Hotel Swastika Jaisalmer

Hey!<br><br>Since i don't have emai adresses for everyone i have decided to start this blog. If you want to know what i've been up to then read on. <br><br>I landed in Mumbai at 5am and eventually dodged the touts and con men to reach Colaba, the backpackers district. But sods law i had landed on the election day so all the hotels and guesthouses were booked, after walking around for 3 hours i found what i dont even think was a hostel just a random place where people actually lived ...

... the animals a break, to leave our personal bags on board the now seated animals, and he directed us to climb the dunes in front of us. He indicated that we should climb the dunes on foot and he would bring the animals up to the top, then and we would remount for the last portion of our journey. <br><br>The two apprentice Camel Wallas, two children really, now took our hands and led us up the first, second and third dunes. I huffed and puffed my way up ...

... at Jaisalmer. We were greeted by a melee of eager hotel touts being kept back by heavy handed soldiers with big wooden sticks! One guy came too close for their liking and felt the full force of the stick! Welcome to Jaisalmer!!<br> After this though, we have loved this place. Our guesthouse (kindly recommended by Niki and Paul) is a quintessential Indian Haveli and we received a free upgrade from the friendly owners - result!! The town itself ...

... we also saw some shooting stars! I slept quite well, although the same couldn't be said for Nicola who kept expecting one of the beetles to crawl under her skin or a snake to appear from nowhere. I must have been letting out a far amount of heat in the night as one of the stray dogs curled up against my legs during the night to keep warm. We woke at sunrise which was beautiful with a lovely stillness in the air, surrounded by millions of little tracks where the dune bugs ...

... the reception but as of any such PC, you never know of virus and dangers lurking on it. I accidentally found that for the suite (room 107) we paid the price for travel agents which includes breakfast and our price don't. The price quoted to us originally was double, whew! Anyway breakfast for 2 of us is less than 100rs. The room was indeed very nice - spacious with good fort view. Hot water is a little inconsistent as most ...

... restaraunt in Canada. I went for two days, but only because thats the longest trip I could find going out. If it had been up to me, I would have spent the next 4 1/2 trekking through the desert with Mr. India. There is really no way to describe the feeling you get waking up in the predawn fog, to find yourself lying on a sand dune, with camels mulling around, and a friendly guide offering ...

... mug was caked in dirt and mud....the liquid wasn't quite hot...like my worst nightmare of India-danger in a cup. Arkaram asked if we has any medicine for his family. Melissa had some of her fever meds from the Ashram left over in her bag. They were given to one of the mamas. We sat with them for awhile....chatted and played with 2 of the children who weren't ill....one of them, a little girl of about 9, was clearly a little broken. Her mannerisms were that of a monkey almost ...

... to see a group of three women in veils and saris smoking cigarettes on the street because Indian women don't smoke at least not in public, on closer inspection it turns out that they were men hijras. These outlandish guys are a seperate caste of transvestites who dress in women's clothing. Some are gay, some are hemaphrodites. The whole thing is quite interesting because it's traditionally unacceptable for men to live openly gay so the hijra bcomes, in effect ...