Wed, Nov 18: Khejarla

Jessica was ill during the night and slept in.  Mary’s cold caused her to sleep in.  Judy and Candy spent the morning at the pool.  Karen took a morning nap and Paul wandered around after breakfast taking pictures.  So it was a good thing we canceled the morning sightseeing.

After lunch Tara, Karen, Judy and Candy headed out in a jeep to a local village to see the market and sights.  A couple hours later Mary and Jessica (both feeling better) and Paul piled into another jeep ride to meet the others at another village. 

We saw a small step well along the way... 

and then met the others at a lake for a bit of sightseeing. The lake is used only for drinking water and household use.  No bathing is allowed.  

We saw a lot of turtles in the lake.

We then headed to the local village... 

where we were treated to a welcoming ceremony that involved sipping heroine.  Only elders (over 50) of the village could participate in the ceremony.  They mix the heroine with water and then filter it into a pretty rosewood pitcher.  

The host then pours a small amount into their palm and the guest sucks it up directly from the palm.  We all declined to take a sample. 

During the welcome ceremony we were joined by many children and women watching the ceremony (but mostly watching us).  

Before leaving we took a quick tour of a bit of the village where we saw a large structure with walls of hay/straw that was used to house some of the farm animals.  The village itself was very clean with no trash strewn about like you see in much of India.

On the way back the jeep driver spotted a number of deer that we stopped to look at...

then it was off to a small temple to watch the sunset.  

In Tara fashion we had tea and snacks while waiting for the sun to set. 

We finished the day with dinner under the stars at the hotel.