Blogs from Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 337

Leaving Bikaner, we headed northeast towards Delhi. We approached the Sekhawati region, and stopped in JunJuhnu (sp?) to have a quick look at a newish hotel that has sprung up hoping to catch the burgeoning tourist trade starting in Delhi and circling Rajasthan. All the rooms were elaborately painted in Rajput themes, very attractive. Expensive by our standards (over 30$ per night), but a good deal from Europe or North America. We continued driving through this part of Rajasthan. I noticed that many of the trees appeared to be "pollarded", which means that all the small branches had been cut or wrenched off, instigating new growth. I am guessing that the young branches were pulled off to provide forage for camels and goats, as well as for firewood. That provides a clue to what the animals ... read more

I have been in Rajasthan for the past 10 day. It is the driest part of India and home to the mighty Thar desert. Started of in Jodphur. There is a huge fort here which seems to rise straight out of the desert. We did the tourist thing and looked round it with an audio guide! It was interesting and really impressive though with loads of cool weopons! We then went to Jaisalmer where we met up with Sholto. There is another fort here but this time we stayed in the fort. Our room was in the fort wall and was like a desert palace room! It is amazing some of the places you can get for just over 2 quid a night! From here we were taken out in to the desert and did a ... read more

Jodhpur is the 'blue city', so named for the propensity of many home owners to paint their houses in a pale blue colour (fashion? or to discourage mosquitos?). Notably, the city is dominated by the very impressive Meherengarh Fort, perched on a prominent hill, overlooking the plains around. We see that in Rajasthan, now and always the most sparsely inhabitated part of the sub-continent, cities were located around strategic landforms that could be protected against neighbouring warlords. Before travelling here, I didn't realize the importance of Maharajas in the history of India. Many retained political power into the 20th century, and their descendants appear to continue to act as figureheads today. Reention of the rajas throughout India as instruments of local government was one of the reasons that the British were able to gain control of ... read more

Its quite a relief to get to Udaipur and it hasn't dissapointed. There is a lot less hassle here than in the other places we have visited in the "tourist triangle" and the pace of life seems a bit more chilled. The town is built around two main lakes, with two smaller lake in between. Our hotel is by one of the two small lakes and so is fairly central. It isn't amazing but its not bad. We walked round the city palace today and went out to some gardens on an island in the middle of one of the lakes. We sat there for an hour or so and just enjoyed the sun and the peace and quiet. We get rid of our driver tomorrow and even though we got scammed along the way I ... read more

after leaving stace, i weaseled my way onto a "fully booked" sleeper train. i got to enjoy the 8 hour journey with 5 other indian men. it was one of my more memorable train ride experiences because these men were so kind to me. none of them knew one another but random locals usually seem to get along right off the bat. to illustrate how enjoyable my ride was... imagine the notorious "chi chi chi chi" man that strolls by. one guy in our sleeper bought a round for everyone. and then when the "coffee coffee coffee" man made his rounds, another guy took the initiative to buy everyone in our sleeper another round. if they didn't buy chi or coffee for the 6 of us, they would get samosas for everyone. my contribution to the ... read more