Himmat's mom in her kitchen

I never ask “what could possibly top that experience” anymore.  I know now that where there is life anything is possible.  I suppose it’s just as well I feel this way, or I may get despondent after something exceptional happens in my life – everything thereafter may seem like a massive anti-climax.  I however, still get ridiculously excited by the simplest things (thank goodness!).

The household started bustling early, especially Himmat’s mom who has incredible energy.  I was given a cup of coffee and went to the roof to gaze out over the village.  I often wish that our homes were built like the Indian homes – the roof is used for all sorts of things from entertaining, drying out dung, sleeping in summer, etc.  Many have been tiled with simple but lovely mosaics.

I spent the morning lazing about watching Himmat’s mom in the kitchen and had great fun with Manisha, Himmat’s beautiful cousin.  I curled her hair as much as possible and applied some dried out eyeliner.  She is so stunning and has the most dazzling smile – the smile runs in the family for sure.

Later in the day 4 of us piled into the car and drove out to the dam.  Wow….what an imposing place.  In a small Indian village this is the last thing you expect to see.  I will let the pictures do the talking and you can see for yourself what I mean.  What a lovely place to be able to go to.

I was meant to leave the following day to travel to Jodhpur but I was having such a good time and felt so relaxed I could have stayed in Bijapur for the remainder of my trip.  I asked Himmat if I could stay for another day and night and he and his mom said I was most welcome…..YAY!!!!

I think it was on this day that we went in search of the Tigers that live in the hills near Himmat's village.  There is a temple high up and it is said that the Tigers have never interfered with any person who has visited.  Evidence of their kills is all around and Himmat showed me pictures of recent activity, but unfortunately we didn't see anything.  I say unfortunately, but I don't mind admitting that I felt a bit nervous of coming face to face with a wild Tiger.  There are no fences and they roam free, although they do stick to the caves. My camera's battery was dead so sadly I have no pictures of this place.

When the light faded, we headed home to a delicious dinner.  Oh gosh, why was time speeding by so fast????

The following morning was spent in the company of Himmat’s mom…..she gave me an impromptu cooking lesson and I showed her how I make coffee – I know, this is not going to catch on in India.

I was amazed when Himmat’s brother started ironing – who says you need an ironing board?  Check out the picture….too cute.

My next trip was to the temple.  What a lovely place!!!!! In my opinion, it was far prettier than the Jain Temple in Ranakpur.  A huge plus for me was the lack of tourists.  I was able to make my way around peacefully.  The one part of the complex looked like Cinderella’s castle – no lies.  I think the pictures speak for themselves so I won’t bore you with my ramblings except to say that once I had seen everything I was treated to a cup of chai…..delicious.

This was by no means the end of my day.  We all went to another temple – this one closer to Himmat’s house, and this time I actually got to see people worshiping.  This is where the villagers gather at the end of a work day to pray and mingle before going home for family time.

We spent the remainder of the night watching cricket on TV, chatting, laughing and eating good food.  What more could anyone wish for, except another month or two of this.....

Tomorrow was back on the bus to Jodhpur.