Hotel Laxmi Niwas Jaisalmer

... drinking beers and playing cards. At night not only did we have to worry about the dung beetles we also had a new addition of the scorpion which was found right next to Ems pillow!!! Ali killed it but was pretty scary. The camels slept really close to us this night and we could hear them munching all night as they bring back up their food and you could hear them ******* all night which was quite entertaining. <br> <br>Next morning we ...

... and our wierd colour hair and skin.. they gave us Chai which was lovely until they then wanted to strip us of all our worldly goods, we gave them hairslides, hairbands, any spare coins we had in the bag all that we could find, they even took the water bottle I had. They are very poor in the desert and anything we could give them we did but this was just the beggining. <br><br>Later that day when we were meandering into the dunes where we would be sleeping we were ...

... right into our path and we ended up swerving into a ditch at the side of the road to avoid him. It was very scary and just a small demonstration of the dangerous driving in India.<br><br>We stopped off at a restaurant on the way so that the driver could eat some lunch. There was a shop in the building that we wandered around while we waited and Ed was talked into buying a white Punjabi type suit. He bargained hard and the ...

... we drive on the dirt as the bus narrowly passes by. This not an isolated incident. I would estimate that we see at least 50 driving maneuvers, that I would consider reckless or downright stupid, for every hour that we are on the road. In the US or Mexico the drivers would be angry, shouting, shaking their fist (or at least part of their fist)-but not here. I dawns on me that here in India, driving is more like dancing on a crowded dance ...

... the Jain temples. Two were open and I walked through them. These temples are made of sandstone and are very well carved pretty much everywhere. They also have steeple like structures for roofs but these are also carved on the outside. From what I understand about Jainism it is a cross between Buddhism and Hinduism but they seem to celebrate the good things in life. The third of these temples didn't open until 11 and it was only 10:30. I saw a German couple ...

... pass very quickly. After a very quick stop off in Ahmaddabad i took a twelve hour night bus to Jaisalmer, near the Pakistan border, and arrived their at 6.30am listening to Elvis on my ipod chuckling his way through a live version of 'Suspicious Minds' as i watched the city rise up out of the desert haze in the morning light. Not a bad way to start the day really. All of this was just pre-amble, however, to the real business in Jaisalmer; a two day camel ...

Drive to Jaisalmer (7 hours) ACTUAL: Has to be quick because my tour leader wants to use the computer. We drove on the bus this morning starting at 6:30 am because the drivers were nervous about Holi hooligans. So it went without incident, for the most part. We got on the bus and found it decorated with balloons and streamers for Holi, which was totally cool. Then we stopped a couple hours later to rest-stop and eat sweets and get ...

... to say anything to each other-I time it sometimes and I fear I need to check their pulses to make sure they are still alive.Anyway dinner was good-Im a carnivore and had desperately been craving meat-all Ive eaten are vegetables since Ive been here so lamb saag was definitely on my taste bud selection.Had a couple of beers and ate and then was exiting the place when I noticed Remy.Remy you may remember is the Rat in Ratatouille who conjurs ...

... aboard by the helpful onlookers just in the nick of time. I'm first into the carriage (with back pack, side pack, plastic bag - Amy &amp; Chris that's your shout-out!) and I wipe out a few unimpressed men as I swing around to gasp about our good luck to Krista, who is only slightly trembling. We endure 20 minutes of suspicious looks and rather unfriendly comments before bolting out the door and down the side of the train to our proper carriage. It's not an auspicious beginning ...

... I was going to be sick so went to the public toilets. I KNOW!!!! I can imagine the look of horror on the face of anyone who knows me but guess what they were clean... Thought I was going to be seriously ill but after about 10 mins I was fine.Went back to the SHREE NATH, sat with the owner whilst we waited to go to the station. Raj asked me to fill out a survey on TRIP ADVISOR which I gladly did. Its a beautiful place and we really enjoyed our stay. The owner gave me a ...