Pushkar

sunset this evening

A mad cow who was next to me during the sunset.
I think this should be brass, but they were brash as well.

My young guide from yesterday

Still here and all good. Today has been a lazy today but still fun. Reading on my veranda till about 3pm and then once the heat and gone a bit I ventured back into town. I firstly went into a notebook store and fell madly in love with loads of booksand photo albums. The guy in there was really great and he could see my crazy passion for his books so he took me to his work station to show me how he made them. It was really interesting to see how they were binded and the colour and design stamps.WELL as you can guess I have bought loads! Why am I so in love with notebooks? Strange, ehh?

I thenwent into a silver shop and looked at rings and necklaces. The owner was asleep behind the counter and I was browsing for a good 10 minutes before he woke up. I could have nicked no end of stuff. Of course I bought a lovely necklace and I didn't haggle with him too much becuse I jsut knew he was giving me a good price. We got chatting about Indian politics and life in Pushkar...hindu and Islamic fundamentalism and bollywood movies...(plus that old chestnut of... can I look at your mobile phone and how much were your sunglasses?) His mate wandered in. He was a Brahmin priest and did ceremonies at the lake. He was pretty cool and he told me about his typical day of taking tourists from all over India down to the lake. His mate, the jewellery seller can't be a priest because he isn't of the right caste.

Then I wndered off into a clothes shop and found a lovely top and of course I bought that too. Again another long chat and tea followed. So after more than 3 hours I hadn't really walked very far in Pushkar at all!

Watched the sunset. Not may people but that cow came over and joined me and then wandered off as soon as the sun had set. the status of the cow in India is just totally bizarre. Sanju says it's because Krishna lives in every cow, so they are all gods.

No time to write more. I am off for pizza. Good place up the road and I am a bit sick of holy indian dhal, it s a bit bland. I forget to tell them I like it spicy.