To Ajmer: short day and meat!

March 17, 2016

"We're in no hurry to check out of here. We don't want to be too early to our hotel for check-in" says Patrick. We are so used to getting up early, eating our cornflakes and granola breakfast, packing up and getting on the road, that we don't know how to wait. Pappu, the hotel owner, says breakfast in 10 mins when Patrick asked at 0745. So we wait.

On the rooftop is the Rasta Cafe, Pappu fixes banana and fruit pancakes. They come one at a time, so Patrick has finished his when the other one is brought out for Rachel. We are used to not getting all that we order at the same time.

Fairly quickly, we get over the hill called Nag Pahar, the snake mountain and see Ajmer by Ana Sagar lake. The town is dusty, plenty of motorcycles with most of the drivers wearing helmets! And bike rickshaws and horsedrawn passenger carts. Weaving through all the traffic, we've been noticing since being in Rajasthan, the drivers are more aggressive. GPS leads us to Sagar Dargah Bazar street just fine, but we leads us astray in finding the side street where the Hotel Baba Palace is located. We wander through a twisting back alleys and finally reach the hotel. Easy check-in, Patrick had pre-booked the room, an elevator and staff take our bags up, bikes in secure garage. Add to the list a hot shower, all a cyclists wants or needs.

We walk to the Nasiayan Temple or Red Temple. The entrance fee to the main chamber with the display of Jain's mythology and perception of the universe is the same for everyone 10 rupees, not like other tourist attractions where foreigners pay more. Shoes are handed off to a man by the shoe rack and when leaving Patrick gives him 10 rupees.

Our walk continues to find the Mango Curry restaurant. There are two restaurants, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. We want meat. And we have a great lunch of tandoori chicken in a sauce with toasted bread, and a Lamb sizzler, chucks of tender lamb in a gravy with vegetables over rice. We take a tuk-tuk back to the hotel and rest a few hours before heading out again.

Late afternoon, we head down the street by our hotel that is lined with shops and at the end is the Sufi Shrine. We decide not to go in after reading Elsbeth and Martin's journal and continue on to the Dhai-din-Jhonpra mosque. Back at the hotel before dark, Patrick later goes out for take away tandoori chicken and chapati. Our meat appetites fulfilled.

Tomorrow we head east to reach Jaipur in two days.

Does this bracelet make my leg look fat?

We see our first bicycle rickshaw in Ajmer.

Busy streets like in most Indian cities.

Guy selling fresh fruit. Because of all the poo on the roads and the dust that is blown and swept around, we are always leary of buying unwrapped food on the street.

A street with lots of basket and stool weavers.

We visit the Nasiyan temple where a huge golden diorama depicts the Jain concept of the ancient world.

Flower salesman on the way to another shrine.

Main road leading to the famous Sufi shrine in Ajmer.

Climbing the stairs to the Dhai-din-Jhonpra mosque. Most of it is ruined, but the remaining gates have some very nice carvings.

Domed ceilings and columns "borrowed" from Hindu and Jain temples.

This kid follows us around to have her picture taken.

Today's ride: 14 km (9 miles)
Total: 14,573 km (9,050 miles)

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