Our driver collected us for the drive to the towns of the Shekhawati region - an area of Rajasthan just opening up to tourism. It is an outdoor art gallery, full of havelli houses decorated with glorious paintings, inside and out. The area is semi arid and we passed many small settlements full of mud and straw houses. It was very hot! The Shekhawati region was once on the Silk Road and the painted houses were built by wealthy noblemen traders but gradually were deserted when the trade routes died. The houses have been left to deteriorate since then. The [View Full Entry]

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We were pleased to arrive at our hotel - the lovely 'Pearl Palace' - in Jaipur as it was still raining. We were all a little shaken as on the way our driver just missed hitting some cows that wandered out across the 6 lane highway. He slammed on the brakes, luckily not skidding as the roads were wet - the cows were then in front of a bus beside us which somehow missed them as well. Had they hit them I'm sure they would have bounced on to our car. The cows just kept wandering across the road! I've a [View Full Entry]

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After our couple of hours in Ajmer we left for Pushkar only 11 klms away on theother side of a small mountain. We were so fascinated by Ajmer that we had already decided to return to spend another morning shopping there. We had prearmed ourselves with our 'Pushkar Passport' - a red string tied around our arm which stops (hopefully) the pressure from religious priests. It worked though not with the touts outside the shops! The taxi took us to our prebooked hotel - Inn Seventh Heaven - and what a great choice that turned out to be. Another haveli, beautifully [View Full Entry]

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We had all intention of doing the budget thing and catching a bus from Bundi to Pushkar until a Spanish couple asked us to share a taxi with them. Happily we agreed and with luggage loaded on top we set off. The road was very rough for the first couple of hours and it certainly would have been a bouncy trip in the local bus. The countryside was semi arid with patches of cultivation which seemed to be mainly corn. We could see the bright saris of the women dotted throughout the fields. We also passed many groups of sheep and [View Full Entry]

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When we realised that Bundi was going to celebrate a festival we made sure that we arrived in town a couple of days before. The people are celebrating Teej - we were not sure what would happen but we read that it would be colourful! Bundi is a small town overlooked by a deserted fort and palace and though on the tourist trail supposedly not spoiled by the industry. We loved the town at first sight though we were tired when we arrived. We had booked a hotel room from Udaipur but upon arrival changed and went to another hotel [View Full Entry]

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Another taxi hire took us to the amazing fort complex - all 700 acres of it - at Chittorgarh, two and a half hours from Udaipur. There are a few people living within the fort walls but the main city sits below the plateau upon which the fort is perched. It was built in the 8th century and has had a very sad history. Three times when the fort was under attack it's soldiers chose death before dishonor. Despite it's enormous size, as it is not built atop a mountain as most forts in Rajasthan are, it was obviously vulnerable [View Full Entry]

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Still on a high from the splendors of Ranakpur we arrived in Udaipur and settled into our hotel. It was one of Rajasthan's many minor ex palaces and had a lovely garden and small swimming pool. We had the cheapest room but it was adequate, though didn't have a swing on the verandah like the expensive suites. I've fallen for the swing seats which are in all the palaces - big day beds covered in cushions and with brass hangers. The hotel was very close to the large palace complex which included the palace museum, parkland, shops and 2 hotels. [View Full Entry]

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Yet again we caught a taxi to our next destination - it is becoming too easy to take the simple, all be it , more expensive option of a taxi! We were off to Udiapur, considered to be one of the most romantic cities in India. The famous Lake Palace Hotel (where we wouldn't be staying!) will actually be surrounded by water which it hasn't been, until a fortnight ago, for over 2 years. The drought has hit this area of Rajhastan pretty hard. We were taking a detour though en route to the Jain temples at Ranakpur - which came [View Full Entry]

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After settling into our hotel and cooling off in the pool we caught a rickshaw into the old town to explore. The driver dropped us on the busy road outside the city walls and we spent 15 minutes trying to identify where we were on our map - I don't know why we bother because we can never seem to be able to read them - we ended up following the city wall until we found a gate (which are always large arches) and we joined the throng of people walking along the narrow lane ways. Jodhpur seemed much the same [View Full Entry]

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The usual surge of touts jumped on us when we got off the train in Bikaner - we were tired and hungry and not feeling tout friendly so headed across the road to a cafe to eat. Whilst in the cafe we were still constantly approached by people offering us rooms or tours. A schoolboy will talk to you and 5 minutes later his brother or cousin arrives and hands you a business card for a hotel. Everybody is a tout in India - or at least it feels like it sometimes! It can get very annoying. We ended up staying [View Full Entry]

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