Rajesthan

Our last destination in India was the one that we heard the most about. Rajasthan with landscapes looking more and more desert like as we go, women saris that look more colorful like if it was possible, and the people which are a little bit more conservative than the areas we travelled so far. I tried to be even more careful with my dressing, long pants, long sleeves and scarf but i admit i had to cheat a few times. The weather was just too hot.


We arrived in Rajasthan later than what was planned. We were travelling by bus and it got stopped at some point on our way to Jaipur. It really looked like they were waiting for us since we were the second car to be in line. There was two jeeps accross the road and branches with thorns, real thorns i tell you! That stop was also like a divine manifestation! I had spent the last 30 minutes wishing that the bus was going to stop close to a bathroom. I wanted to pee so bad!!! I am not a fast lerner, i had drank at least three cups of tea that morning. I evaluated the time i had to sneak into the field for a quicky and i decided to take my chances. I walked for five minutes to finally get to growing cereals that were pretty scrany but i had not seen anyone so far, so let’s go. In India, you are never alone… As i am crouching, there is a mad dog coming at me and he was followed by his master, a woman… ''Just peeing'' i said and i guess it's pretty obvious. Since I am a lucky girl, the bus is still there when I get back and we spent a good 45 minutes there. Men and women were carrying sticks and seemed to be mad at policemen in particular. I tried to obtain more information about what was going on but my bus partners did not speak much english. What I got from the conversations, well i am not sure if we can call it conversation when few words are used but many signs, is that, there had been an incident involving a young guy. I am not sure if he had been injured or was dead but the policemen either were responsible for it or made a big mistake that let the real suspect get away. What is the real reason? We will never know.

Jaipur

We did not explore much of the streets in Jaipur but we took a rickshaw to cross the Pink City. It is the oldest part of Jaipur so more chaotic and dirty with many little shops and markets directly on the side of the road. We are too tired to pay too much attention to what is happening but many buildings are stunning and most everything is pink.

We really liked the Amber Fort which is enormous. We could go up there by foot, by Jeep or riding the back of an elephant. They were superbs with their face painted up. I had never seen that many at once and certainly not from that close.

Pushkar

The lake is unfortunately dried up which makes the lanscape a bit less inviting than on postcards. It is a small town or more small village. The main road is lined up with stores for tourists. I did shop and bought pants and a blanket for the cold train nights coming up. I also found the anklets I wanted for so long. The prices were much better there.

We expected so much more from that place since it is very popular and talked about. Ah well!

Bikaner

Ah Bikaner and it’s rat temple! In my head, I imagined a floor covered with fat rats and their poop. I thought that they would be so glad to see me that they would be running over my feet and climbing my legs. I was affraid to be walking on one of them and have to buy a golden rat to give to the temple to be forgiven. We had to see the white rat as well since it is good luck. Some people spend hours looking for that rat. We had to take off our shoes like for all the other temples, but this time, we knew that we would be walking on dirty floors. Indeed, the floor was sticky but we see more pigeon droppings than rats. The floor was not covered with rat either, they tended to stay in corners where most of the food was. They clustered especially around bowls of milk and pieces of cookies left by the tourists. They are scared of us and so the risk of walking on one was very slim. I am very glad to have seen it but I imagined an experience rich in emotions which was not. We have seen the white rat and then everybody came once we said : ‘Hey the white rat’. Does it count for them then?

The old city within the fortified walls is worthed because you see beautiful buildins but especially because of the people we met. This is not the most touristic destination and we did see a huge difference in the interaction with locals. People are so welcoming and they are happy to pose to be photographed.They shake you hand and they all have great smiles.

Jailsamer

We arrived in Jailsamer on a night train around 5h30 am. It is cold and we are not quite awake at that point. Rob has a tout trying to get him to absolutely visit his guesthouse. He insisted so much that Rob got fed up with him pretty quick. We still used his car to get closer to the fort and, well, there was little other option at that time of the day! Even if the rooms were really good, there was not a chance that Rob would have stayed there so we started our quest in the dark for another place to sleep. We are surrounded by a dogs gang that do not like us a bit. They yapped so much that they probably have woken up the whole neibourghood. We finally stopped a car to get directions and he took us on board and dropped us off at his friend’s guesthouse. We need to sleep for an hour or two.

When we finally got up, the view from the rooftop is amazing. The color of the Fort with the surroundings that very much look like a desert. Very small streets lead to the fort entrance and people are nice. I would like to go back there and maybe do a camel safari.

Jodhpur

The blue city. Many of the old city houses are painted in a flashy blue. The view from the fort of the old city is therefor pretty nice. The Fort is supposed to be the best preserved one of Rajasthan and it is really nice. I had a short night though because of bad food and was found in the bathroom most of the night. I would like a few more days in that city for sure.

Ranakpur

What a great place! A friend of ours had advised us to stop in that little place even if the guidebook did not make a big deal out of it. The choice for hotels is limited and they tend to be more expensive but the scenery is worted. And the silence…. We decided to spend one more day there! There is, first of all, a lake which level was a bit low but still looked like a postcard. The pictures are giving justice to the atmosphere and the serenity of the place. We have seen crocodiles

The other attraction that gets people to visit Ranakpur is the presence of beautiful Jain temples. So many carvings in one place is absolutely hallucinating! Wow!

Udaipur

We arrived there in the afternoon and we had to take the plane to Delhi early the next morning. It is too bad because I would have like to walk around a bit more. Zut de Zut! We had time to explore the main street full of shops and I finally splurged on flipflops, jewellery and painting. We had a room with view on the lake and I would have like to take the time to read looking at the landscape. Next time!