Nanded

After a good night sleep we freshened up.  Our friend's neighbours had invited us over for tea.  Outside the house we saw wild pigs roaming and egret.  At the neighbours we met the whole family and drank tea and ate some delicious snacks.  The grandchild was eating something out of black pods.  We found out it was fresh pods of lentils which had been boiled in some salted water.  They were really moist and tasty.


We watched as the father of the family did his morning ritual of applying oil and bindi to his face and putting on his traditional dhoti clothing and praying. 


We were then invited to go for a tour of their farm, about 30km away.  First we walked up the road to meet our friend's family and drink more tea, stopping for a few selfies along the way and being invited for more chai which we had to decline.

On to the farm and what an experience that turned out to be! The farm was huge.  We saw soya beans, wheat, sugar cane, sesame, lentils, papaya, tumeric, tomatoes, tamerind and so much more. We chewed on freshly cut sugar cane, ate fresh papaya, tasted fresh soya beans straight from the pods - what an amazing experience.


We met the people who tend to not only this farm but also surrounding farms, as people spotted us and came over to say hello. We got to ride in the back of a bullock cart.  We met the new horse on the farm, saw the chickens and one man who was wearing sandals got bitten by some nasty ants.


On the way back from the farm we stopped at a little stall at the side of the road and drank delicious, refreshing sugar cane juice mixed with ginger and lemon.


We popped home to freshen up as we were having dinner with our friend's family.   We were served a delicious meal and then a couple of neighbours called in to say hello and stayed for a chat.


Later we went into the center of town to have the famous Pani Puri. It is so popular there was standing room only.  We soon discovered the Nanded version was rather spicier then we had had before.  Luckily they also sold badam milk which cooled our mouths!  Whilst there an Indian girl came over and asked where we were from and told us she now lives in Sheffield.  Small world!


Next we headed to the Police Department.  Another friend is a policeman and also the sports leader for the police.  We sat and chatted to him and his colleagues whilst drinking coke.  He showed us the portfolio of all his cycling achievements, of which there were many.  This was used when they were raising funds for the cycle ride they did from Jammu in the north of India, to Kanyakamari, the southern most tip.  This was what they were doing when we met them last year in Madurai.

We went for a walk around the police grounds and tried throwing a really heavy metal ball which is one of the activities they have to do to get into the police force.  We didn't manage to throw it the required distance though!!  

One of the colleagues is a basketball player and we all had a go which was fun.  Then the basketball player stood at one edge of the court and just missed getting the ball in the net at the other end!


We then had a walk around the 400 meter running track before heading home.



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