31/03/2010

We were woken up by Sarjent with a chai tea at 7.30 surrounded by the track marks of many dung beetles that curiously wondered around and over us during our sleep.

We grabbed the simple breakfast made for us, eggs, jam and toast and set off back on our camels to the meeting point with the jeep to get back to Jaisalmer. Along the way there was a bit of an argument with the locals about our guide taking camel food in the evening without paying, but as I understand there was nobody to give the money to, the others were furious even when given the money, they even attempted to take Julian’s camel whilst he was still on it, but that’s hardly a fair price to pay for just food… anyway our guide stayed behind to sort out the situation and we were taken an hour on the camels to the jeep and the end of the safari.

We headed back to Jaisalmer and searched for a mode of transport to the north towards Haridwar for a festival held only every 12 years but we couldn’t find anything for the evening, instead we get on a bus to Bikaner leaving tomorrow morning at 6am.

I slept for the afternoon and nothing exciting happened… we were going to go see some temples, but ive seen enough of them and doing SFA is more to my liking.

The journey back to Civilisation

30/03/2010

The room was extremely hot last night and the room was like an oven, neither of us slept well. Got up to meet a guy at our hotel who took us to another guesthouse to grab breakfast (not included with the Camel Safari) and wait to be taken to just outside the fort where we met a young couple Rebecca and Julian who were recently married.

We were then taken an hour by jeep with 2 Kolkatians also on the Safari to where the beginning of the Safari. As we mounted our camels, mine appropriately named Emer I was expecting desolate desert with no vegetation, instead there was modern infrastructure like power lines and a countless amount of wind turbines ruining the sense of being lost in the middle of nowhere. We did get to see some desert villages housing only a few families and you could see them struggling in this time of draught, this area had very little rain in the past 5 years drying up the crop and killing the livestock.

Under a tree we were cooked a simple lunch surrounded with goats eating our scraps and leftovers and after we had a little siesta under the shade whilst the midday sun was high and too hot for us to continue on.

The scenery didn’t change much and our camels were killing our thighs by the end of the day however when we reached where we were going to camp for the night we were in the middle of a some sand dunes to view the sunset and the full moon.

As the sun was setting over the sand dunes we were greeted by another set of travels on another camel safari where we munched down dinner and shared stories around a fire, our guide ‘Sarjent’ told us a few of his experiences with various people during his 15 years of guiding that were very funny then breaking into song with another local. The traditional songs sung and a beat played from an empty water container were very good, even their rendition of ‘Barbie Girl’ into ‘Camel man’ was hilarious.

Unfortunately the stars this evening were not great due to the full moon although we did entertain ourselves with some long exposure photography under the moonlight dunes, drawing camels and doing fancy lighting tricks with flashlights. I taught Rebecca some tricks with her Canon 5D, a very expensive camera that she had no idea how to use aside from the automatic feature.

Later we were given blankets and we slept under the night sky being checked out by dung beetles that thankfully don’t bite or sting.

Lighting Effects with Long Exposure with sand dunes

Lighting Effects with Long Exposure with sand dunes 2

My camel... tried to draw using a LED

Dunes near Jaisalmer

Our Camel Safari in Sand Dunes

Tired Camel

Face to Face

Lunch!

Boy baffled by pop rocks (Candy that pops in your mouth)

Small Village outside Jaisalmer

29/03/2010

We arrived at 4.00am in Jaisalmer still in a bit of a dais from the sleeping pills I took during the journey, we were rushed off the bus saying it was needing to leave then being surrounded by annoying rickshaw drivers and for some reason the trunk of the bus was filled with building supplies making it very difficult to get to our bags, luckily I had my knife on me and I cut the rope holding together some heavy tiles making our bags accessible... the bus driver wasn’t too happy that I did this but he did tell us that the bus was needing to leave, so whatever.

Before boarding the bus in Jodhpur we were suggested a guesthouse by a local guy who seemed genuinely friendly but his friend owned it and he was just getting tourists to go for the cheap rooms which was great but the rates for the camel safaris were extortionary.

It was a very nice room for rs150 with western toilets which are always a plus and the rooftop restaurant had a very good view of the fort.

After catching up on some sleep we wondered around the fort looking for a cheap camel safari tour, we found this guy who just seemed like a great person, he offered the safari for only rs850 whilst others offered for rs1000+. There were already some foreigners who had signed up and as it was a cheaper price we signed up ourselves for tomorrow morning.

Inside the fort which was surprisingly quite and peaceful we met a German guy (Yan) who joined us for lunch then went back to our hotels where we chilled for the afternoon and evening. We had an early one because our trip tomorrow started at 7.30.

Jaisalmer Fort, India 2010

28/03/2010

It’s been one month since arriving in India!!

We had to leave the hotel at 8.30 to catch the local bus down the mountain to Abu road for a connecting bus to Jodhpur; we devoured breakfast quickly on the walk to the bus stand only just making the 9.00 bus.

The connecting local bus to Jodhpur was terrible, hot, cramped, over crowded, with no leg room and lasting 6 hours over shitty roads… I didn’t sleep well last night and needed to catch up on it too but these circumstances didn’t make it easy.

Arriving in Jodhpur at around 5pm we needed to hang around for 5 hours for another connecting local bus to Jaisalmer, we went to go grab something to eat finding a nice, but more importantly comfortable restaurant offering 50 rupee thalis where we sat for a good few hours killing time. The owners of the restaurant were getting aggravated that we were there for such a long time and stopped us from playing card games and were constantly looking over at us making it difficult for us to fall asleep at the table. Fortunately their English was not great and when one did try to speak to us and tell us to leave I manipulated the conversation befriending the guy and persuading him to let us stay a little while longer. Generally restaurants in India welcome the fact that foreigners are sitting in their premises as it not only brings in other foreigners into the place but also the locals too because it gives them something to stare at while they eat which is unfortunate and damn annoying for us.

After overstaying our stay in the restaurant we headed back to the bus station to catch our bus, I went to go check out which stand our bus will be arriving at as we could be the first to board only to be told that the #299 bus at 10.30pm will not be running. I asked why this was the case only to be yelled at by the Indian behind the counter shouting “NO BUS”, I continued to ask “why” only to get the same reply progressively shouting louder and louder. I found this confusing as the bus was listed on the timetable but I also found it entertaining and kept on asking “why” only to piss off the official and to see how loud he could scream “NO BUS!!!” Anyways I didn’t get an answer to “why?” but thankfully we called one of the private bus companies and organized a ride to Jaisalmer on a deluxe bus. We paid rs40 to get to the private bus stand where we finally boarded the bus and slept for the 5 hour journey maybe from being exhausted from traveling all day or from the sleeping pill I took, perhaps both.

27/03/2010

Today we tried organizing our trip off Mount Abu, there really was not a lot to do here and wasn’t what I was expecting, it’s just a bit too tacky for a honeymoon destination, not that I was here for that. It was funny seeing all the ice-cream shops with gun sellers next to them, perhaps the newlyweds that are married due to them being arranged, not liking the other half, buying them an ice cream and shooting them in the face with a gun and saying it was a “kitchen accident”… this is not so untrue as I’ve heard stories similar to this.

The trains were booked up and our option to get to Jaisalmer via Jodhpur was limited to a local bus not being able to buy tickets in advance.

We were going to do a trek for the afternoon but when we met with our guide who was recommended in the book of lies (Lonely Planet) we decided against it.

We then walked to Delwara temple 3 km away from town, to be honest it was amazing, several temples sculpted from marble with so much detail it was almost a good thing that our cameras were taken away on entry. Sometimes when seeing a place through the lens of a camera it can ruin the experience, although it would have been nice to show who ever reads this the amount of detail that went into making this 600 year old temple. Apparently the sculptors were paid on the amount of dust made from their carvings that is why their work on this temple is so intricate.

We walked back to the guesthouse before heading off to sunset point where all the honeymooners go to take in the romance of the sunset at 1200m. Ill tell you now; there was nothing romantic about it at all… hundreds of tourists honeymooning or not crowding amongst each other to get a glimpse of the no-so-spectacular sunset whilst getting hassled by photographers and popcorn/fairy floss selling children. I did manage to get a few cool pictures of the monkeys that mugged people of their various foods.

Funky Monkey with fairyfloss/candyfloss, Sunset Mount Abu, India

Curious Monkey

26/03/2010

Emer, Megan and I just wondered around the town in the morning getting breakfast at a local place that only serve eggs, fried or hard boiled for breakfast. We checked out the lake at midday where the three of us hired a paddle boat to go around for half an hour where we saved an Indian couple from being stuck on a rock in the middle of the lake, they didn’t want our help to begin with but we returned to save the day.

We hiked to the top of a nearby hill (Toad rock) getting a panoramic view of the lake and surrounding village, we chilled up here for a while deciding to leave only after getting sunburnt.

I slept for a while into the late afternoon when we got dinner at a place suggested in my 5 year old guide book, it recommended the Thali for rs45 but my guide book being half a decade old things had changed and it was twice the price. Although still a good recommendation as the food was plentiful and lovely.

Toad Rock, Mount Abu Minature World

Toad Rock, Mount Abu, India

25/03/2010

We chilled at the hotel which I forgot to mention is perhaps one of the best places we have stayed at in India, the beds were clean and comfortable, showers were great, the view from the rooftop terrace was amazing and all for only rs100. I would highly recommend Lal Ghat to anyone heading to Udaipur

We sat out in the sun till we had to leave at 2 where both Emer and I got a little burnt.

The bus journey to Mount Abu was decent enough paying that little bit extra for the deluxe coach, although we did get a rock thrown at one of the windows smashing it luckily not injuring anyone. Apparently this happens all the time where kids throw the rocks at passing vehicles.

We arrived in Mount Abu at 7pm, its suppose to be the honeymoon destination for all the Indian newlyweds, the place seemed very modern and clean too, a nice little surprise seeing as India in most places are pretty filthy.

We checked into a guesthouse that was in the Loney planet offering dorm beds for 50 rupees and a place to be able to cook your own food, unfortunately both these things were incorrect and the dorm bed was rs100 without any cooking facilities. It’s really such a shame because I was looking forward to be able to cook.

Instead we had a quick dinner and played Uno with 3 English people we met at the restaurant inside the hotel.

Road up to Mount Abu

24/03/2010

I went to bed hungry last night and did could not sleep till 6 am, I would have gone out looking for food here but India is a difficult place to find a late night feed.

When I finally got to sleep I dreamt of the cause of this problem, protein! I hadn’t had the succulent, tender delicious taste of meat since Jaipur. Vegetables haven’t been doing it for me, they just run through my system not satisfying me nor have they been filling me up.

I woke at 10am incredibly fatigued and starving, so I went to go get some (5) samosas from the local place around the corner and stuffed them in my mouth before popping a sleeping pill and passing out for a good few hours whilst Emer did a cooking course.

She returned with some left over food from the course that she was happy enough to share with me. I used the internet for a while and we met with Lena where we headed off to see the James Bond film ‘Octopussy’, I hadn’t seen it before and watching it where it was shot seemed like a suitable idea besides every single hotel in the area were advertising it to get customers into their restaurant.

We saw it on the rooftop of the highest building in the area where we ordered food, I had ½ of a chicken tandoori style that was great and I made it my mission to consume every last edible piece of meat and cartilage from the bone, it really was exactly what I needed.

The film was a little trashy but considering it is a cult film and very old, I enjoyed it.

Due to faulty wiring the film kept on cutting out every so often, at one point I went to go fix it as there were no staff about, I temporarily solved the problem but when one of the staff saw me do this they assumed I was tampering with the DVD player. Despite the fact I had it all working this guy just attempted to fix it himself breaking what I just fixed. If it’s not broken, don’t try and fix it!

Anyway Emer and I booked the bus journey to Mount Abu for tomorrow at 3pm and we shared emails and photos with Lena then went to bed.

City Palace from Lal Ghat Guesthouse

23/03/2010

Slept in till 11.30 where I ran to the shop to get some bread for the omelet that I had ordered back in the hotel, Emer and I met with Lena and went to go see the City Palace, it costs 50 rupees to get in and a painful 200 for a camera, we went 3 ways in on the price of the camera charge using Emer’s Canon G10. Inside the museum there was only one point where they checked the camera pass we ended using all of our cameras, saving ourselves rs400.

We spent 3 hours wondering the halls and courtyards of the museum seeing pretty much everything from ancient weapons and horses with elephant trunks to painting with such fine detail you may want to use a magnifying glass to see the fine brush strokes.

The building and the pieces on display were very good and did kill 3 hours before hitting we hit up a local food place to fill up on samosas.

In the late afternoon we went to go see a puppet show, we took a tuk-tuk to get there and to be brutally honest the show was shit compared to what we saw last night, it was neither entertaining or funny and it just seemed half-assed. One crazy thing; during the last puppet performance everyone in the theater stood up and left the premises, it seemed both odd and rude, perhaps everyone was disappointed, but everyone to leave at the same time, beats me?

We walked back to the hotel picking up some street food along the way where I sat and worked on my some photoshop work and chatted for a while.

Town view from city Palace, Udiapur

Indians looking through stainglass windows

Badi Chhatjachli Courtyard, City Palace, Udiapur, India 360

Badi Chhatjachli Courtyard, City Palace, Udiapur, India miniture world

22/03/2010

The journey last night was terrible; I didn’t sleep well at all. Emer did as she had 2 sleeping pills and I only had one. We arrived at the bus station two hours before we were suppose to at 6 am. Where we got a tuk-tuk to a hostel offering dorm beds, this is always good because you get to meet other travelers much easier, as I think I have mentioned before in a previous post.

We met a Swedish girl (Lena) and a German couple (Wolf and Sunny) when we arrived and I got a little bit of a camera lesson with the couple as they were professional photographers and they had about $6000 worth of equipment. After a long chat with them I needed to catch up on some sleep.

Emer and I wondered around the town ripping on each other as a laugh and to keep us entertained, its funny she can take the abuse I give her very well… anyway we grabbed some samosas for lunch and headed back to the hostel where we met with Lena and went to see a Rajasthani dance performance in a 18^th-century museum by the Ghat.

The whole performance was well impressive with dances, a very funny puppet show and one lady who danced with a hefty weight of ceramic pots towering above her head. I was able to take a few pictures but because of the low lighting it was difficult.

We chilled at the hostel for rest of the evening with a fantastic view of the Janiwas Island Palace resort which was used in the James Bond film Octopussy.

I also met some French guys who cycled to Udiapur from France and had cycled 7800km, making their way to Vietnam; I gave them some advice on where to go and roads to use and went to bed.

Night View of Palace, Udaipur

Woman supporting pots on her head whilst stepping on broken glass

Morning Pano view from Lal Ghat, Udiapur

21/03/2010

Emer and I checked out of our hotel at 11 where we headed to a lassi place to fill up on lassi’s for breakfast, we chilled out there before heading to the bus station to get a bus back down to Ajmer and for an 8 hour bus journey to Udaipur. We had 10 hours to kill as we organized a night bus to the next destination departing at 11.30.

We went to go see some of the sights around Ajmer but only seeing ending up seeing the red temple that displayed a miniature golden palace behind scrached glass or metal grills making it difficult to get a good picture of it. Also, unfortunately the miniature temple, like the glass windows were very dirty and dusty making the whole attraction a little disappointing although for 5 rupees, still worth seeing. I told one of the officials of the place that it was in quite a state and they said to come back in 5 years time by which time they would have cleaned it up.... how very prompt of them.

After getting lost through the streets of Ajmer and finding some food (Potato Curry) we headed for the lake looking for one of the two parks that Ajmer had to offer. Eventually we found one where we sat under a tree where locals kept on approaching us, we just pretended that we spoke jibberish and they went away.

Emer and I discussed what the rules of engagement for an Indian if wanting to approach us, they are:

- Cant own a shop

- Cant have a friend who owns a shop

- Does not have a tuk-tuk, rickshaw, or want to take us anywhere

- Has nothing to sell us

- Does not want our email address to ‘contact’ us if they ever came to our country

- Does not want to take a picture of us

- Is not in association of any type of Mafia

- And can only take 5 minutes of our time.

- If we are approached by the saying “my friend, my friend”, they are automatically turned around.

I know these may sound harsh, but this comes from weeks of experience/annoyances in India.

Anyways, after a little while in the park we got bored and decided to head back up to Pushkar to use up the rest of the day and the bus trip alone would only take up an hour.

The journey back up was terrible as I had to stand on the roasting bus dripping with sweat.

We filled ourselves up with lassi’s and food from a popular falafel shop where we bumped into Francis again, he really is such a strange guy and possibly gay.

We headed back down to Ajmer at 9 where some of the locals told us there were no buses running, fortunately for us there was a jeep driver going down to Ajmer picking up passangers. The driver did however try and charge us 100 rupees for the journey, obviously trying to rip us off but we managed to get it down to rs20 each. Another downfall for this 30 minute trip was that the driver wanted to squeeze as many people into the jeep as possible, I honestly would have thought only 10 people could fit, but India being a crazy crazy place the driver managed to cram in 16 people.

Because Pushkar is sacred to Lord Brahma, all food within city limits is strictly veg: meat, eggs and alcohol are banned, I was craving all these things and there wasn’t much to offer around the bus station I was however blessed by the great taste of two boiled eggs… I really don’t know how Vegans can survive.

At 11 we went in search of the bus we were suppose to be on, accidentally boarding the wrong one also going to Udaipur, despite having the wrong ticket (we had the deluxe bus) all the locals told us to sit down and to store our luggage in the spaces above the seats. After a while of confusion we got off the bus and went to the right bus stand.

The bus we were on was spacious and comfortable and we had all 5 of the seats at the rear of the bus to ourselves, the seats were comfortable until the bus starting moving. EVERY nook and cranny the bus crazy driver passed over on route to Udaipur sent me and Emer jumping in the air by at least an inch.

Red temple, Ajmer

20/03/2010

I organized my flights back to Canada today; I found one from Delhi to Vancouver via London for a night for $750 AUD, the cheapest I could find on the net. I’m a bit disappointed that I will not be crossing the Pacific as this would mean I would have gone right the way around the world, instead I’m going back the way I came. L

Anyways, it was a cheap flight and that’s saving money! Just as I booked my flight I had to wait a few minutes while the booking was being processed, just as my itinerary came up there was a power cut shutting down all the computers which was a bit of a scare.

I also attempted to make a portable stove from 2 soda cans, I saw this on the internet a while ago but unfortunately it did not work out, im pretty sure I got the build design right but the fuel I’m using is only 70% alcohol meaning its not burning as well as it should. I would have used this to boil water, eggs, cook pot noodles etc but now I have to find an alternative and more alcoholic fuel.

Later in the afternoon Tina, Emer and I got a fantastic Lassi from a shop where I met a French woman who I got to teach me some French:

“J’ai un bateau gonflable, a l’interieur de serpent qui mangent toujours mes pomme de terre”

Meaning:

“I have an inflatable boat filled with snakes and they keep on eating my potatoes.”

I know this is random but it’s going to get me all the French girls if I pull it off correctly. ;)

Later the three of us went for all you can eat veggie buffet again where, no surprise here, I stuffed myself finishing 4 plates and 2 deserts… ill put together the time lapse of me scoffing the food and post it on youtube at a later date.

We went to use the internet where I was in such a bloated state to a point where I was having food sweats. I spent 30 minutes checking my facebook and email expecting an email from the Canadian Visa Bureau telling me whether I can enter Canada again to work. After 30 minutes I logged off and again the Indians try and rip you off saying I was on for 40 minutes… under a sigh I had a go at him, through the correct money at him and walked away, I could have argued further but sometimes Indians are so frustrating its not even worth it.

Monkey eating Eggplant

19/03/2010

A bit of a boring morning, just sleeping in and chilled.

In the afternoon whilst Emer was getting a Sitar lesson I sorted out part of what I needed to get back to Canada.

In the late afternoon after a nap we went off to see the view from the top of one of the hills (Savitri Mandir) at sunset, although exhausting it was very nice.

We stopped by a tea shop on the way back into town where somehow the guy at the shop sold me some spice for 200 rupees. Normally I can avoid purchasing anything, but somehow I thought I needed it, you can make tea and apparently put it on everything.

The guy who sold me the spice gave us a ride back into town where we grabbed something to eat where we saw another festival performance in the street.

View from Sunset Hill, Pushkar

Sunset HDR, Pushkar

18/03/2010

I had an amazing nights sleep last night… well the sleeping pill I took in the early hours of the morning certainly helped and I woke up at midday where I attempted for the 14^th time to repair my camera from another one of its problems. Thankfully I successfully repaired the fault making the blurred images; I took using some tools I borrowed from a local mobile phone repair place down the road.

I didn’t want to pay the over priced food in the hotel, so after returning the tools to the shop I got a random breakfast: a bag of milk and plastic bag filled with tomatoes… don’t ask... I don’t know why either.

We chilled at the hotel for most of the day and had a look around town to see what was on offer; Pushka is where the largest livestock festival is held, over 150,000 dealers in a town that has a population of 18,000. There are a lot of backpackers that live here, mostly hippies and all the locals are get my attention by calling me ‘rasta-man’ which I cant stand cause I like my metal music and Bob Marley doesn’t do it for me.

We bumped into Tina the Australian girl from Jaipur and also Tristan whom I met in Varinasi, hes headed up North and hopefully ill catch up with him there at some point.(tristan-pettigrew@hotmail.com)

Anyways, we again went for the all you can eat restaurant for where I put together a time lapse of the plates of food I consumed which was only a little bit more than yesterday.

Again stuffed and fatigued from all the food I needed to walk it off roaming the streets I found a place that resized my ring I bought in Khajuraho for only 30 rupees, they also do courses in jewelry making that would be good fun.

17/03/2010

We were again suppose to get up early today to go see the Amber (Amer) Fort before heading off to pushkar, we both slept in a little and didn’t leave the hotel till 11.30.

We took a cycle rickshaw after breakfast then a bus to get there not costing too much. The fort was very impressive a 12 km run of wall surrounding a small village 450 years old that use to be the old Jaipur.

Last night when trying to put some of my panoramic views together from what I took yesterday I found that all of my images were blurred considerably, this is probably from having opened my camera several times to fix it. I tried repairing it again by cleaning the sensor but after the pictures I took today I had just mad it worse… I have a few ideas to try before I may have to buy another camera ‘with all the money I have’ eh! But I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can fix the problem.

We made it back to Jaipur to pick up our luggage at just after 3 when they charge Rs50, they tried to charge us this for being literally minutes past the hour because the rickshaw driver we hired got lost and took us on a bit of a random tour through all the back alleys of Jaipur. I had a go at them saying that I would not recommend their hotel to other travelers and eventually I got the money.

We got to the bus station and quickly were herded onto a bus to Ajmer taking 2.5 hours, we then boarded another bus to Pushka where I met a friendly local who after 5 minutes of conversation suggested a guest house that he owned, something tells me it wasn’t a coincidence that he sat next to me…

Anyways, his hotel was cheap clean and seemed safe enough and for 75 rupees each a good price too.

Emer and I headed out for dinner soon after arriving and because I spotted a place offering all you can eat veg food for 50 rupees in the guide book so we headed for that. Along the way down the main street a festival had started with Indians dancing and beating drums with makeshift colourful floats, the people here seemed much friendlier than Jaipur and every other place I had been to in India because there were no rickshaws and seemed to be no touts, just genuinely friendly people.

The food at the all you can eat was good and although being a little more expensive than suggested in the guide book I still took full advantage by filling my plate to the extreme and going back for seconds then thirds and even fourths… then returning for the deserts on two occasions. By expensive I mean just under $2 or a little over the price of a roll of toilet paper here… which at this point im thinking the overall price of eating that much food with the expense of toilet paper for tomorrow will surpass my normal daily food budget, and was it worth it, hell yeah! Obviously I was stuffed almost unable to move and after going for a bit of a wonder to see a little more of the town we headed back to the hotel although we did get a little lost in the narrow streets along the way.

16/03/2010

We were suppose to leave today and make our way to Preska, we packed our things and made our way to the bus station to see the bus times, apparently there is only one direct bus at 1 o’clock pm but other local buses with one stop every 5 minutes.

Instead of leaving we went back to the hotel and hecked back into the room because we really had not seen any of the sights in Jaipur.

We were suppose to meet one of the guys from last night who offered to take us around town only paying for the fuel but after talking to the owner of our hotel he advised us not to as the people who we were “partying” with last night were part of the Indian mafia.

Despite calling the guy to meet us at the hotel we managed to avoid him and follow the walking tour guide in the lonely planet, along the way we bumped into a Swedish guy we briefly met inAgra. Johan, Emer and I vaguely followed the walking route and didn’t really see any of the sights but then got an auto-rickshaw to Monkey Palace where there was a great view of the city although covered in a misty haze from all the pollution.

We wondered back around town looking for some food, which surprisingly in this city is not easy to find but after over an hour we eventually found some samosa like foods (all deep-fried) with lassi’s. I can’t stress how good lassi’s taste (like yoghurt drink but better) and you also drink them out of ceramic clay cups that when you have finished just smash them on the ground.

We headed back to the hotel and watched a few films before hitting the pillow.

Statue made from marble

Wierd looking cow with short legs

15/03/2010

Waking up in the early afternoon was certainly needed as both Emer and I were very hungover, the owner of the liquor store said we could get a refund if we didn’t like Officers choice whisky but somehow I don’t think he was going to give us a refund if we showed up with stinking hangovers and if the bottle was empty.

We met an Australian girl on the street before going into a place to grab some breakfast that was very average, both her and the food. I suppose its not a very nice thing to say about her but to be honest I don’t like meeting other Australians whilst away from Australia, it always seems like they have a now-it-all attitude.

Anyways Emer chilled in our hotel room and I repaired my camera again that took up the afternoon till we were hungry again; we went to a place around the corner getting a tiny portion of mutton curry and some rice. Still hungry we went to a bakery and filled up on pastries, whilst there we again were approached by they guys we met yesterday who we were suppose to go to a rooftop party with. A friend of theirs (Johnny) came along and told us that there was going to be a farewell party for him on another rooftop this evening promising an Aussie DJ and women. Johnny was a well dressed older guy who was going back to Australia to see his wife “that he loves dearly but wants a divorce soon”, he was in the import and export business of jewelry and precious gems and stones.

Emer and I decided to go along as he offered food and drink. Chatting to Johnny about random things while the food was being cooked he was getting wasted from whisky and water. After a little while he wanted to show us his office and some of his jewels. This was the catch, we looked at his jewels and he told us about a shortcut to avoid the excessive tax on jewels and jewelry when he imported them into Australia or 16 other countries. He and his cousin was asking us to import them for him saving him the 200% import tax.

He showed us lots of documentation of other foreigners helping him out. The amount of cash (in hand) he was offering was 15,000 EUR. Personally I’d love that type of money but obviously this was a scam. We went back to the rooftop to enjoy the food that was really good; chicken curry, mutton curry and chapattis. During this time Johnny had drunk far too much, he was absolutely wasted on whisky and couldn’t even stand straight, watching the reaction of the others at the ‘party’, all 10 of them that were his employees, none of them were surprised, apparently he is wasted all the time.

That was enough for us and we were taken back home to out guest house.

My feet get so filthy here in india, this is after 2 hours of walking around Jaipur

A cow in the middle of the street

14/03/2010

We arrived in Jaipur at 5 am when it was still dark, the touts at the bus station were awake even at this time in the morning which is damn annoying because they want to offer you rides to their ‘cheap’ hotels or guesthouses and whatever else like looking in their jewelry shop or friend’s fabric shop. Excuse the language but “PLEASE F%CK OFF!!”

The guesthouse we were looking at were in walking distance from the bus terminal so we headed there by foot. Along the way an owner of a guesthouse offered us a cheap rate at 250 rupees and we decided to check it out, it had a nice garden but the room was a little run down and small and all the taps in the bathroom were leaking; not so good for a city that has limited water resources.Anyways we took it as we were tired from the journey.

We slept into the mid-afternoon till when we were hungry and set off into the town, like everywhere in India all the locals want to talk to you, which at first you respond politely and speak for a little while but when you talk to them every hundred meters or less it really takes a long time to get where you need to go. Some locals even invited us to some sort of rooftop party where that we agreed to go but after purchasing a bottle of whisky and started drinking from 6pm on the lawn of the garden in our guesthouse we were incapable of going anywhere. Whilst there we met a well spoken Indian guy named Robi who we shared our whisky with and he was kind enough to send someone from the hotel to get us dinner, at this point Emer and I were pretty battered and Emer went to bed to throw up. I stayed up of a little while longer drinking some rum with Robi but after I got the food in my gut I was ready to pass out and so I did.

Early morning Jaipur

13/03/2010

Sleeping into 11 was exactly what needed and I was feeling much much better than yesterday afternoon. For brunch we grabbed Thali at a local place that was great because it was all you can eat for only 30 rupees.

We checked on the transportation to Haradwar in the North but because it was the weekend and the festival that only takes place every 12 years buses and trains were pretty much filled up. We decided to head to the west and see Rajasthan for a few weeks instead.

For the afternoon we chilled in the center park and did SFA.

We went back to where we had breakfast and I ordered another Thali, I loved the free refills and I was completely stuffed before heading to ISBT (The main bus terminal 25 km out of town) we had organize a tuk-tuk to get there and the drivers were offering 200 rupees but we managed to get it down to 100. We arrived at the bus terminal and hopped on a bus to Jaipur for 175 rupees, where I popped a sleeping pill where I passed out for the 6 hour journey.

12/03/2010

Emer and I woke up very early today to go check out the Taj Mahal at Sunrise; we got a tuk-tuk there that was freezing cold and stuck around for over an hour. To be honest the view wasn’t spectacular because it was foggy from either or both the morning mist or pollution. The pictures I took of it it were not so great but thankfully later in the day the smag had cleared and I managed to get a few good pics in.

We walked the 5 km walk back to our hotel where on the way spoiled ourselves with 2 breakfasts. I was hoping to have a bit of a nap before having to meet with our rickshaw driver who ad organized a day trip with us for 200 rupees each at 10.30 taking us around the city to see various sites including the Agra fort, The palace where the achetect of the Taj Mahal was buried and the Baby Taj (the small version of the Taj Mahal that was built only 10 years before), he also took us to the train station for when we had to depart. The Agra fort wasn’t very good, we did bump into the French girls again and we wondered the passage ways and gardens with long faces and for 250 rupees it certainly wasn’t worth it.

Towards the end of the day I started to feel ill it was just a strong headache, probably from only having 5 hours sleep the night before and not resting all day.

We caught the train to New Delhi at 6 where I was so doped up on pain killers and sleeping pills I was out for the entire journey.

When we arrived at New Delhi it was crazy, literally hundreds of people were trying to board the train even through the windows, before the passengers wanting to get off could get off, it was nuts.

We wondered around the streets surrounding the station where all the quest house are about but all were telling us they were fully booked, it’s the same as Thailand where they say they are full so that you pay more for the pricier hotels. Annoyingly but thankfully we had a random guy try and take us to a bunch of hotels where he would have got some sort of commission, he scared us a little so we seeked refuge at a “full” hotel call white castle… we sat around the lobby till the guy left then the concierge ‘found’ us a room for 350. I took another valium before crashing and had a very good nights sleep.

Taj Mahal, HDR

Arriving at Delhi, people where climbing in through the train windows

Taj Mahal... yummy!

Emer and I, at the Taj... well across the river

monkey Spectators

Surprise! at the Agra Fort

I dont know why i paid the guy 20 rupees cause i did all the cycling

Cow shit used as fuel ... apparantly as Emer says for tuk-tuks. But also Fires

Early Morning in Agra at the Taj

Levitating again!

11/03/2010

Today we left Orchha to get to Jhansi for our train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal for a day.

We left just after midday after getting some breakfast/lunch and geeked it up at an internet café. We managed to get a tuk-tuk to Jhansi for only 10 rupies each although we had to share with 10 other locals, it was a very cramped and bumpy journey but for only 25 cents for a 20 minute drive I certainly was not going to complain.

We waited around the train station for a couple of hours before boarding the train, lots of homeless children approached us gesturing for food and I really wish I could help them out but if you give food or money to one more and more keep on approaching you. It’s really quite upsetting because the kids look really in a bad state.

The train ride again was cramped but manageable although again all the locals just stare and try discretely to take pictures of Emer and I. As annoying as they are I caught out a few of them and it was funny to see because they get all embarrassed and pretend they were making a phone call.

We arrived in Agra at 6 pm where we found a nice but expensive guest house that had a slightly obstructed view of the Taj but because it was dark and not illuminated (why don’t they?) we could not see it. Tomorrow we will get up early to see the sunrise over it.

We went out for dinner at a place recommended in the loney planet guide book and ordered a meat dish, it’s the first time eating meat since Thailand, mutton is delicious and its great to finally sink my teeth into something you have to chew; even typing about it is making me grind my teeth for some more. Price was not a factor here as I do need to treat myself once in a while whilst traveling on such a budget.

10/03/2010

We were supposed to leave to Orchha at midday today but because we woke at 11 and didn’t have enough time to see some of the sights we decided to stick around for another day.

We saw the grounds of the Jahangir Mahal which is the main attraction in town but to see the inside was 250 rupees, the grounds surrounding it was good enough for me and was free. As we walked around we found a rear entrance that we casually strolled into to get inside the building finding the courtyard where some photos in the guide book were taken. I took the same image as a HDR that looks so much better than in the guidebook. After a little while the security saw us inside and kicked us out.

We went to one of the temples were we were charged only 20 rupees to climb to the top where the view was amazing, I took a few panoramas at the very top of one of the spires that was difficult to get to as the platforms were broken or breaking at best; there were a bunch of bats at the top too that frightened both Emer and me as I climbed to the top.

We bumped into the French girls we met on the journey from Vanarasi whilst having lunch and we got involved with some more special lassi’s. After chatting for a while I passed out for 5 hours waking up at 10pm where Matt (an Engish guy), Emer and I sat and chilled for a few hours before hitting the hay.

View of Orchha

Jahangir Mahal, HDR image

Emer and I, Orchha

Curious Goat