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Hi all!
Since the last blog, against all our instincts screaming not to trust the deal we were being offered by some dodgy little tourist office, we took the plunge and paid the money (charlotte was actually crying whilst handing over the money - the most stressful business transaction we ever hope to make!) the follwing morning we sat with our fingers crossed outside our delhi 'hotel' hoping the guide would actually arrive to pick us up. he did - and since then - despite remaining sceptical for a few days that we were about to be abandoned along the way somewhere - we have finally started to relax into the trip and the culture and it is amazing!
Settling into indian life quite well now we think; getting very used to the errant cows wandering around the streets eating cardboard, the filthy dirty streets (so much so that we actually took a photo of a clean street today! novelty!) and the crazy driving (which we have come to decide isnt actually crazy - there is definite method behind the madness - and no raod rage which is quite surprising considering the over-excessive use of the horn! harvey has even had a go at driving.
We have seen a riduculous amount of things in a short space of time but so far have not regretted the time frame we set ourselves for the rajasthan area.
Bikaner - first stop on first day - took 11 hours in the car to get here but as boring as this may sound we were so fascinated watching all the towns and crazy places and 'unusual' things we were passing that it didnt seem that long! arrived at hotel at 2am! our guide did so well with all that driving! we were pretty impressed with the hotel - very ott, fussy, indian style but a million times better than what we first arrived to! the next morning we went to a fort in the town which we enjoyed (although consdiering the other forts we have since visited we are glad we saw this one first).
Jaisalmer - arrived here to a medioche hotel - we decided to settle for it as it was getting late and we were hungry but guide made us proimise him we would tell him about any others we arent happy with and he will change the hotel for us (we are on a flexible trip so can change hotels and number of nights and places etc as we like) went to dinner with our guide - good meal and were welcomed with traditional dance and singing and a welcome bindi and sugar crystals to eat! interesting story about the guide transpired on this evening but we will share this upon our return!
Jaisalmer - had a different guide for the day to take us around this 'living' fort - was pretty cool - see the pics to get a feel for it but we really enjoyed wandering down all the littel back streets which we would never have done if we hadnt had a guide leading us that way! In the afternoon we travelled an hour into the 'desert' (not quite how you imagine desert - its more scrub land with sand and a couple of dunes!) arrived at our little camp site - white painted mud huts with thatched rooves. basic but we were very taken with the charm and novelty factor. went for an afternoon trek into the desert on the camels to watch the sun go down. charlotte was very taken with her camel - lalu - all camels well behaved - no spitting and only a little farting! we were dropped at the top of a dune to wait for the sun to come down and were relaxing into it when we noticed people coming from all angles towards the dunes, some on foot,. some on camel all coming to watch the sunset - the low point was when we saw 3 coach loads of people approaching - it sort of took away from the tranquility and uniquness of it to be honest. anyway the ride was enjoyable. the following morning at 5am the camel poeple put on a special extra ride for us to watch the sunrise. we headed out, just the 2 of us, our camels and guides in the dark, under the stars and as the light started coming through we rode through sleepy little local villages (all mud huts) which were just waking up - the women were setting off with big buckets to go and get water from the local well which we saw them all using the day before - it was really awesome. got to the top of the dunes and this time there was only us and 2 girls we met at camp the night before. the camels sat down in the sand and we all waited for sunrise. the ride back to camp was awesome too - our guides on this morning we much younger than the night before and we were racing the camels back - was so much fun! and we saw wild peacocks and gazelle too.
after breakfast at camp we said goodbye to the camels and set of for jodphur. arived about 4 in the afternoon and headed straight to another fort - charlotte really liked this one - there is some great history to it. we have found we are enjoying the history and sightseeing a lot more than we thought we were going to. when dropped off at hotel - it was not good again so we had a whinge and asked to see another hotel - 2nd one was much better - chinsey and extremely fussy but clean and comfortable - we were impressed that they did change the hotel for us fuss-free as promised. went to a bazaar before dinner and have bought lots of tea! we have learnt lots about tea as well after falling into a classic tourist tea-trap - ah well you live and learn!
went to dinner in a really awesome place called 'on the rocks' - was so cool with an oasis/rocky theme running through. was a bit more of a western feel to it than indian but not in a bad way. food was AMAZING! best we have had so far. harvey ordered indian and charlotte (a little tired of the disappointing indian food over the last couple of days, bailed out and ordered some chinese food - great decison though - it was superb!) had such an amazing evening here and there was so much food we took more than half away with us and had a picninc lunch today! charlotte particulaly made up to learn that angelina jolie had eaten at this restaurant - doesnt matter that she was about 18 when she did! we got a bit lost on the way home so got our first autorickshaw - crazy little thing but heaps of fun!
which brings us to today. we have travlled through a mountain pass today - seen such lush countryside and lakes - and huge monkeys! we stopped in a great little place with a really cool temple which harvey has fallen for (cost 2million quid - not impressed? that was over 500 years ago, impressed now?!) the landscape is so different to anything we have seen up until now - nice to see some greenery at last! so many colours in the land and the women's saris it has been quite breathtaking at times. we have been really enjoying the much more relaxed nature of the inidan people as we have travelled further away from delhi - not so pushy - hardly any beggars.
we have finally arrived in udiapur - our guide decided that after we rejected last nights hotel we wouldnt like the one scheduled for us so we have been upgraded. even in india, complaining goes a long way. we are staying in a pretty pimp little place now for 2 nights so are happy bunnies. have been out exploring the town, a little on foot but also done a bit in autorickshaws again - really loving these things now!
will load some pics up now and will keep you updated. love to all x x x
p.s. if you think the pics are swety its been over 40 degrees at a lot of times - fooking hot! x x x
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