Dolly and I went to the local zoo last weekend, and met up with one of our friends who had been there about 50 times.  Its a local hangout, with a couple of animals - white tigers, lions, deer and mooise like critters, and some birds and small mammals, but no monkeys(!).  It also has many playgrounds and grassy areas where you can sit in the shade, which are rarities in this area, and is as much a reason for its popularity as the animals.

It was a bit difficult to get there, even though buses go right by.  We ended up on three buses that were going that way, before the conductor told us to get off.  Apparently, the fare isn't enough to justify the ride/stop, especially if they are running behind - and all of these shennanigans happened while backed up at the train crossing.  The locals have to deal with this, too, but some of the villagers will beat up the bus drivers for not stopped, so to be safe they usually pick them up.  We were clearly not from the villages, so I guess they weren't afraid of us showing up later with a vigilante posse.

After we visited the zoo we went to the next village down, Sukri, which is the first sizeable village past Bilaspur.  We go through it every day on the way to Ganiyari.  I was starving, so our friend took us to a Dhaba for chicken, even though he is a Brahmin and does not eat chicken.  It was my first time in a proper dhaba... it has a dirt floor, and the kitchen was an outdoor conrete counter.  The dining room in the back had a wooden bed with the blankets and thin matress rolled up... this was also the proprietor's bedroom.

We got chicken biriyani, which was as good as any I have had, not too greasy, the right amount of heat, and accompanied by a savory gravy.  Luckily we did not get sick later!  We followed that up with fresh mango juice for some refreshing after-dinner sweetness.