Feb 21, 2010 - Home at last

Fantastic holiday. Lots of memories. Impressions - how, despite the rubbish, dust and dirt, the people are so clean! - how friendly they are and want to take OUR photos. - the food! - how flat and barren a lot of the country side is - health and safety. What's that? - The white landscape of the cement making area. Highpoints - TIGERS, forts and palaces.

Jan 26, 2010 - Jodhpur

Well if Varanasi was my nightmare then Jodhpur is my dream! I think I've finally found the India that I packed for~ So far, Rajasthan is lovely. (Rajasthan is one of over 30 states in India) It's warm and sunny in the daytime and there's no fog...which means everything runs relatively on time. We're travelling in style now in a bus that could hold about 10 people even though there's only 4 of us ( a couple from New Zealand and a retired school teacher from Denmark). And so far our hotels have been very modern, clean, and comfortable. You...

Oct 21, 2009 - Jodphur

Went to the MOST yummy Indian rest last night with the crew from my guest house. It is where the rich and famous come and now I know why. Today I went to the famous Jodhpur fort. It sits a top a craggy rock and has never been penetrated in war. It is no longer inhabited. The royal family built a new palace that you can see in one of the photos. They have restored the Fort and royal rooms in a 1st class manner and provide an audio tour which includes interviews with the Maharajah himself, the chief engineer, the princess and others. I...

Oct 20, 2009 - Jodphur

I arrived in Jodhpur, south of Jaisalmer yesterday afternoon. I left the stunning Fort city of Jaisalmer with a lot of sadness and would love to take you all there one day. I will return. Jodhpur is a very different place, bigger, so not as intimate as my previous location. Jodhpur is known as the blue city due to the colour they all paint their homes. However, most cities in Rajasthan are painted blue so go figure. The city has evolved around a large protruding hill with a now unoccupied Fort. It is quite stunning. The man running my guest...

Oct 8, 2009 - The Meherangah Fort and a train into the night

Seeing as we had come to Jodhpur to look at the Fort we decided we had better had go looksee, not just from our hotel. With our new friend Brian from London, we headed off to this towering emmense structure. Meeting up with some others from our hotel an Israeli called Heyman and a Portuguese lass called Sera we ambled uphill to the entrance. Built in 1459 by the ruling Maharajah it has never knowingy been taken. We paid to take the audio tour but the star attraction was the guide who showed us how to use it. In best Oliver Reid colonial...

Oct 7, 2009 - Taste of the Real India

Today we saw a side of India what we had not previously seen. We participated in a Safari tour of the local villages surrounding Jodhpur. On the way to the jeep the guide explained a little of the history around the old city of Jodhpur. The land in the old city was given to the Brahmin caste by the old Maharahja, for their loyalty during clashes with other cultures that were attacking India at the time. The Brahmin caste are the teachers and the priests in society and are considered one of the highest castes. The city is painted blue...

Oct 6, 2009 - Cosy in Jodphur

Well here we are in Jodhpur after our interpid travelling on a seven hour bus ride from Mt Abu. Yes we got down and dirty with the locals. We arrived at the bus station prompt at eight to start this marathon journey. We were told to take our bags to the back where thay could be stored, the bus drivers assistant opened it up for us and then had the cheek to turn round and charge us 200rs to put them in, that was almost more than the bus ticket which only cost us 320 rs for both of us. In no uncertain terms marie told him to take a hike and...

Aug 31, 2009 - We rode camels through the Desert

Unfortunately we still haven't been anywhere with internet in the hotel which we can use Jane's laptop on to post some pictures! Since Jane's last blog we spent three nights in Jaiselmeer, and are now in Jodhpur. We stayed in two awesome hotels in Jaiselmeer! The first was part of the old palace inside the city fort (but like many places it seems, we were the ONLY people staying there, so we had the place to ourselves and felt like the Maharajas (kings) who once lived there). The owners were also really friendly which helped to reduce the...

Jul 25, 2009 - Jodhpur

Today we drove to Jodhpur, 6 hours by car from Udaipur. The city is known as the blue city for the blue paint on the houses. We visited the Jodhpur Fort, from which we were able to capture the scenic beauty of the blue city. (the blue city is only for brahmans) We visited a park full of monkeys and a few temples. We also visited a site of Cenotaphs commemorating the last kings and queens of Jodhpur. Adn in case anyone wants their own cenotaph our driver told us it would cost 10,000 RS. Also we ate at the On the Rocks retaurants where we...

Jul 7, 2009 - Jodhpur czyli cos z niczego

7 lipca - hotel w Jodhpur - 21.05 nie krytykuj dnia przed zachodem slonca mozna by rzec - zapowiadalo sie mega nudno - bo mielismy do przejechania ze 300 km, po drodze zaliczajac jakas swiatynie w Ramaputhr? (nie mam glowy do nazw, ale pozniej wszystko poprawie - teraz siedze w restauracji w hotelu i nie mam pod reka - ale bylo cos kolo tego). Wiec wyjechalismy o 9 - by dojechac na tam na 12 bo tak je otwieraja dla niewiernych - wiec mielismy luzik - oczywscie nie wpuscili mnie wczesniej bo ciagle nie wygladam na lokalesa - bylo to swiatnia...

Jun 24, 2009 - High Court of Rajasthan at Jodhpur

Route: Ahmedabad - Mehsana - Sirohi - Pali - Jodhpur Distance covered: 504 Kms. Place of Stay on 24.06.2009 (after midnight of 23.06.2009) The toll of the journey was now taking over our minds as well and it was evident by the differences which were arising between us. However, to make the journey comfortable, we decided to ignore these differences and move on. After having tea at a roadside restaurant, we moved towards Jodhpur. Leaving behind the road to Mount Abu, we were moving straight. It was drizzling continuously and the entire...

May 3, 2009 - Sightseeing of Jodphur before getting on the road to Jaisalmer

Yup the day had finally come when I was to ride atop a camel across the western desert of Rajasthan! We were on a bit of a schedule as I was to be there to take in the sunset whilst sitting amongst the sand dunes. I kind of knocked that schedule a bit askew as I was late getting out of the hotel for some reason. I had even set my alarm for an earlier time than normal to make sure I was ready in time. I am blaming the hotel for having a wedding the previous night. They were more interested in cleaning up after this than serving me my...