Down by the river
Breakfast today was poha and chai and possibly the cheapest we have had to date - 2 poha and 2 chai = 30p!
Next we wandered down to the river and along the bank, past the palace towards a temple at the end.
A little way along there was a group of men sitting around a camp fire. A couple of them came over to speak to us. One man explained that some of them were pilgrims, walking a 4000km round journey to Omkareshwar ... bare foot! They cover 50-60km per day along the sacred Narmada river He explained they carry their essentials and the temples along the way feed them. There were some puppies playing nearby and they gave us a small packet of biscuits so we could feed them.
In the distance we saw a group of men coming towards us leading an enormous buffalo. The man told us it was a fighting buffalo and there was a fight planned at the beginning of January. The buffalo passed and we followed on. He was taken down to the river for a swim and a wash - must be a prized buffalo!
We were now at the site of the temple we had come to see. It was built inside what used to be part of the old fort but unfortunately there looked like a small landslide had made the wall and turret fall. The remaining wall had a large crack.
Down in the river we heard a sound so went to investigate. A man was in the water with 3 women who appeared to be possessed. They were rocking backwards and forwards and screaming out.
We went up to the old temple which now sadly seemed to have been abandoned. On the other side of the river mouth we could see another, in tact, part of the old fort with a temple but there was no way to get there from here.
As we went back the women were coming out of the water and went to a small temple by the river for a blessing and then seemed to return to normal.
We walked back along the river and up to another bright orange temple. We then headed back towards our accommodation, buying some fresh peas in pods along the way to snack on. We fed the empty pods to various passing cows and goats.
Later after stopping for chai we headed back down to the river for a beautiful pink sunset. We walked along the river in the other direction and came across another old temple which was now sprouting plants from the domed roof. Many boats were taking people up and down the river for sunset.
We sat by two men who were doing their evening pooja whilst the sun went down. We then walked back up the road to the restaurant we had found yesterday. We had a tasty if rather spicy, thali. Next we went back to the chai shop and today tried the chocolate coffee. On the way back we passed the hot milk stall. Having had some last night and knowing how good it was the temptation was too great. It is also the busiest place in town, so must be good.
