Pushkar 1

Yesterday morning we gave the restaurant another shot, and despite the drowned muesli full of dried chick peas, they completely redeemed themselves by offering both nutella toast and the best aloo paratha I've had this whole trip.

We met up with our driver (whom I'm liking more and more) and drove to a nearby camel-safari organizer to set up our plans for an overnight desert trip. We then got a lift to the the starting point for a long hike up to a nearby hilltop temple. It was a good 30+ minute walk up steps of various states of repair to the modest temple with a wonderful view of the city, lake and surrounding valley. Even the more remote temples seem to be centers for various wildlife.

The way to the top

The way back down

Pushkar

These guys were super tame

Langurs > Macaques

This one's for mom

We made our way back to town and spent much of the afternoon wandering back through the market, this time dusting off our haggling skills for new bags for Cindhu and me and a few gifts. After a few snacks (some street samosas and spicy mix from my new favorite-shop-ever in Jaipur) and a few hours back at the hotel, we headed out to dinner with Nandhu after soliciting his local food wisdom. We ended up at a modest roadside restaurant with an outdoor woodfire heated chapati pan. We let him order and were soon presented with an aromatic spread of palak paneer, a local dal special, aloo gobi, and some veggie pakoras. The food definitely lived up to our request for someplace cheap, spicy, and delicious. The dal in particular was one of the nicest vegetarian dishes we've had in India and I was soon contentedly sporting the signature forehad sheen that all the guys in my family get from appropriately (to our taste) spicy food (I was delighted to get Will's report from Dharamsala of his first true experience with the "spicy sweats"). We came back to the hotel and enjoyed a few quietly served beers on the rooftop while enjoying the blaring indian music from a courtyard concert nextdoor (which we enjoyed a bit less when it was rendering our earplugs useless at 2am). Today: overnight camel camping in the desert!