The Untouchables

And yet, they posed with pride, broomsticks and all.

Today, the Rajput and I painted the town red.

First stop -- the Bharat Mata Temple, where there is a map of the whole country in marble, spread across so many square meters on the sunken floor, with parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kirgistan, Russia, Mongolia, and China at the edges, plus the whole of the island of Sri Lanka at the bottom.  The old man there showed me a book where his picture was included, and gave us a short 'tour' of the floor.  Out of gratitude for his efforts I bought five postcards (actually don't know what I will do with them) and then ended up also buying an autobriography of Gandhi, obviously written by himself.  Will make for some interesting reading, as though I didn't have enough books already.

Next stop -- Ramnagar Fort.  Not yet a ruin as there's a museum inside, but it is so run down and ill-maintained that I marvelled at how they could come up with the idea of forbidding us from taking pictures.

Third stop -- Sarnath.  The best part of the day tour!  There is an ancient stupa, some six stories high, really huge, with ancient carvings.  The entire area is one rambling excavation site.  I also dropped by a Chinese Buddhist temple and a Buddhist park (towering statue of Buddha as the centrepoint).

After all that, it was already 15.30-ish, so I asked the Rajput to take me to the pricey hotel in the area, where I had a fabulous lunch of lamb bolognese and my favourite cup of tea with fresh lemon.  Naturally.  After that, the Rajput and I kind of hung around in the car, where he showed me photographs of his daughter's wedding -- a 2-day affair where 3000 guests attended, feasting and dancing till 2 a.m.  The photographs showed a beautiful bride and dashing groom, and, of course, the proud papa who shouldered all the expenses after saving all of his tips through the years.  AW and I have been invited to his eldest son's wedding, whenever that will be, which will, in any case, not be soon yet as eldest son is working as assistent chef at a 5-star hotel in Dubai.  During our quiet chat, I also gave him his tip for the entire week.

He dropped me off near the main ghat because I didn't want to walk in the filthy alleyways, and found my way along the water back to the Guesthouse, the rear entrance of which is facing the Ganges.  A lovely day!