India Day 3

Yesterday, I spent some quality time here:

I managed to get some kind of low-grade flu and was shivery and achy, had maybe a slight fever and a definite splitting headache. Usually I get sick the 2nd week of trips, so I guess I’m ahead of schedule.

So, I took a nap while everyone else went out shopping. Then I watched some cricket on TV. Cricket seems to be like baseball, except incomprehensible.

We drove from Agra to Jaipur yesterday. It wasn’t wall-to-wall people -- actually it was mostly farms and villages. I continue to be impressed that bright colors are worn everywhere, including while harvesting potatoes:

Brick-making facilities along the way:

We stopped off at Fatehpur Sikri, where there is a cool Mosque. On the walk there, we encountered stone cutters making wheels:

And, a street barbershop:

Thom always makes friends with the kids trying to sell us stuff. They are everywhere we go, and if there was a word that meant something beyond persistent, they would be that word:

My favorite pictures are always of ordinary people on the street just hanging out.  Here are a few from over the last few days:

Unlike, say, poverty and despair, there is just something funny about monks with videocameras:

Ruth and Dannie are asking about the food, and yes, I've been negligent in my food reporting. We've had some wonderful meals, including one at a your-naan-is-your-silverware place.  I also had the sweetest and best chicken makhani I've ever tasted a few nights ago.

Last night we sat on the ground and ate traditional Rajasthani food (Rajasthan is the state we are currently in, where Usha's family originated), complete with a musical accompaniment. Martha has pictures and I'll post them later.

Actually, everyone else had traditional Rajinstani food -- I took it easy with tomato soup and rice, which was very good for tomato soup and rice. I must admit that the best thing I had yesterday was the mango juice from the hotel mini-fridge and some dried mango I brought with me. The flu plays havoc with the taste buds.