Rajasthan

We left Puna by air for Ahmedabad, where we met a quiet spoken, gentle young man holding a big sign with our names on it. His name is Tarun, and he is a very good driver - all business while he's driving, informative when we're stopped. We got in the car and drove 6 hours or so to Mt Abu, which is about 2000' above the surrounding plain. The hotel is very nice and the food is very good. I'm mostly eating Indian, and PC is mostly eating 'continental'. The big deal there is the sunset. Imagine being high above the surrounding landscape and watching the sun go down over the plains. Sunday was the day before the 60th anniversery if the independence of India from UK, making this weekend a 3 day holiday -so - there were hundreds of people there to celebrate the sunset together. Our guide book said people are vet friendly and get well acquainted while waiting for the sun to set. We got there about an hour early and found a place to sit. We did get acquainted with several people, parents with their children staring at us as an oddity in their experience. I took pictures of several sweet ones and PC ask mamas if the child could have one of his butterskotch, wrapped, hard candies. Without exception, the mothers have agreed. We visited most with one couple. People feel a duty to explain India to us, and we are willing learners. They are all amazed at our age and how long we've been married. This couple explained why Indian men choose younger wives - "women mature faster than men". After I thought about this, I decided that women get OLD faster than men, but he said it better!
When the sun went down there was a roar from the crowd, just as the book said there'd be. Walking back to the car would have been shaky business if it were not with so many helpful people. One tall man and his wife helped us down some steps and talked while walking - Whivh country are you from? Have you been here long? where will you go from here? etc. As we parted he gave me his card, a lawyer in some big city, saying "you never know when you might need a lawyer". The next day we saw two temples, one Hindu - every inch carved with gods and flowers and daily human activities, the other (smaller) - every inch covered with mosiacs of plain and colored mirrors. Some were in scenes with elephants and riders, some with geometrical designs. This was a first for us - totally covered on the inside with mirror pieces. The outside was plain white.
The next day we drove to Udipur and the fanciest hotel I've ever seen, much less stayed in.
We're here for 3 nights which I'm having trouble fitting into my value system. PC told me it's already paid for, just enjoy! I'm trying.
The first night we did little more than walk around a bit and go to bed (with a giant, skinny TV with the great picture). The next day, my birthday, we went to a temple and the city castle, which is huge. They still have a king in Rajasthan and he lives in part of it. He has made 2 world class hotels in 2 of the wings and still has a large, historical place for the public to view. On the 4th floor there are trees in the garden. Our guide ask if we knew how the trees got there. I, being from a progressive town that has highrise apts with trees on the roof offered that suggestion. PC usually chooses to remain silent and appear more knowledgable. The trees are growing on top of the hill (or mt) that the castle is built AROUND. There was a water harvesting system that collects in beautiful pools and was used for irrigation and for pleasure. Today I suspect the water is pumped there.
In the evening we enjoyed a bagpipe band with drums and bugles, a puppet show and folk music and dancing. There were 3 musicians and 3 lady dancers. The last dance we saw consisted of the 3 ladies with flames coming out of the top of a water jar on each head. With this balanced they preformed many slow movements of controlled balance and many exciting fast movements.
What a birthday celebration! We finished with dinner and rest. Today we take rest til 4pm when we go to the barbershop and then to another palace. Rajasthan (raja - king and sthan - state) has many palaces. Tomorrow we leave early for Jaipur. Much love to all of you,mj