DAY THIRTY SIX… 13.11 miles (21.10 km)
Set off late due to delay in poha arriving and late chai, not to mention, yet another power cut. We even had to rally the lads to see us off. Normally we get a whole line of them happily waving goodbye.
Last night the wedding was in full blast just across the road, with a laser light show and full sound system. Tim and I managed to sleep through it somehow. The ride to Alwar was on very narrow roads, (national highway). Just two lanes so lorries (of which there were many) passing, that meant getting off the road.
The ride was only ten miles, so we got to our destination before even stopping for breakfast! It is a friendly place, unlike the last. Basic but adequate, with a restaurant attached where they do amazing masala dosas.
We set off to look at the city palace. It seemed to be an administrative centre. There were hundreds of rooms with files piled high all over them. A nightmare in terms of confidentiality. The palace itself had seen better days. It was covered with bird shit and, in places, stank of urine. A nearby stepwell tank and cenotaph were more impressive, but the “kund” (tank) was green with algae.
The markets here are filled with speeding motorbikes so browsing was quite stressful and really there was not much worth browsing on, a lot of synthetic clothing and cheap stuff.
We returned to the hotel to find a big party going on, at massive volume, AGAIN!
Luckily, the aircon was very noisy and we got some sleep.
