The next stop on our tour took us to the fortress city of Jaiselmer. Set up on the top of a sandy rock surrounded by the Thar dessert, Jaisalmer is unique in being a lived in fort rather then a preserved monument. After settling into, what turned out to be our worst hotel of the tour (more of this later) we set off for an orientation tour of the fort area. The buildings are covered in extremely intricate carvings all in the local red stone. There are lots of little alley ways with balconies, windows and doorways where you could almost touch across from one side to the other. We stopped at one point in an alcove area with seating and the guide explained that a whole building had been demolished in the seventies just so ... read more

Fort Khejarla After a long coach ride we finally pulled up at Kherjala Fort one of the many Heritage Hotels in the area. I'd already read up about these before we came away and had mentioned them to other people in the group but I don't think they'd realised quite how special they were going to be. This one is absolutely amazing and we had it almost to ourselves, just one family of 4 also there the night we were. This Heritage Hotel is a proper fort with turrets and walls - a mini version of the ones we've seen so far on the tour. In the central part of the fort is beautiful marble swimming pool - only very small but wonderfully inviting after our long coach ride. After the usual random picking of keys ... read more

Ghost Town - whoooooo! On the drive to Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan and the biggest state in India, we stopped off at the deserted Mogul city of Fatehpur Sikri - or Ghost Town. It was built over a period of 12 years but despite an artificial lake being made the water ran dry after only 3 years habitation and the fort place became a ghost town! The emperor, king, maharaja (can't remember what his title was - he was VERY rich whoever he was!) had three wives, 1 muslim, 1 hindu and 1 catholic. Each had their own quarters but they were very different. The muslim wife had only one room but it was lined with mirrors and diamonds. The catholic wife had four rooms but these were covered with gold and paintings. The hindu wife ... read more

Today was the last day of the section of the tour with the originals and the start of the new section with what turned out to be just four new people. As we didn't have much time in Delhi we quickly settled into our new hotel and then went off to try out the new Metro (being built for the Commonwealth Games in a couple of years time) all on our own - Manu had to meet and greet the new people. We headed straight to the Red Fort, a massive fortified building with beautiful buildings and gardens (which should have had amazing water features but while we were there they were dry!). After enjoying this amazing site we decided to go to look at the largest mosque in India, the Jama Masjid. Unfortunately we had ... read more

Dawn boat trip on the Ganges at Varinasi An early start saw us taking a boat trip on the Ganges to watch the morning bathing at the Ghats at Varinasi. People come from all over India on pilgrimage to this sacred spot to get a purifying dip in the holy Ganges river. Locals too come down to the steps that lead down to the water's edge to wash and even clean their teeth. Knowing how polluted this river is makes it all the more fascinating to watch. We had a local guide with us which I'm afraid annoyed me with his constant droning. I would have much preferred to take it all in peacefully and quietly, enjoying the scene unfolding in front of me - THEN ask questions afterwards. Finally he shut up and read his ... read more