TGIF! Our kids at the center were CRAZY today..maybe because we are about to have a full moon?...not sure. They were not listening and some of them were very knowingly naughty and loving it. Lily looked at me and asked.."Mom, how much time left?"..with still 30 minutes to go before our driver arrived. We had exhausted all of our activities, songs, books and games..but we pulled through. Rest for the next two days and aahhh Friday is here. After lunch, most of the group traveled to Amritsar for the weekend which is the site of the Golden Temple...a very famous and important place. We opted out of the journey because it is a 5 hour drive from here and as much as we are fond of everyone, I needed a break from the group dynamic. The house here is left with just Lily and I in it and you can hear a pin drop. Lovely.

We hired a driver for the afternoon to take us to Moorpur...a rural town about one hour's drive from here, to see the Rock Cut Temple. It is exactly as its name suggests...a temple carved purely out of the sandstone..rock...in the hills. It is over 1,200 years old, however the Archeological Society of India knows very little about the details regarding who built it, lived there and what type of society it held. The temple itself was beautiful and serene, set in a very rural area..the roads leading to it were very skinny and switchback style dotted with eucalyptus and mango trees. The refreshingly sweet, earthy smell was a welcome change from the dusty and incense laced air of Kotwali Bazar. Interestingly...around one curve, the taxi lost it's side mirror on a cow's horn who was standing in the middle of the road! Aye! Rounding the bend enjoying the scenery..praying of course..because there are cliffs on one side always..the brakes screech and the sound of broken glass shatters our rhythm. We stop..look back...hearts are beating..did we kill the cow?...the cow shakes it off and continues on it's path. Ok then! Moving on..the taxi ride back was a little bit more placid. The bends were heeded with caution and the cows given ample room to move. God is with us. Here you say "Jiyo". Ji-freaking-yo!

McLeoud Gange was calling to us for dinner and so we went again to the rooftop terrace restaurant because the clouds had cleared way to the magnificent Himalayan backdrop. Good food and a cold beer. Tonight we are tucked in and looking forward to an 8 am horseback ride in the foothills. Sending jiyo your way and ours. XO