On to Ranakpur 7-26-2011

Driving through the countryside between Kamalgarh and Ranakpur. There are small villages and women in very colorful saris. There are school girls in white pants with a blue top and white scarf. There are women in saris carrying huge quantities of some plant on their head. There are brick sisterns for water. There are cows and water buffalo on the side of the road, but not as many as you see closer to the city.school kids scattering as we crest a hill. Women taking naps under a tarp. Women with 5 gallon sisterns of water on their heads. Driver blowing the horn as we round every corner on a one lane road. Kids selling a fruit that has something like custard inside. Stone walls used for fences, everywhere, looking like they have been there for centuries. A village, commerce centre with all kinds of shops, including jalebi, my favorite Indian sweet. Be angle shops. Jeeps filled with 20 guys. Farina says it is the most exotic place she has been because of the color, the beauty and the vibrancy of it. A bus with places for the people to sleep. So many water buffalo, everywhere. Little restaurants with names like Harmony and Casa . Small children stacking sticks on the side of the road. A guru on a rock in a saffron robe, on the side of a huge mountain, a small child seen bringing him food. Tractors being pushed downhill by the huge load of gravel in a trailer on the back. Near head on collisions. Dogs that think they are sacred, refusing to move from the road. Strange trees growing from mountains that otherwise look similar to the Blue Ridge. An entire skeletal structure of a cow, intact ribs sticking up on the side of the road. Troy says last time he was here, it was before monsoon and there were no animals. Now there are animals around every corner, feeding on the green vegetation. The Jain Temple in the distance, seemingly glowing. I want a turban. We stopped at a hotel for lunch. Late lunch at 3:30. The food was incredibly good including taiga, naan and chicken Marsala. Troy had a lime soda and Fariba and I had lassis. The hotel had a section under construction and I took a picture of the workers with my iPad. They were fascinated. Many female workers in construction here and they wear saris while working. A peacock just crossed the road in front of us. Right next to a sign warning of leopards. Went to the Jain temple. 1400 columns, none the same. We got a tour from a guy who is a 14th generation priest. We just passed about 60 monkeys eating on the side of the road. Then Troy saw a huge elk in the woods on the side of the road. People going the wrong way in opposite lanes on a four lane highway. Truck drivers swerving out of their lane. Kids sitting in the median of a four lane road, their feet in harm's way. Herds of sheep being shepherded along a four lane highway.