Camel fair again

For some reason, I woke at 0230 but fortunately fell asleep again till 0800.  There was little pressure to do anything in the morning and I didn’t emerge from my room till 1000.

I had a nice breakfast of muesli, papaya and curd.  The papaya was purchased by their kitchen hand after I had made the order.  That’s how they keep inventory cost low and the food fresh.

I realised that my Idea SIM card had been suspended for some reason.  Perhaps my passport details had not been submitted by the dealer.  Or perhaps my attempt to recharge it from a different state (which had different recharge vouchers) affected it.  I went out to get a Hutch SIM card and hoped it will last me till the end of my stay in India.

I spoke to Kim who was now in my hometown, Kuching, with his parents.  Unfortunately he had stomach problems from eating at a rooftop foodcourt called Top Spot but strangely his elderly parents were OK.  [Edit:  But his Mum would later catch something from eating a sandwich at a seaside resort.]

I had lunch at the Sixth Sense restaurant located in the lovely Seventh Heaven Inn.  It was a beautiful setting.  The place had been recommended by Rani who thought the owner (whom I didn’t meet) was rather hot.  But the food was only so so.

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In the afternoon, the camel fair picked up again, so I made my second visit.  There was supposed to be a bullock decorating competition but someone told me it didn’t happen as only one bullock turned up.  Instead, I caught some child performer acts like contortionists, tight ropes, acrobatics etc.

I continued to town for a shave (INR30), herbal facial (INR 260) and a head and back massage (INR150).  The man imposed an involuntary tip of INR60 but I didn’t quibble.

After resting at the hotel, I tried a different place, called Moon Dance, for dinner   The spinach lasagne was nice.  It felt like they had used wonton skin instead of lasagne pasta; that’s intended a description not a criticism.

I wandered around to absorb the atmosphere of Pushkar by night before returning to the hotel to chill on the porch.  I met Roger from France but is actually Italian.  He had lived in many places including Noumea and Tahiti.  He’s learning Hindi during his stay in India and seems to smoke some “magic” cigarettes.

For dessert I got Papu-Ji (the cook) the create me a chocolate and banana paratha, an off-menu item.