women coming in to ask if we sold the Shewee. Not really knowing what a Shewee was and finding the whole idea quite amusing I never gave it a second thought outside the shop. That was until I planned to live like a nomad in Mongolia and trek the Himalayas in Nepal!
Worries that every bathroom on my travels wouldn’t be like my clean and comfortable toilet back home turned me into one one the embarrassed women that walked into my shop.
Sold in shops worldwide and online, the Shewee is easy to buy. There are also lots of similar products by different companies like Whiz Freedom and Go Girl.
The Shewee is a worth while investment and should be tried out at home before you go travelling. I recommend experimenting in the shower first just in case you make a mess!
Flesh Coloured T-shirt Bra
Not the most attractive bra or one I would recommend you wear on a first date, but a bra that can’t be seen under any coloured top is a winner in my books!
If you do not own a flesh coloured t-shirt bra, I definitely suggest you go out and buy one now!
It has saved me on many occasions and is my most worn item on my travels (in case you were interested)!
Contraceptives and Pill Information
If you are using the contraception pill make sure you get the maximum amount you are allowed to buy before you go travelling- in England that is 1 years supply. Also take the information of what pill you are on, the dosage and the ingredients (the box and the information guide should cover that).
Whether you are on the contraception pill or not you should definitely pack lots of condoms! When you are in a malaria risk zone and are taking anti-malarials, some of the tablets cancel out the contraception pill. Making sure you use condoms during that time is essential to stay safe.
Conditioner
Conditioner is probably something most girls use every time they wash their hair. Silly me thought I could save money and room in my backpack if I made do without and stuck with shampoo.
After my first shower on the road I realised I’d made the wrong decision. My hair looks better, feels better and is much easier to comb, I have never been without conditioner since!
Flickr photo by topgold
February 26, 2012