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Blogs from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 4
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March 11th 2012
Rajastan masodik legnagyobb varosa, kek hazakkal, eroddel es az oratorony kornyeken egy olyan piacbazarral ami 500 evvel ezelott is ugyanilyen lehetett. Leszamitva a kaoszt meg tovabb fokozo motorizalt jarmuveket, gondolom annak idejen megoldottak tevekkel meg bivalyokkal. Mar a kaoszfokozast. A Govind hotel jo valasztas volt, tiszta, jo hangulatu szobak es egy zuppa etterem a tetoteraszon.... read more
March 10th 2012
10.00 Hours Thursday 08 March It’s HOLI. So were do we start. There are all kinds of preparations already done as I come down stairs. Loads of food and sweets. Lots of colored power everywhere. And then it just kicks off with people throwing the powder everywhere and I mine everywhere. All over any one that moves no matter if in the house or out. Oh and there’s a lot of water thrown about to make the colour stick I did cover myself in oil before hand to try to ease the clear up job. There is an awful lot of alcohol – Beer, Whiskey and Rum to mention a few. You have to drink it the Indian way I am told, that’s from the bottle that someone else holds. Anyway we did a not so ... read more
March 10th 2012
09.00 Hours Friday 09 March After the madness of yesterday it's a late breakfast and see what we can do about getting to Udiapur. I always knew that this leg had to be done by bus as there is no train south to Udiapur. I speak to boss in the Durag Niwas and he tells that there is a bus at 14.00 hours and he will look into it. He returns to tell me they are all full , everyone returning home after Holi. He will call and see if there are any cancellations. i sit and wait and drink chai. He comes back at 13.20 and says he got me a sleeper (during the day?) but who cares we are on the bus. Off I go after saying goodbye to my fellow Holi revellers. I ... read more
March 9th 2012
08.00 Wednesday 07 March After a late night to bed it's up early to check the guesthouse over. I made a good choice following on from the great arrival welcome last night, I have a big room with double bed a sheet and blanket. Doors on to a verandah and a table and some chairs. Also a large attached bathroom with plenty of hot water. I am given the usual soap , 2 big towels and toilet paper. Down to breakfast of cornflakes , eggs on toast and chai. The guesthouse is 30 minutes walk to the centre of the town (The Clock Tower). I make my way over the railway footbridge and dismiss the rick drivers on the other side and carry on walking towards town. I walk through the markets to the far side ... read more
March 7th 2012
08.00 Wednesday 07 March , 2012 Planning, Forward thinking, Horizon scanning all go into the mix when you plan a journey. Unfortunately none of the above is aces in my pack. Jaisalmer to Jodhpur is 220 miles and most of it is through the desert, so what happens when a train speeds through the desert. Yep DUST and not just any old dust SANDY DUST. Sleeper class is not AC, and on the back of that is not a sealed carriage. It has an outer grill and an inner window – none of which are tight. In fact the draught is like a dyson exhaust. We have all been on the beach on holiday somewhere and someone has walked passed half pissed and kicked sand in the air and your sandwiches and you got covered. Well ... read more
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Token gap yaaar charity visit – Jaisalmer to Jodhpur
Published: February 10th 2012Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jodhpur
January 21st 2012
On our way from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur we stopped off at a charity project which was a school for local 'untouchable' children. Hang your head in shame if you laughed when you read ‘untouchable children’, it’s not what you think and anyway this is serious and no laughing matter. Untouchables are the lowest of the 7 castes in India and as such the poorest and least educated. Those in this caste are rarely educated as their parents cannot afford school fee's and often do not understand the benefit of education as they have not received it themselves. The project we visited gives local untouchable children access to free education and thus hopefully more opportunities in life. I am always a little dubious of visiting such projects as I wonder what benefit can be provided in a ... read more
January 12th 2012
We left our guesthouse around 12:45pm headed to the bus that would take us on a 6 hr journey to Jodhpur. Pete was still quite sick at the time so he loaded up on immodium so he wouldn't be sick on the bus. The bus suprisingly was nicer than what we were expecting but don't kid yourself it wasn't a luxury coach by any means. The nice thing was it left on time and arrived in Jodhpur around 6pm, meaning it was only 4.5 hrs long instead of 6 hrs. We saw many wild peacocks, goats, people working around their small farms, people along the roadside waiting for a bus to stop for them and lots of trash along our drive. Pete also survived the journey with no bouts of sickness but now is taking WHO ... read more
January 10th 2012
SEVEN HOURS LATER WE CLIMBED OFF the overnight train into another unfamiliar world. It is a testament to how long we have been travelling that we are no longer frazzled by the process of arriving in a strange city at an ungodly hour, haggling over a price of a rickshaw and barreling off in the chosen vehicle down some dark, foreign alley in search of a hotel. It is precisely these experiences that make me realize how much faith in the world and in humanity traveling requires. In these first moments in a new city you are like an infant - lost, helpless and completely dependent on others to help you. Somehow though, it always works out. The state of Rajasthan is one of the oldest developed regions of India. It has an incredibly rich history ... read more
January 7th 2012
Cash only, Mick opines. After emptying our coffers to pay this most expensive segment of the trip, we request a cash receipt with tax ID. Mick promises to send one later. Sure! Having enjoyed our safari we leave feeling a little like the desert sheep, fleeced. North and then west, we head for the garrison town of Jaisalmer, just 100 km from the Pakistan border. The scrubby flat desert stretches away in all directions, unbroken except for small holdings and piles of rubbish. There’s not much between Osiyan and our destination except the dilapidated fort at Pokron, which despite Lonely Planet’s indifferent description holds a surprise in store. Having wandered through the fort, a 15 minute outing, and resisted the guide who demonstrated his art by pointing significantly at round iron spheres and solemnly identifying them ... read more
Desultory desert days (aka Jill gets the hump in the Thar desert)
Published: January 8th 2012Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jodhpur
January 6th 2012
The early morning air was invigorating, but this far from the city smog we basked in sunshine as we washed in our separate (warm!) shower cubicle. Perhaps not surprisingly, breakfast Sahib-style broke with the standard regime of parantha, curd and pickles and was all the more welcome given that we’ve eaten the same fare three times a day since our arrival. As much as we have enjoyed “going native”, saturation point is nigh and neither of us feel an imminent Jai Ho hit upon our return home! We made haste to strike out further into the desert, in order to complete the circuit by mid-afternoon. Working on the basis that she was more exposed to the unsolicited advances of our dromedary friends’ (Moti & Ranshev) ticks in the cart, Jill decided to try her hand negotiating ... read more
