Sinhagad

Today we went to Sinhagad, an old fort about an hour drive from Pune (or at least from our house). I'm told the name means "lion fort." It got the name when some guy died recapturing the fort from the mughals (after he scaled a steep cliff leading to the fort with the help of a monitor lizard...make of that what you will). "Gad aala pan sinha gela" - "We gained the fort but lost the lion."

That's all the history I know of the place, and for once I don't really care to know more. Very little of the structure remains and it's now basically a pretty walk on a big hill with lots of huts set up to make and sell food.

If this photo looks old to you, that's because it is. I didn't take any photos today, because everything looks exactly the same as it did when we visited two years ago. We were followed by this very same woman, wearing this very same sari, carrying this very same giant tub of yogurt wrapped in this very same fabric. The only things different today from two years ago: the woman was wearing a different sweater, I was wearing a different rain jacket, I now have no hair, and this time they didn't make me put the pot on my head for a photo op.

Mama and Papa drank water out of a slightly more beat up looking bucket than this one, but from this same "well" that is actually just run-off from the pond above it.

Everything about the day was the same as two years ago. It was cold and rainy, I heard the story about the lizard, tada. Hubby of course was not with us on this visit, but his brother was instead. Luckily they did not try to make us recreate any of the awkwardly posed photos from two years ago. That would have been weird.

All in all it was a nice trip, though I wish I had more exciting stories to tell. I was a lot more comfortable this time around with the whole pee-behind-a-bush-eat-food-cooked-on-the-floor-of-a-hut thing, so I suppose that's something. Yay me!