It’s 2 pm, it’s warm outside, and I have been editing photos on the iPad. I’m using adobe lightroom and I’m pleased with its utility and precision. The biggest problems doing photography in India are haze from the air pollution and desert dust, and the second is the contrast between light and dark, a sunny street scene with dark shops and vendors. I have found Lightroom very helpful for these issues.

This morning we joined up with George and Grace, a charming Canadian couple, to visit Savitry temple. This temple is atop one of the hills in Pushkar. There are other temples on some of the other hills as well. Their white paintwork clearly visible against the blue of the sky or the dusky browns and greens of the hills. It is about 700steps up and I started off with good intentions, but having a cough and a sensible wife, I went up in the gondola instead. The views on top are terrific, with views of the surrounding rocky dry hills, the green of the farms below, the city and lake of Pushkar. All the grime and litter of the city and its outskirts is invisible from here. The actual temple sculptures are pretty ho hum, but there is a large secure viewing area that provides amply opportunity for sight seeing and selfies. Jennifer befriended a young couple and they swapped photos. A beautiful young woman with her handsome husband. She was wearing a medium blue sari with silver embroidery, very nice. Her mother and younger brother joined in for the photo shoot as well!!!

When we were waiting for the descending gondola, we met a holy man who was doing his monthly visit to the temple with some of his students. He quickly discovered we were Australians and Jennifer and he talked about cricket. He laughed and laughed about the recent win by the Australians, and spoke admiringly of Steve Smith. We asked about Hinduism as it seems so complex. He said its simple, always choose the righteous path. How do you choose this path, love everyone and care for everyone. The rest is details. Api later told us about her family deity and a saint she admired. There are two temples in her parents house, one to the family god and the other us dedicated to this saint.

We walked back through the markets, past Brahma temple in the middle of town, past all the litter, and back to the hotel for lunch. We bought some loose fitting harem pants for Isla on the way. They are cute!