A Fairy Tale

My lesson for the day was in the tradition of a Grimms fairy tale. Be careful what you wish for!
The day started like most others with a  delicious Indian breakfast. Spicy parata, mango pickle, yogurt, fruit and omelette. The cook kept on piling the plate high with more parata until we begged her to stop.
Then a visit to a whimsical palace in the heart of the walled pink city. Hawa Mahal or the wind palace was built for the ladies of the harem and has 938 windows so that they could peek out unobserved(and let the wind in).
After that a bit of shopping. We checked out the bazaar and then an exclusive women's shop that the stylish Rangana had directed me to. The shopkeeper found me a bit eccentric. No gaudy pinks or sequins and stars for me. I wanted a simple salwar for travelling. Jaipur is famous for its hand block print textiles so the pajama looking salwar I bought really is quite unique with every single print hand done. It's ok I won't be wearing it in Coromandel.
Bryan had booked us a nice aircon bus to Bikenar at lunchtime. Only on arrival it turned out to be a dusty old local rattle cage. Deception or miscommunication? Who knows? I had a meltdown. I really wanted that airconditioning. I got what I wished for but as in all good fairy tales there is a cost and bad things come in threes.
First about 50 km down the road a large rock flew into the windscreen. It cracked in to a thousand pieces but didn't shatter until a few more km down the road when it suddenly exploded in a shower of broken glass. Instant aircon. The driver didn't stop.
Second was a sudden change in weather. Like a magicians trick coming out of nowhere the trees start to bend and the rubbish flew upwards. Dust storm! The driver still didn't stop.
Third the sky turned an ominous grey and delivered thunder, lightening and a deluge of rain. I thought we were meant to be in the desert but it was nice and fresh and damp and cold. Only at the point that it was a bit like swimming underwater did the driver stop - for 5 minutes max. Once the rain stopped everything dried out really quickly in the desert wind as we continued to barrel our way to Bikenar come hell or high water or no windscreen. A great sense of comraderie invaded the bus as we all pitched in to continue the journey although I don't think the driver would have stopped for anything anyhow. We dressed the drivers hand which was cut. Luckily not seriously and he was thankfully the only casualty from the flying glass.
A happy ending to an epic journey as we pulled into the desert town of Bikenar 8 hours later. Windswept, sandblown but safe.

Namaste Sanderella