Pushkar, monkeys and saris

Day 7 and we woke up at 4 50 am for a sunrise hike up to Brahma’s Temple. Nothing wakes me before 5 am so I did want to cry at this point. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe India is giving me feelings, who knows?

The view was probably worth the early start, but did I say that there were like 500 steps?! I only made it because we were promised pancakes once we finished. To be fair, the view was amazing. We sat and waited for the sun to sneak over the mountains while we drank more Chai.

To make it better, monkeys joined us at the top. These guys were much more chilled out than our previous encounter so we sat with our tea, watched them play and debated how far or not far removed we are from primates. I love animals so this trip has been amazing in that respect. I've taken as many photos of the dogs/cows/pigs/monkeys as I have the scenery, or me! We've all struggled with the sad stray dogs in the road. I promise I'm not going to try and bring one back, but we did discuss starting a dog sanctuary if we return to India. Any funding offers? Am I joking? That's the mystery.

Back to day 7. After a nap (of course) we took jeeps out to the desert for a home cooked village meal under the stars, with some local entertainment. We watched a magician produce doves out of nowhere and a man eat fire. Oh, and we got to dress up in saris which made it all much more authentic?

While this was all fun, my favourite part was just being able to stargaze in the desert. London isn't great for a star gazer. Simple pleasures! We curled up and talked about our lives at home, what we're going back to, or for some of us where we're off to next. And we debated if in the UK we can see the same stars as we could out in the desert of Pushkar? Let me know, we couldn't quite work that out.