We'd loved western Rajasthan, especially Jaisalmer but it was time to leave the desert behind us we began to travel back east towards Bikaner in the north of Rajasthan. We had a good deal of distance to cover but it was a pleasant drive. Papi had made each car (there were two) a CD to play on the way which was eclectic to say the least but very enjoyable. We stopped on route a couple of times along the road at small shops selling everything you could think of hanging in long lines from the ceilings. Loads of people were gathered around drinking chai, sitting on what looked like beds without any mattresses! The chai from these places was great, sweet and spicy and refreshing. It amazed us that it was served in small pottery cones ... read more

After a very early start and a freezing cold shower we packed ourselves and our now rather well travelled rucksacks into autorickshaws and wound our way down the narrow streets of Jodhpur to the train station for our next train journey to Jaisalmer. The platform was deserted aside from the chai sellers and a man selling food from his wagon. We bought some breakfast and waited for the train. It seemed whenever we got on a train at any point in India things were always calm until the train arrived and then this mad frenzied rush occured to get on, find out where the hell we were meant to be and which beds or seats were ours. After all the effort, you would nearly always find someone asleep in your spot or a family who looked ... read more

Our 'pit-stop' at one of the Jain temples at Ranakpur turned out to be one of the most awe-inspiring places we visited and our free meal there was actually the best food we had the whole trip in my humble opinion! First of all we had an amazingly great day weatherwise with brilliant bright blue skies and sun so hot it sent us running for the shade. Chaumukha Mandir (Four-Faced temple) is the biggest and the most important Jain temple in India. The Jain religion is very interesting in that they believe in a very pure form of non-violence such that many cut of all hair, including plucking all hair including eyelashes as it is thought that the micro-organisms in them may get damaged or killed when hair is brushed/washed or rubbed! This also obviously affected ... read more

We arrived in Pushkar after a long but entertaining bus journey. We munched breakfast on board and watched more and more people pack onto bus. Everytime I thought it was absolutely full, another person appeared to fill the square few cm of free space. We stopped several times on route and wherever we did people lifted gorgeous smelling deep fried snacks up at the windows, very tempting!!! We arrived late afternoon and walked down a track to our hotel which was by far the nicest one we had stayed in, with a warm shoulder too! Papi had even brought a pepsi bottle full of rum for Rum n' coke! Brilliant! We showered then headed out into Pushkar. Pushkar has a very chilled out atmosphere and obviously caters for tourists, evident from the multiple establishments serving westernised ... read more

Start of an adventure through Rajasthan. First stop New Delhi. One word:chaotic. Five more: dusty, hectic, cramped, traffic, exciting. Really just a stop gap before train journey to Jaipur.... read more