Mhr Himmatgarh Palace Jaisalmer

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We visited the Castle, and the Jain Temples housed inside. The Jains are another off shoot religion rooted in Hinduism. They worship no god, just their beloved leaders. I thought it was a Buddha image at first, but noticed that the eyes were wide open and a medallion was placed on his chest. We will be seeing more beautiful Jain Temples next few days. I'll try and study up on Jainism before I post much more related to them,

We left Bikaner early in the morning, headed for the Temple of the Rat, a sacred hindu temple complex, where people go to worhip the thousands of rodents that reside within its walls. I believe that it was the first temple we had been in so far that had a truly spiritual vibe. The temple was packed full of indians praying and leaving food on walls and the floors of the temple for the rats, which we everywhere. We ...

... have to do something before our flight to Delhi. We started with 2 suitcases that each weighed about 40 pounds. We now have two suitcases and a duffel bag, each weighing about 55 pounds. On our list of things to do tomorrow is to locate a place that will ship some of our stuff to the US. We have taken note of the things that we brought that were not necessary. Keep in mind that we were coming to an unknown country and so we did as much ...

... and the convo went like this: Me: I'm afraid to ****. Greg: Welcome to my life! :). Thankfully that problem really only lasted for about 24 hours which is pretty amazing considering some of the things I've been doing. I arrive in Jaisalmer at 2 PM and thankfully my hostel had a ride from the station for me because this was the first place where there were just a ton of people flocking me asking if I needed a rickshaw ride. The hostel wasn't too ...

... heard. I slept while Flo watched for a Pakistani invasion from the nearby border (45KM). In fact, the army did have field exercises and were firing cannons and lighting up the sky with morters etc in the far distance. For those who have never ridden or seen a camel ridden it is quite the adventure. You get on the sitting stead and then with the command "ont" the camel herks and jerks its way to standing. Then you are off a a ...

... through the burning heat of midday which was a welcome relief because by this time I had developed pain in my groin/hip region from sitting astride the camel for hours on end. Lunch was beautifully prepared Indian Thali freshly cooked by our guides on a camp fire and after eating our fill and resting we continued. Slowly as we entered the deeper desert the landscape changed and the rocky barren scenery gave way to rolling dunes, initially ...

... chai. Even when you consider that the blanket reeks of camel, it's unseemly cold out, that you have sand in your ears and nose and mouth, and you can barely walk from sitting on a camel the whole day before, you still feel like somehow you are in heaven, or at least on another planet. And to those who are wondering how a camel ride is different from a horse, I would say the biggest difference is ...

... When we were asked to sing something, a christmas carol would probably have been appropriate but we all belted out wonderwall by oasis, being the only somg that everyone knew the words to (this was after a few beers...beer being the only drink of choise kelsey gave in to her 'we're not drinking' ...yes, even for a beer) i will add that the poster advertising the safari did promise us bears but i think everyone was more satisfied with the beer. In the morning we ...

... to be sleeping (mostly in the middle of roads, next to cows!). POVERTY - it is impossible to visit India without being affected by the poverty. Driving through Old Delhi in a rickshaw we approached by beggars with amputated legs crawling on their bare hands through the traffic to beg for a few rupees. The lucky ones have a makepiece wheelchair (a small piece of wood with four wheels attached to it), the rest just crawl through the dirt. Plus the hoards ...

... haemorrhoid inducing torment on a train from Delhi to the desert town of Jaisalmer in the far west of the state. Showing a complete distaste for irony, the train was called the 'Jaisalmer Express'. This was my first experience of train travel in India and it's an experience that any visitor is bound never to forget. Setting off from new Delhi station, the first thing that strikes anyone used to the ordered, punctual rhythm of European stations is the sheer ...