Day 589 - A walk full of surprises

After we spoilt ourselves with cakes for brekky (we felt this was justified after sitting in a different restaurant and being ignored for ages) we decided to shun the rickshaws and use foot-power to explore some sights 4km out of town. We broke out the trusty compass and were soon on our way and stoked to find plenty of friendly Indians willing to point us in the right direction. At one stage we were walking the way we though was right and were stopped and redirected the right way - and this by a rickshaw driver who wanted nothing in return!!

One of the benefits of walking was that we walked past a Jain temple, and though it was chained closed when we showed an interest the guy in charge came out and gave us a quick tour around the various temples. We were stoked to be able to take photos and learn a thing or two. The first temple was built on this site thousands of years ago, and since then has been continuously rebuilt and repaired. It was especially cool to see some statues from ruins kept here for protection against illegal trade.

From here we made it to the sea of ancient cenotaphs of Ahar built over a 350 year span. Once again this place was closed but we were let in - apparently the Adlibers are allowed in wherever we want these days!! Then cenotaphs were built for royals and nobles - the most impressive being for the Maharajas of the area. We wandered around, under the snowy coloured domes, checking out the carvings, and we basically had the place to ourselves!

Afterwards we went to a small museum that showcased Ahar culture from up to 4000 years ago. we questioned whether the jugs and things we were seeing were actually that old, but we're no experts!

To get back into town we jumped on a cheap public transport tempo (like a big rickshaw), where the friendly passengers told us where to get off! It's crazy how once out of the tourist zone you find the real India and it flows a bit easier with a lot less hassle floating in the air.

We dined on lunch in the soaring sun, before getting online to chat to home and do some travel research ...

For dinner we took advantage of a soaring rooftop giving us wonderful views of the glowing lake palace. We decided to splurge on the meal and sat back for the next few hours watching James Bond Octopussy, which was cheesy in the classic Roger Moore 007 way! It was pretty exciting to see all the places in India that we've been visiting, including the palace just across the lake from us!

Adlibing it with a license to kill.