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Hello again...
We left the amazing hotel in Jodphur by Jeeps (very thankful to not be on a local bus), and on the way to Bhenswara we visited some villages. In the first village, we saw an old man demonstrating how to prepare and take opium, which was fascinating. The house he and his daughter lived in had a thatched roof, and there were loads of cute little birds living in the thatching. It was a really pretty spot there. After this, we visited another family home where they make Durry rugs in the traditional way. The rugs were really good quality, and we were given a demonstration of how they are made. Several members of the group bought them because they were so cheap and the quality was so good. The man who owns the rug cooperative programme in the village was proud to show us pictures of celebrities who had bought rugs from him, and copies of Vogue and other magazines which the rugs had been featured in.
After the carpets, we visited a different village where they were making clay pots and many other clay items. The pottery wheel they used was manual rather than electric, and the man doing it was incredibly skilled. He let me have a go at making a pot (with his help) but mine wasn't as good as his. We found the villages fascinating, and the people there live such simple lives but seem so happy. It was a really refreshing break from the bartering the bazaars of the city.
Our hotel in Bhenswara was SO GOOD. It had a nice garden to sit in with flowers and they did really nice cheese toasties (the most popular food in our group at the moment as people are sick of curry!). The rooms were really individual: ours was "The Princess Suite", was really big and spacious, and tastefully decorated with peacock feather designs (the peacock is the national bird of India). In the afternoon, we were taken on a "village safari". First we saw a tribal village where we met the ninety eight year old priest of a snake temple. Villagers go to him when they have a snake bite, and he sucks the venom out of them using string. We were then taken to a shepherd village, where there were lots of happy friendly children wanting their pictures taken. Afterwards, we drank chai and ate biscuits watching the sunset, surrounded by beautiful scenery and mountains.
That evening, we had buffet dinner and drinks and musicians came to play (lots of finger cymbals and drumming: they were really good) and the hotel boys tried to make us dance.
The next morning, we headed to Ranakpur, stopping on the way at a Hindu Temple. The hotel here was very basic, and the food took over 2 hours to arrive after you ordered it! In Ranakpur, we saw the Jain Temple (Jainism is a brach of Hinduism and this is supposed to be one of the most beautiful Jain Temples in Rajastan). The temple was all white marble, and has hundreds of columns, each of which is different. In the afternoon, we went on a "Jungle Safari Walk", which didn't really live up to its name. It was a walk in some scrubland where we looked at some different kinds of animal poo. It was really hot walking and not very exciting! At the end of the walk, there was a lake which was very pretty, and we saw a crocodile. The hotel dogs accompanied us (including a sausage dog called "Tuk Tuk", who was extremely cute). Overall think we've had a really nice two days in the countryside of India.
Okay enough blogging for now!
Sarah xxx
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