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| Jaq, our driver, feeding the sacred cows |
The road to Bundi is dotted with small
villages with lots of interesting activity and keeps my mind off the
constant bouncing. The roads are terrible. Life must be pretty simple in these villages. We
see lots of men standing around or sitting and visiting. Some are
cooking or making fires. Women are also cooking or taking care of
children, shopping at the small outdoor wagon markets or selling what
looks like home grown vegetables. Some people are hauling water or
milk, making bricks or cow patties, or cutting tree branches. Our
driver tells us they sell the branches very cheaply so people can buy
them to give to the cows, a gesture that is sure to please the gods
since cows are considered sacred. People, especially children, wave
to us.
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| bats in fort in Bundi |
We reach Bundi in the afternoon. It is
a small town with not much to do. However, see (still another)
palace, this one, at one time, was probably pretty significant; the
road going through the walls and up toward the castle entrance is
wide with stones that are set sideways and worn to a shine. Bats
inhabit the now empty rooms, and walls are falling in. It's yet
another example of historical structure that, sadly, has not been
maintained.
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| marriage ceremony---parade |
After dinner and blog writing, we
prepare for bed, and I am actually in bed when we hear drums coming
down the road in front of our hotel. We jump up, get our clothes
back on and run outside to a parade. At first we aren't sure what
the occasion is, but we wind our way through motorcycles, revelers,
and past a man and small boy riding on a horse to the front of the
parade where the band members, dressed in white uniforms, are playing
drums and some kind of horns. People are dancing and walking with
chandeliers, held with long sticks, and a generator following to keep
them lit. It suddenly occurs to me that this is possibly a
wedding, but where is the bride? We are told that she is waiting
for the groom on horseback at the marriage ceremony place. Lucky us,
we get to see a real part of Indian life.
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| downtown Bundi |
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| selling greens for sacred cows |
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