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Published: October 18th 2009
Its the day after Diwali and everything is closed....except for this internet cafe. Weve pretty much spent the day in our room in front of the telly cause we couldnt get a train or a bus out of here because of the holidays. Weve watched The Exorcist, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Friends and Home Alone 2 starts in an hour so we gotta be quick!
Right now we are in Jaisalmer. The most deserty of the desert cities in Rajasthan. The old fort towers over the alley ways that are lined by shops and beautiful hawalis and the whole place is the colour of sand. The fort DOES look like a massive sandcastle. Only thing is, like the rest of India theres s#*t everywhere and the shop owers seem to be getting cockier as we head north ("No talk, just walk??" or "Come in to my shop and let me rip you off") which just makes what was probably once a really perfect place just a little bittersweet.
Diwali night saw everyone letting off extortionately expensive and exceptionally loud fireworks with their families. Whole gangs of grannies and dads and toddlers and wifeys running up and down the
Udaipur Dude
Udaipur, Rajasthanstreets, giggling like little kids, setting them off and trying not to maim themselves. We stuck in ear plugs and had a great time with the really nice family that owns Hotel Seet Mahal. We each set off some fireworks and ran like girls when the wick started to go.
Yesteray afternoon we came back into town after 2 nights and 3 days on a camel safari. That was fab and a perfect reason to make your way out here. It was stunning waking up at sunrise and sleeping under that stars. Noone else was on our tour. The desert wasnt quite as quiet as expected, kids everywhere "One photo? One rupee? Chocolate? Pen? ONE PEN???" but our guides were lovely and brewed a mean chai. We also visited a watermelon farm where they break the things open, chuck out the fruit inside and keep the seeds to sell to Delhi! Let me tell thee, we were down with helping them get rid of the scraps.
We arrived in Jaisalmer from Jodhpur. The fort and the audio guide tour there were excellent and the views of the blue city were stunning. Spices and sweet stores galore and... thats
Cooking class
Udaipur, Rajasthan about it. One night was enough.
Udaipur. An awesome place. And theres SO much to do. The windy roads are easy to get around, theres enough other toursts for the shop owners to leave you alone but not so much that you think youre at home. Our guest house welcomed us in like we were part of the fmaily when our bus arrived there THREE HOURS EARLY at 3am! We were given a huge room with a birds eye view over the streets below. I did a free yoga class the next morning and managed coax Tom in the next day as well (for 10 minutes and he hated it). We took a boat ride around the lake one morning and a did a fabulous cooking class in the afternoon. The chef had a great sense of humour and shouted us some gulab jamun "the best in the city!" when we were done. And, when all thats done, we just wandered. The people are friendly, the kids are very cute and very polite and speak better English than us and the views of the lake and the white washed buildings from every corner and every shore are amazing. We
Kumbalgarh Fort
3 hours from Udaipur, Rajasthan even spotted a couple of elephants and their riders wandering round too.
Now, from the far west we are heading east to the capital. Delhi is about 16 hours away. The LP has about 5 pages warning about all the scammers and scams there, but they have more pages listing some pretty sweet looking places for dinner and one place called Jalabi-wala which we are picturing as a little orange squiggly piece of heaven. You take the good with the bad, eh?
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Ellie
non-member comment
Diwali sounds and looks very amazing.
Guys, Every time i come on and read your blogs i seriously tear up. ITs so amazing to see my future brother and sister doing and seeing such outstanding things in INDIA. And the stories.. hahahahha THEY ARE TOO MUCH. and the photos.. omg, i'm crying now.. i'm such a baby.. Anyway.. guys, i'm so happy for you, and i'm always checking the blogs, so dont stop writing them for a mintue.. hahah Ness, the photos and the camels.. PRICELESS.. and the watermelon is white? Interesting.. Ness and tom, How are your bites?? Getting better? How is the food and the homestay going now in Diwali? Where next? I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH.. God Bless, xxxx