Astoria The Hotel Jodhpur

... through remote countryside from the car we see cattle being used to turn wheels to drage water from wheels. Next stop a Jain temple at Ranakpur - the Jain being a religion that separated from Hinduism around 500 BC. THe temple is amazing - the walls and ceilings covered in intricately carved white marble.
Then onto Jodphur, at the centre of Jodphur is another, yet more spectacular fort, Meherangarh. Set high on an escarpment with high solid rampants. It looks like a fort from ...

... in Britain by Habitat in their thousands. Again the weaver let the children have ago and we also stayed for a simple lunch eaten in a mud hut served by his family. The day we were there was also the equivalent of a Christening for his six week old tiny dot of a baby and about 20 women from the village were singing and chanting good wishes for the newborn.

Travelling south for three or four hours we arrived at Ranakpur, where there is an impressive site of Jain Temples ...

... scared. My saddle felt like it veered to the left and I though I was going to fall right off the front of it!! None the less after spending the entire day on my camel..I never fell off, even when he when running through the desert.

The highlight of my day consisted of stopping at a local families house to hang out and check out the village life. The household consisted of 14 people, mostly kids. The break down was Mom and Pops, their two sons, their ...

... was taken from the Times of India, a high brow newspaper that we regularly read as it is printed in English. In the same issue I also read a fascinating article about how Indian scientists have just recently"proven" that the condition OCD can only manifest in two forms, obsessive sexual thoughts in men and obsessive cleaning in women. Thats a fact, they've proved it.

Anyway back to the travels.

Firstly, I'd like to have a moan ...

... accusations, followed by more legal action. It seems that nobody is concerned about the best interests of the country, only in inflating their own egos. In any event the office is closed and will not open in time tomorrow for us to ship our things before our 2 PM flight. So, on to plan B. We decide to return to the shop for the village of the Bishnois that we visited previously. Rampal thought that this shop uses shipping ...

... them sweets from a very deep pocket) demonstrated his persona most aptly. Our first and main visit for the day was to the Meherangarth Fort. This is one of the largest forts in India and is built upon a natural rock outcrop from an otherwise flat landscape. This is a very impressive fortress but it has not always been successfully defended. The fort contains several palaces which have been added to over the centuries. It is still ...

... and had a good chance to practice my Hindi. It was a lot more interesting than talking to the other tourists - though they were quite nice, they were the typical 'traveller' type who just spoke lots about which countries they had 'done'. The camel guys kind of took me under their wing a bit and made special provisions for me, such as an extra large chai cup! I totally fell in love with this little boy called 'Lakhiya' who was my camel guide and was only 13 ...

... opened and in walked the couple we first met in Ranthambore. Now, coincidences are supposed to be lucky so that's a good thing, but this was silly - Jaipur is a HUGE city, several million inhabitants and we bumped into this pair in Pizza Hut. Oh well, small India syndrome I guess. We parted company saying we'd be certain to see them in Jaisalmer... Our train, the overnight "express" left on time and we managed a couple of hours of sleep before the alarm ...

... ridge' to get to it. hundreds of women in brightly coloured saris flowed through the temple continuously - they kinda looked like little ants. The bright white of the temple stood out brightly against the reddish brown rocks surrounding it. We decided to go down ourselves. It was slightly odd for me in that I have been to temples before and know what I'm supposed to do, but at the same time I'm not hindu so I just milled about awkwardly. After this we continued wandering ...

... and it is absolutely intoxicating. i'm laughing out loud, and then laughing more out loud about the fact that i'm laughing out loud about something. i'm taking some time to be taken back to italy, back to rome, back to a life there that was as different from my life here in india as i am a different person than i was then, over 4 long years ago. it is a sensation that is both beautiful and heartbreaking, but in a way that makes me feel positive, and whole ...