Day 20, Sunday March 5
After taking Oil of Oregano last night, I took another couple of drops plus gave myself a Biomagnetism treatment. When I finally got out of bed around 7:30, I was feeling much better.
A couple slices of toast and black coffee I was ready for the day.
This was Explore Pune day, and was modified to fit the age of our group. In their past we did a challenge where we had to take 3 modes of transportation and visit several sites. This time we chose different sites and were to meet for lunch at one.
4 of us travelled in 2 rickshaws to Parvati Hill where temples and a museum were situated.
It was a tough go with the steps being slanted towards you, walking up on an incline. There were bars at either side and you could pull yourself up if you had to and take rest stops whenever you needed. I looked up and there was a family of goats above my head just sleeping and without a care, looked over and down at us. What fun!
Reaching the top we had to take our shoes off before ascending the steps into the temple, walk in and ring the bell announcing our presence. There were statues of two deities that were black. I need to find out more about the story behind them. Update, they are ancient gods that were found there but I couldn’t understand the name. Will have to search the internet.
The museum cost 10 rupees to visit and held many antiquities of various time periods of Pune. pronounced Poona.
Back down the stairs and seeing our rickshaw drivers (they waited for us) we travelled and met the rest of the group and staff at Ram Krishna. A beautifully decorated restaurant with high ceilings and several bulky chandeliers with white globe fixtures that weren’t turned on hung from the ceiling. I wondered how bright it would be if they were? The air conditioning was blasting out cool air and I actually got the chills because of the contrast from outside. Sangam staff arrived and Nellie ordered our drinks. I tried sweet lime soda this time and it was so refreshing!
We all had Dosas, some plain some cheese, which is a type of crispy crepe with a potato spice filling. There were 2 sauces you could dip in, both spicy but good.
Back to Sangam in a rickshaw and we prepared for our Indian afternoon.
There was an opportunity for Indian spice shopping which was across the road. The Sari man had returned and I had my Sari tied as a demonstration and staff said I should wear it to visit the shop. It felt a little weird for me to be out in public in a sari, but after a time, walking with the beautifully donned staff member in her aqua and gold Sari, I felt like I fit in. It was hot, so I tried to exaggerate the kick of the right foot to get some air under the skirt 🙂 I bought some saffron for 250 Rupees and a drink mix that looked interesting and I’ve not seen it before.
Later, the mehndi came out, the mandala colouring, we could finish up warli art and we were asked to Create a rangooli design near our place on the floor where we were to sit for the Maharastrian dinner we were to have later. A 1 x 2 mat was placed on the floor as a seat placement. It sure looked small to me, how was I to fit there? It just worked. As we entered we were blessed with a touch of red powder to the forehead. We were asked to stand with hands in prayer position at our place while kitchen staff members sang a song, I think a prayer. Then we folded our legs and wriggled into a cross legged position. Thank goodness there was a wall to lean on. The staff came around with several dishes, I can’t remember them all, but there was rice and cooked vegetables, dal, chapati, beans, sweets and water. We had to eat with our right hand, and if you were naturally a lefty, that was OK to use too. It was a little spicy but very very tasty! After a few minutes I couldn’t feel my feet they were numb, but staff said we could stick our bare feet out in front of us on the floor. Kitchen staff came around with a pitcher of water to wash our fingers and a towel followed. What fun!!
Later that evening there was Indian dancing taught to us using a pair of sticks. My partner was a Guider from Ireland who was a beautiful soul and we connected a couple of days before. We will be keeping in touch in the future.
Another day finished, our last in Sangam, I really hate goodbyes.
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