Today is a chill out day with nothing planned except for our Stepwell dinner tonight.
We woke at around 6:00 with a cuppa on our balcony as dawn was breaking. Our village walk was scheduled for 9:00, so we went for breakfast at about 8:00; there was a good selection of fruit, Indian, continental, our juice was a mixture of lime and sweet mango.
Alison had to go back to the room to change into a conservative top and then we went down to reception to meet Khushbu, our guide, who has only been here 6 months, having come from RAAS.
Pete was busy taking photos as we were walking along the street. We removed our shoes and entered the Jain temple. We then walked further around to the Aya Mata Hindu temple which was up about 160 steps. We bought some packets of nibbles, declined the bat cave temple and arrived back at reception, booking the elephant climb (750 steps) for early morning and afternoon tea by the lake.
We returned and then managed to get our room services without getting locked out! As we are swimming, the damsel flies are all around skimming the pool, we had lime soda, chilli puffs and vegetable kebabs.
Plenty of chatting with Ozzies, followed by more swims and chatting to another couple travelling with Audley who have just arrived,
Water seems cool, but much warmer than sea! Alison managed to take a tumble leaving the pool area, so has a soak in the bath. A few moments later her clothes were returned from the laundry with no evidence of Curry. Unfortunately they were a little damp, so could not be worn to our Stepwell dinner experience.
At about 6:15 we assembled in the courtyard for our welcome drink and being give our turban for Peter and a scarf for Alison. We walked out of the hotel onto the Main Street where there were 7 bullock-drawn carts in line, two per cart.
We were helped onto the sloping carts and sat down on cushions ( but still tended to slip down!) for our 25 minute journey to the Stepwell in the pitch black , the video camera complaining that the lens cap must have been on!
Finally, we disembarked and saw the Stepwell, beautifully illuminated with lantern, it was so much bigger than the one at Jodhpur and reasonably full with water, as it is fed by an underground stream.
An elderly musician was serenading us with song, sitar and tambourine as we were shown to our table, a safe distance from the edge.
A fabulous banquet ensued, with starters, mains and desserts that seemed to comprise the entire restaurant menu served at one sitting! After about an hour another group joined us, resumabky from another hotel, so that there were only two free tables left.
Our meal concluded at 9:30 and we rang our bell to indicate that we were ready to leave, this time by four wheel drive. Back in the bar, ( we were the only residents again! ) for coffe, which we discovered was complimentary, before we headed for bed to be ready for our early start in the morning.