Keep away from my piglets

She was not happy that I got so close! The train journey to Bundi passed uneventfully but I was glad of a large thick shawl to cover me as I lay on my sleeper bunk.  It only took 4 hours but had to wait half an hour at the station for the guest house tuktuk to fetch me which was annoying - when it arrived it had a mechanic on board who proceeded to lift all the back seat out and expose the engine and replace the fuel lead - another 20 minutes in the cold!  Anyway, at the 450 year old  house I was given a ground floor room complete with two little shrines, a large bear still in its plastic bag and innumerable plastic flowers and sparkly paintings and bits of mirror decorating the walls.  The bed was comfortable but had to ask for a top sheet as the blankets looked a bit rough.  It was much quieter than the last hotel where I had to use ear plugs but there is a Hindu shrine next door and the holy time in India is between 4 and 6 a.m. so there is always chanting and bell ringing and the meuzzins are competing then too.

Today I just walked around - there have been 5 major new pipes laid under the streets which are now just mud and awaiting a tarmac or concrete top coat.  Drains had overflowed and many shopkeepers had watered their patch to keep the dust down so had to tiptoe in many places.  In the first hour I was ridden into by two motorbikes - intentionally.  The boys are so rude here and I was called old woman - docheri - so many times and asked for photo photo even more so that it became very boring and my rictus smile became permanent rather than spontaneous. Weddings are now on after 14th January so bands and processions are everywhere.  I managed to find myself in the Muslim cemetery - birds, butterflies and quiet with the recent graves topped with cloth. Then it was back into the main streets - I sat with a family at a silver blacksmith as he made silver anklets for a bride - 1/2 kg each.  He heated the silver first and beat it, then cooled it and held it with his feet as he shaped it, marked patterns and a holy 'spell', heated it again, shaped it in a wooden block and finally shone it with coarse and then fine sand.  Then he had to open each one with the aid of crow bars, fit them round the bride's ankles and hammer them closed.  What a performance - easier to shoe a horse!  Back in the guest house to enjoy the remains of the sun and kite flying.  Limited wifi so thanks for lovely comments and stars again. Yesterday's walk has been posted on the blip and come walk through my my day