I've done a yoga class two mornings in a row now, and boy am I feeling it...I'm walking like an old lady! That said, it was a great way to start the day. The only problem is that when you're eating curry and beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then contorting your body into unnatural positions, the results can be a little embarrassing, if you know what I mean.
I think I left off last time when we were off to dinner at the Teal Whistle. It turned out to be a restaurant in a beautiful garden that was all lit up with fairy lights and surrounded by palm trees. The food was delicious as usual (Rajasthani-style dahl and naan this time) and we followed the meal with a strawberry shisha pipe. It was fun but I am such a noob at smoking that I could only manage about twenty minutes off the stuff before I reached my limit and dissolved into fits of coughing.
Yesterday we did the rickshaw tour of the new city of Udaipur. It was okay - good because we saw a conpletely different perspective of the city and went up the mountain on a rickety cable car that gave us a majestic view over the entire town, visited the spice market, puppet museum, royal gardens and royal memorial but just okay in the end because our rickshaw driver didn't really explain anything to us so we were pretty lost in terms of the significance of what we saw.
Afterwards, refreshed by a banana lassi, I went and had my left foot hennad. The girl I went to spent about twenty minutes drawing on an intricate design with a small brown tube of henna, and I had to leave it to dry. Last night I rubbed it with oil to set the colour, then when I washed it all off this morning in the shower the henna tattoo was set. I love it! I'm not sure how long it will last, but I think about a couple of months. I would love to post a photo but it's a massive pain to try and connect my camera to an internet cafe computer and upload. Maybe later if I have more time.
The cooking class last night with Shashi totally surpassed my expectations. We learned how to make two types of pakoras, mixed vegetable masala, three varieties of parantha, naan, chapattis, vegetable pulau ( a rice dish), naan with local cheese and homemade tomato sauce, paneer cheese from scratch, and more that I can't even remember. There were only three of us so it was really hands-on and went for five hours, til 10pm last night! Needless to say we managed to consume the lot, and it was absolutely delicious, I can't wait to make it all at home. Shashi was so friendly and open, she told us how her husband was murdered nine years ago by his business partner and with two young sons, she was disowned by her family and was forced to wash clothes for hotels just to get by. A couple of years ago she started to teach cooking to tourists in her home, learned English, and eventually the Lonely Planet people visited her last year and she got in the most recent edition of the guide, which has upped business so much that she can afford to pay for her sons' university education.
Anyway have to go, our bus to Jodhpur is leaving in 20 minutes. next update will be on here! You should see me today, I'm wearing a silver bead and string bracelet given to me by Shashi, my purple kaftan, Philippa's green fishermans' pants and my henna tattoo, I look like a raging hippie! But actually I look exactly like the rest of the tourists here - Swedes, Brits, other Aussies, French, everyone is kitted out in all the Indian-style clothes with lots of bangles and rings. It actually makes sense because the clothes are so cool and comfortable.
Okay I really have to go. Will check in from Jodhpur. Hopefully the six-hour bus journey will be okay.
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