Bingo

K. K. Internet, Pushkar

We spent a further two nights in Jaipur, of which the first was spent having dinner on a 14th floor 'revolving restaurant' overlooking the city. The view was better than the food. The next day we did a day trip to nearby Amber where a ruinous old palace atop a mountain was a relaxing place to wile away an afternoon, before a return to Jaipur for tea next to a group of elderly Indian women playing bingo. There were more than two fat ladies.

Train to Ajmer the next morning (Chair Class is definitely the way to go) for a quick stopover spent mainly in the park overlooking the lake, an experience marred somewhat by the fascination our whiteness seemed to hold for the hundreds of locals who hsd the same idea. A queue of children formed waiting to shake our hands, and after obliging we took our leave silghtly overwhelmed.

Bus to Pushkar the next morning, from whence I write. We have our most luxurious, yet cheapest hotel yet, on a hillside overlooking the town (and a hole in the ground where the lake used to be before they drained it because "it was getting very dirty") with a private balcony and more-than-passable bathroom facilities. Of the places we've been, Pushkar is the most like the India of my imagination, although probably for this reason it is also full of quaint but embarrassing middle-aged hippies. Yesterday we trekked for an hour up a rocky cliffside path to a mountain-top temple before an afternoon on the balcony and spaghetti (after 25 curries in a row this seemed acceptable) for dinner, and this morning we've had an object lesson in the art of making chai. I can report that it is similar to making a cup of tea.

My highlight of Pushkar, if not the trip so far, was Tweedie fixing the strap on my bag with her travel sewing kit while I lay in the sun.

Enjoying the chilled vibe in Pushkar, so may stay for a few days longer depending on whether our hotel can fix the television in our room ahead of the 2nd India-SA test tomorrow.

Over.