Rajasthan: The Next Chapter

Hello all. The last few weeks have seen us at our busiest so far, and as such our last stint in Goa before we move on down to Kerala and then out of India will be happily spent doing bugger all. Once again Sar and I (well just me actually) are in danger of slipping behind with the blog entries as the man'ana lifestyle of Goa takes over - we've been back for over a week now, so before you get a different take on things from my mum's guest blog entry, here is a small snapshot of the second part of our trip. I'm not going to go into detail about everything we did and saw as you would be reading a novel (also, lets be honest, I'm just too lazy).

After fitting in more stuff in three weeks in Rajasthan than we had done in the past five months around the rest of India, we were all feeling pretty dazed and confused. We now know how good we've got it here in Goa and are relishing the pleasures of a simple life without early morning wake up calls and long drives between destinations. That's not to say we haven't enjoyed ourselves, though. On almost every day that we travelled, the landscape changed dramatically, and each place was filled with unique people and buildings. Having a driver as knowledgeable and proud of his homeland(Agra aside)as Michael was well worth it as we got to see and stay in some amazing places. And apart from maybe one too many 'forts' on the trip (Sarah still feels ill every time she hears the word), we can see the appeal of Rajasthan compared to the rest of India. There are still so many images flying around my head from the trip, and, in the future when I think about our time in India, a big part of what I enjoyed most will be the history, wildlife, landscape and colour of Rajasthan along with the highlights of our trip (where else can you be a maharajah for the night?).


We left Ranthambore National Park feeling chuffed that we had seen two tigers on the safari (lots of people we have spoken to didn't see a thing when they went on the same tour) and we made our way to the city of Bundi.

Bundi- This place was off the beaten track and less touristy than other cities we had visited, They make a great lassi here - sathi lassi, a mix of fruit and nuts in a sweet, cold saffron infused yoghurt drink. The palace and fort were deserted except for bats and monkeys (indiana jones territory). The red faced monkeys can be dangerous and will have a right go at you given the chance (as me mum found out!).







inside the fort palace at bundi
























Udaipur - From Bundi we had a long drive to Udaipur and stopped a couple of times for a bit of 'templing'. On the way, Michael pointed out huge fields of white flowers, "opium poppies" grown for the drug use of saddus(holy men). Apparently, the government turns a blind eye to this in return for a bit of Baksheesh in the form of opium to be used in hospitals.

We arrived late in the day at Udaipur, The lake city of rajasthan. This was a beautiful place and even a cynic like me could see the romance of the city. Udaipur is also famous as the location of the bond film 'Octopussy', and the film buffs among you might recognise the lake palace below as octopussy's hideout. As it happens I had the film on our laptop - and what a load of crap it is. I reckon it was just an excuse for Roger Moore to kick back in style for a couple of months with a load of bond girls in the Maharajah's palace hotel ($650 a night mind you!).





















The lake palace and the Maharani queen's gardens





























We stayed a bit longer than planned in udaipur as we really liked the hotel and the city. At
night we got to watch the Palace sound and light show from the hotel rooftop restaurant, whilst polishing off a couple of large Kingfisher beers and eating delicious butter chicken.























































Ranakpur via Kumbulgarh - The journey from Udaipur was, in my opinion, the best yet. Along the way there were lots of small villages set in the hills that seemed not to have changed in the last 400 years. Water was being drawn from the well by groups of kids for a communal bath and ox or camel and cart was the transport of choice. By the streams, women in pristine saris of bright pinks, greens and yellows were washing clothes and gossiping.



















We stopped at a place called kumbulgarh about halfway for guess what? another fort! cue Sarah's face dropping. I can understand her point of view (she was more interested in the palaces and temples) but apart from the uphill slog this place was well worth it for the views alone.
















We got back on the road and eventually arrived in the countryside at our hotel near the Jain temple of Ranakpur. Before visiting the temple the next morning, I went walking with Michael at sunset to a lake just 10 minutes from our hotel. one of the local lads, who can't have been more than 7 took it upon himself to be our guide, and to be fair he pointed out two big marsh mugger crocodiles on the lake. The boy and his friends got sweets as a reward (it didn't stop him asking for cash though).




















We were all very impressed with the carvings in the Jain temple the next day, although I did have to wear a huge pair of what I suspect were pregnancy trousers to cover my legs.












mum in Ranakpur temple




Jodhpur - We stayed on the outskirts of the blue city of Jodhpur for a couple of days. The modern centre was quite polluted and overcrowded compared to the other cities we visited. As it happened we arrived for a two day stay in Jodhpur the day before valentines, and in an effort to prove everyone wrong about my lack of romance, I had planned a bit of a surprise on the night. Anyway, Sarah wants to tell you about this part so I'll hand over to her for a moment......















"Well what can I say, I had assumed that this Valentines Day was going to be a non starter as we were on the road and we had Andrew's mum with us and we had agreed that we would celebrate when we arrived back in Goa. However I was completely stunned with what Andrew had planned and he definetely earned the award of the best boyfriend in the whole world that day (nb: I say that specific day only!) The day started as normal and no real mention of Valentines at all so I thought typical, Andrew isnt exactly a romantic, he will openly tell you this himself but I thought I wont make a fuss, but secretly was a little bit angry at him (well a lot actually). I left Andrew and Jane to go off to the Jodphur Fort and I chilled out in our hotel, they came back late afternoon. Me and Andrew heard a knock at the door and when I answered there was our driver Michael with 5 red roses.. I said to him I didnt know he cared... grabbed the roses and was so so happy - Andrew hadnt forgotten at all, I felt a bit awful as I had been cursing him all day. I thought that was the best present ever as I had never had 5 roses before (obviously he is working his way up to 12, LOL) however then I saw a note. I opened it and it said "Valentine. Dinner Tonight 8pm, Dress Smart", well I was soo excited, I couldnt stop smiling and he said Michael knew of a lovely little Indian restaurant opposite the local Circus.

Jane started acting funny and she seemed to slip up and she said to me, have a good time at the Circus, I told her we are not going to the Circus so I though that was the real plan and they were all just pretending - Michael and Jane were going to drop us off by the restaurant but Andrew was then going to take me to a show. As we drove past the Circus, I said I thought we were stopping her but Michael gave me a cock an bull story of the road being closed. Strange I though, obvioiusly they are driving is right round to the front of the Cirus.... well we carried out and then we got to security gates, carried on up this hill, they said they were taking me up to the Umaid Bhawan Palace to take some photos (as I had been going on how beautiful it looked), I honestly didnt think anything of it, then we went through the gates, still nothing clicked, I started taking photos of it. Then we drove right up to the entrance and Andrew told me to get out, I said what for, he said that he had booked us in for a meal! Well I was shell shocked to say the least. We walked in through the entrance and is was BEAUTIFUL, I started crying, I was just so touched that he had gone to the effort to do this, just for me. We made our way to the Pillars Restaurant which is on the steps out of the garden of the Palace (Maharaja still lives in parts of the grounds) and had a lovely views of the gardens and of Jodphur beyond, I felt like a Princess (ha, if you don't know Sarah actually means Princess!). We tucked into a gorgeous 5 course meal with champagne bellinis and a bottle of Australian red wine (which after 5 months of not having it was a delight), then the fireworks started at the end of the garden and it was by the far the best EVER evening I have spent in my life, everything was perfect (This turned out to be the Palace where Liz Hurley got married). After dinner we wandered through the hotel looking at all the various rooms and then finished off with a Cocktail in the Trophy Bar (which turned out to be full of stuffed animals and pictures of the Maharaja hunting, which made us feel a bit uncomfortable to say the least especially as we had only just seen some tigers a few days before and there was 2 right next to us on the wall).
overall, It was a truly amazing night and I was so touched that Andrew had gone to this much effort, just for me.....















Well, now that I had earned a few years grace from romanctic gestures (I realise that unfortunately this has raised Sarah's expectations of a good night out), we were ready to move on.
We left from Jodhpur and drove west, deep into the region of the Thar desert.

















Khuri, the Thar - After another long drive, we arrived in the middle of nowhere at a small village called Khuri. From here we went by camel into the heart of the desert dunes for a night under the stars. The camel ride there was surprisingly comfortable, especially for Sarah ,who was on a pulled cart due to her allergy of all furry animals (why she isn't allergic to me, I don't know). At dusk there were a fair number of other tourists wandering the dunes, but as the sun dropped they all thinned out, leaving only us three idiots to brave the desert alone in the dark.
























fun in the sun in the desert

















































After some time away, our guides returned with an evening meal of thali and desert beans, washed down with a beer or two by a warm campfire. It's true what they say about the stars in the desert, and we spent a long time staring in wonder at the sky.
It's also true what they say about the bloody cold at night, so we quickly jumped into our campbeds and thick blankets (not thick enough for Sarah and mum, who said they were freezing all night). Personally speaking, I had a great night sleep and woke around dawn for a wander around the dunes. The journey back wasn't pleasant, as I had bruised my unmentionables on the trip in. This fact wasn't helped by Sarah bribing our guide to make my camel run home. Mum wisely jumped on the cart with Sar.
























Desert stars and an early rise in the morning


























Jalsaimer- After some breakfast in Khuri, we had a relatively short drive to the desert city of Jalsaimer. The fort itself, which from a distance looks very much like a large sandcastle, is unique in the fact that it is still lived in by the locals. It was interesting to walk around and almost step back in time, but to be honest I thought it was struggling to cope with the tourist demands, and the overworked sewerage system means that at times you aren't just avoiding the commonplace cowpats, but you have to watch your step for human turds at quieter spots around the ramparts. Grim!








Bikaner - From Jalsaimer we drove to Bikaner, where we stopped the night. The following morning we went to the Karni Mata temple, which is famous for it's devotion to the resident rats. The rats are believed to be reincarnated brahmin priests, and so are fed and worshipped.
The rats are well used to people and thought nothing of sitting on my foot and having a nibble at my trousers, which were well tucked into my socks by the way (you can't be too careful with thousands of rats running about). We had a laugh winding Michael up outside as we found out he is petrified of rodents. Sarah didn't make it (anyone who has heard about Sarah and the mouse in Manchester will know why).












































Jaipur - on our last leg, we came full circle and returned to the pink city of Jaipur, where Michael lives. By this stage, both Sarah and I were feeling pretty travel weary. Mum on the other hand was still going full throttle. After getting some custom made jewellery, which Jaipur is famous for, she even had time to have a go at snake charming amongst other things. On our last night we had a great meal with Michael and his family and in the morning we returned to Goa for a few days of relaxation and tanning for mum before she flew home.



















Right thats enough for now, I've alredy written more than I meant to, I'm going back to bed. Next up is mum's blog. She was talking about doing a poem(?) so be warned.








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