Cows, curries and chaos in Rajasthan

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Tamara, Tanya and Lib's trip to India started with 3 days in cosmopolitan and balmy Mumbai and then it was on to the capital Delhi just in time for a Xmas Eve feast with Rich, Zoe, Steve and Meg. While we arrived in a rickshaw, we dined like kings at the best Indian restaurant in Delhi. Being typical Aussies, a highlight of our meal was the giant naan (see pic)...life changing moment!!

What better way to spend Xmas day than with thousands of locals at the extraordinary Taj Mahal, which was more magical than ever imagined, before starting our adventures through Rajasthan.

Having chosen Pushkar for New Years, we then realized that this town has no meat, no eggs, no alcohol!! In spite of this, Pushkar, a tiny town known for its holy lake and pilgrims, did not disappoint as we all walked away more complete and pure after being blessed by the lake’s ghats by a ‘priest’ and yes, there was even a cow involved!

After a few hectic days of chasing tigers, haggling for pashminas and rickshaw rides, and crossing roads (yes this is a challenge in India!) we spent 4 days relaxing in Udaipur, the setting for 007’s Octopussy, where we were speechless by our surrounds (hire the movie and you too will know why). We even had a princess moment, splurging on a 3 hour lunch to bid farewell to Tamara at the 6-7 star Lake Palace Hotel.

Lib and Tan continued the adventure, heading towards the Pakistan border, stopping in Jaisalmer, for a camel safari where we slept under the desert stars hearing nothing but our snoring camels. It wasn’t all roughing it, as we also found our favourite hotel so far, whose staff seem to overcome the Indian bureaucracy….here’s a list of tasks performed with ease by our ‘brothers’ at Shahi Palace…
1. driving to the train station for us, standing in the queue to cancel our train tickets (and claim our refund)when we decided we needed a few more days relaxing on the hotel’s rooftop terrace with its amazing fort views
2. inviting us to their 'cousins' house for a family dinner
3. topping up our Indian SIM card with cash when no other person in Rajasthan knew how to access the mobile network
4. locating turbans for our camel safari
5. surprising us with Indian rum to warm us in the desert during our camel safari!

India so far has been amazing and we warm to its idiosyncrasies more and more each day - cows wandering the streets, camels on the highways, endless stares and requests of photos from locals and amazement a how many shops supply to Iskha in Melbourne, hmmm!

Food was always going to be noteworthy (whether for good or bad reasons!) but we have to say, its some of the tastiest we’ve ever experienced. Lucky friends and family of ours, we will be happy to share the culinary delights back home after our brilliant cooking lesson, where we mastered favourites like kofta, biriyani, chai tea and chapati.

We’ve also immersed ourselves in Indian culture seeing two Bollywood films (without English subtitles), even standing for the national anthem and buying the CD soundtrack, all despite not understanding a word of Hindi.

We have just arrived on the warmer shores of Kerala for some beach time and nights on the balmy backwaters. A new blog is only two weeks or so away…Lib & Tan

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