Day 18: February 5

Today we decided to go for a ride by car; there is a well-organized taxi service here. The taxi, like yesterday’s bus, takes you to various viewpoints. The taxi has several tours, and we chose the one that included places we had not been to yet, and set off.

Yesterday’s views were certainly better, but today we visited a beautiful place where there were almost no tourists; here the mountains and nature were felt more strongly. Birds were singing, and some little creatures were darting away through the grass beneath our feet.

We rode around in the car for 3 hours, and then sat in our favorite restaurant, eating delicious crispy vermicelli in some wonderful gravy and waiting for the bus to Pune. This time we’re trying so many new foods.

While we were sitting in the restaurant, a wedding procession passed by on the street; to the sounds of drums and some wind instruments, the elaborately dressed groom first danced with his friends, and then got on a beautiful white horse and the procession continued on its way.

The bus to Pune was moving slowly, but we were in no hurry. So we just kept on riding and riding. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside eatery, where a young Indian couple struck up a conversation with us. It turned out they were from the state of Gujarat, which we had traveled through two years ago. They were very surprised that we had been to those parts; they are only just planning to visit the sights we have already seen.

At the station, we found a cozy waiting room with a power outlet where we waited for the train. The train was almost an hour late, so we set off around 3 a.m. The train is very much like our open-plan sleeper cars. They also provide bedding here. We went straight to sleep, and in the morning I accidentally woke up 5 minutes before the train arrived, and we hurriedly got ready, so unfortunately there are no photos of the train…