A Rash of Photo Shoots Involving Us

Abby's rash has subsided, which is good news for Abby (and for the rest of us I suppose, too).

So we went to the Taj today, which is simply amazing. We spent the afternoon just sitting on the park benches, wandering the beautiful lawns, and looking at the Taj. And the saris on the women! Unbelievable. People get dressed up to go to the Taj. I mean, Americans don't get dressed up for dinner, church or anything. But people wandering around the Taj are dressed to the nines in elaborate saris of brilliant colors. Lots of jewelry, too. And high heels.

While sitting on the lawn in our skanky non-Sunday non-finest, we watched the fashion parade. And we were accosted by waves of schoolboys who wanted their picture taken with us. Why us? Not because of our wardrobe. And while certainly no one can argue with the fact that we are attractive and indeed "hot," that probably wasn't the reason either. Basically, we figure, the kids never see foreigners. (See nearby picture of Abby surrounded by schoolboys.)

In bad news, our hotel-room toilet stopped working. However, the hotel's toilet-repair staff did a crack job. They fixed the toilet fast while the three of us were lying on our beds, trying to watch cricket matches -- or anything -- instead of listening to the rapid-fire toilet-flushing going on in there.

Tomorrow: Road trip to Jaipur with Ashok our driver.