DAY THIRTY EIGHT… 49.27 miles (79.30 km)
We left Alwar early and cycled out on an easy and flat ride of 50miles. It was a state highway but it was rather narrow and therefore fraught due to space on the road when lorries overtake.
At our chai break an old couple brought us some chairs to sit on. They were just sitting on the ground.
Arrived in Deeg and went to the Public Works Dak Bungalow to try and get somewhere to stay for the night. This seemed to be the only place apart from a wedding venue (as if we hadn’t had enough of them). The Dak Bungalow unfortunately turned out not to be an option, but someone took us to a nearby hotel. A rather grubby looking place but once we arranged to stay it was assiduously cleaned. All clean sheets, floor mopped, fresh towels, the full works… even the bed was ‘polished’. I think they were angling for tips.
Deeg is famous for its water palace. Although this is hardly mentioned in the Lonely Planet Guide, it is rather beautiful, a lot better than I expected, and quite extensive. For some reason everyone else, apart from us, was allowed in without a ticket or any cash passing hands. Not so for us. We had to wait for ages whilst the ticket sales man returned from wherever he had gone before we could get into the palace and look around. Once in we discovered there was a back entrance we could have just walked in for free.
