DAY 19 - JAISALMER We spent the morning packing our things and enjoying our last morning of relaxation before catching the 19 hour train to Delhi. We got two bunks at the side of the carriage which suited us perfectly and listened to music, chatted and read as the afternoon dragged on. On the whole, however, the journey was relatively painless and we found ourselves somewhat accustomed to the trains, managing to pass the time leisurely and get some sleep when ni...

Greetings from Shimla - we've reached the Himalayas! There are some very interesting contrasts between the India I have seen thus far and the area I find myself in now, but I shall leave those comments for my entry on the town in a few days. In the meantime... DAY 18 - JAISALMER We spent the morning repeating the now familiar routine of breakfast in bed followed by packing (or more accurately, watching our guides pack), before slowly making our way back towards...

DAY 14 - JODHPUR We decided that our last full day in Jodhpur would be a relaxing one, so we spent the morning in the pleasant Umaid gardens, overlooked by the towering Umaid Bhawan Palace. After a while, we decided to visit the nearby Government museum which displayed quite an impressive array of stuffed animals and historical artifacts, albeit in a slightly run down building. Whilst in the area, we also visited the local zoo, which hosted a range of animals, f...

DAY 12 - JODHPUR We decided to spend our first full day in Jodhpur visiting its iconic fort. We resisted the temptation to get a rickshaw straight to its entrance, instead opting to walk the much more rewarding route through the steep alleys behind our hostel up to the fort's base, before following a path which gradually ascended up to the main gate, passing rows of small houses containing children screaming greetings. We would return to that same path a couple ...

DAY 11 - UDAIPUR/JODHPUR We arrived at the coach station shortly after 7 and drank some chai as the morning warmed up. The coach journey was interesting, travelling with a whole variety of Indians, from peasant land workers to men in suits. The landscape continued to become more barren and mountainous, the occasional spread of crop fighting its way through the parched land as farmers tended to their fields. People jumped on to the coach at every stop as others d...