We got ready, had Tea and Poha at the stall. Bharathi had never had such Poha. She had two and half plates and relished every bite. The Curio shop opened and Baiju bought a few coins. We left Mandav at 9:30 am. Drove to Dhamnod. Started walking from outside the town. Within few minutes we got Guava from a farmer who was going in the opposite direction. He turned around to come talk to us. We moved a bit we got another tea offer. We politely refused and continued walking. We got two more tea offers. Finally fourth person walked his motorcycle from road to his house with us so he could give us tea. He is a cotton farmer with a large joint family. Five minute’s walk brought us to Sugun Devi Annakshetra Ashram. We stopped for lunch. Daal Baati. Yummy food. We continued our walk after some rest. All this was new for Bharathi. This was the first time she had done anything like this. She was amused and entertained by every thing. She was amazed how hospitable people were. She had never seen such generosity towards strangers. We reached Maheshwar around 4:00 pm. We walked to Maharani Devi Ahilyabai Fort from the river side. The Ghaat is the longest in India. It is spread about one kilometer. We walked up the steps to the fort. It was getting to closing time. As we were leaving one young girl offered us Limbu Pani (sweet lemon water). Since we had been walking in the Dun for while it was very refreshing. She did not charge us saying we are Parikramavasis. Baiju gave her some money which she was refusing till I said you can use it for your education. We walked out of the fort and were looking for Sunilji when a young man on his motorcycle came and stopped near us to give us Bharathi’s hat that she had left on the cot where we sat and had the Limbu Pani. We found Sunilji with the car in the parking lot. We got in the car and drive to a hotel. Hotel Pancharatn. Baiju had a call. So Bharathi and I went in to select rooms. We settled in. Rooms were very nice. We even got very hot Tea in a thermos. After Baiju’s call we went for dinner. The restaurant was in the rooftop. We ordered food. I ordered Sweet Corn Soup and Grilled Veg Sandwich. Rest of them ordered Indian food. My soup came and I enjoyed it. All the other food arrived. Food was good. I tried little bit of everything waiting for the Sandwich. We asked how much longer? The answer was the bread is coming from the market. It should not take too long. After about ten minutes, the waiter came and said Mam please cancel the Sandwich order. It will take too long for the bread to come. You can order anything else. I was mostly full. So I had a Kulfi Bar instead. If only they had told me in the first place that they don’t have bread…..
Today we walked 15.5 kms. Bharathi was surprised that she could was so much.