praying and paying...

the past few days i've been out of touch - we've been in bjaipur, a rural farming village of Rajasthan.

we stayed in a palace that has been converted into a "heritage hotel" ... the hotel is still owned by the relatives of the region's ruling family. Locals still refer to the hotel owner as "King" despite the fact that his family's reign ended with the Indian independence in 1947. we accompanied the king to a school assembly where he planted trees as part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness about deforestation. The school and the government ministers treated us as their guests, even conducting part of the ceremony in english to include us. i have some great pictures of the school - as soon as i have broadband I will upload them.

we arrived yesterday in Pushkar, after a life-threatening 5 hr drive in taxis from bjaipur. despite a near-miss with a tractor trailer (i'm talking 6 inches between us and a chance for reincarnation), we arrived in one piece and had a quick orientation by our fearless leader, mohsin.

Pushkar is considered the sacred home of the Brahmin temple, the birthplace of life ... and the current home of fantastic shopping. hindu religion says that the pushkar lake was formed by a petal from a falling lotus blossom. it has become a tourist mecca, with peddlers selling textiles, silver, and -- of course -- tacky plastic elephants, etc. last night we watched the sunset over the pushkar lake . afterwards, we sat at a lakeside cafe listening to "cafe del mar" on the outdoor stereo, sipping on chai, and feeling-- just for a moment -- like we had been transported from India to a seaside resort in europe.

yvette (my new aussie pal) and i are off to finish some shopping. then it's off to a super-touristy camel safari at sunset. tomorrow night we take an overnight train to delhi, and then it's off to bangkok where chapter 2 begins....