Pushkar - Khejarala

Waking up in our luxurious hotel just outside Pushkar works twofold, on one hand we enjoyed a good night sleep and look forward to an abundant breakfast but on the other hand if we look outside our bedroom window we see people living in very poor conditions.
To us the contrast is so huge that it doesn't leave us untouched.
This will not be the only time during our journey that we get to realise how fortunate we are with our lives in Belgium, at moments like this truth smacks you in the face like a sledgehammer.

Our hotelView from our room

Today we have a pretty short trip ahead, we're headed for Khejarala and only God knows what we're gonna do there. It's not in the Lonely Planet nor can we find it on the map so we guess it's gonna be pretty boring.
After a couple of hours driving we reach Khejarala, a little village on a hill slope with nothing interesting to see or that's what we think until we see the old fort where we're headed.
That old fort turns out to be our next hotel, NICE !!!
For more info you can go here

Khejarla Fort, pool areaKhejarla Fort by night
the garden right in front of our room
the village below the fort

Looks nice huh !!!
Ofc we started with a walk around the fort to see what it has to offer and we quickly find the pool area and some nice spots to enjoy a quiet moment.
Seems that this hotel also has a spa with a variety of different massages, NOW I'm listening ;D
Prices seem reasonable so we don't hesitate long to book us a massage in the evening.
But first it's time for a nice cold beer, a biri (Indian sigarette made of a loosely rolled tobacco leaf) and a trip to the countryside to visit some villages a temple and old ruins.

Look, little Kokechi ;D

Old temple

I must admit that I was pretty surprised by our afternoon trip, I never expected the people to be so warm and welcoming towards some strange foreigners.
As soon as we stopped adults and kids came to us to talk and to be on a picture, here they ASK if we want to take a picture from them, normally it's the other way round.
Hilde and me ended up with lots of locals posing to have their picture taken.
Ofc they immediately want to see the result on our LCD screens so they all huddle up around one of us to watch the show, pointing at the screen, pointing at eachother and laughing.

Forget tempels and beautiful buildings, it's experiences like this that make the difference between an ok trip and a wonderful trip.

Tomorrow we'll see some more of India, I can't wait.