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Published: August 19th 2011
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The journey from udaipur to johdpur was amazing, all be it very bumpy. The scenery slowly changed from lush green mountains to arid flat desert and before we knew it we had arrived. Having been told by numerous other backpackers that yogi's guesthouse was the place to be we jumped into a rickshaw and headed there, only to realise that we had been taken to cosy guesthouse! After explaining to the driver there had been a mistake, we were then dropped off at yogi's place where we were greeted by a very drunken yogi. With no cheap rooms available for that night, we agreed on a price for a room that otherwise would not have fell within our budget. From there we quickly threw the bags in our room and headed to the roof top for dinner and chai before retiring to bed exhausted from our days travelling.
Day 1 - Heading upstairs for breakfast and planning our days activities, our dreams were dashed when the heavens suddenly opened. With the heavy rain due to continue all day we thought it a good opportunity to catch up on our blog, so battling through power cuts and with the aid of
some king fisher beer the day was spent blogging until we could blog no more (more tiring and frustrating than you could imagine!). With the rain easing off in the evening we headed back up to the roof top for dinner and a few games of cards before heading to bed. Rather an uneventful day to say the least!
Day 2 - Waking again to the pitter patter of rain, we headed to the roof for breakfast when much to our delight the clouds passed and the sun came out which practically turned the city into a huge steaming sauna. So we headed out in search of a rickshaw to take us to the medieval fort which towered over the northern end of the city. We aquired the rickshaw after some heavy bartering and so we were on our way. After paying the inflated tourist entry fee we were unable to receive the free audio guide service due to our reluctancy not to hand over our passports. Instead we wandered the fort and museum unguided for a couple of hours before the rain came back; so we then headed back to base for food. On our return we came
across local children waving kites about, so we enquired about prices, broke a deal and went in search of string. With the kite festival due to begin in 2 days, it was then up to the roof for some much needed kite-flying practice. With a little assistance in getting our kite airborne, we had a few minutes of flying fun until we were brutally cut down from the sky by locals on a neighbouring rooftop . . . it was then that we discovered the aim of the game was to use glass threaded string to cut other kites down from the sky, thus winning the battle! With sunset looming we decided to freshen up before dining. On our return to the roof we were greeted by another friendly backpacker, jonny from New Zealand, whom we were to become very good friends with. The remainder of the night was then spent getting better acquainted, swapping travel stories and drinking yet more beer!
Day 3 - Waking to clear blue skies, we decided to set out and explore the old town on foot. Our first stop was the ATM . . . . as per usual we managed to get
ourselves lost; taking a wrong turn left right before the ATM we found oursleves wandering the narrow backstreets and observing the local culture at its best. After a good 1/2 hour walking in a circle we ended up back at our guesthouse (thanks again to chris's famous motto 'when in doubt, hit a left'😉. Resorting to Lonely Planet, our second attempt was more successful. Wandering by the clock tower, scores of child beggars began latching onto our hands as well as other travellers. With the money drew out, we headed west of the clock tower through the medieval bazaars, bumping into jonny on our travels (astride a bike also in search of an ATM) who pointed us in the right direction for where we could find jangly anklets for hayley. With hayleys anklets and new sandals purchased, it was back to yogi's for lunch and yet more kite-flying, where we were later met by jonny who had also brought his kite along. After many hours of failing to get the kite airborne (due to lack of wind), the remainder of the night was spent once again drinking and playing card games.
Day 4 - Waking up to more delightful
sunshine, we headed out to visit the memorial on the hill. After agreeing a fee with the rickshaw driver for a return journey, we wandered around the memorial grounds for an hour or so before heading back for lunch and more kite flying (a very addicitive sport, well for chris that is!!). Later that evening we were joined by jonny, along with his two friends James and Blair who at this point had managed to recover from their feeling under the weather. After many drinks and a winning streak at 'chace the ace' from the Pommes, we were joined by a very drunken Yogi who insisted on badmouthing Indian Beurocracy, pointed out that it was 'worse than my man here' referring to his giddy 14yr old waiter who jonny aptly named Gary (this name quickly caught on and spread amongst all of the other hotel guests - 'poor gary'!). With the kiwis gone and yogi insisting we go into business together, we decided it was time to leave for bed.
Day 5 - Upon waking to the thumping sound of music, we realised that carnival was definitely in the air along with 1000's of kites. Heading up to the
roof the wind levels were perfect and chris was like a child on xmas morning, so after breakfast the games began! Despite gary breaking yet more of chris's kites (7 at this count,) chris finally managed to get his kite airborne all by himself (much to the jealousy of the so-called kite master who worked at the restaurant who was also struggling to get his kite aiborne) so the battle was in full swing. After losing all of his aerial battles and with other backpackers eager to join the fun, it was off to the shop for more kites and string. The kite flying really brought together all the multi-national backpackers; from Yorkshire kelly and Irish Stephen to the South-African Nicci and mother Deirdrea, not to mention farmer Sam and Aussie Will. With the kiwis later joining the party was in full swing, so the night was spent drinking, playing cards and smoking charis. The night ended around 2am with a drunken and clueless yogi joining our card game and losing money at our table, despite him insisting that the minimum bet was 50 rupees (sorry Yogi). After which we stumbled to bed.
Day 6 - Meeting sam at
breakfast and deciding it was time to move on from this beautiful place, we enquired about the price of bus tickets to take us the 7hr journey to Jaisalmer. With the tickets bought, the three of us headed out around the clock tower to purchase food supplies and water for the journey. After checking out we took a rickshaw to the local bus station. Hopping out of the vehicle, we discovered that yet again hayleys new sandals had broken! Soon enough we boarded the bus and were on our way.
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