It was a wonderful home away from home experience we had at Hotel Suraj. I traveled with my spouse, sister, her baby and my parents. We had decided to not to stay at any modern luxuriouse Hotel but to stay in a Heritage property and after a long search on internet and guide book we found a very nice Haveli Hotel SUraj. It was a nice decision to stay there and we really enjoyed it. We made a booking at Hotel Suraj at a very short notice. We were delighted with the hospitality, enthusiasm and passion of the family we stayed with. It felt as if we knew them since long. The haveli was kept very well, immaculately and aesthetically done up. For hygiene freaks like me, it was difficult to be critical of the standards maintained. The rooms were well furnished and equipped with all daily use gadgetry The meals were freshly cooked, elaborate and sumptuous. The host and his family were warm, welcoming and ever ready to help us with queries regarding Jaisalmer and the things we could have done. Their experience was helpful in making right decisions with regard to sightseeing and also shopping. I along with my family look forward to making trips to Jaisalmer, having found a home away from home.

The 500 year old room was luxurious and exotic; it almost felt like I was staying in a museum. I had my own private roof, right next to the fascinating Jain temple complex, as well as views of the great Thar desert. The location was in the heart of the old Fort; nothing was more than a five to ten minute walk. The staff were some of the most helpful, informative and engaging people I have met in my travels, and the Safari that Chimmy set me up with was exceptional- there was NO tourist traps near these dunes, just me and some camels, AND there was music and Rajasthani folk dancing. As an experienced budget traveller, I'd say it was my top hotel/hostel experience.

You may think it's getting a little old to read themed blog entries, but I know that I cannot read one long account of someone's travels.  Rather, it's nice to peruse a snapshot blog that gives me some sense of the country without being long-winded, so this entry is centered around different modes of transport that I have used while in India and it is perhaps my last entry in this country as I leave in 2 days.

Bus:  I decided, despite the urgings of some of my traveling friends and the disapproval of the French friend with whom I was travelling, to travel by bus from Pushkar to Udaipur.  The ride was only 10 hours and we could take an overnight bus, so I was not particularly precoccupied about our choice.  However, not only did my friend and I show up at the station way too early (1 hour), but also the "station" consisted of a dusty lot surrounded by darkened shops and littered with stray dogs. Our bus was also an hour late, but, when it finally came, we looked foward to settling comfortably into the sleeper seat. The sleeper seat is not really a seat so much as a bed above the normal seats in which one can only sit hunched or lay down.  However, we didn't realize that, in addition to our own bodies comfortably fitting into the bed, we also had to put our huge backpacks in the sleeper seat with us.  (I must admit that mine is larger than my friend's and really must lose some weight.  What can I say?  It has an appetite for Indian souvenirs).  By the time we crammed our heavy companions and ourselves into the seats we were barely able to move.  I shut my eyes, thinking that sleep would be the perfect distraction. "Bang, bang" over every tiny bump in the road our bodies were tossed and pitched. Our heads thumped against the ceiling of the sleeper. To supplement the rough ride, around every curve, to warn of our approach to oncoming traffic, the driver blew an especially loud and long horn.  Never have I been so thankful to get to a hotel bed.

Train: On our way from Jodphur to Jailsalmer, my French friend and I decided not to repeat our big bus mistake and opted for the 2nd lowest class on the train: sleeper.  After an hour delay we made it to our seats only to find that they were already occupied. Both of us had experienced this before.  Many people give the train officials a little baksheesh (money) to upgrade their seats rather than pay in full for the upgrade and many simply crouch in sleeper class and try to avoid, as long as possible, the transfer to the lowest class which is even more crowded and congested.  Unfortunately, for those who do pay their ticket, it creates a bit of a problem.  So, feeling that we could handle the situation, we began to show the family inhabiting our beds for the night that we were, in fact, the owners of the proper tickets. Unfortunately, we did not speak Hindi or Marwali or any of the numerous Indian languages that would have allowed us to communicate with the family, and the family, possibly knowing what we were trying to say, used the language barrier in its favor.  Pretty soon a crowd of Indian people had surrounded us, all interested to see what the foreigners would do next.  Each person had their own opinion on the matter, none of which we could understand.  At one point it looked as if a man would leave the seat to us, but it was a false alarm because he merely left to get a friend, or brother, or cousin so that he, too, could contribute an opinion. At last, I spotted a station official and gave him the ticket and tried to explain to him the situation.  He had a list of passengers in Hindi which he studied for quite some time.  Just as I was about to lose it, he wrote something on our tickets and told us that we had been upgraded to A.C. (I didn't even slip him 50 R).   A.C. is restricted so our little beds were secure and complete with sheets.  There was an employee who we named the Pillow official and whose solitary occupation seemed to be to put pillows into their cases, fluff them, and hand them to each individual in the class.  If that person was asleep he would simply slip the pillow under the passenger's head.  It was truly sweet dreaming.

Camel:  The last and most interesting mode of transport was the camel.  We decided to take a 3 day and 2 night camel safari in the desert in Jailsalmer and after a 40 km ride into the desert by Jeep we were met by Sadia and his 14 year old helper.  Sadia  has lived in the desert all of his life and wears a  turban. His skin darkened by the sun, deep lines crease his face, and his teeth are stained with betl-something not unlike chewing tobacco.  Sadia and his helper brought with them 3 camels, saddled and crouching in an odd stance ready for us to mount them.  Once in the I was in my saddle Sadia said "Gi, gi" and pulled on the reins which were attached to a spike in the camel's nose and the camel grunted and struggled to its feet.  I expected the camel to have a fast gate, but it was slow enough that Sadia and his helper most often did not ride but merely walked along with our camels through the desert, skirting bushes and small plants to find a seemingly non-existant trail.  After two hours of riding my legs began to ache, and the sun hurt my face and my throat. I tried some deep breathing exercises to ease the pain.  However, as soon as I spotted the dunes I forgot my worries. With their curves they looked like beautiful golden women lying in the desert sun.  The wind had made intricate patterns in their surfaces and erased the footsteps of previous tourists, so we felt as if we were the first to discover them.  From them, we watched the sunset and the moonrise silmultanously and could see the stars in the clear sky.  The desert cooled in the night and provided us with relief from the heat of the day, cool water, and a deep sleep.

Excellent value place. 300 INR (about 5 euro) per night for double room with attached bathroom. Centrally located. Associate with Hotel Renuka, which organises great camel safaris. Overall, very highly recommended.

It has been 6 intense weeks in India now.  And I can honestly say that I love and I hate India.  Everyone wants something from me and noone will leave me alone.  From the second I get off the bus or train, they want me to stay in their hotel, eat in their restaurant, shop in their store, drive in their taxi, buy their jewelry....and they won't take no for an answer.  in many cases, they are flagrantly rude to me when I say no.   Some people even yell across the street at me to get my attention and to buy whatever they are selling.  I have built up an "immune system" which is a natural reaction to a) completely ignore them, or 2) give an aggressive "NO" before even looking them in the eye.  I don't like this feeling.  People often approach me and start to bargain and negotiate on something that I never even showed any interest.  Many times, I don't even know what they are offering.  And, one time, a boy tried to sell Jason a rock.  Yes - a rock.

It is unfortunate.  But, I feel that my temper is starting to boil - WAY TOO OFTEN! Way too quickly!  And, way too intensely.  I find something in my personality coming out that I don't like.  This is not good.  And my experience in Jaisalmer made it worse - until our camel safari.....

The city of Jaisalmer is in the middle of the northwest Indian desert near Pakistan.  Jason and I came all the way here for one reason: to do a camel safari in the desert.  But, we heard that it gets boring quick and it hurts your ass too much.  So, we signed up for just one night.  It turned out to be the best AND worst part of our trip so far:

The hospital: Let me explain.  We had four people and four camels in our group.  But just 10 minutes into our ride something horrible happened.  Daniela's (the swiss girl) camel started running and shaking.  She fell off the camel but her foot was stuck in the stirup.  So, she fell under the camel and was hanging by her ankle.  The camel started to panic and freak out jumping and kicking and bucking.  Daniela was getting bashed and smashed as she dangled from her ankle.  I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING MORE SCARY.  Noone knew what to do and our camel leader didn't speak English.  When she finally got loose  and fell and we got to her, I saw her forehead swell up right before my eyes.  She had a bump that grew from a marble into an orange-sized puffed balloon of blood.  After a 20 minute ordeal of which jeep to take, we raced off to the hospital. 

The hospital experience was absolutely ridiculous.  Upon arrival, they had a metal plank stained with dried blood to carry her inside.  There were a dozen people crowding around us all acting like doctors.  One seemed "in the know" and so we assumed he was the doctor.  He wasn't.   After 15 minutes of acting in control, he informed us that he was not the doctor.  We were begging for ice and the hospital didn't have ice!  Can you believe that?  Are you kidding me?  NO ice in an emergency room hopital.   After pressuring them to realize how serious this could be, they suggested that we go across the street to the "private" doctor's house.  So, we did.  He sat her on his porch and told her that her forehead was swollen.  No shit? Really?  Then, the single most defining moment of my trip in India occured.  As she lay on his porch in shock and pain, being examined, one of the doctor's helpers approached me and asked where she was staying.  Surprised, I told him the hotel name.  As I gave him the answer, he tried to sell me a "better room - bigger and cheaper" for her.  The doctor's aid tried to sell her a hotel room - for her to change hotel as she lay on the ground with a head and body wounds. 

I hate to say it.  But, that's India.  At least my experience.

The Camel Safari:  Our friend Daniela took a week to recover, but she is ok.  And, so Jason and I decided to do what we came to do.  We decided to get back up on the camel and try again.  And, I am so glad that we did.  It turned into the hightlight of our trip so far.  The next day we rode off into the desert for a one-night camel trip.  But, we didn't come back for 4 days!  We loved every moment.  Look at the photos.  We rode into the desert sand dunes where we set up camp and slept for 3 nights.  Every night we watched the sun set into the sand.  Every morning I sat on the corniss of the dunes and meditated as I watched the sun rise from the sand.  At night, the sky lit up like a flourescent light bulb.  We played in the dunes running and jumping - rolling down the steep sand hills.  It was exhilarating.

One day as we rode our camels into a gypsy village, we were offered a live chicken for 500 rupies.  I had heard that "Desert Chicken" was amazing.  so, we bought it.  It hung out on the back of Jason's camel all day (until dinnertime).  It was the first meat I have eaten in 6 weeks - since I got to India.  It was fantastic!

And so, the next day as we passed the gypsy village, we decided to buy a goat.  Yes - a goat.  It walked back to our base camp in the sand dunes and waited until dinner time.  Word spread around the desert and several gypsies and camel leaders came to see who the rich americans were.  They all joined us for goat dinner!!!!  It was an amazing night.  "Beerman" brought the beer and the gypsies danced and played music into the night.  It was truly a special 4 days in the desert.  I will never forget it.  Even our camel leader cried when we had to leave.

Jaisalmer turned out to be quite a special experience.

I got into Jaisalmer about 8pm and made my way straight to the hotel, was too tired to do much after the hectic morning in Jodhpur and the hot 6 hour bus journey!

The next day I went to the fort where lots of people live, and saw the Jain temples there, walked around the bazaars and saw as much of the city as I could. I t is so hot lol, I know, it's the desert right? But it's a nice dry hot, so wasn't too bad - lovely in the late afternoon. The whole city turns golden in the sunset, it's really spectacular to see! Had the whole day to sight see and do everything I wanted, so caught the train back to Jaipur to arrive Thursday afternoon ready for Holi and Haathi festival :) yey!!

There's been alot of controversy over whether to stay or not stay in the Fort. It's eroding from increased water usage and tourists are contributing to the problem. I'm trying to raise awareness about the situation so tourists can get involved. Check out this link, it shows the different viewpoints so readers can have more info about this important question and get involved to help out! http://beta.flowgram.com/fgshare/FLOxsnFr/ Happy Travels!

I rode a camel for three days across the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer.

Can we say….. LOADS OF FUN?!

There were seven of us in our group along with three camel drivers who took care of our camels, guided us through the desert, and cooked all of our meals over camp fires. We ate simple dishes of vegetables, rice, and homemade chapattis. The masala chai was brewed fresh every time. We had fruit and plenty of water that we drank non-stop during the hot afternoons.

The Thar Desert isn’t like the deserts you think of when you think of Lawrence Of Arabia. The Thar Desert actually gets lots of rain during the monsoon season. But in the dry season, it’s a truly dry, dusty, hilly land full of thorny shrubs and cacti.

But at night, the camel drivers would lead us to some sand dunes where we’d get to play in our giant sandbox and then spend the night sleeping under the stars. We didn’t need tents as there were plenty of blankets to keep us warm and in the morning, the glow of sunrise would wake us up.

How to describe this amazing experience……?

Here’s a try:

Super hot. Super dry. Lots of thorny bushes. Burs caught everywhere. Sand everywhere. The BEST masala chai. Yummy desert cake. Camel drivers singing Hindi love songs. SAND-DUNES-O-FUN! Running antelope. Desert foxes. Wild peacocks. Visiting desert villages full of kids searching my pockets for coins and candy. Herds of goats and sheep and cattle. Shepherds wearing orange turbans. THE DOG WHO FOLLOWED US ONE AFTERNOON WHO WE NAMED RUBY. Dung beetle tracks all over the camp site every morning. Phillipa’s runaway camel. SUPER HOT afternoons resulting in long siestas under a tree. BEATING HUNGRY GOATS AWAY WITH A STICK. A camel carcass. Huge vultures. Being snatched up by the village women who put bindis on our foreheads and posed for photos with my sunglasses. Making sand angels. VICTOR, the alpha male camel, and his gross, gurgling mating call that sounded like faulty toilet plumbing. RUBY RUBY RUBY RU-BAAAY! Drawing pictures in the sand by the campfire. Jamming on water jugs and a harmonica. Victor’s GIANT EXPANDING TONGUE and stinky, stinky burps. Camel dung everywhere. Long siestas talking about the best places in the world for ice cream. BEING PULLED BY MY ANKLES DOWN A SAND DUNE every time I almost reach the top! Chatting for hours into the night under the bright half moon. My tired, sorry ass after riding a camel for three days.

This was the highlight of our tour to India. The rooms are great and the views are second to none. Manager Chimmy is really cool guy perfect to serve you in all the ways. He also arrnged us a full day desert tour to the non touristic sight of Desert and it was the unforgatable exprience. Thge view from the roof of the Hotel was execllent, Our room was th Maharja suite and costs 1800rs includes breakfast and was really giving value to money. Chimmy also showed us best restaurent, havelis and shops of the town, we recomand the silver shop he took us. It was our best exprience. We will go back to SURAJ one day

Came into Jaisalmer today.  This place is one of the reasons I decided on Rajasthan.  The desert fort rises high out of the city to keep watch over all that’s around.  It’s also India’s only living fort, meaning there are 10,000 people still living inside the darned thing.  The hotel is very nice; it has a pool, restaurant, and huge rooms.  Small problem with Jaisalmer though…It rains only about eight days a year here.  Today’s one of them.  No pool, no sight seeing, no anything.  I only hope tomorrow, that the rain clears, as I’m on a camel safari. 

In my minds eye, I saw myself on a great adventure straight out of “Arabian Nights.”  Instead, I’m sitting in the room watching MTV India.  While Rajasthan is surely a great place, I’ve yet to fully enjoy myself.  I feel a great desire to learn and do as much as possible.  Rather, I have a lot of time with myself, doing nothing.  I hope that my fortunes turn.  I hope that the rest of this trip becomes a scene out of “Indiana Jones, or Arabian Nights.” 

Virander and I are getting on much better now.  We speak often, even though he always addresses me in the following manner: “Excuse me sir.”  We talk of many things.  He is 21 years old, and betrothed to a bride back in Varanasi.  He only works in Delhi to save money for his impending family, which he hopes only includes one child.  I told him of my desire for a large family, and he explained that in India because there is so much poverty, he would prefer to have only a single child so he could better provide for its upbringing.  He also explained that in Delhi, he and three other drivers share a room for 600 rupees ($12) a month.  An apartment would run around 6,000 rupees ($120).  His annual salary must be quite low. 

As it’s pouring rain, and there’s nothing else to do, I headed down to the restaurant for a cup of tea.  The restaurant was of course closed till seven.  The manager was really cool though.  He told me to have a seat, went into the kitchen, yelled something in Hindi, and came out to let me know it was on the way.  He stood over me and asked where I was from.  I told him, and he proceeded to speak with me at length about GW Bush, Hilary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Osama bin Laden.  He told me Osama is hiding in Pakistan, and that the Pakistani government is giving him shelter.  I steered the conversation towards sports.  This nation is absolutely mad about Cricket.  While we in the States, and our friends in Europe are mad about our respective sports, none of them last 8-10 hours a match.  The entire country stops when India’s playing.  The cup of tea comes out, and I immediately burn my tongue.  We spoke of Cricket, and then moved onto American sports.  He told me boxing was real big in India, and he was able to rattle off a few names from today’s boxing world.  Cup of tea gone, he then asked the obligatory “Where’s your wife?”  My response…

Oh, almost forgot.  I have a wife now…In India, and to a degree in Thailand, it’s unthinkable to be 31 years of age, and to not have a family.  So I’ve learned to just tell them that my wife couldn’t leave work, and that we’ll be starting a family real soon.  This avenue has proved easier than seeing all the stares and looks of pity.  In fact, in the case of Thailand, the locals want nothing to do with you if you’re in that state- it’s bad luck.  When Rob, Barb, and I were getting massages in Thailand, they were asked how long they had been married.  They both replied that they were in fact not married, and the ladies thought they were joking.  I later told them to just pretend for the moment, as they’re practically married as is.  Anyways, short story long, I hope my wife’s being true to me back in the states.

Things have definitely taken a turn for the better.  I woke in Jaisalmer the next morning to find that it was again raining.  Upset as can be, I just figured we’d go on to Udaipur.  I was mistaken.  Virander told me to hold on, go to the Jaisalmer fort, look around, and then see what the weather was like.  Glad he did, for by the time I left the fort, the sun had appeared.  We drove deeper into the Thar Desert, and checked into the “Hotel.”  The hotel is named the Krishna Desert Resort, and there wasn’t very much in the way of resort about it, unless “last resort” was on your mind.  The “resort” was a Simi-circle of dung huts surrounded by a dung wall…. Dung you’re asking?  Yes, dung.  The walls of the huts are made of it, then are covered by sand, and then painted.  The roofs are made of thatch, and there are swallows nesting in every one of them.  A Canadian woman in the hut directly across from mine, had bird droppings on her bed.  “Oh well.”  I told myself.  I had been looking for rustic, real life India, and here it was.  Time to step up.  The proprietor was a very nice man.  He made us lunch, and wouldn’t stop giving me food.  I finally had to remind him that I was going on a safari that afternoon.  Then things started to get fun.

The camel driver showed up around 3 p.m.  His name was Mr. Singh and he had the obligatory Maharajas turban, and all the other accompaniments.  I get on the beast, and Mr. Singh told me to lean back.  The scariest part of riding a camel is when they get up and down.  The camel lurches upwards-hind legs first, and it nearly throws you off the seat. The camel then rises up on it’s front legs, and that gives you a serious lurch in the opposite direction.    

The weather was near perfect.  Temps around 78-80 degrees were the highs, and there was a very nice breeze blowing through the dunes.  We saw a surprising amount of wildlife: Deer, wild donkeys, monkeys, jackals, foxes, and the ubiquitous eagles that are everywhere in this country.  

If you already know me, you’ve probably wondered how in the world is this guy going on a camel safari?  I thought the same thing.  I’m not exactly the roughing it type.  I like warm beaches, drinks with little umbrellas, espn in the hotel room, etc, etc.  I haven’t been, nor will I be, on a horse in years.  So honestly, at first, I was wondering what in the world had I gotten myself into?  Camels are far taller than horses, and their gait is really hard to get used to.  You’re honestly about seven feet off the ground at your rump.  It’s easy to see how the Crusader Knights, on their horses could be bested by a Saracen on a taller camel.  So after about 30 minutes, I was as sore as can be.  I was sitting on top of this giant creature, praying to heaven for a break.  We sat down about an hour into the trip.  I took a few photos, and we were again on our way.  Something happened though-I was no longer sore.  The initial ride must have stretched me out, and from there on out it was smooth sailing, we even broke into a full gallop a few times.  

Mr. Singh next took me to his village.  As we pulled up to the small collection of huts, children poured out of the street, and came to greet us.  Mr. Singh sent his son to get us some tea, and we sat there with the kids for about an hour.  The kids were great!  I honestly love being around children.  I’ve been working with kids for over ten years, and I never realized how much I’d miss them. To be hanging with these little urchins was a lot of fun.  Most of the kids spoke English pretty well.  Mr. Singh’s oldest son was 12, and his English was great.  We drank tea as the children showed me the Latin alphabet drawn with a stick in the sand.

We then went onto the Sam Sand Dunes.  These are massive dunes some of which reach heights of 300 feet or more.  We sat and watched the sun go down for the next two hours.  Some very enterprising young boys came and sold me a bottle of warm Kingfisher for 200 rupees.  They tried to get 450 out of me, but I wasn’t having that, a warm Kingfisher isn’t that good.  As the sun was finally below the horizon, the owner of Krishna’s Resort drove up in a jeep, and asked how the day had gone.  After explaining what a fun day it had been, he asked if I would like to spend the night in the desert.  Earlier in the day, he had told me it wasn’t possible, as it would very likely rain again.  The weather had obviously cleared sufficiently enough for him to change his mind, and I of course told him that I would be happy to sleep on the dunes.

We rode the camel back to the “resort” and I looked at my dung hut…I wondered if I would rather spend the night there, or under the stars…Easy choice of course.  After dinner a man named Hookem (Yeah, I know all you Texas fans out there, it says Hook’em.  I get it.) arrived with a camel cart.  Camel carts are wooden platforms attached to old aircraft wheels.  He took a small bed frame, mattress, blankets, a few waters, and we set out.  The drive out to the dunes was even cool.  There were millions of stars, no cars, only the sound of the wind rustling through the brambles.  Hookem set up my bed at the top of a dune.  No tent, no cover of any kind, just me in the open desert.  I’ve found my “Arabian Nights” story; the song was actually going through my head at times.  I lay there under the stars mesmerized for hours, as I couldn’t sleep.  Hookem could.  He was about 40 yards away sleeping under the camel cart.  His snores were the only thing you could hear at times.  He had told me the moon would rise at one in the morning.  I must have fallen asleep sometime before then, because I woke up, and there it was.  A silver sheen had spread over the land around me.  The dunes, the bushes, and my bed were all dressed in silver.  I had to stay up and watch that of course.  Sleep eventually overtook me, and I found myself waking to the sounds of millions of little birds.  The day had come, and they were my personal alarm clock.  The sunrise over the dunes was of course a beautiful sight.  We headed back over the next few hours to the “resort”, and my first great adventure in India was over.

This small hotel inside the fort has a good range of cheap rooms; when we stayed there the rooms ranged in price from 150 to about 450 rupees. The more expensive ones were appointed with more comfortable furnishings! We took on of their cheapest rooms and it was fine. The best thing about this place is its location. Because it's built against the wall of the fort, its rooftop terrace is actually on top of the fort wall, and you can look down on the town below and the desert beyond. They serve meals on the rooftop, so you can enjoy breakfast and dinner with this fantastic view, which in the evening includes watching the sun set over the desert. This is one of the most fantastic places that we went all year, just for the atmosphere and the serenity.

The main reason for going to Jaisalmer had been to go on camel safari. In fact, we'd really enjoyed our time in Jaisalmer, and, had we known how good it was going to be, we'd have gone there anyway, without needing the prospect of a camel safari in the desert to provide any additional temptation.

Having said all of that, we did, on 27th December, after a relaxing Christmas and Boxing Day, set out on camel safari for two and a half days with our new-found friends, Anja and Sven, and two mysterious Scottish people, who, we were told by the guy that we bought the tour off, had booked onto the same tour as us. When we joined the tour we discovered that the two Scottish people were actually four Koreans, which didn't bother us at all. But why do they think that it's a good idea to lie to you?! We'd have booked the tour anyway. We'd have booked it with them, because we'd heard that they were the best company in town. I don't hate Koreans; far from it. Is that what they think? All it ends up doing is giving a negative impression, when you turn up and find that they've misled you. It means that you don't trust them when it comes to anything else, which detracts a little from the whole experience.

The camel safari itself turned out to be an interesting experience! It's definitely one of those things that I look back on and say "I'm really glad that I did that." Notice the use of the past tense! At the time, it was often far from pleasant. Riding camels appears to be one of the most uncomfortable forms of transport known to man. So much so that the two guys who were running the tour, and escorting us on our two day jaunt around the desert, had obviously taken the decision to go nowhere near getting on a camel, and spent the whole of the tour walking alongside the camels!

The tour consisted of some plodding along through the beautfil desert scenery, with a stop for lunch where all of the food was prepared in the desert from ingredients brought along for the trip. The food was pretty good, considering, although the bread did occasionally contain a little sand! Some of it was really tasty. They would make a fire to cook over, and some of us would help with the food preparation. At night we would build a bigger fire and sit around it talking as the sun went down. The sunsets in the desert were fantastic, and, once the sun's gone down, you can see more stars than you would have ever thought existed! We slept on sleeping mats on the sand dunes, under the stars - a fantastic experience.

We stopped off at a couple of villages to see the desert way of life. I felt a little awkward walking around this village, staring into people's homes. I think that the villagers were as interested in us as we were in them, but we didn't really interact with them in any meaningful way; some of the children came to beg pens and sweets.

By the end of two days in the saddle, we had very sore bottoms. Both Zoe and I decided to walk alongside our camels for the last couple of hours of the tour, on the third day. The saddles are not designed for comfort, consisting of a metal frame on top of which they had tied all of our sleeping mats and covers, in a somewhat random fashion. At times you would find the whole thing sliding off to one side of the camel, and needing a hasty bit of re-attaching!

Having said that, this is still something that's worth doing. And spending two nights out in the desert in a row made it seem a bit more special, because we had a whole day away from the town. The guys running the tour were really good fun, and we had a great time around the camp fire in the evenings.

This was our first ever Christmas away from home, and away from our families, so we didn't know how it would feel.

We got the bus from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer a few days before Christmas. On the bus next to us were a Belgian couple, Anja and Sven, to whom we talked for a good part of the journey, and with whom we spent a lot of our time in Jaisalmer. They nearly got left behind at a stop on the journey when they headed to the toilet on what they thought was going to be more than a one-minute stop. We managed to get the driver to wait for them.

I felt much easier arriving in a town with four of us rather than two: the hassle we got at the bus station was much easier to cope with. People travelling on their own would tell us that we were lucky to be in a couple. I can imagine that it must be harder on your own, getting rid of all of the people who flock around you, and spotting the scams when you don't have anyone to talk things over with. We ignored all of the taxis at the bus station and walked the short distance into town, and into the fort.

Jaisalmer is unique in that the fort it not just a palace and a museum as in the other cities in Rajasthan. In Jaisalmer the fort is very much part of the town, and contains guesthouses, restaurants and shops. It's described in the guidebooks as the only living fort in the world. This, coupled with the fantastic desert location, makes Jaisalmer a truly enchanting place.

We found a cheap guesthouse inside the fort. Our room was 175 rupees a night; we could have got a cheaper one, but it had a flickering light, which would have driven us mad. The guesthouse had a rooftop terrace, where you could get breakfast and dinner, affording a fantastic view over the town below and the desert beyond, from high up on the walls of the fort. At sunset it felt like the best place in the world.

We had a couple of relaxing days in the run up to Christmas. We'd bought each other a couple of Christmas presents, which we opened on Christmas day, and we dug out the couple of Christmas songs which we had on our iPods, and played them over breakfast. We'd booked to go to one of the expensive hotels on the outskirts of town in the evening. They were putting on an evening of music with a buffet. They had a small artificial tree with some fake snow on it in the lobby, which looked strange in the middle of the desert in India. The buffet was Indian food, but good quality. The music was local "gypsy" music, and was accompanied by dancing which included women balancing large stacks of cooking jars on their heads, and standing on nails and broken glass. We sat around little bonfires burning in big metal drums to keep warm and watched the show. It was a most entertaining evening.

We set off in the early morning hours to meet our camel guide in the desert.  During the ride there, I pictured Lawrence of Arabia and dreamed of Arabian Nights.  We reached the meeting point and I caught sight of our camels, all geared up and ready to go.  I was paired up with Kaloo, the smallest camel of the lot and as it turned out, also the rebel.  He had his own idea about where to go and just how fast he thought he needed to get there.  At first I was digging the ride.  It was rather bumpy, but I thought it beat walking in the desert.  Ha! By the next morning, I would be doing just that!  Riding a camel sucks.  I hate to say this, and Oz and I agreed, it's like having sex for hours on top, with no pleasure, only pain, and no real benefit.  Sure, you are making some progress across the desert landscape, but you can walk as fast without the chaffing that accompanies the camel ride.  Every time I disembarked, I walked like a cowboy who'd been on his horse for days, and this was just after one hour!  I mean, it was like riding a bucking bronco for crying out loud. 

I did my best to not complain.  My companions kept quiet for the most part as well, although the one was Japanese, so I don't think he knew any English or Hindi words to express how he was feeling.  My other companion was a young Aussie gal with flowing hair who made me sick with envy over her disgusting beauty.  To top it all off, they forgot to pack my beer!  Ah.  We were promised on this non-touristy trip to see villagers and how they lived.  As it turned out, we'd stop to water the camels and then our camel driver would say to us "go into the village, but be careful of the children."  I thought to myself, what is this, Children of the Corn in the desert, but as it turned out, it was.  They would descend upon us, loads of heathen children with snotty noses, grabbing at us and anything we were carrying, begging for rupees and school pens, or chocolate.  The first village I just made my escape and the second one, I found one little girl that stole my heart, but I still made a hasty retreat after fighting off the others.  Basically, it wasn't much of a village experience.  And the landscape, well, it was pretty uninteresting.  We did hit pure sand dunes, but mostly it was dirt with desert bushes and grazing animals and fields of camel grass.  Our Japanese fella paid extra at the first village for a chicken for dinner.  I mistakenly thought it was included.  Our camel driver showed up with it  -  a live, pleading-for-life-chicken he carried the way to our night camp.  I thought, what did you expect, Chris, we'd pull up to a grocery store and buy a pre-packaged chicken?  The Aussie and I went on a walk as they took it off to slaughter.

So what did I enjoy on this trek?  Well, sitting around the fire was cool (sans beer though) but it was cold, so we all hit the hay about 8:30 and huddled under our blankets on the hard sand.  The next morning after an hour ride, I begged to stop and be let off to walk.  Our camel guide didn't know what to think of me.  I stubbornly refused to remount, walking for about two hours (I needed the exercise really).  After the first hour, he got off my camel and walked with me, feeling guilty.  After lunch, I gave it a go, but I now have blistering inner calfs and my back aches.  I was a total crabby abby on this trip.  I hated my attitude so much that at times I felt like telling myself to go to hell.  I kept telling myself, this is better than sitting at a desk working, right?

I made it back to the hotel with about an hour before my bus to Pushkar. I found my bag had been eaten into by a mouse trying to reach some nuts in my bag.  I angrily fixed that up and then Raju, who had promised a ride to the bus stand, just led me walking there.  When we got there, I was already angry about that, and then I looked over to notice a man with his pants hiked up, standing and leaning over a barrel, taking a dump.  I quickly diverted my eyes, only to notice a dog limping around with a broken leg, so I turned away from that to notice a cow eating a plastic bag with an already bloated stomach.  I wanted to scream "I hate India!"  However, I just boarded the bus, enduring another overnight haul, freezing, to find myself in Pushkar at 3:30 in the morning.

After having a blow out with the owner of the hotel here, who tried to charge me a full night's price for last night, I got some sleep.  I woke up to no power, as is custom here, and after breakfast, finally grabbed a hot shower (well, a minute's worth of hot shower).  So now I approach Pushkar with a new calm, ipruprofen in my system, and hope that this holy city will reinvigorate my love for India.

My main objective in going to Jodhpur was to check out the magnificent fort, which I did.  The admission included a great audio tour and there were some interesting artifacts on display, including elephant palanquins (chairs) and an armory.  From above is a great view of the city, much of which is colored in blue.  This was done in part as a form of mosquito repellent. 

I made my way down through the many winding streets to the clock tower, around which is the main shopping area.  I found a book store and bought another good read, and then grabbed a cup of chai.  I then ran into once again this nice fella who kept saying he knew me from somewhere.  I hate to say, but I've taken to largely ignoring people as I walk the streets because it gets too much at times.  Everyone is calling out hello, wants to sell you something, etc.  Sometimes I engage in discussion, which may seem friendly at first, including talks about our government and how much they like Hillary and Bill when they visited, but soon it will turn to something having to do with needing money.  Anyway, so this fella I kept ignoring, and finally outside the clock tower I gave him an ear and he said he saw me earlier in an internet shop.  He had his own shop, selling omelettes nearby, and I remembered reading in the LP about some shop they recommended.  It was not his shop, but he was the competitor right next door.  I've started to loathe LP so I quickly grabbed a stool and had a try (even though not hungry).  An English fella joined me and we gave stares across to the LP recommended joint.  It wasn't the best omelette by any means, but the guy running it was a joy. 

With my belly full I made it back to the hotel, after getting lost a few times. These streets are truly a maze.  The next morning I grabbed a bus to Jaisalmer, the place where tourists go to do a camel safari in the desert. I haven't yet been on a camel, so I knew I would have to give this a go.  I picked out a place to stay not in LP.  The owner running it is very talkative and didn't push too hard on his camel safari, but after some negotiations, including me staying for free at the hotel and getting one extra beer on the safari, I am off early in the a.m. for a two day/one night "not so touristy" safari. See how that goes.

The owner then called up a friend to make dinner plans, so he invited me to join him.  First we had to walk to the butcher's to get mutton (what they call goat).  That was a treat (sense the sarcasm...).  The guys were sitting on this platform on the ground and hacking away at bits of something.  They held a sharp blade between their toes to do the finer chopping.  Sanitary you ask?  Not in the least, and I expressed concern at this, but he insisted they would give it a good wash with mineral water.  I did not witness this step in the process but decided I would cast aside my worries.  We then made our way to another hotel with a flaming owner who promptly gave me a rum and coke while he and his friends stared and smiled at me.  I wanted to get on the internet, so Raju (the owner) sent me off in a rickshaw to do that while dinner was in the works. I met two fellas at the internet shop who spent some time relaying their frustration at being too poor to afford a wife here and not having kissed a woman (the one was 35!).  I quickly got out of there and back to the hotel for dinner.

I was under the impression this was going to be a group dinner, but Raju asked me up to the roof, and I realized he was envisioning a romantic dinner for two.  He called down to the boys and they brought us the mutton stew and chapatis.  It was dark and cold, but I refused the offer of sharing his blanket and did my best to eat this meat substance in the dark.  The sauce was actually really good, but the meat was fatty and bony.  He happily ate the bones, sucking on the marrow, while I flung pieces aside, avoiding his notice.  I haven't mastered eating with my hands, all the more clear after getting in the light later and seeing most of my dinner on my pants.

After our meal I feigned being very tired and insisted we get back to the hotel so I could sleep.  He was not interested in calling it a night, but after much protesting outside my bedroom door, I made it to bed.  This morning he did not seem his jovial self, but I made clear I had a boyfriend back home and was just a friend.  Thank goodness I am off in the morning.

Today I shall wander around this town's fort (the only one still occupied) and try to avoid any more romantic overtures until morning.  I've heard that this camel trekking isn't all that great and is a bit painful.  I was told a half day would suffice, but being a sucker for punishment, and wanting to get a little further out into some villages, I will be enduring some full days on a camel.  Let's just hope I can walk when I return Tuesday!