Ranakpur

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Ranakpur was our first overnight stop in a rural area. It was nice to be out of the noise of the cities, and to see some hills! Going a bit higher up meant it was cooler, so in the evenings we wore the previously dead weight jumpers we've been carrying for weeks.

The main draw for visitors to the area is the Jain temple - one of the largest and most important in India. It's an absolutely huge marble temple and very intricately carved. In one line, Jainism is a bit similar to Buddhism but was formed as a reaction to the restrains of Hindu caste system.

We also went on a jeep safari around the local wildlife sanctuary where we hoped to see deer, bears and maybe leopards, which reportedly live in the area. However, the jeep was the noisiest vehicle we've ever been in so it probably scared them off! We did however see some peacocks, monkeys, deer, the ubiquitous cows and some interesting large birds.

We tried some local foods here. The hotel staff offered us some "local wine - very nice sir" which we agreed to try. However it was a foul smelling liquor of fermented sugar beet and god knows what that we had to force down with lots of water. Needless to say, when the bottle appeared again we had to politely decline! We also tried a traditional Rajasthani curry. It was like pasta made out of dal with a sauce and tasted pretty horrible. Think we've going to stick to our south Indian favourites from now on.

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