Royal Desert Safari Camp Jaisalmer

... is other places we have visited.

The main attraction at the Ajunta caves are murals on the walls and ceilings. The caves were dug out of solid rock between 200 B.C. and 650 A.D. Of the 30 caves, 5 were Buddhist temples, the rest were monasteries. Some are pretty well preserved, while others have caved in or were never complete. The art is beautiful, using subdued colors, primarily yellow and red, to depict the life of the Buddha ...

Preeti had arranged for a car to pick us up at 5:45 AM to take us to the Mumbai airport. The driver called three times starting at 5 AM (earlier than we hoped to wake up) to get directions, but he did make it. When we went downstairs, the gate of her apartment was padlocked. We had to wake the night watchman who sleeps on a mat on the concrete floor to let us out. 5:30 AM is a great time to drive in Mumbai - we got to the ...

Daulatabad fort is located about 13 KM from Aurangabad on the way to Ellora. This fort has an elaborate defence system comprising of many gates, moat, canons and maze. The Menda (Ram) canon is among the largest canons in India. The dark maze is home to ...

... been interesting since I finished my tour, I got the horrid night bus to Pushkar via Ajmer and met the really nice man at Pushkar travels who organised a day room for me in a hotel, my bus and directions around Pushkar. While I was disappointed the lake was empty, the fair being on was madness in what would usually be a small quiet town. I wandered around the (dry) lake, went through the fair, markets and got some great clothes and yes more scarves, then ...

... red dot on our foreheads) as a blessing.

Jaisalmer is located in the middle of the Thar desert, about 80 km from the Pakistan border. It is a huge fortress with towers and bastions all over the place. There are actually only two inhabited fortresses in the world, Jaisalmer and Carcassone, both of which I have been to. We were expecting a nice quiet stay here since it is so far removed from everything and is very difficult to ...

... I felt in my lower regions..

When we got back to the hostel we were pretty stinky and dirty and believe me no one came near us then.. ha ha thats the way to do it, smell awful and they leave you alone..

We were in to the end of our 2nd week by then of India and to be honest we both felt sick of it, sick of the hassling, sick of the stares and jeers we got everywhere we went. We both made calls, emotional calls home and decided that we would head straight to ...

... was aching by the afternoon. Mid-morning we stopped in a small village for a while, though it was more like one hut, with one family living there, so a bit strange.

By half eleven it was very hot and so we stopped for a 4 hour lunch break under a substantial tree. There the guides set about making us a lunch of chapati, dhal and aloo over a self-built fire. We lazed about, chatting to other travellers in the ...

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The 2 sets of caves, Ajanta and Ellora outside of Aurangabad are the main attractions of this region. Back in 1819, a party of British army officers on a tiger hunt rediscovered the caves. Today, these caves are among the finest examples of the earliest Buddhist architecture, cave paintings and sculptures. The paintings that adorn the walls and the ceilings of the caves detail the Buddha's life. Further, the paintings contain court scenes, street scenes, domestic life ...

... 12 are Buddhist caves. There were both Mahayana and Theravada styles, with Buddhas cut to a style that we had never seen before. The caves went back to 50 metres in length. Caves 13-29 are Hindu caves, with the premier one being Kailasanatha. You have to pay $US5.00 to get in, or 250 Rupees. The locals only pay 10 Rupees, and it was quite funny to watch them whinge that they had to pay that much. I really felt like saying to them, "Shut ...