Varanasi

After another slight sleep in till about 10 we headed for breakfast where half the stuff we wanted we couldn’t get as they had no electricity. After we ate we called Sud and he said he would come up to talk to us, so we sat for a little while talking about Varanasi and the Ganges. He suggested we go to see the Buddhist ruins about 20k away, we agreed and off we headed. The 20k drive took at least an hour as traffic was horrid. The ruins were very old and in very bad condition, some just a few piles of bricks but there was a large surviving structure built on the spot where Buddha held his first sermon, we walked around the building and were surprised to see there is no entrance! We read the sign nearby explaining that archeologists had drilled a hole down from the top and all that is inside is a stone tablet which basically says it is the exact spot of Buddha’s first sermon. Many Buddhists were praying at the structure and many had stuck gold leaf onto the building. Afterwards we headed to the nearby museum which contained some very old relics, some of which dated back to 300 BC. Then we headed off for lunch to evil Mc Donalds, our first for India! The menu is obviously very different, Bec went with the trusty Mc Chicken which is the same as Aus but I got a Maharaja Mac, which is basically a Big Mac but with really nice spicy chicken. On the way in to Mc D we had to pass through metal detectors and a pat down, out of everywhere so far in India it is probably the most unsafe I’ve felt. We headed back to the hotel and got back at about 330 so we went for a rest before heading back out for the candle ceremony on the Ganges which starts at 530, we then came back and had a car dinner/drinks with Sud as alcohol is not allowed in the hotel and we found a fantastic stall out the front which sold Memo’s (steamed dim sim’s) they were great and after eating we said goodnight to Sud and headed off to bed. Tomorrow we will head out early for a boat ride down the Ganges.

Driving!

Not much for today as all of it was driving, we left the hotel at about 830 with Sud looking quite well considering how much he seemed to drink the night before - I think Bec and I both decided he was either a much better drinker then us or he just was a better actor. We stopped at about 2 for lunch at a roadside diner (Indian style) so a few tables and seats out next to the road and a few pots and pans with food (not a place he would normally take us to but on this trip that’s all there was), Sud asked the owners where the toilet was for us and the man pointed around the back, we all walked around the back and there was no toilet - Sud laughingly said its an open toilet, needless to say Bec decided to give it a miss. We braved some food as Sud ordered for all of us without Bec and I knowing, but it actually tasted really nice and had a good spice to it and so far we feel fine. We arrived in Varinasi at about 630 and it is a very busy city, it took us another hour to find our hotel. Just had some dinner and finally some hot showers! And we are about to go to sleep. Excited about exploring the worlds oldest working city tomorrow!!

Khajuraho

Merry Christmas! Today was actually fairly dull, I was feeling a little sick, had been since the night before which is why I didn’t party as much as Bec did! Had a slight sore throat and was just really tired. We slept in till about 11 and then went out to see the 2nd lot of temples in Kajuraho, we first headed over to the local ATM which was in the opposite direction and did well dodging all the shops and stalls. After getting some funds we headed back to a stall we had a look at yesterday and I bought Bec her Christmas present. Then we headed to one other shop we had looked at the other day which sold scarves as Bec wanted to go buy one - the guy inside called himself super Mario and he actually did look like a very tanned Mario! Finally we headed to the temples with the little boy from the other day in tow explaining everything and anything! We made it to one lot of temples but they were no where near as amazing as yesterdays, less detailed, smaller and also more damaged. By this stage I was feeling really exhausted so we decided to cut our day short and go back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the day. We both caught up on a few hours sleep and then headed down to have some dinner with Sud. Well Sud had already had a fair few drinks I think! He again wanted to have a dance and boy we drew a crowd this time, there were at least 10 people watching us be idiots and a couple who joined in. We decided to cut the night short as we were worried how Sud would pull up in the morning as he was fairly drunk by this stage and our 10 hour drive is tomorrow.

Khajuraho

Well after a sleep in we got up and had some breakfast/lunch! We then headed out on the street and walked to the western temples which was only about 10 minutes down the road. We were very quickly approached by the young boy from yesterday who said you said you would come to my shop today. We said we would come back after we had seen the temples. We were asked constantly as we walked down the street to come look at shops. We made it to the temples and they were pretty amazing. Very detailed like most of the temples we have seen in India but these along with carved images of the gods and animals had some erotic carvings, displaying the karma sutra. Very interesting especially when you hear a guide speaking another language then all you understand is blow job! The erotic carvigns were a minor part of the beautiful temples but different to anything we have seen. We spent a few hours walking around the different temples spread out in the beautiful gardens. Rudi rang back home and spoke to his family as it was their Christmas dinner and we headed back out. We stopped at a mans store on the side of the road that had brass objects and I bought rudi a Gandhi statue he liked for Christmas. Our friend from earlier was waiting for us so we went with him to his shop and like usual bought more stuff! We headed back to the hotel to relax and we got a hot shower…YAY! The day was gone and it was time to head down to the garden for our Christmas celebrations with Sud! We got down there and he wasn’t there yet so Rudi started doing some henna for me. We had bought some earlier in the day as Rudi wanted to give it a go! Very cheap to buy yourself! Anyway rudi picked a very difficult design and off he went. It looks good but he needs a little more practice! He was a bit rushed though because Sud came out and then we felt bad coz we weren’t being very sociable. Anyway we had lots to drink, the boys had a few smokes and again played lots of cards. I told the boys no sleeping before midnight as it wasn’t my Christmas until the 25th so they had to stay awake! We were approached by a stray dog at the table and we had no food except some fresh fruit that Sud had cut up so we gave it some and it scoffed it down. The poor thing was starving. Like always Rudi was brave enough to pat her and she loved it but was also so frightened as they never get pats, they get treated very bad! Later in the night we went to Suds car parked in the carpark and he turned up his cd player pretty loud with some bollywood techno music and we jumped around like idiots in the carpark. Sud was a great dancer and was trying to teach us some moves! We drew an audience! We then went up to our room as the restaurant wanted to close and they were waiting for us to go! So we came up and Sud and I had a few more drinks while Rudi struggled to stay awake! Sud was quite drunk so we had a long deep and meaningful and he got a bit teary when he was saying how much he liked us and he was going to miss us. We gave him our details back home and he told us he had copied it like 5 times and put it in all different places so he would never lose us! He is so sweet. He put me on the phone to his wife and I said Merry Christmas but her English isn’t great so we didn’t say much else! When all the rum was gone and it was almost 2am we walked Sud back to his room and he gave us both big hugs! Was a really special Christmas and one we will never forget. We had a great time!

Khajuraho

Yet another fairly early start just before 8, we awoke to the family having a domestic (we think) as they all seemed to be yelling at each other! We had some Parantha’s for breakfast and then gave the gifts we brought from Australia to the girls, they were very happy and grateful and started to return our gifts with things they could offer - the girls plated Bec’s hair and put a bindi on her, even applied lipstick! While I got a henna treatment - despite the fact its only for girls the eldest daughter Rohini was happy to practice her drawing skills on my hands! Then it was time to say goodbye as we headed off to Khajuraho, fast forward about 4 or so hours and we arrived and checked into our hotel, we had some lunch and then headed out onto the streets in search of a book Bec was after. About 5 minutes into our search we were greeted by 2 young boys who wanted to be our guides so we asked where the nearest bookshop was and they led the way, the first shop was of no success so we headed to another and Bec found the book she was after and the boys led us back to the shop they worked for to “just have a look” after the shop we headed back home for a nanna nap as we were both very tired. After our little sleep we headed downstairs to meet up with Sud to have a drink and my first pizza in India! The food was lovely and the drinks went down well. We are now in our room watching the Meet the Fockers about to go to sleep.

Orchha

Another long day! Started fairly early as we got up about 730 to go get water from the well with the family, its amazing how the girls carry not one full pot of water on their heads but 2 or even 3 pots stacked on top of each other! Once back at home we had a very different breakfast of rice with nuts , which was actually quiet spicy. Next we met up with Sud and headed into town - First we headed to Shes Mahal (palace) where we wondered around for a few hours - it was in fairly bad condition, the walls had all been painted once with frescoes but they were now barely visible except for 2 or 3 rooms where they have survived fairly well. It was still fun exploring the huge palace and there were not many tourists around so it felt as if we were the only ones there. After the palace we headed out to the markets to try and find Ram Babu’s shop, after getting lost and almost giving up we just bumped into him! We bought a couple of items and paid him a bit more then what he asked for (he was very grateful) Bec then got swarmed by kids who painted her nails and put bindi’s on her etc! and I got mobbed by kids wanting their photos. Right near Ram’s shop was a primary school so we headed in there to have a quick look, well I think its fair to say we caused chaos with the school kids a lot more interested in us then school work or listening to the angry screaming teacher! We gave the teacher a bunch of stickers and made our escape while the kids were distracted! Next we headed over to a nearby temple which again was huge and looked very old, at the door we were greeted by a man asking for our tickets so we showed the ones we used for the palace and he started talking to us, it was only when he got up and started telling us to follow him we realized he wasn’t really a ticket collector but a guide, we went with it thinking if it was no good we would just give him maybe 50 rupees at the end and leave it at that but he ended up being really helpful as he took us up some very steep and dark stairs (he had to light matches to give us light as it was pitch black) all the way to the temple roof! Our very unobstructed view was amazing (there was no rail or anything just the roof and then a very long drop if you fell!). He pointed out a nesting vulture in one of the window arches, the bird was huge! After taking a few photos we headed back down the massive steps. Next we walked over to Sud’s hotel as he was staying only about 2-3 minutes from this temple, there we had some lunch and a beer. Afterwards Sud and I went down to the street as we both needed a shave! I ended up getting the works with a shave, face massage, head massage and neck massage! Sud ended up paying for it so we have no idea how much it cost but we later slipped some cash into his bag. We then walked further down the road to a nearby river and relaxed for a while, some police came down with 2 big beautiful German Shepherds and they started relaxing too! It was a nice peaceful spot. Finally we headed back to Sud’s hotel again as he cooked us some chicken curry again which as always was fantastic, we had a few drinks and played some cards but had to leave fairly early to meet our curfew! (the homestay wanted us home by 930 or the family would worry about our safety!) we ended up getting home somewhere between 930-10 so we were late! I’m fairly sure they stayed up waiting for us because as soon as we got home Ram and Rohini came and greeted us and after going back to their hut the tv was turned off and they went to sleep! Same as us!

Orchha

Well we had a lovely dinner last night with a couple from Switzerland and another couple from England. Was really funny swapping stories and knowing we weren’t alone on some of our crazy experiences. The English girl had a very funny story about Bhang Lassi and a hippy energy healer. Anyway had breakfast with the Swiss couple this morning and helped them book a few hotels we had stayed at as they were stressing they didn’t have accomodation. She used our phone and was very grateful! They gave Rudi and I some Swiss chocolates when we left! It was yummy! So we hit the road and about 3 hours in I was busting for the toilet. I asked sud if he could stop at the next toilet he saw…well 2 hours later and over 100km down…bumpy gravel roads…I was lying on the backseat with my legs on rudi unable to move in fear I would pee myself! Rudi eventually made him stop seeing the pain on my face and we went bush! Sud was very apologetic that he could not find us a toilet and we could see he felt so bad….he was trying so hard and driving fast trying to get me to a toilet! I can laugh about it now but was not funny at all at the time! Anyway by this time we were almost at Orchha the next stop on our adventure and we had to find the little village we were staying in. We had some help by a motorbike escort and we arrived in the village. Sud laughed at us as he said “is this really where you are staying?” He thought it was hilarious! Anyway we went up to the family ‘house’ where we were staying and the parents were out but we met the two elder girls Rohini and Nidhi. We chilled out as we couldn’t talk much to them as they speak very little English. Rohini made us a cup of chai and we checked out our room. To be honest it looked a lot nicer than most of the other places we have stayed so we were very impressed. We quickly met their pets, Somon the cute little kitten, he’s very friendly and Metu the green parakeet who whistles and says his name constantly! He is just like Taj, but the poor thing is in the tiniest cage! He seems pretty happy though.The parents came back and we met the dad Ram Babu, the mum Kiran and the youngest daughter Kushi! They are a lovely family but it is a shame we cant talk to them and know more about them. We are learning basic hindi to say thank you and the food is very good but that’s about as far as it goes. We went to our room as it was getting cold and played some cards by candle light. There is electricity but we kinda feel bad using it if we don’t really need it. We then got given a bucket of hot water to have a wash with so rudi went first to a little shed and had a wash, while I braved the squat toilet! I then had a bucket wash, wasn’t so bad….nicer than the cold showers we have been having! We played some more cards then Ram Babu came and got us and told us to come. We followed him into the tiny kitchen where Kiran was making chapati and we were told to sit on a blanket in the corner. They had to take some of the pots down that were hanging on the roof because Rudi was too tall. He honestly looked like a giant in the little kitchen hut! So we sat on the floor and ate a lovely dinner. Three different vegetable curries and chapati! Was delicious. We heard the girls singing in the other hut across from the kitchen and they told us we could go over. So we went over and the girls were sitting on the floor watching a very old black and white tv, with a very new dvd player aswell. We sat with them and watched some hindi dvd not knowing anything that was going on but was cute watching the girls. This was the room where they all sleep. Anyway after the girls had a fight and one was crying we decided it was time for us to go to bed. We said goodnight and went to our room and played some more cards. We were very tired so got a fairly early night. Our beds are like camping stretches but they don’t fold up! Very comfy with a big warm doona and a mosquito net that hangs over the beds! Looks very nice! Hope we sleep well!

Agra

Well it has been a great day! We had a nice home cooked Indian style breakfast which consisted of potato panthra and curd or yoghurt. Was very yummy! We are staying with a Sikh family and apparently hindu’s have a lot of jokes about Sikh people and chickens, so when Sud picked us up this morning he made a smart joke in front of the man we are staying with! We will have to tell you the jokes when we get back! We then headed out to the Taj Mahal! Was about 1km walk from the gate where Sud dropped us to the entry gate for the Taj Mahal and the whole way you are pestered to get a guide for the Taj Mahal or buy some keyrings and postcards or get a rickshaw to the gate. So we pretty walked the whole way saying no thank you, no thank you, no thank you, no thank you, NO I AM NOT INTERESTED LEAVE ME ALONE! We finally got to walk through the arch and got our first good look at the Taj Mahal! Was pretty amazing! It was already pretty busy, there were people everywhere! The massive gardens at the front of the Taj spread everyone out a bit so it didn’t feel to chaotic at all was quite peaceful and relaxing. We took heaps of photos and then headed inside! We were given shoe covers so we didn’t have to take off our shoes! I guess there would be a lot of shoes lying around if everyone took them off! We headed up and into the Taj and was actually really quite tall when you got close! Inside was the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal and next to hers, ( the only asymmetrical thing about the Taj Mahal) was Shah Jahan’s tomb aswell. The detail in the Taj is beautiful, all made of white marble with intricate floral designs all in precious stone. The inside was quite small, compared to what it looks from the outside! We walked a few laps around the Taj Mahal and made sure we touched all four towers! We came back down and walked around the Taj again and then found a lovely park bench to sit and enjoy the view of the Taj. It really was amazing I didn’t want to leave! From there we went and had a small lunch as tonight was Pizza Hut night with Sud! Pizza was what Rudi was looking forward to the most when he woke up…not the Taj Mahal! Anyway we had a nice but small lunch…Indian Spicy! Sud then took us to a place that makes carpet and I got to have a go at tying some knots…sounds fun hey! We then had a look at the beautiful carpets they had for sale and of course we bought one. (for the house we don’t have!) Sud had told us he knew these people for a long time and we could send all our other shopping back home from here through UPS! It was about 21kg without the carpet! ARGHHHH! Anyway after a second trip back later in the day so they could get a carton, it is all packaged and sealed and hopefully we arrive safe and sound! We then were running out of time to see the Fort so we decided to do a quick drive around and look from the outside…apparently very similar to the Red Fort in Delhi which we will see on our return to Delhi in a week or so! We then went to what is known as the Baby Taj, it is very similar but not quite as amazing as the Taj! It is a lot smaller but it has a lot more of the intricate work all over and inside aswell! The stones used were not as nice also but very beautiful all the same. We then went to a point behind the Taj on the other side of the river to watch the sun set! It wasn’t too bad but the river is pretty dirty and it wasn’t a very nice spot but the sunset was nice! We then headed back to watch them pack our bits and pieces to send home and decided to skip the pizza as Sud wasn’t very well and we wanted to take him for pizza with us because he said he loves pizza! Rudi was only a little disappointed as he wasn’t very hungry! We have postponed it but he will still get his pizza somewhere! So now we are back home and about to go to the dining room to have some dinner! The man that owns this place invited us to come sit in his living room and I think he said he has his daughters photo album….could be a long night! Anyway continuing on our journey tomorrow, think its about 5 hour drive to Orchha!

Agra

We woke up at 530 today after about 5 hours of sleep for our second safari, we had to go to the booking office to get our jeep number and let the driver know where to pick us up. It was an absolutely freezing morning and we were well prepared for our jeep ride with beanies, jumpers and scarves - yet we were still cold! We had better chances of seeing a tiger in the morning so we were excited, our hopes were raised when not long into our ride the guide spotted tiger footprints in the dirt, then shortly after a deer started giving warning calls to the other deer which meant a tiger was nearby, we could see the deer on the mountain side all looking in the same direction so the lucky deer got to see the tiger but we didn’t! We saw some really lovely scenery again though, in the morning mist with the sunlight filtering through the trees it was really magical. We had an avid bird watcher from Greenland and his family with us this time around, Bec and I were both amused at how excited he got when he spotted the birds and how much he knew about them! Im fairly sure had we seen a tiger he would have still been more interested in looking at birds instead. After our safari we had a big breakfast as we were starving and then left for Agra. A long 6 hour car ride later we stopped at Fatipur Sikri, which is a small palace just outside of Agra, the palace belonged to Akbar who united all religions under his rule - which is shown in the architecture with all the major religions being represented by their symbols. After wandering through the palace we went to a giant mosque right next to the palace, there was a festival/celebration of some kind and many people lined the steps outside beating drums which then echoed in the domes of the gates making it sound much louder. We made an offering to the temple inside (which is given to charity) the offering consists of a piece of cloth, rose petals and 3 cotton strings - you buy these from a stall out the front and then place them on the tomb inside, next you tie your 3 strings onto the carved windows inside the temple whilst making a wish for each string. Next we got a rickshaw back to Sud’s car and then headed into Agra which again was a slightly hair raising car ride flying down a 2 way road in the dark (no street lights) with people overtaking and oncoming traffic! We are used to it in the day time now but not in the dark! Anyway we made it safely to our hotel and had dinner with 2 other couples - a Canadian couple and another pair of Australians from Sydney. Tomorrow we plan to see Agra Fort and the Taj.

Ranthambhore

Well we had the best sleep! Comfy bed and it was warm with all the blankets. We woke up about 10:30 and quickly ran to the restaurant as breakfast finished at 11! Then Sud met us to help us get our tickets for the safari which ended up quite the challenge as we needed to get a photocopy of our passports and the power in the city was all out! Anyway all worked out in the end and we got our tickets. We came back home for some lunch even though we had not too long ago had breakfast and a couple of beers and before we could even finish our safari guide was here! We quickly skulled our beers, ran to the loo and Rudi scoffed his food down! We headed off into the jungle making one quick stop to pick up another couple that were joining us in the jeep. The jeep was very bumpy and although I had just been to the toilet I was busting again since I had just skulled two beers! So for the next 4 ½ hrs of bumpy jeep safari I had to hold! We saw lots of deer, antelope, peacocks, monkeys, crocodiles, plenty of birds in all shapes and sizes and at the very end we got a quick glimpse of a massive tiger! It was really funny as we were heading out of the park so all the jeeps and canters were all kind of together and one spotted the tiger and then it turned to absolute chaos! All the drivers were yelling at each other to back up and all the tourists are screaming and pointing! Our driver was amazing at driving backwards at high speeds! We got a second glimpse of the tiger but that was about it. The canter at the back of the line saw the Tiger for about 20 minutes as it crossed the road right behind there vehicle! Lucky people! We went in search of it again but there was just too many vehicles and people yelling that the poor tiger would have been frightened off and we couldn’t find it! Was all quite funny though but sad for the poor tiger too! So that was the safari, absolutely beautiful scenery too so not so disappointing we didn’t get a good look at the tiger. Rudi and I didn’t bring a warm jumper so we completely froze on the ride back once the sun went down and flying along in an open jeep! Not to clever! We walked down the street to get some more drinks for tonight’s part 2 of Jungle me Mangle and Sud will be here any second to pick us up! Will it be fish or chicken…we are hoping for fish but we don’t really mind as we are starving! Will write more if anything funny happens if not that’s it for today and we are heading on safari again bright and early tomorrow morning! Ok so I’m back! Nothing too exciting to say except we had such an awesome night with Sud! It was a little more relaxed as we knew what we were in for and tonight on the menu was chicken curry! The most amazingly fresh and tender chicken you can ever have! He tried to get fish but said when he went to the market he could smell it and it wasn’t very nice so he went for chicken instead! We had a few more drinks tonight and the boys smoked a little more! Cards again…Rummy…Sud won tonight…I think I forgot to say I won last night! Rudi improved on his score so go him! Hehe! Anyway such a fantastic night and Sud told us it is such an honor we want to have dinner with him. He said no one ever really treats him as nice as us and told us he has been talking to his wife about us saying we are like family! He is so nice! Think we have definitely made a friend for life!

Ranthambhore

Well we said goodbye to Jaipur after a quick stop by Sud to get some things for the Jungle me Mangle! Not far down the road at a very busy roundabout a police officer waved us to the side of the road. He asked for Suds licence and Sud got out of the car and started walking and talking with the policeman. He was gone for a good 10 minutes while we sat in the car being approached form all sides by beggars. On Sud’s return I asked if everything was ok and he explained that they tried to bribe him for money. He said he did nothing wrong so he wasn’t going to give them 1 rupee. They eventually let him go! We stopped at a monkey temple where the temple itself was for the sun god Suriya and was nothing to amazing to look at but it was on the top of a big hill that looked over all of Jaipur. On the long walk up the hill there were thousands of monkeys everywhere. We bought some chickpeas and peanuts at the bottom and fed them on the way up. We also attracted a young boy called honey who walked and talked with us up the hill and showed us his massive scar from a monkey bite! Rudi was not scared at all and fed them constantly, I got a little frightened because when you fed one they would come running at you from everywhere and they got quite angry if they didn’t get food! They were pretty gentle though and lots of tiny monkeys that were so cute! After giving Honey a small tip and ‘hugs’ on his request we headed off to Ranthambhore. We checked in at our hotel and Sud said he would be back to pick us up after he went to the market for the fresh lamb. We watched a couple of movies on tv, in English, which is something we have seen very little of and just relaxed while we waited for Sud to return. He came and picked us up at took us to the hotel he was staying and he had a fire lit for us on the rooftop and he had already cooked dinner! The lamb curry was amazing, he promised to teach us how to make it and get us fresh spices to send home! We also had a big plate of the freshest veggies we have ever tasted…. we just couldn’t stop eating them…raw! Many drinks were had, a few smokes by the boys and lots of cards! Was a really fun night but we got kicked out earlier than we would have liked because the hotel people wanted to lock the front doors! Sud invited us back tomorrow night for some fish or chicken curry and more drinks and cards! We were very quick to say yes!

Jaipur

Well what a day! Started at about 740, had breakfast and then headed out at 830 to beat the traffic. On our way we stopped off at a beautiful building called Hawa Mahal to quickly take some photos, next we headed to at the Amber Fort where we again quickly got out to take some photos and met a man with a baby elephant, we took a few photos with the elephant and got to give it a pat - the elephant also liked shaking my hand with his trunk! It was very cute. Then we headed into the fort where we got our elephant ride up the hill to the fort entrance. Again another lovely building which was huge and very open, you could pretty much walk anywhere and nothing was shut off, we spent a good 3 or so hours exploring the many passageways and admiring the views. Then we headed back to the car and Sud drove us further up the mountain to the defensive fort above called Nahargarh Fort, this building is home to the worlds largest cannon mounted on wheels, the thing was massive and is rotated by 2 elephants - it has never been used in combat but was test fired once and many of the soldiers who were present went deaf afterwards, to fire it used 100 kgs of gunpowder and the cannon ball was 50 kgs. After exploring the fort we headed to another textile factory where they showed us how they dye the fabrics and showed us their workrooms where they turn the fabric into works of art! Then we headed back to the jewelry shop from yesterday to pick up an item we were getting made but they ended up having trouble with it so it didn’t get made! There is an older man who owns the jewelry shop who is also an aura reader? Psychic? Anyway Sud had told us he was good and I wanted to try it so we gave it a go. Long story short - lesson learnt don’t go to a Psychic in India because it will freak you out! First he started by asking me how old I was and he had a calculator where he had typed in a number and then I told him and he would show us his number which was correct, he also did this with my birth date, then he started going into some more full on stuff! He was pretty spot on with most things and told us what ailments we are likely to get/already have and sold us both stones to wear which is meant to help with our problems (we will see how that goes). After being properly freaked out we headed back home for dinner at a nearby hotels restaurant which Sud recommended and then back to our room. Tomorrow we head off to Ranthambore for our safari and Jungle me mangle! ( a local saying which means anything goes in the jungle!)

Jaipur

After another early wake up by our friend cleaning his nose/throat or whatever he does when he makes vomiting noises we had a nice breakfast and soon after were on our way to Jaipur (the pink city). Fast forward about 2 or so hours and we arrived in Jaipur - which initially is not too pink at all! it’s a very busy city with about 4 million living here. We checked in and Sud took us to a restaurant for lunch where we ate way too much! (as usual) Afterwards we headed to the city palace (where a maharaja still lives) Just out the front of the palace is an observatory called Jantar Mantar, which had sundials and old tools used to work out where/how far celestial bodies are, it was all very confusing! I think you needed to be an astrologist to work it all out! Next we headed into the palace which was a little dodgy - no photos to be taken anywhere except from the outside where the guards constantly asked us to take photos with them, the first time we did and as soon as you were done “rupee, rupee” “tip, tip” we didn’t pay up as we never asked them to pose - they asked us, so we walked on and from then on refused all photos with any guards! The palace was actually really small, I think a lot of it was shut from the public as it looks a lot bigger from the outside. On the way out we passed a man sitting on the ground with musical instruments and were trying to get past without being asked for money, then I heard him say cobra and had a second look - he took the lid off his basket and 2 hissing cobra heads popped up! We took some photos then he asked me to sit next to him which I did, I think he saw I wasn’t too phased by them and then he told me to touch the back of the snakes head! Next thing I know he was putting the cobra around my neck! Bec got a fair few photos but wasn’t too eager to have a go herself so we tipped the man and were on our way. Made one last stop off at a jeweler looking for a certain gift and then headed home in the peak hour traffic which as always is crazy!! Tomorrow we will check out the Amber fort and hopefully go on an elephant ride!

Pushkar

Well today we were alone, no Sud as Pushkar is only about 1.5km big so he said we didn’t need him and we would be able to walk around on our own. We had a small sleep in and after breakfast headed out to explore. We spoke to the man at reception to get a few tips and directions and set off. First stop was to the post office to send a few post cards! It was only about 300 metres from the hotel but we got lost about 3 times and had to ask people each time and eventually found it! Neither of us were game to lick the stamps so we asked for the spongy thing which got thrown in front of us. We then asked them to stamp the stamps in front of us because apparently if you don’t they take them off and re sell them and the post cards don’t get sent! In Pushkar is the Brahma temple, one of the many Hindu gods and on separate mountains either side of the Brahma temple are temples for his two wives. Against advice from reception we headed out to climb the smaller of the two mountains. We eventually found the way up with the help of some locals! It was a pretty steep walk up, not too bad though but it was very hot, exactly the reason we were advised to do the walk later in the day rather than the middle of the day. It was very secluded we saw only one other couple on the walk and a couple of guys that live up the top of the mountain when we reached the top. The temple was quite simple nothing special to look at but the view from the top of the mountain was amazing! We spoke to the guy at the top for awhile and took lots of photos then began the decent! We had found the lake from the top of the mountain so we headed in that direction and we found it quite easily. As Sud had warned us we were greeted with people trying to sell us flowers. We agreed and got a plate of red and yellow colored powder, rice, sugar, flowers and some cotton. We were then followed down to the lake and I was taken one way and Rudi another and told women and men could not go to the same part. I was a little scared but I could still see Rudi as we were not far apart. The man then sat down with me and told me to repeat after him - half in Hindi and half in English, I guess we said a prayer for our family and long life and good marriage etc. He washed my hands in the dirty lake water then started piling the stuff off the plate on my hands and then I had to make a wish and throw the stuff in the water. After this he asked me for lots of money…..a blessing for my whole family. I gave him 500 rupees about $10 and he told me this was not enough. After arguing with him for awhile I stood up and walked over to Rudi who was having the same argument with his man. We escaped without giving anymore money. We then kept wandering and found the main market which had heaps of shops similar to all we have seen everywhere else. We bought a few more presents and stuff for ourselves as well, of course! We decided to head back as it was getting late afternoon and we hadn’t had lunch! We passed a barber shop and Rudi had been wanting a proper shave for awhile now so when they asked him to come in and he refused I asked how much for shave and they said 30 rupees…not even $1. Rudi although rather scared of the razor agreed and when we walked in the other guy told me to sit and asked would I like a head massage? He said 30 rupees and I bargained them down to 50 rupees for both ($1) and we had a deal. So Rudi escaped with no cuts from the blade and my head massage although kinda rough was really relaxing. We headed back for a good Indian style vegie burger and chips at the hotel and just chilled. Again there were kids everywhere on all the rooftops flying there kites, it is such a nice sight seeing them all out playing and not in front of the TV! We then had a monkey really close to us and when I tried to take a picture the restaurant guy said would you like a better picture and went and got some bread and the monkey came running right up to us! I took some pictures and then asked if I could feed it. I held the bread out really scared it was going to bite me but it was so gentle and calmly took the bread out of my hand. Its fingers were so soft and gentle. After a few more photos I told Rudi to have a go and he also fed it! Was pretty cool! We then headed back down the street to get some more red bull to polish off the vodka we had left and now just chilling in our room before we head up for some more dinner. Overall it has been rather a relaxing day but also quite busy! We are going to sleep well tonight! Probably the best hotel room we have had so far!

LESSONS LEARNT:
* Wear earplugs even if it isn’t noisy when you go top sleep as the morning ritual of the Hindu or Muslim I don’t know who… is to spew there guts up of last nights food. Not a nice sound to wake up to EVERY morning.

Udaipur - Pushkar

Well a long day of traveling today. We left about 9:30 from Udaipur and it is now 5:45pm and we have just arrived at our hotel in Pushkar and sitting on the roof having a drink. We called in to a shop we had bought a few things from in the last couple of days for a few last minute gifts and to say goodbye! He was very nice and gave Rudi and I both a little address book as a gift for coming to his shop! We hit the road and only about 25km out of Udaipur we stopped at a Hindu temple that was over 1000 years old, Sas Bahu Temples. It was no longer a working temple but you could wander around the beautifully carved temple. Was very nice except for the soundtrack of kids about 7 years old chasing you around from the other side of the fence asking for 10 rupees and then fake crying when you wouldn’t give it to them! I already got sucked into one young boy at the entry gate who asked for 10 rupees and thought it was the entrance fee so gave it to him! Cheeky bugger but 10 rupees is nothing so was no big deal! Rudi cracked the shit’s a group of French tourists who kept getting in his photo…anyone would think India was all about him! From there we headed back on the road and next stop was lunch at another tourist restaurant in the middle of nowhere, where prices are at least double the standard price! We were starving as we were a little hung over from a few drinks last night! It wasn’t too expensive after all! Back in the car I made a quick call home to nanas Monday night roast gathering, where I couldn’t really hear what anyone was saying but was nice to say hi! The drive seemed very long today and I’m sure Sud must have been exhausted because it is such hard driving in India. We stopped at another temple, Soni Temple, Ajmer, this one a Jain Temple just 15km short of Pushkar. It was absolutely amazing. The temple was like nothing we have ever seen. A family built like a massive two storey model that filled a massive room all out of gold that was supposed to represent ‘heaven’. It was absolutely beautiful and as one Canadian guy explained it, a kids dream play set! It looks amazing but it is all behind glass, dirty glass at that and lots of reflection so we couldn’t really get any good photos of it. After a walk around there we headed back in the car for the short but busy last leg to Pushkar. Sud had told us that it is strictly vegetarian here, no eggs as well as meat and no alcohol! We smuggled our vodka and whisky in with his help! He also said to be very careful as we will be annoyed to buy flowers from people in the street that you throw into the lake as an offering. He said it is ok but be careful as they will ask you for a lot of money and they will continually follow you! I might stay in the hotel! Hehe! Just kidding! Anyway the view from our roof top restaurant is amazing. Fairly quiet for India, just bells chiming and some chanting from a temple in the distance and kids laughing and chatting on the rooftops flying kites! Its really beautiful. The sun has just set and it is starting to get a little cold. Think we will get an early night tonight and brave the streets of Pushkar tomorrow!

LESSONS LEARNT CONTINUED:
* The reason you have to take off your shoes at the temple isn’t a respect or religious thing it is just so some random guy can stand at the gate and ask you for money when you try to leave for looking after your shoes!
* Spitting is a sport in India! Spectators beware! Walking the streets of India is very dangerous as men are constantly spitting without looking who or what is in the line of fire!
* Do not walk the streets of India after a few vodka and red bulls! It becomes too fun and feels like a real life pin ball game dodging all the flashing lights, motorbikes, cars and charging bulls! (ok well maybe no charging bulls, they are very slow and placid!)

Udaipur

Its Bec back! Rudi has gone on strike coz he didn’t have much fun today and to be honest it has been a completely draining day! We met up with our driver at about 9:30 and he took us to a nice garden with several fountains. It was very nice! We then went to another jewellery shop that Suds friend worked at but we couldn’t find what we were looking for. We bought a few other things that we did not go in for! We are good at that! They are good at selling us stuff we do not intend to buy! We then went to what Sud had told us was a village about 10km out of town. Well it was but this village had lots of market like stores set up and every 2 metres you were convinced to take a seat and “just look…looking is free…Im artist not businessman I want to show you my work.” We would leave each store broker and loaded with more stuff we didn’t intend to buy! We had a guide with us and he told us a lot of interesting information about village life, marriage, Hinduism, and the different areas of India. Without being dragged into every store it would have been quite good but we were totally over it by the end and actually just wanted to get out of there. In between all the stores there were a few performances of different dances and music from different parts of India. They were very good! So after 3 hours of mostly torture we left and when Sud said there wasn’t much else to do in Udaipur we were very happy to return to our hotel for some much needed peace and quiet. We had some lunch and headed back to look at all our ‘special purchases‘! Rudi was mentally exhausted and wanted a nana nap but we decided to head back down the street and pick up my dress that I had ordered last night. On the way we were greeted by almost every shop owner in the street and asked to look at there shop and Rudi was asked if we wanted a Rickshaw and on refusal asked if he would like some joints! Now that’s a multi business! We got there and after some small talk I got to try it on. I was mostly happy with it! Looks nice from the front but the back is a little bit high, I feel like a school girl in a pinafore. I am glad I go it though and the material is very pretty. I got out without being convinced to buy another dress and Rudi escaped without a suit or shirt despite the persistent effort of the shop man. We headed back down via a few more shops and bought some drinks for tonight. We quickly had a HOT shower as the hot water is only between 9am-6pm and we are normally home to late so it is cold! I hadn’t showered for 3 days so was good, Rudi had braved the cold showers so he was a little disgusted at my dirtiness! We are enjoying a few drinks and about to go and order more food! Ok haven’t made it to the roof top restaurant yet but went down the street to get more soft drink to mix with our drinks! I asked the shop owner if he had insect spray, as there have been lots of mosquitoes in our room the last few nights and he said yes I have sexy spray! Rudi and I cracked up laughing and when the shop owner worked out what we were after he laughed as well and still tried to sell us sexy spray too! Very funny! We are LOVING the food! Think we are going to have to get some cooking lessons back home! Anyway that’s all for today! Missing everyone but definitely not ready to come home yet! We are already sad we are half way through our time in India!

Lesson learnt continued:
* India is very cheap and expensive at the same time!
* In India…do not mistake Insect spray for Sexy Spray!
* Insect Spray smells better than the hotel rooms!
* Indians do understand the word NO, you just have to tell them 100 times before they believe you!
* Get fat and have lots of natural padding before coming to India as the mattress is almost non existent!

Udaipur

Got up at about 8, though it was probably earlier with the noise our neighbors were making! After breakfast we headed off to Jagdish Temple which was nice but nothing too amazing, we got conned into visiting another art school by a man inside who told us he was a painting teacher and he is taking his work to exhibit in Camberwell and then in Hobart and was off to visit Australia very soon. We went to his school/gallery/store to see the works he was going to exhibit and of course were led into their shop straight after, where I actually decided to buy something to remember India by (there is a lot of beautiful stuff to buy in India but most of it is for girls) So I bought a triptych of a horse (symbol for power), elephant (symbol for good luck) and camel (symbol for love), we also bought a gift for our driver (a small painting of Ganesh) which we are planning on giving him at the end of our time in India. After finally getting out of the painting school we finally made it to the City Palace which is where the Maharana of Udaipur used to live, it was nice but honestly not the nicest or the biggest palace we have visited! Still interesting though, but it was very busy which made it a little frustrating as we were sharing an audio guide and the speaker volume didn’t go too loud! And Indians talk very loud! There were parts where me and Bec performed the crab dance whilst listening to the guide to get around other people (Cat will understand) Next we went on a cruise of the lake which took us past the palace and the famous Lake Palace Hotel, we stopped on an island in the middle called Jag Mandir and had some lunch, drinks and some shisha! We had some beautiful views from the island and spent a couple of hours there. We then got the boat back off the island and went looking for a way out of the palace grounds, Bec getting very frustrated with some of the gate guards who would not let us pass, eventually we did escape the gardens and headed to the Tibetan markets which are nearby, these markets were a bit of a let down as it was mainly just cheap copies of western brands with only a handfull of stores selling anything of interest. Next door was a small Indian crafts market where Bec got some cheap sunnies (as she had lost her pair) and some cheap clothes, I ended up with a new shirt. We headed home stopping at a couple of shops on the way looking for gifts/souvenirs, we both ended up buying a few bit’s and pieces and Bec ended up getting fitted for a custom made dress! Which we are picking up tomorrow night. After our shopping trip we headed back home for some much needed dinner and that about sums up today!

Ranakpur - Udaipur

Bec has fallen asleep already so ill write a quick summary of today. Had a great nights sleep and ended up being warm after all! We got up at about 730 as the night before we were offered a village trek for 150 rupees each and we thought why not. So we headed off at 8 with our guide and my 2 new friends (the hotel dogs) straight up a big mountain and soon after headed into a small village where we were shown how the locals make flour, we both gave the grinding wheel a spin and had a quick look around, we had to leave the village rather quickly as the village dog didn’t approve of the hotel dogs wondering around on his turf! So our guide suggested we leave to avoid a dog fight. Next we headed onto the village well, where our guide showed us how the locals get their water, I headed down the well to where the water was and there were quite a few fish living in nice clean water - which was also quite warm considering how cold it was. We headed back the way we had come past the angry dog and then headed back to the hotel via another path. Back at the hotel we had a huge breakfast with tiger (the Great Dane) using my foot as his pillow. After eating we explored the area around the hotel and took some photos of the spectacular scenery, this took us up to around noon when Sud came to pick us up. He asked if we would like to stop off at a fort which would only be about a 45 minute detour but well worth it, we agreed and upon arriving were not sorry! The place was massive, it is called Kumbhalgarh Fort but is also known as cloud palace, this is because in June/July the top of the fort cannot be seen as it is amongst the clouds. We ended up paying for a guide who took us through the many gates, all the way to the top (it was quite the walk). The highest point is on top of the Maharana’s quarters and the view is simply stunning, we took a lot of photos up here so you will see what I mean! We headed back down to the car and then had roughly another hour and a half to two hour drive to Udaipur, most of this drive too was actually really beautiful amongst the huge mountains and tiny villages growing sugar cane/rice/mustard seeds - so green, a big change for us after the desert for almost 2 weeks. Once we arrived in Udaipur we headed to our hotel to check in and dump our bags, Sud stopped along the way for us to buy some drinks at a bottle shop as the night before we had a couple of mixed drinks which were expensive (well cheap for Aus but expensive for here) so we decided to buy a couple of bottles and mix our own to save money. After we checked in at our hotel we headed back to the lake palace to watch the sunset which was beautiful. Next we quickly headed off to get a copy of my passport so we could get an Indian sim card as we had overheard another tourist saying she had gotten one and it was so much cheaper then using your own, Sud enlisted the help of his local friend as we had to use his friends address to buy the card. After this we headed back to our hotel for some dinner and were treated to lovely food and our own little fire to warm us up on a very cold night. Tomorrow we explore Udaipur so I’m off to bed.

Ranakpur

We have had a pretty relaxed day today! We left our guest house about 9am and got a rickshaw no problem only a short stroll from the guest house. He was a little crazy too like our driver yesterday so we got there in no time and again he was very excited to ask us if we liked his driving. We hit the road and had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. We stopped on the side of the road in the middle of no where at a rather large shrine, although Sud called it a temple. He explained to us he would be a couple of minutes and he always stops here when he drives that way. So we sat in the car as he had left and we didn’t want to leave the car unlocked. We watched him go and pray and make a money offering. There were young kids chanting on the ground beside it and it was all really quite nice but also bizarre where it was located and it was just all open with a fence around it with lots of flowers everywhere and a motorcycle with flowers hanging off it. When Sud came back he explained that the temple is for a man who was killed there about 65 years ago. Every year on the anniversary of his death the motorcycle drives itself to the mans house, does a circle and comes back and parks in the exact same spot. Rudi scolded me for laughing at this story but I wasn’t really laughing, it was all just a bit strange, ok I was laughing! Anyway we continued on to Ranakpur where somehow I managed to sleep for a fair bit of the way. The road was really bumpy and for some of it was pretty much a single lane width road for two way traffic, so a lot of swerving off road! We made it safe and sound and first stop was the Sheth Anandji Kalyanji, apparently the most beautiful Jain Temples in all of Rajasthan. It did live up to this title as well. We walked into the massive temple and it was honestly breathtaking. Before we could get to far inside we were greeted by an older gentleman in religious clothing who introduced himself and asked us where we were from. He said if we would agree he would like to show us around the temple and pray for us, must have looked like we needed it! He told us he was the high priest and he showed us a quick tour of the temple. He then took us to one of the many idols and said a rather long prayer for us, the only word I understood was Australia so he really could have said anything. We made a donation to him and then continued to look around ourselves! It is hard to explain how beautiful it was. Hundreds of very tall columns all finely carved and not any two are alike. It is all white, we think it was white marble. You will need to see photos to see the real beauty. The priest had also shown us one column in the temple that was purposely built on an angle and this was to show that nothing man creates is ever perfect. It was a really amazing place to see. Rudi got yelled at for trying to take a picture of one of the large idols, he actually didn’t even see it and was just trying to do a wide shot of the temple. Anyway we left there and Sud drove us to have lunch. We braved a pre cooked buffet! It was really nice, Rudi made a pig of himself but that’s nothing new, don’t think we are going to come back any skinnier, the food is all too good! After lunch Sud drove us to our hotel as Ranakpur has no city centre it is just in the ‘jungle’ a bit like being in the Dandenong’s but much more isolated, so there is nothing else to do here except relax! Our drive to the hotel took about 20minutes of winding roads around the mountain edge! A little scary, and very scary when we almost took out a motorbike head on coming around the corner on our side of the road. Sud slammed on the breaks and I honestly do not know how we missed him. Was very frightening! We congratulated Sud on his excellent driving skills and continued on our way as the motorcycle drove off grinning, well not the motorcycle on its own, this one had a driver!! We made it in one piece to our hotel and we were upgraded to our own cottage. We had booked a large tent, not like a camping tent but more a small circus tent but the owner said we would be too cold and he had a cottage free so he would give us that for the same price. The room is nothing special but we have our own balcony where we spent the whole afternoon drinking vodka and whiskey with the most amazing landscape view! It is so green and peaceful, lots of birds and squirrels. Spotted a fox and a wild dog but nothing else too exciting. Apparently there are tigers, leopards, bears, monkeys and deer all spotted in the area but no sightings by us! We did pass lots of cute monkeys on the drive up the hill though! That’s about us for the day. Had a nice dinner in the very large restaurant at our hotel and were the only ones there. It is very cold already so very grateful for the cottage!

Jodhpur

The alarm went off and we both ignored it! We both were exhausted but forced ourselves out of bed! The kitchen wasn’t even open so we left without breakfast in the hope we would find somewhere! No luck! We started walking down very small alleys to find a rickshaw to take us back to meet our driver! We passed a few and thought we had a little bit of time to kill so we kept walking…then we couldn’t find anymore! Eventually we stopped one and gave him the address our driver had written down for us but he said he did not know where that was…next one …same! Was beginning to look like we mite have to try and negotiate it on our own but then we found a rickshaw and he knew exactly where to take us! So we got to our carpark after a quick game of frogger and our driver was not there! We waited about 20 minutes and he turned up in a safari jeep with another driver who was going to take us on a safari out to see some rural villages just out of Jodhpur. We climbed in and it was very bumpy! When we stopped to drop off Sud we saw a stall selling fruit so Rudi jumped out and bought a bunch of bananas for about 40cents! That was breakfast! We headed out to our first stop on the village safari where we passed many children that would chase the Jeep waving and yelling hello and asking for a school pen! We just waved and said hello as we drove on by and one kid chased us for ages and when he couldn’t run anymore and we hadn’t given him a pen he got quite angry and gave us the finger! Was really quite funny as we have not experienced that here yet! Our first stop was a Muslim family that made pottery. They collected the clay from the lake and the lady did her thing with it and then the man had a stone wheel that spun on a wooden stick. He was so quick and very good at making all sorts of pots and vases! With some convincing Rudi got his hands dirty and had a go…I guess he did ok for a beginner! We bought a small souvenir and then headed on to the next stop. The next stop was another family way out in the middle of nowhere and here they offered us tea, and since we had no breakfast or no water on us and we needed to take our malaria tablet we hesitantly accepted! We watched the lady make us tea over the fire and then enjoyed our cup of chai! The younger girl of the family took me to the back of the hut and started to dress me up in traditional Indian clothing! Was pretty funny as the top was too small and I could hardly move but she was determined to make it fit! Rudi then got given the turban off the old mans head and we took a few photos. The old man then brought out a wooden apparatus and we were told to sit down and he got out a small stone from a bag. He gave it to us to have a look and told us it was opium. He then used a mortar and pestle to grind it up and mixed it with water and strained it through his apparatus. He then drank three sips from it. Rudi asked if this was a religious thing and he said no it is like an offering to a guest in his house, I guess a welcome. Opium is illegal but still widely used for medicinal purposes, relaxation, Viagra and it is often smoked during traditional wedding ceremonies. We left a small donation with the family and then headed on to the next destination. We arrived at another little village but this was a co operative where they wove Durry (carpet like rugs that look the same on both sides! He showed us how he makes them which was very interesting and told us they can take up to 7 months to finish one large piece. He then took us to his village show room ( a concrete room) and brought out his brag book! His work had appeared in magazines all over the world including Vogue Australia! He also had a signed letter from the Smashing Pumpkins who had made a purchase from him! He then brought out all of his work and did not push us to buy. I originally said no that I could not fit it in our bag and then almost instantly caved in and bought one! Rudi and I liked the same one so we thought why not! He got so excited when we said we would buy one it was really nice actually! His face lit up. He then came and shook our hands and thanked us for buying his work and told us we brought him good luck as two new people just walked in to see his work. He left us and a lady wrapped up our parcel and we headed on our way again! Last stop and most expensive stop was an embroidery and sewing factory. We were greeted by a young man who took us through to the factory. There was probably only about 6 men on very old sewing machines and about 4 women on the floor folding and sorting through hundreds of pieces of work. We then were taken through and dressed up in some traditional clothing, Rudi in some very attractive Jodhpur pants and a very glitz jacket and I was taken to a back room with the young man to get dressed in a Sari! A little bit of a weird situation as he stood and watched me get changed but all was ok and I was reunited with Rudi and we took some more photos! We then started looking at the beautiful products that were made in the factory and purchased ourselves a beautiful doona cover set and lots more bits and pieces! We bargained for awhile and were very happy with our purchase. Our young man Jamu tried to bargain us with a free scarf for Rudis watch. I snapped at him saying that he could not have it as it was a special gift from me to Rudi. He was very apologetic! He asked if we had any special Australian present we could give him and he did not like our offer of a pencil! I said I would send him something when we got home, thinking maybe a jar of vegemite but he said yes please maybe a watch, sunglasses or some perfume! They don’t want much really! Anyway once we collected all our purchases together it was rather large so we have decided at the end of India we are going to send a parcel back home as there is no way we can carry all we have bought! From there Jeep Man took us back to meet Sud who drove us to Jaswant Thada, Cenotaphs of the Rathore Rulers of Jodhpur-Marwar. It was in a beautiful location near a rather large lake on a hill right near the fort. From there Sud dropped us off at the Fort and told us it was a 10 min walk to the clock tower in town and then a short rickshaw ride home! We thought no problems and waved him goodbye! We spent the afternoon in the massive but completely beautiful Mehrangarh Fort/Museum. We had an audio guide with us so wandered around at our own pace. The size of the fort was massive and some rooms were exquisite. Lots of detailed lacing in the building where the women stood behind to look down into the courtyards to avoid the eyes of the staring men, beautiful stained glass windows and plenty of gold in the roof panels etc. After a few hours we found our way out of the fort and headed on the journey to walk back to town. We didn’t get far when a very lovely women sitting on the step of her house stopped us for a chat. Next minute we were inside her house and her husband was showing us around. He took us to his sitting room and told us to sit and relax! I was not relaxed! He then was talking to us about everything and anything and we got on to talking about my henna. He said since I only have it on my left hand it is just a fashion statement but that the right hand is good karma, for good life and good marriage etc. I stupidly said oh I will have to get the other hand done then, hahaha, and next minute his wife is there with the henna and painting my other hand! Lesson Learnt: Do not speak to anyone in India! It was very very cheap compared to what I paid in Delhi so we let her proceed and figured it was a donation. We sat there for what seemed like forever waiting for it to dry and making small talk with the husband. After about 30minutes of sitting doing nothing we realized he had been telling us for the last 20minutes that we could go! He must have been thinking when are these idiots going to get out of my house and we were thinking when the hell are they going to finish this henna so we can leave. Anyway we left and I just scraped off the henna when we got home as it was dry by the time we left! We got a little lost walking back though and ended up getting a rickshaw back to the hotel! It was more fun than our previous two rickshaw journeys as we had a young man who was a crazy driver and he was flying around like a mad man through these tiny alleys with pedestrians nearly being knocked over and motorbikes being bullied off the road! He was crazy but was fun! When he pulled up he asked us if we thought he was a good driver! We both agreed he was pretty good! Anyway so we are back at the hotel. Both starving as we hadn’t really eaten anything except a couple of bananas all day! We had a feast for dinner, a few soft drinks and just chilling on the rooftop again! Off to bed soon and then on to Ranakpur tomorrow!

Jaisalmer - Jodhpur

Im not sure if we are currently under attack or there are fire works outside our room but Rudi hasn’t come running out of the shower so ill just keep typing and hope it is the second option! We are in Jodhpur tonight…The Blue City! On our quick glimpse of it as we arrived it wasn’t as blue as I had expected of a blue city but definitely a place the smurfs would love! This morning we were in Jaisalmer still so after breakfast we took one last stroll down to the Fort and were attacked by the same women as we were the previous day to buy jewellery and bracelets! The more you ignore them the louder the scream “MAM HELLO!” Anyway we managed to pass them without spending any money an improvement for Rudi from yesterday! We went to a temple inside the fort but it wasn’t anything to spectacular! We slowly wandered back and stopped at the pharmacy for a few necessities and a needle! I was sure he would think I was a junky so I showed him my finger which has had a prickle in it since the camel safari several days ago and had started to get pussy! He kindly gave me a sealed disposable needle for free! We returned to our hotel to wait for Sud where I performed some quick surgery on my finger, we said goodbye to the wonderful staff at our hotel, had a photo with Ricky Martin our chef who speaks poor English yet loved to chat to us whenever he wasn’t cooking and then off we headed on the road to Jodhpur about a 5hr drive! We stopped a couple of hours in at a city called Pokaran to check out the fort. It was pretty nice, yet not as spectacular as Bikaner Fort! We had a lovely young man guide us around for about 1/2hr which we weren’t sure whether we were supposed to pay but since we had paid to get in and he didn’t ask us we chose the cheaper option! I was called by a lady sitting in the temple to come over and she had an orange powder which she used to put a dot on my forehead…she said it was very lucky! We then kept wondering and ended up at another temple where another lady called us over this time Rudi and I both got dotted! We then hit the road again…looking more Indian than when we had got out of the car! We stopped for a quick bite of lunch but was fairly expensive for here so we didn’t order too much! The road turned quite rough for about the last hour of the journey but we safely arrived in Jodhpur…not our hotel though. Sud explained to us he could not get the car down the narrow streets so he was dropping us off in the carpark and we would need to get a rickshaw to our hotel and meet him back at the same carpark tomorrow! We were in the middle of crazy town and had no idea how we were ever going to find our way back as the rickshaw ride was about 4km! Sud wrote down the name of the place we had to come back to and negotiated us a deal with a rickshaw driver! He told us to message him when we arrived at our hotel so he knew we were ok, he’s such a cutie! This was our first Rickshaw ride and was actually quite fun! I think because we are used to the traffic it wasn’t as scary as it would have been a week ago! Still pretty crazy though barely missing people, other cars, motorbikes! Rudi said it was like a roller coaster ride…the driver just almost changed direction instantly and always at the last second! When he pulled up he said we had to walk up a lil alley. We followed some signs and the little alley turned into a big hill and we eventually found our hotel a little short of breath! We checked in to our run down looking blue hotel ‘The Cosy Guest House’ but it has a lot of character and lots of nice painted walls. The people here are also very friendly and the man that runs the hotel is called Josie and he told us “If you don’t feel cosy then you don’t pay Josie!” I haven’t stopped saying it since! Sad I know! We headed to the rooftop to check out the view and it is also quite beautiful with the fort on a hill similar to Jaisalmer but not quite as big or detailed! We had a drink and played some cards and then in the darkness I spotted a rather large monkey on the rooftop next door! It was dark already so we couldn’t get a good picture but it was the first monkey we have seen on our trip except at the monkey temple we drove past in Delhi so we are excited to go monkey hunting in the morning! We have had a yummy dinner and now just winding down! Im off to shower coz Rudi said the water is hot! Will be our first hot shower in 4 days and I’m dying to wash my hair! Early start tomorrow and hopefully we will find our way back via the Rickshaw to meet our driver!

Lessons Learnt So Far continued!:
* Do not sleep whilst driving around India as this can result in whiplash due to sudden breaking due to large pot holes, cows on the road or a large truck coming head on! Stay alert and in the brace position!
* When offered chai in an Indian home do not refuse and then jokingly ask for opium…”it is illegal but in India anything is possible!”
* Wear fake tan whilst in India to look like an Indian…things are (no joke) 100 times cheaper if you are Indian!
* When placed in the situation with one hungry Indian boy trying to sell you a piece of rock always carry a banana. It is better to give than receive!
*850 rupees a night does not get you hot water or a bed that you fit in or sheets that fit the bed you don’t fit in. It does get you 30cms of toilet paper though!
* Practice yoga before coming to India…you need all sorts of weird and wonderful positions in the shower to avoid the stray sprays from the shower head going in your mouth! The limbo would be great practice for washing your hair too!

Jaisalmer

We were up earlish for us to make the most of the last day we had left in Jaisalmer and I was feeling better so I was starving! Had a feast for breakfast..a bowl of cornflakes and an omlette! We then met our driver for an action packed day of sightseeing to make up for the last couple of days! We headed first to see some beautiful and quite intricate Jain Temples. Most you pay a small fee to enter and a larger fee in comparison to take in your camera. The first was Amar Sagar Jain Temple a decent drive out into the desert. As with most temples we have visited, we left our shoes at the entrance . We looked around the beautiful temple, all the buildings carved out of golden sandstone. It was a really beautiful temple and very peaceful. There were very few tourists around. We then headed not to far down the road to Ludarwa Jain Temple. The shoes came off again and this time Rudi had to leave his belt off also as no leather allowed inside the temple and for some reason my water bottle had to stay out! Again only a couple of tourists there but a small group of worshipers who were quick to tell us not to take their photo inside the main temple. We looked around the outside and again the sandstone carving of the building was amazing. We were not sure if we could enter the main temple as this is were the worshipers were chanting and doing their thing so we crept up the stairs and got ushered in by an old man in a Gandhi outfit! He talked to us quite a lot about the building and told us they worship the cobra. He took us around the main temple and explained a lot to us that we couldn’t understand. He was nice though so we followed and nodded our head to amuse him! I asked for a photo with him and then we couldn’t stop him! He kept asking for more! He showed us a hole in the wall that we had walked past previously where 2 real cobras live. He told me to look inside it and if I see the snake it is very lucky! I briefly snuck a quick look but to be honest didn’t really want to see some cobra pop out in front of me! Rudi had a better look but still no Cobra. Apparantly the Jain men queue up early in the mornings hoping to sight the Cobra. From here we headed more out into the desert to a place called Bada Bagh Cenotaphs which means Big Garden. It is far from what we would call a garden but I guess it was a desert garden! It had many tombs of I’m sure very important people, I think they were emperors. They were amazing domed and more pyramid sandstone ‘rotundas’ scattered all over the hill side! Each had a separate emperor tombs and on the plaque it had carvings of women beside a man on a horse. The number of women on each tomb was the number of wives each man had. The most we saw was 10! A young boy befriended us, well really tried to sell us a piece of rock but he did talk to us a lot about the place. When we refused to buy his rock he started asking for money…I gave him a banana as he looked hungry! Next stop…Lake Jaisalmer ( that’s me being too lazy to google the name!) (Rudi: Gadisar Lake -thanks to postcard!) there were beautifully decorated camels at the entrance gate and there owners were quick to offer us a ride around the lake in the camel carriage! We refused and decided to go by foot! The start was very beautiful with more carved sandstone buildings. We were quick to make a friend on our walk around the lake. A stray dog! We had no food on us except a banana so we thought we would see if it would eat it but wasn’t interested. Still followed us though and Rudi caved and bravely reached out a hand to pat it! The poor dog I don’t think had ever been pat before and as soon as Rudi stopped it whimpered for more. It followed us for awhile until we kinda got lost in the middle of farm land around the lake! We kept wandering as we could still see the lake and were hoping it was a circuit…it wasn’t. We crossed the lake via a stone wall not sure if it was made to walk across and then ended up amongst some houses and could no longer see the lake! Rudi reassured me he hadn’t got me lost yet so I put my trust in him and he kept his word and we found our way back safely, minus the dog! We then decided to take a peddle boat around the lake as there were some temple like structures in the middle of the lake! We spent 1/2hr peddling around in a blue swan…Rudi could just fit his legs in, on the other hand I was very comfy! While Rudi took photos I did all the work and peddled us around, no just joking! It was really beautiful. We headed back to find Sud and he asked us if we wanted to go to a silver market, of course I said yes! Sud took us down some small streets to a place no tourist would ever find to what appeared a normal house. The man that greeted us explained his family had been making silver jewellery for many generations and showed us the process. The silver comes from Pakistan, and as there are no banks near the border silver is still traded. He then took us up stairs and offered us chai tea. We haven’t been brave enough to accept tea from anyone yet but have tried it at the hotels and its very sweet! He then showed us 6 bracelets and asked us to tell which was real silver! We got one right out of six. He showed us how to tell by rubbing them on a black stone (touch stone) and the brighter the mark the more silver. He then asked us what we wanted to see and I chose earrings thinking they would be the cheapest! Out he brought a bag with 100’s of earrings and emptied them on the mattress on the floor we were sitting on! I was in heaven! We sorted through them for ages picking out the ones we liked then he weighed them and priced them! Next came some rings and then bracelets! We bought ourselves some Christmas presents and left a lot broker! Was really nice stuff though! We headed back to the hotel and Sud asked if we wanted to go somewhere to see the sunset. Rudi ran inside and grabbed his tripod and off we went again! We were up on a hill with more cenotaphs similar to the ones in the morning but this time it looked over the city and had a great view of the fort! The sunset was nothing too amazing as the sky was too smoggy! Was still a beautiful spot though! As we left the grounds Rudi got stopped by a Indian woman who spoke very good english who explained to us she was a bollywood director and she wanted him for a movie they were filming tomorrow! He was flattered but had to refuse her offer as we leave tomorrow morning for Jodhpur! As Rudi rubbed in they wanted him and not me we drove back to the hotel where we had a small feast as we were starving from a big day of sightseeing! We are enjoying the view from the rooftop of our hotel for one last time as we listen to a dogs howl echo across the neighborhood!

Jaisalmer

I’ve taken the blog back for today as Bec stayed in for half the day as she was still feeling sick. We had a sleep in till about 10 and then got some breakfast, after that we headed out to the fort, shortly after we got in Bec started feeling sick again so we came back to our room. Bec wanted to stay as she wasn’t sure how she would go outside, so I headed back to the fort to have a quick look around. The inside of the fort looks older and more detailed then outside the walls, the streets are very narrow and not built for walking and motorbikes/rickshaws zooming past but it does happen and somehow it all works. I ended up finding my way to the top of a Bastion which had an amazing view of the city below, on my way back out I got caught chatting with a stall owner who spoke really good English, he took me back to his shop to meet his cousin and show me their wares, I told them I wasn’t really interested but they were happy to keep chatting (a lot of the locals just want to talk to practice their English) probably chatted for about half an hour and then told them I had to head off to get back to our hotel as Sud was picking us up at 2. Quickly walked back to our room and we got ready to head out, met Sud and asked if any of the places he suggested had toilets, he said no and suggested we postpone till tomorrow, he also told Bec that bananas and yoghurt were good for an upset stomach, so he quickly drove us to the market and bought Bec some bananas (which he would not let us pay for) and then took us back to the Hotel. We headed up to have some lunch , I had a curry and Bec had her bananas and curd!! We were both a bit worried - smelt it and then I tasted it and it seemed ok so Bec ate it. We hung around for a little while after lunch to see how Bec was feeling and after an hour we decided to give the fort another go. Walked around the fort for a while and came across a bookshop, we went in looking for a book called “The Holy Cow” which Sud told us to get, as it explains what Gods are associated with what animal and why each animal is sacred, so we haggled that down to almost half price and continued on. Ended up in another textile shop which was a charity trying to raise money for village women to be able to get an education, they had the usual patchwork wall hangings etc. but they had these beautiful intricate Muslim works that looked amazing, we left with 2 of them and as it was getting dark we decided to head home. That leads me to here, sitting writing this on the rooftop with our amazing view of the fort. Bec is feeling a lot better so if she is well tomorrow it will be a busy day catching up on some sight seeing before we leave Jaislamer the following day.

Jaisalmer

Well Rudi has put me in charge of writing the blog now! His job photo of the day! Not a good day for me to start and I have hardly left the hotel room! Firstly thought I was a little seedy from a few beers with dinner last night but as the day progressed it appeared a little more than just a hangover! Ventured to the rooftop for a sleep in the sun but didn’t last long as the heat and the smell of food cooking was not a good combination! Left Rudi to eat on his own! That’s about my day! Spent the rest in bed and the bathroom! Was supposed to go with our driver all afternoon to do some sightseeing but had to cancel him! Rudi embarrassingly ordered me a bowl of French fries (home made) and apple juice which has stayed down so far! Rudi is out for the third time today alone! Hope he returns safe! I might leave it there for today and Rudi can fill you in on his little adventures without me! Hopefully tomorrow Ill have some amazing things to write about!

Whilst Bec awoke not too well, I awoke fit as a fiddle! I don’t really have a lot to write about as I mostly walked around town taking photos, so many kids and even parents run up to you to ask if you could take their photo and then eagerly await the jpg on the back of the camera and are always very excited with the results! They think it’s a privilege for you to take their photo! Whilst im more then happy to. Gave out a few stickers to the kids who think they are great although they don’t know what they are, so you have to give a demo! One thing I did notice as I walked around alone is how different the locals are to males and females, without Bec with me I was pretty much ignored by the shops etc. whilst with Bec they often try get us to come in and buy something (although so far Jaislamer has probably been the best in regards to that) I didn’t venture into the fort as I thought I would wait for Bec so we could check it out together. Hopefully tomorrow she feels better and I will run her off her feet :)

Jaisalmer

Left for our drive at about 9 this morning, again fairly smooth roads. Saw a lot of army trucks heading the other way and asked Sud if we were being invaded by Pakistan and the Indians were in full retreat but Sud didn’t think so! Got us onto the topic of why India and Pakistan dislike each other, turns out its mainly due to land disputes e.g. Kashmir, which both want and then on top of that Kashmir wants independence. Sud had been there a few times and had some run-ins with Kashmir freedom fighters AKA terrorists, nothing too serious just was told not to speak Hindi infront of them as it would get him in trouble! After a quick pit stop we saw the fort of Jaisalmer rise out of the sand and it really did look amazing. Quickly checked in at our hotel and dumped our luggage, headed up to the rooftop bar to check out the view which is stunning, had a quick lassi and then headed out for a walk. We ended up walking all the way around the fort about one and a half hour walk, met a lot of very friendly kids on the way, most of which wanted their photo taken! Passed the safest ATM in the world (man sitting out the front of it with a bolt action rifle) yet he was very eager to get his photo taken and take his eyes off the ATM! Headed back to our hotel to watch the sunset and have our 1 month late anniversary dinner! Off to bed as its very late for us!