Bliss is a buffalo mud bath!

Another great day for after breakfast with his family Yusuf took me out on his motorbike to the tribal area. We had to get fuel first and on arrival at the pump found we had a back tyre puncture.  The man who was in charge of blowing up tyres also mended them and he did so, squatting on the ground to extract the tube and immersing it (still fixed to the bike) in a bowl of water to find the hole.  Dried it, fixed a patch and replaced the tube & within 5 minutes we were on our way again. In one village I was able to join up with Asha, the polio 'vaccinator' lady,  who was being accompanied by an old woman,  see them both here  who showed her where all the children that needed the drops were living.  Each child after being given the dose had a marker pen circle made on a fingernail and a chalk P with date was written on the mud wall beside the door.  Asha keeps a record of everyone in her area - who is pregnant, had a baby etc. and she has quite a large area to administer so this is her only job - not well paid according to Yusuf although she does have a scooter to get around on, but she is known by everybody who trust her to help them.

We saw these water buffalo making use of what was left of the water hole - a mother and daughter from the way they rolled this way and that and almost rolled on top of one another too.  Turning round I caught sight of a 6 foot long water snake half out of the water and then a bright blue kingfisher with orange beak.

Yusuf's wife Shabana made me a beautiful yellow kurta/top in cotton as a gift and I've stunned the locals with my colour today.  She has also copied a dress I liked and made me some trousers - it has been fascinating watching her make patterns on the material as she sits on the floor - then not a pin in sight she just seems to zip them together on her converted to electricity treadle machine.  Bushra and Adnan have been a pleasure to be with too.  They have been great interpreters and I bought them a pack of playing cards so we have enjoyed playing silly games like snap, pelmanism, donkey and old maid.  Showed them some patience too - cards are probably not considered good things for all sorts of reasons and I hope they don't think I have corrupted them!  For religious reasons I didn't put brandy in the fruit cake we made in their tandoor oven either.

It had been hard to say goodbye to such a delightful family who have welcomed me into their home on inumerable occasions , fed me so  many different delicious dishes and shown me how to cook them  but with email I am sure we will stay in touch.