Day 5 & 6 Pune

Thursday night was spent with Renukas brother Neil and girlfriend Priya. We went to a nice trendy restaurant on the banks of a river. We had Pizza (1st non Indian food of the holiday which gave us a bit of a jippy tummy the next day!). The next day we spent mainly with Renukas family - Aunty and uncle in the morning provided us with an omelette masala (spiced up omelette!) . Then we had a quick shopping tour of Pune.

As described in an earlier posting we visited an Ashram - a place of tranquility where you meditate and learn how to find inner peace. We watched a promotional video for 30 minutes and were then taken on a silent 10 minute walk of the grounds - very difficult for Renuka! (and Renuka hastens to add also difficult for Michael who couldn't stop giggling).

This place was famous in the 70's for perhaps the wrong reasons - Alan Wicker did a documentary on it as the spiritual leader would tell his followers to renounce all their worldly goods but then himself travelled around with an entourage of 10 Rolls Royces! It also gained notoriety for being a place where everyone discovers everyone else's bodies! You now have to take an HIV test to stay there.

We felt it was a good place in theory to go to, but maybe a little out of touch with OUR reality. However all the Indian people we spoke to about it, did not have a bad word for it. So maybe Renuka and I need to look at our inner selves a bit harder.

On Friday night after the Ashram, we decided to get in touch with our spiritual side by downing as many Gin & Tonics as we could manage!

The hospitality shown by Renukas family is incredible to me as a westerner. They are so friendly and welcoming and can't do enough for you. Special thanks to Ren's brother Neil and girlfriend and her Aunty for looking after us in Pune.