Hotel Rajmandir Jaisalmer

... very large guns, etc.) that were moving towards bases near the Pakistani border. Our driver's system for overtaking other vehicles was faith-based. He often overtook on hills and blind curves, just assuming that no one was coming the other way. This sytems works - for awhile - until an accident occurs. Then the driver has to look for a new profession in his next life.<br><br>We arrived in Jaisalmer in the early afternoon and had our driver show us several hotels before ...

We planned to visit the sanddunes of Thar desert in the afternoon, so we needed to pack off our bags and check out our hotel. But before all these we wanted to buy some souveniers of the place, so we visited a shop in the market area of Jaisalmer. These shops have collection of camel leather materials, artifacts made up of camel bones, yellow sandstone utensils amongst many other things. The good thing is that all these shops ...

Kate and I are on our second day in Jaisalmer now, which I will write about in more detail once I get on the 19 hour (!!) train to go to Delhi tomorrow - I'll surely have plenty of time to write things up and then post them later. In the meantime, we are trying our best to beat the heat (and by we, I mean me. Kate is absolutely fine, if a little zapped at the end of days. I, on the other ...

... noone had enough money to buy one and they wouldn't just kill a wild one...so no goat. however our guides did make some authentic indian food for us over an open fire in the middle of the desert (2 lunches, on b-fast, and 1 dinner). after a few hours of riding on our camels (OUCH) we got to our destination sand dunes and set up camp! no tents here...we just slept under the ...

... class in Hinduism. There are 4 types of jewellery, east and west Rahjistan, gypsy and another one which I cannot remember now, as my memory has gone. We went up to SATI temples to view them at sunset, it was quite beautiful, with the red sun pulling fire out of the sandstone as it sunk into the evening sky. We had dinner at the Saffron Moon Haveli hotel which was once again extremely acceptable to the palette. If you are that way make sure you have a go.

... interaction beyond the kids begging. We press on into the desert. Our camp for the evening is made on a huge sand dune - what would be called a sand blow in Australia. I have seen them in Queensland and in the desert in Victoria. It seems tourists have gotta have that virgin sand to believe they are really in the desert. We watch the impressive sunset before enjoying some authentic camel driver cooking around the fire. This is followed by some ...

... drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, spices, milk, sugar, yoghurt and of course, Bhang). Bhang was first used as an intoxicant in India around 1000 BC and soon became an integral part of Hindu culture. In the ancient texts, Bhang is described as a beneficial herb that "releases anxiety". Bhang preparations were sacred to Gods, particularly Shiva to which offerings of Bhang are made during celebrations. In imitation of Shiva, many sadhus use Bhang to boost ...

... but I like that I saw that. The air seems nice and clear here, its smells nice as well all food spices and incense sticks. <br>OOOH Bad thing happened today. Went to the Jain temple today and after looking around that we tried to walk down a street but a big crowd of people were blocking the way so we couldnt, as we turned to walk back a man explained that the reason we couldnt walk through the crowd was someone had died. We ended up in a book shop and could hear a wailing ...

... br><br>By the way, apologies to all those of you with filthy minds who misread/misinterpreted my last entry (quite a few, from the responses I received!). The combination of the phrases 'feelin hot, hot, hot', 'sitting astride my own desert beast' and 'a Dutch guy' seems to have set imaginations racing. To clarify: I was referring to air temperature, a camel and a platonic travel companion. And no more!