No colour in your life...

It's a lazy start to today after last night's poolside escapades. I get out of bed at 11:30am with a killer Indian hangover. Erin and I grab a tuk tuk into town and stroll over one of the pretty Venetian-esque bridges to a restaurant overlooking the water called The Prince's Garden. We sit watching women bathe, scrubbing their clothes and children swimming. A fresh pineapple juice, fruit salad and the best pizza I've ever tasted fixes me up and I'm ready to enjoy the rest of the day.

We collect my dress (which needs some alterations) and head back to the art shop for henna. The owner of the art shop, a man of 40 who could easily star in a Pantene advert, has taken a shine to me. He tells me he's missed me and instead of getting someone else to do it - he tells me he'd like to paint me himself. Erin stays with me and watches as he takes my hand and starts. He tells me that I'll need to tell him when to stop as he could henna me all day. Erin asks him about how he came to own the shop and he tells us of his struggle to fulfil his vision of creating a place for artists to come and operate independently. Ricky has recommended him as he does not believe / participate in the commission system and his strong belief in karma drives him to treat everyone fairly and to create opportunity for those less fortunate. He tells us that he has left India only once to visit Switzerland. He is one of the few Indians we have met on our travels who has been able to afford to leave. Ricky dreams of going to Venice sometime and I hope this comes true for him.

When asked what he thought of Europe he doesn't say what I was expecting. How wealthy people are, that he is envious of our lifestyle, how clean and tidy everything is - he simply tells us that he feels sorry for us...as we have no colour in our lives. I give him a hug goodbye and head back to the hotel with my decorated left arm and hand, a little richer from meeting him.

In the evening five of us head out for a food safari (a term coined by Erin). We arrive at an area fringing the lake, covered with stalls selling street food and it's clear this is where all the locals come. We stalk from stall to stall sharing & devouring freshly cooked toasted sandwiches, moo moos, Indian burgers and plates of interesting flavours & spices all rounded off, of course, with some chai tea.

We head back to the hotel, stuffed, satisfied and ready for bed...

No medicine required...