Hotel Shanti Residency Jaisalmer

... another beautiful sun rise, had breakfast and our last 4 hours on a camel. The last stretch was busier as we passed through a couple of villages so were waving to the locals but were glad it was the finally stretch as we were all in agony! We stopped for lunch and then waited for our jeep to take us back to Jaisalmer. The guides were brilliant, so friendly and they really looked after us and made it great fun. The desert was such a relaxing ...

... by about 8 kids, all boys, they wanted our sunglasses, our hats, our pens.. which we gave them and then struggled to find anywhere that sold them afterwards, no wonder they want them.. it was crazy. <br><br>They sat around whispering and giggling, pointing and staring its quite unerving as it was just us two and all these other people and the only word we could understand was Gora, which is just loosely translated as foreigner, white boy or something like that I think.. <br ...

... at the shop gave me a wooden elephant key ring as a present to celebrate the purchase! Weird!<br><br>We arrived at our hotel at around 7.15pm so we checked in and then got our driver to drive us into town where we found a fairly nice restaurant to eat in. There were about 8 other Westerners in there, the most we have seen in India so far! The food was ok but not the best we have eaten so far. We are all a big fan of the food ...

... You maneuver around, try not to make contact with others and just go with the flow. There is sort of a calmness about the traffic here that I have not seen in other parts of the world. After a short 4 hour drive we arrive in Jaisalmer and pull into the Gateway Hotel. The Gateway is a sister hotel to the wonderful Taj hotels that we have stayed in up until now. So, our expectations are high. It is over 110 degrees outside as we step into the ...

... the hostel also wandering looking like they were going to wait for 11 to go into the third temple. I asked them if I could wait with them and we talked for the next 30 mins about our experiences in India thus far and some other countries we had been to and what they were like. They were also younger and seemed liberal/progressive. I really enjoyed talking with them. Even after the temple opened was walked through it together talking and taking pictures ...

... to go and lie out undert the desert stars, which i have been looking forward to greatly! I arranged this that day and set off the next morning. Joining me on the camel safari were two really nice lads from Finland. Nico, who looks the spitting image of Ray Von from Phoenix Nights and his pal whose name I missed twice and as we all know you can only ask someone to repeat themselves twice and then come to terms with the fact you'll never know what they said ...

... with colors all over our faces. (pictures to be added later) The trip actually probably took about 5.5 hours - ended up at the hotel and had several hours to relax before heading out for a sunset sightseeing short trip to the local crematorium... then returned to the hotel for dinner. Just finished with that, going to bed now. I had a good Holi holiday. No gulab jamun though, only rice pudding. In two nights, I will be in ...

... wonderful dishes in the kitchen.This was definitely not Remy who was scampering acros the bread dough leaving fine imprints in it.It would probably have looked good with that delicate imprinted foot pattern after it had been baked somewhat reminiscent of what Julia Child liked to do but I was hardly impressed with Remy's performance.He not only ducked out of sight once but came back for a 2nd visit.Now having already eaten I really wasnt ...

... but it's certainly a good introduction to India. The train trip is fairly uneventful. A lovely Scottish girl Carol - who is the most impressive talker I have ever come across - and I make friends with the Indian couple sharing our seats and we watch the countryside become sparse and arid as we sip chai and contemplate our bunk beds. We arrive at beautiful Jaisalmer late the next morning (but only by three hours, and that's the trains personal best) and rock our way gently through ...

... scarf as we were "nice staying people". I thought that was a nice touch. Got a taxi to the station 50 Rps. The station was really nice, I think it was new. Got a few bits and pieces for the journey and here we are on the train. 2AC. Up to now we arent sharing with anyone so WOOHOO!!! Loads of room. Ive really enjoyed Jaisalmer and now Im looking forward to Jodhpur. We were talking to some people to today who just came from Jodhpur and said it was good. HA!DK saw a rat in the ...