Wednesday, January 20th, 2016
Cooing pigeons and howling dogs were my morning’s wake up call before heading to the rooftop to eat breakfast. Per usual, our greetings were ignored by the newer members of the group. One of the guys was so snobbish and childish as to switch seats just so he wouldn’t have to sit across from Trevor. We exchanged some eye rolls, but we quickly got over it when a few of our buddies joined us. A few of us went to the truck to help clean before Jules pointed us in the direction to the gondola. We’d be visiting it later on to catch some nice views of Udaipur. Most of the crew went shopping while we headed out with the Aussie sisters to do some exploring of our own.
We decided to return to “Grasswood” for some caffeine and smoothies. On our way, we walked by a three-legged dog hopping through the street, a man riding on top of an elephant, and a quote written on a chalk board that set us in a better mood. It read, “You Can’t Make Everyone Happy, You are not a Pizza.”
Before returning to “Grasswood” for lunch, we stopped by the hotel. They were doing some construction above our room. Large pieces of debris were dropping around my head as I rushed to unlock the door, hoping I wouldn’t wake up later to find myself in a hospital bed!
After grubbing down some sandwiches, we’d watch the Australia v. India cricket game with Harsh in the lounge, then strolled through some shops before meeting with the others to walk to the gondola.
We walked by a band of monkeys as we made our way up the hill to the gondola. One of them chased one of the girls in our group, leaving a bunch of us in hysterics!
We enjoyed the views as we made our way up to the top. I watched as a couple of kids giggled as they tossed trash off the cliffside. This initially irritated me. What happens to be a big faux pas back at home isn’t necessarily a big deal in other parts of the world. I had to keep reminding myself to not hold so much judgement. The cliffside was already covered in trash, and spouting my opinion while visiting someone else’s country wasn’t really much better.
Bennie had been telling us earlier that he had been craving bread, since it was such a huge staple for him back in Germany. We shared our discovery of “Grasswood” with him since they had good sandwiches. He was skeptical at first, but was overjoyed after eating his “Egg Cheesy” sandwich for the first time while the rest of us were there for the third time that day. He enjoyed it so much, that he wanted to buy another one to split with Verena. She was more or less eyeballing the brownie for dessert, so they decided to play a game of rock-paper-scissors to determine what they’d be splitting. Bennie ended up getting his second sandwich. I decided to shares some of my brownie with Verena so she could still get her chocolate fix. Never get in front of a lady and her chocolate!
We chilled out in the hotel lounge with Harsh for one last time while Trevor and Carmel sipped on a couple brews. I would struggle to sleep overnight. The neighbors in the room above us ran up and down the spiral staircase next to our room at all hours of the night. There was also a parade taking place at the palace with a live band and fireworks. It is what it is.
Jump Back to Part 26: Trance in the Streets, Creeps & Taxes
Jump Ahead to Part 28: A Game of Murder
OR
Start from the Beginning at Part 1: Don’t Forget to Pack Your Anxiety
Stubbs Rambles On 
The pollution in India really broke my heart. Such a magical country drowning in plastic. I guess their priorities are more urgent (food and a roof over their head) and it is not up to me to judge. Mel
LikeLiked by 1 person