The repercussion from the last bomb almost blew out our windows. The panes rattled and the curtains ballooned from the sudden air pressure change down on the street. The fireworks are few and far between. The sounds we've been hearing are not a quaint pop, they are a low pitched visceral grunt that blows the eardrums out. Sometime this morning between offensives I slipped out the hotel door only to step squarely into a pile of cow crap that had been maticulously sculpted to look like a little man (very reminiscent of Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live). Oh yes, they also spraypaint mohawks on all animals. So, this is Dawali, the religious holiday that signifies a new start for all. Now you're probably asking "what do bombs, cow caca carvings and punk donkeys have in to do with new beginnings?" You guessed it, we're back in India.

We arrived in Pushkar haggard and tired from 2 weeks with the elephants, 2 days in Bangkok buying stuff we couldn't get in India (deodorant, power cords and a bootleg DVD of X-Men 3), and 2 days traveling from Bangkok by train, bus, taxi, tuk-tuk and wagon to central Rajasthan. Our arrival coincided perfectly with the start of Dawali and the last hard push to finish the construction on the hotel across the alley from where we're staying (literally 24 hr. banging and sawing). I haven't slept in 36 hours and I still really like Pushkar. I don't know, maybe I'm in some kind of fuzzy stupor. But on the outside, the town of Pushkar is the closest we've been to what my fantasy of India was prior to my arrival in April. It's 3am and the most important thing on my mind is not my fantasies, right now I could use a beer to get number (that's numb-er), but once again we're in a dry town. - Peter 22/10/06

Those of you who have been keeping up with us may remember a woman we met in Dharamsala named Ganga. On our final parting in Northern India we forgot to exchange vitals (email, address, phone, etc.) and I wrote that I was sure we'd see her again. Well, on our second day there she was sitting in a little street food stall drinking her Turkish coffee...big India, small world. The next day, Helen and I woke up at 4:30 am and hiked up to the Savitri Temple which is perched atop a peak overlooking Pushkar. As we struggled sluggishly up the final steps to the summit there was Ganga with her big twinkling smile all dressed in white looking like an angel. We sat together drinking chai, and watching the sun's fingertips crawl through the ravines and over the mountains tops. As the day became more apparent we could also see herds of camels closing in on Pushkar from every direction. At about 8am we went back down to investigate the temples, backstreets, and dead ends of our newest temporary home. Due to the ongoing construction we decided to change hotels and ended up at the Paramount. A quieter room with a beautiful view over all of Pushkar...I was finally a happy dog. Then we shopped our way to the Sunset Ghats, the haunt of choice for tourists, musicians, magicians, and rupee thirsty scammers.

The Rajasthani people look straight into your soul with their piercing black eyes. It's an uncomfortable feeling when you catch someone staring at you because it feels like they've just divined everything about your past and they know your future, but they won't tell you - they just flash a knowing smile with their betelnut stained teeth. The women opt for quality over quantity and tend to only own 1 or 2 exquisitely colorful saris. Most of the jewelry they wear is gifted on their wedding day and is a considered a savings account.. To show their wealth and status, and more importantly to protect from theft, they wear every piece of jewelry all the time. To see one of these elegantly dressed women strolling effortlessly across the desert with a water jug on her head is truly surreal, but not uncommon. The children are somehow different than most that we've seen because they can melt you heart with a mixture of innocence and the mischievousness from many past lives. I've begun to feel like every prior photo of interesting people we've taken on our journey has paled in comparison.