Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Jaipur. Plus the Taj!

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Sorry its been a while since my last entry we've been on the move so much and also getting on and off trains at ridiculous timings has messed about my body clock a bit.
I have seen soo much since my last entry so this one maybe pretty big providing i have enough money in my wallet to pay for this slow connection.

From Goa we got the train to Mumbai where we stopped for a few hours. It was still enough time to meet up with an a volunteer i met before and he showed me round the major sites like the gateway to India and the Taj hotel, which was the one attacked by terrorists. I was surprised how much of the city i could have mistaken for London as many of the big buildings where colonial and victorian looking. Also the station was very similar to Victoria (It was actually named that when built but has changed now).
From there we went up to Jodhpur which so far has been my favorite city in India. We arrived about 5 in the morning and found a decent little guest house. After dropping our heavy bags we went up on the roof to look at the view shortly after dawn. I was completely blown away by how beautiful the city looked in the morning light. It is named the blue city and almost all the buildings are painted exactly the same shade of pale blue. There is also a massive 15th century fort looking over the city up on a hill and the orange stone walls above the sea of blue was just such a great sight. We later looked round the fort which had a palace inside and is where all the Maharaja's get crowned. The current one got coronated in 1970 i think.
We Also saw the palace which he has moved to now which is also an amazing hotel built in the 60's so a bit more modern.
After Jodhpur we went to Jaisalmer which is a small little town in the north west of India pretty close to the border with Pakistan which is probably why we passed lots of big Army bases on the way.
There was not so much here except another really old fort which was good to walk through and see the old markets and temples. The main reason to come here though was because it's where all the camel safari trips to the desert leave from. We left in a jeep just before lunch time for about a 40minute ride away from all forms of civilisation. Then we met up with our two camel herder guides and our camels. They cooked us a traditional lunch with chapattis and dhal and vegetables, like a really thin kind of vegetable stew which is tasty. Then we loaded up our camels and set off for a two hour trek til the sand dunes. It was amazing to see such a desolate place but at first it wasn't how i imagined it would be, It was not the sahara kind of desert with endless sand dunes but more hard stoney ground with lots of this prickly bushes everywhere. it was also a little uncomfortable for the first half hour and i wondered how my legs would last but i soon forgot about it. My camel was called Kalu and he was 5 years old and looked really healthy, i asked how much to buy him and they told me 25,000 rs which is about 360 pounds so i think it would be quite an economical alternative to my little car, when you take out the cost of insurance and petrol. I think my 10 minute drive to work might take about an hour though as he wasnt the fastest thing on four legs and kept lagging behind the others.
We did find stopped for a break at a few mud huts where some really cute children rushed out to meet us. They must be really used to tourists but they were still fascinated by our hats and sunglasses and we got funny pictures of them trying them in. I also got a taste of Pepsi's world dominance as bizzarly one of the huts had a plug socket and a fridge full of cold drinks and it was one of the best pepsi's i've ever had as i was really thirsty from the heat.
Close to this where some really nice sand dunes where we stopped for the night. This was a lot more like the typical desert scenary and it was so nice to watch the sunset and eat dinner as it was getting dark (the same thing as lunch but we didn't mind)
Then we stretched out our lovely warm camel blankets and layed on our backs under the millions of stars. We were worried about getting cold but with just my sleeping bag inner and blanket it was fine. The stars were unlike any night sky i have ever seen before. Just the sheer number of them was mesmerising. In the morning we had about a 3 hour trek back to where the jeep picked us up from and that was a really peaceful journey. We didnt see a lot of wildlife except one gazelle and a few big beetles but what do you expect in the desert. The trek back was so peaceful and it was really easy to just sit back on the camel and think about lots things and i think i made some good decisions about university and things.
After Jaisalmer we came to Jodhpur and this is a much bigger city. We looked around at some of the big monuments and forts the first day but marissa was a bit ill so we didnt go too far, then I had a little tummy bug the next day but I don't think there is so much to see here so it's not a bad place to be resting in a hotel room.
I Just recovered enough yesterday to make to the train so we could take a day trip to the Agra and see the Taj Mahal!! We left at 5 again and arrived in Agra at 10:30 to be met crowds of rickshaw drivers who don't even ask where you want to go, they just shout the price as its so obvious that every one including the indians are headed to the Taj. We had breakfast in a little cafe with a roof top where we got our first glimpse of it and even when we must have been a few kilometres away it still looked really big, which i didn't really expect it to tower above everthing but even it's height is impressive. At the cafe we could see a few monkeys on neighbouring roofs and were a bit shocked when the waiter handed us a bamboo cane with our coffees and said it was for beating the monkeys away! luckily none came over though.

It was jsut a short walk down to the main gate and then another really surprising thing was that although it was midday there was no sign of any quese at all. It was still very busy with thousands of people there but we were pleasantly bemused as the guide book had warned us of hours standing in line but we strolled straigh tthrough the security checks. The only waiting you had to do was at the front steps for the classic photo oppurtunity where everyone stands but even that didnt take long. The Taj itslef really was beautiful and we sat for a long time in the gardens, i could have looked at it all day, as you constantly notice little patterns and designs in corners you didn't see before. Inside it was really just a big tomb which is actuall what is is, so it quite dark and echoey with a big engraved white marble barracade around the fake coffin. The real bodies of Mumtaj and the king are supposed to be locked in a basement but theres a bit of a conspiracy thoery as some scientists were denied entry when they tried to prove it.
We caught the train back at 20:00 and arrived back at the hotel at 2am so we were really knackered having spent 22hours away but it was definitly worth it.

After a big lie in today i'm just off to visit the SOS childrens village where Heidi stayed in 1998. I have a recent picture of the Plant family but with hindsight it probably would have been better to bring a picture of her at the time with dreadlocks as that would make them more likely to remember her.
Anyway hopefully it won't be so long before my next entry, thanks for all your comments, its great to hear from you.
Love Joe
xx

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