http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Rajasthan en-us Fri, 13 Nov 09 06:32:41 +0000 Fri, 13 Nov 09 06:32:41 +0000 Pushkar a small city in western Rajasthan was created when Lord Brahma one of the Hindu gods the creator actually dropped a lotus flower from his hand to the earth and at the spots where three of the petals landed water appeared in the otherwise dry desert area to from three blue lakes according to the Hindu history. On the banks of the largest of these lakes Brahma gathered 900000 celest http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Pushkar/blog-450088.html In Agra I decided to continue to a nice quaint area known as Rajistan and start in the city of Jaipur. I found out it is the beginning of the typical tourist route of Rajistan which includes Jaipur Pushkar Udaipur and Jodhpur. I hit 3 of the four places....damn I am a tourist As I said I started out in Jaipur which was and interesting ride from Agra. I got on the bus and we barreled dow http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/blog-449936.html Ajmer and Pushkar our next stop http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Ajmer/blog-449911.html Safari at Rathambhore National Park http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Ranthambhore-National-Park/blog-449898.html We arrived in Jaipur to stay with Mohan and Pushi what a wonderful time we had http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaipur/blog-449884.html Walking in the labyrinth of narrow streets in the quaint old town of Pushkar could in theory be a fascinating experience given the nice old buildings temples shops the friendly and colorfully dressed local people. However there are a few things in the streets that make walking there a bit frustrating and even hazardous. For a start there are the persistent touts really annoying shopkeepers c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Pushkar/blog-449863.html Hi allIf there is one bit of travel advice i can give to you all its this... don't eat anywhere the rough guide recommendsMyself and Jud did this in Agra at our own perilIt ended with us spending 24 hours with food poisoning which didnt help considering we had to endure a bus journey.We have spent the last few days in Bharatpur which has a famous national park we have spent today wandering ar http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Bharatpur/blog-449684.html Hi EveryoneI spent the last week in Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan India. Jaipur is home to the Amber fort and the Pink City. The Pink City gets its name from its pink city walls but don't let the locals hear you call it that or they will laugh at you. Apparently to them it is the 'Old City.' While I was in Jaipur a met a group of girls who showed me around their college and took me to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaipur/blog-449660.html When we arrived in Pushkar ten days ago we were disappointed to find that the worldfamous holy lake which has been the centrepiece of the Pushkar Festival for decades maybe centuries maybe millenia was suddenly not there. This was particularly annoying because the lake is lovingly described in the latest Lonely Planet Guide and furthermore we had paid premium rate for a hotel with a lake vie http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Pushkar/blog-449604.html Day14 JaipurAfter our late start we were heading into the market area of Jaipur by tuktuk. We got out and headed towards the Palace of the Winds. We passed marketstalls and small shops all of which promised much and we vowed to return later for shopping. The Palace of the Winds is pink and has nearly 100 windows in it. We also saw where the City Palace gates were and after consulting th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaipur/blog-449517.html Day 13 Bharatpur JaipurAn early morning start saw us catch cycle rickshaws to the Bharatpur Bird Sancturary which actually was a little further from the hotel than we thought. The rickshaw riders looked like they were struggling a little but we guessed they must be used to it although a Chris Hoy in the making they are not.The bird park was good and we spotted loads of different types of bird http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Bharatpur/blog-449509.html Our last two days at Sarika were thankfully much more relaxed than those that had gone before The alarm clock was consigned to the bottom of a suitcase and we were able to resume lazy lieins followed by breakfast on the Palace terrace. Breakfast was always followed by a bracing chilly swim in the pool before taking some gentle excursions.Our final jeep Safari went deeper into the National Par http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Sariska/blog-449459.html Are we glad we did it Yes absolutelyWould we do it that way again No. Absolutely NOTI would love to see the Taj Mahal in all its morningmisted majestic beauty atmospheric and enchanting. I know that it could easily move me to a different spiritual plane. Instead we saw the Taj through throngs of jabbering visitors were carried on a crushing tide of humanity around its inner sanctum to emer http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Sariska/blog-449235.html I had expected to see lots of street processions in Pushkar during the festival but it was a while before I saw the first one. I was alone in the hotel room because Tracey had gone off early in the morning to photograph camels old men in big turbans scowling beggars and suchlike. My laziness was rewarded by the appearance of this procession right outside the hotel which overlooks the main ba http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Pushkar/blog-449108.html UDAIPUR Rajasthan is recently voted as the Best city in the world by Travel Leisure magazine. The city of lakes if often referred as Venice of the East. To know more about Udaipur please go to my blog www.UDAIPURtrip.com The blog as information about places to see in Udaipur and soon will be updated by best places to stay too. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Udaipur/blog-448435.html This year we decided to try something different for our November Far East Foray Instead of travelling alone setting our own agenda we joined a group excursion to India and Nepal. The prospect of spending ten days with a disparate bunch of strangers seemed more daunting than any physical challenge we might meet .... but in the end people watching proved to be just as fascinating as the animals http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Sariska/blog-448382.html This blog without a doubt will be the shortest entry to date most because I only spent about 45 minutes in Ranakpur. Edwina had not been feeling well for a couple of days and just couldn't face the idea of a seven hour bus ride from Jodhpur to Udiapur and wanted to get a taxi. Rebecca Allie and I were each happy to chip in the 700 rupees each to join her and gain a smoother quicker ride and a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Ranakpur/blog-448125.html Leaving Jaisalmer for Jodhpur the Golden City for the Blue City I got to try out yet another type of bus in India. This one was built more like a Greyhound bus you would see in the West with one twist. Where buses typically have a lot of headroom and a rack for bags in this bus this space has been replaced with a number of bunk beds. For a few rupees more than a seat you can lie down above e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-448120.html Another tour another overnight train ride this time to Jaisalmer in Rajathstan. If you are going to take a seventeen hour train ride in India in 3rd class I highly recommend that you do it on Diwali. It is like travelling on Christmas Day pretty much everybody is already at home and so the roads and trains are empty except for a few tourists ans some Indian guy who started rubbing Mark's feet http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-447856.html 270909Woke after not enough sleep again and headed off to Narita at 830 am and only just had enough time to get to the airport and make my flight at 1230pm.The flight was all the better for the fact that it was on a boeing and it was not nearly full with me having four seats to myself which allowed me to catch some decent sleep on the 8 hr flight to Delhi.On arrival I was met with temperatures o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/blog-447411.html