Day 19: Into the Rajasthani jungle

Rajasthani firewood cutters

We had a nice meal last night at a country farm shack down a long farm track. It had a tin roof and was very basic. The welcome was warm and the food healthy. Goats were wandering around.

It's worth mentioning that the food Indian working people eat daily bears little resemblance to Indian restaurant food in the UK - which is really Bangladeshi food concocted for the Western market.

The real basic food here is all cooked from scratch: rice, veg mix (subji), dhal, chutney and some form of bread (roti, chappathi or puri). It is mostly vegan, with the vegetarian element being paneer cheese and curd (buffalo yoghurt). It is almost always tastes very hot with spices. 

For Westerners, it takes some getting used to!

This morning, we have walked uphill into the deep jungle to find a secret ashram which is run by a dreadlocked sadhu who lives here on his own, but is very friendly. He is a follower of Dr Ambedkar and says he is a Buddhist.

Sometimes our group holds retreats here. In the jungle nearby are leopards, lots of very large monkees, antelope, deer and mongeese and chipmonks - amongst lots of other animals. We saw most of these whilst at the ashram.

It is very peaceful. We are making lunch here and chilling out.

The ashram

Cooking lunch at the ashram

We have now come down from the mountain ashram, and have stopped at a local Dalit village. We are having an event at the village hall around 6pm. Then it will be food after that and hopefully home for a reasonable hour.

AB with the Dr Ambedkar statue

We are in Shapur village late afternoon and evening. I have become very popular with about 10 village kids by playing football and catch ball with them. It took them over an hour to calm down after that. The screaming and shouting was intense. They are also fascinated by the colour of my skin. I showed them photos of my granddaughters and they where astounded by their white skin. "Where you born like that?" one boy asked me.....