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My travelling lately has been very efficient. I left Varanasi on the 13th heading towards Agra (it went surprisingly well carrying my backpack with one bad foot), where I arrived on the 14th early morning. I met a German guy in the train, Florian, who I shared a rickshaw to the guesthouse with. We had breakfast and went afterwards on sightseeing at first to Agra Fort and afterwards to the famous Taj Mahal. The history of these beautiful monuments is really good - I don't know how much of it is true, though.
Shortly told the Taj Mahal was build by the Mughal prince Shah Jahan as a memorial of his dead wife Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz died in birth bed in 1631 being just 39 years old. Shah Jahan was in deep grief for two years - no music, no feast, and no celebration of any kind in the palace. In 1633 the building of Taj Mahal began with the purpose of making a memorial of Mumtaz Mahal the world would never forget. It was build in the beautiful white marble and everything was made perfectly - from the small details you only see when you are close by the Taj to the incredible symmetry that is very obvious both at the palace itself as well as in the garden that surrounds it. It took 20.000 men 17 years to finish the magnificent palace and the result is truly incredible and unforgettable.
Shah Jahan was imprisoned in a part of Agra Fort the last seven years of his life - by his own son! He was imprisoned in the part of the fort where the view over Taj Mahal was the best so that he could look at his work. It is said that the reason why his son imprisoned him was that Shah Jahan was using too much of the empire's money on building such expensive monuments. Some add that the imprisonment is a result of Shah Jahan's plans about building a totally similar palace in black marble next to the Taj Mahal to symbolise himself and his grief.
It was very nice to see these monuments but I felt fine about leaving next morning already because the city itself is horrible - SO touristy. You cannot walk on the street without being pulled in verbally from every side by shop and restaurant owners.
Very early on the 15th I took a train to Jaipur - the state capital of Rajasthan (state west of Delhi) known as The Pink City. In the train I met to German girls called Carla and Jenny whom I shared a rickshaw with to a guesthouse where we also shared a room. In the afternoon we went on a walk to The Old Pink City, which is surrounded by a city wall. It wasn't as beautiful as expected and not as pink either. It was however a nice walk and we got to small talk with some Indians as well. In the evening we had a good time with two English guys and a Swedish couple in the courtyard of our guesthouse. On the 16th Carla and I went to do some shopping as Jaipur is known for being a good shopping city. There wasn't so much exciting, though, but we had a nice time, and I bought two pairs of leather sandals.
By then my foot was doing much better. I couldn't walk in bad (normal) shoes or barefoot, but when wearing my Teva sandals I could actually walk without problems. The 14 hour train ride from Varanasi to Agra with almost no walking did a good job.
On the 16th at night I took a night train heading towards the desert city Jaisalmer (still in the state Rajasthan) in The Thar Desert that borders Pakistan. All the hotels and guesthouses do their best to get tourists to their place so I had a free pickup from the train station to a new hotel in the city, where I got a very good value room: 100 rupees a night for a big double room with own bathroom, telly and a good madras (very rarely seen among my accommodation in India)! The staff at the hotel brought me a chai and started to tell me about their camel safaris and showed me photos of it. And wauw it looked good! I booked a one night/two days safari with departure the next morning. Afterwards I had a shower and went then on a walk in Jaisalmer city including the beautiful fort which the city is surrounding. On my way an Indian guy invited me on chai and a small talk which was really nice, and during my walk around the city I small talked with a lot of different Indians who were very nice and interested in me in a good way - most without wanting to sell me something from their shop :) By sunset I met a guy from Chile who I ended up having dinner and a good time with. It was a really nice day all in all with plenty of nice people.
On the 18th in the morning the safari began with a jeep ride into the desert from where my safari group met our camels. My group included a South African woman, three English guys, three guides, and six camels. I got the male camel called Papaya, who behaved very well during the entire safari. We rode on our camels for some hours, had a big lunch break during midday, and ended the day by settling in the sand dunes at sunset, where the guides cooked our second meal over a fire while we were drinking chai tea. Every time we were having a break the camels got rid of the saddles and were able to do whatever they liked so that was nice to see - the camels were treated well. After dinner we sat around the fire listening to the guides' singing and the feeling of being in the desert. We went to sleep on blankets under the most beautiful star filled sky enjoying the lovely silence that is so hard to find in hectic India. We woke up under the same lovely sky to the sound of silence and the guides making us chai and breakfast. When we had finished breakfast the guides went out to find the camels and we rode further on towards the village of the oldest guide. Here we had chai once again and were met with cute smiles from two young boys. The village visit was however a bit disappointing; it was very short and we didn't get to talk to any of the people living there. I am glad that I have experienced village life elsewhere when volunteering. We rode until around 4 o'clock incl. lunch break and was then getting picked up heading towards Jaisalmer city. It was a nice group who I had a good time with and we ended up having some coffee and later dinner together until it was time for me to head towards the train station - I had another train journey ahead of me going towards Jodphur.
I arrived in Jodphur on the 20th early morning, went to the bus station and got a bus to Udaipur (in Rajasthan) shortly after. I am SO glad that that was my last long bus ride! I really don't like the buses in India; they are old, crowded, use the horn all the time, and have really bad suspension - did I mention that they are crowded? This was combined with a lot of road-making, and I was in this bus for almost seven hours! The trains in India are on the other hand really good. I can travel in them for many, many hours. They are more quiet and comfortable, have toilets, fans and more space. Nice! :)
Anyway, I arrived in Udaipur and got a really nice hotel room. Very good value! The bed is comfy (the most important thing), I have my own bathroom and then the room is so nicely decorated from old times with plenty of details and nice furniture - and this for only 300 rupees a night (around 33 DKK). The roof-top view and restaurant are really good as well. By the time of writing I am still in Udaipur and I plan to stay here for a week or alike. I have been travelling so much lately that I need a break, so yesterday and today I have just been sleeping in late, reading my book, and been on the internet. No sightseeing and no hassle. I am also feeling a bit ill so it is probably wise to take things slowly. Tomorrow I plan to do some more though, and I am going to do a painting course at my hotel, which I am looking very forward to, and then I might also do a bit sightseeing.
I think that is all for now. Take good care at home - I'll be back very soon! :) I am looking really forward to it by now. Three months have been the perfect amount of time. I have had a very good time in India and is by now ready to get home. It is going to be so nice :) I, however, still love being in India and am spending my last days here relaxing and enjoying all of my experiences during this India journey. It has been amazing and still is.
All the best,
Signe
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