Shiva Hotel Jodhpur

... looking at us. Your wifey, boyee, daughteree, lovely, you don’t want bad luck - give money now. I wasn’t sure how this was going to end up but I had weighed up how hard and where I would have to hit it and its mate, and pondered as to whether the watching locals would join in on my side or theirs. Another “talk to the hand” gesture from me followed with a go away now as I tried desperately to stand over it with as much physical presence and ...

We got to our bus stop quite early, because we didn't want to miss it. I was so worried that there would be no bus and that we had been swindled...but thankfully a bus did show up and we boarded it with no problems. The ride into Jodhpur was uneventful. We arrived around 10:30 AM. We took a rickshaw to the Blue House...which was where we had made reservations for the day (we did not want to spend the night in Jodhpur). After navigating some very narrow and severely pot ...

... and on the recommendation of our hostess we hired a tuc tuc guide to show us the sights of Jodhpur in all their glory. The first stop was the royal palace of the Maharaja and while the role of the current Maharaja is now purely as a civilian he is still a man of no small means. While he and his family live in a portion of the massive sandstone palace, part of it is used as a museum of Indian royalty ...

... double-dosing on Imodium we struck out on our journey. At noon I felt a little queazy and headed for the Gents Lavatory, a name handed down by the British. But this lavatory was never meant to be used by British gents. A point and shoot hole in the ground for a toilet was simply not going to do. Leaving Barbara and Ellen behind I rushed out of the place and rickshawed down to our Haveli. <br><br>At 1:00 pm I began to feel feverish. By 3:00 pm ...

... out. We walked over to the dunes, and just played around in them for a while. They were the most amazing thing. The sand is unbelievably soft, when you put your hands in it, it's warm and smooth, like honey. I can just sit and pour sand for hours, really, walk in it and slide down dunes, watch trickles and showers of it down the slopes. We stayed until sunset, which really wasn't all that exciting, I haven't seen any spectuacular ...

... when my alarm went off at 4 in the morning, I fairly quickly changed my mind. Instead I slept in and took a bus at 12, which wasn't as fast, but it was a really nice drive through the desert. This bus was not deluxe. I was sitting beside a friendly family, their kid (3 maybe?) kept patting my head and then staring at me with the biggest eyes, he was so cute. The desert amazes me with how varied it is. Every few minutes, it seems to change, and yet is still desert. xoxo Emily

... dressed Arab asking to escort you. I took full advantage, and got a personal tour of some of the palace's rooms. Could not start to explain all the public rooms... again, still set up for royal use. The billiards' room's cabinet for balls, cues, and scorekeeping is a piece of art in and of itself. The room, as they all are, is huge, and at one end on a raised dais is green leather seating for observers (couch and chairs). The ...

... the rats were numerous. But there weren't thousands. There may well have been hundreds but they were just scuttling around the edges. They were depressingly small and scraggy - I was hoping for the black monsteres in that Indiana Jones film. harrumph. But it was worth the visit. It's incredible to watch the worshippers file into the central shrine to kiss the ground the rats run over and eat the prasad (sweet offerings) upon which the rats have nibbled and ...

... around avoiding cows and their droppings. The next day we headed out on our overnight camel safari. We rode camels for about three hours and then arrived at our camp, rode three more the next day and landed in Jaisalmer, another city with an amazing fort full of sandstone carved buildings. I really liked being on the camel, but I have to say my butt is killing me! I don't know how people do that for a week.