A Holy One ponders how to descend

and he did, very gingerly, one, two, three and then he leapt towards me most alarmingly as he was a big bull.  What was he doing on top of a listed monument in the first place but of course being a Holy One...


Had such a wonderful morning walking through one of the Moslem Enclaves where people were so pleased I was interested in what they were doing/making and shy women waved at me from the dark interiors  of their houses.  At one stage I saw that the rushing drain water flowing down the side of the street was bright turquoise so I decided to follow it as it twisted sideways into smaller and smaller alleyways, always getting slightly darker as it progressed.  Finally it petered out and I was looking around  as a woman tapped me on my shoulder and beckoned me to follow her up steps and through a doorway.  Several young men in vests and loincloths watched open mouthed as I crossed through their rooms with their sleeping pads on the floor, mounted a stone staircase to the roof where the culprits hung - about 30 bright green cotton saris and the man hanging them out to dry had bright green fingers too. Strange that the water was turquoise though.

Then I walked on to the end of the enclave where a huge castle topped mountain loomed beyond the last houses.  Women came out into the steep alley to tell me there was no exit for there was a brick wall at the end holding back what looked like a huge sand dune which sloped up to the rocky side of the mountain.  After my adventure yesterday I realise that Jaipur is actually built on an ancient desert with these huge rocky outcrops that have had fortresses built on them.  Not to be put off I tried climbing the wall using the foot holes provided but needed the helpful push from behind from a couple of ladies and succeeded in making the dune over which I climbed and so returned by a different route.

Later I was invited into a house by some Hindu ladies who wanted to chat, show me their photo albums and introduce me to their neighbours.  These women mostly rented one room which contained a huge bed for all the family - a kitchen of sorts across the passage and a latrine/shower room.  After waking and making breakfast for husband and child(ren) they sent husband to work with his tiffin can and child to school.  Making the bed, cleaning, washing clothes done there was nothing much to do until the child returned, changed clothes and started homework.  Many of them were quite well educated with degrees in this and that.  Women work in many of the major cities but in this conservative area very few go out to work and must get so bored -  so I was a major diversion for them today.  About 5 women watched as I had my left hand hennaed.  After it was dry it was dabbed with a lemon and sugar concentration which was so sticky.  I was told not to wash the hand but to cover it in oil after scraping off the hennae in three hours and then it would get darker - and so it has, progressively, throughout the evening.