Hotel Rajwara Palace Jodhpur

... we wanted to buy anyway, a bag of masala chai mix, complete with instructions. As it happens, this type of tea isn't so common in the east, so this may be the last chance to buy. He is completely disgusted that is all we are spending and are sent on our way.
Okay to the shopping we had planned. Martin doesn't really have particularly large feet, size 10, but in India it appears he has what they would consider big feet. We have a look at the market ...

We planned to visit the clock tower area of Jodhpur which has a market for the locals. We managed to reach the place by an autorickshaw. This place is really crowded, but you will get the essence of Jodhpuri culture in the numerous sweet shops around the area. We walked down the lanes through the narrow streets of the village at the foot of the Meherangarh fort. Here ...

... we were rewarded with a magical blue view over the old city. We made our way through numerous gates, and into the network of courtyards and palaces, appreciating the fine Rajput architecture. The museum had a great collection of items, such as elephant howdahs (seats for people), weapons and artwork. There were lots of palatial rooms to look in, all covered with mirrors, baubles and hidden alcoves, and finished with very intricate carved ...

... to reach the village. The head villager and about 15 young children greet us as we arrive. We were introduced to the leader, whose name I couldn't spell, so let's just call him Chief. Looking around, we note that the village is mostly made of mud or adobe huts, with an occasional cement block building. There is a single electric wire running on wooden poles down the side of the street. I would guess that there are maybe 75 or 80 ...

... since the hot cloudless days seem ideal for them. This was our last visit of the day before returning to the hotel and saying farewell to our amusing and enthusiastic guide. Jaisalmer was our next city. It is located in the middle of the desert in the extreme west of Rajasthan, close to the border. Our guide here was very amusing, simply because he looked so much like the gendarme in "'Ello 'Ello" and also sounded like him too ...

... when the sun is high up. Together with the french lady, 3 of us took a short camel ride of about 45min to the sand dunes on individual camel with the camel driver in the back seat. It was not as difficullt as I imagine, you are fine if you just with the motion of the camel. The difficulty is getting on an off the camel. We came across some gazalle deers. The camel ...

... monument. The Rajput's were really into their swords, as evidenced by the large collection of weapons in the "armory". Apparently they believed to kill from a distance with a gun was "unmanly". The Murghals cured them of this though, slaughtering them in war. They made their own guns after this but the sword remained a ceremonial tool. The history of India is revealing itself to be bloody. No wonder they needed so ...

... They still cook all their food over a fire and they have a well for water in their village. Now they boil their water so they won't get sick if it is dirty. The family farms the land around them to get their food and money. We then went to the bigger village called Dhundli. It was still very small, with only a few houses. The houses there were made of stucco that was painted blue and they also had smooth dirt floors. There was a wedding party ...

... reastaurant'' Chris ''Why's there no pool on the brochure?'' Tout ''Ahh sir the pool was built after brochure is made'' Bollocks. No pool. No bar. No restaurant. ''Yes sorry sir pool is 2km away''. Room not bad, we take it. Toilet leaks. Move rooms. No aircon. Shower breaks. Cockroaches. We move hotels. Fantastic place set in the sandstone fort that dominates Jaisalmer. It's a cracking place. Laid back, beautifully intricate architecture, maze like whitewash streets lead ...

... first pointing out another love of mine - the hindi term "wallah," a generic term meant to mean "the one who/that/which..." that can be applied to almost anything, i.e. doodwallah ("dood" = milk, so the milkman), lalwallah ("lal" = red, so the red one), sabziwallah ("sabzi" = vegetable, so the vegetable vendor), and so forth. so the juicewallah, or rather my favorite juicewallah, stands behind a counter from early morning til late night in a space ...