Amazing Rajasthan - Udaipur and Jaisalmer

                                Sam and I sat on the rooftop terrace at Shahi Palace, overlooking the Fort at Jaisalmer

                                         Our beautiful room at Shahi Palace

                                         Me and Sam with my camel - he was quite nice!!

                                         Rolling down the dunes at sunset - had to be done!

                                          On the camels =)

                                        

                                          Backstreets in Udaipur

                                          Sam and I at our cookery class


After a gruelling 45 minute flight (!) we arrived safely in Udaipur. It immediately felt cooler in temperature and much more relaxed outside the tiny airport.  We had a lovely taxi driver who was very excited to have 2 English passengers! Last ones he had were in1984! In order to save time, and despite the fact that we couldn't face more travelling, we booked a night bus yo Jaisalmer for that night and would come back to Udaipur anyway for our return flight. That meant we now had an afternoon to kill and what a great place to be to kill some time! We wondered around the backstreets of Udaipur for hours simply in awe of the beautiful architecture and the friendliness of the locals. One lady stopped me and insisted on giving me a handful of her fruit and veg. How sweet! I hoped I hadn't been giving the impression that I was starving or anything...I guess she was just been really kind. Ahh Udaipur is just incredible and I fell in love with it almost instantly! All the enchanting little doorways, crumbling walls then giant solid wood doors leading into courtyards. All the little shops have long mattresses covering the floor so everyone sits on the floor inside. All very relaxed. Needless to say there were more than a few shopkeepers hard at work, fast asleep on the shop floor!! We finally emerged from the streets at sunset and came across Lake Pichola, the home of the floating palaces. I can't wait to explore them when we come back!

Now I thought the bus from Hampi to Goa was awful, but the bus from Udaipur to Jaisalmer was something else! It was 15 hours of torture on an old deathtrap of a bus with absolutely no suspension whatsoever. You know that awful noise a car makes when you drive over a huge pothole, we it was like that apart from we drove over a million potholes in a row for the entire journey. I was quite sure I suffered mild brain damage. There were a couple of Argentinian guys on the bus ho nicknamed it the "Jumping Bus". It was a scary journey and at one point I made the mistake of looking out the window. Wish I hadn't. I'm pretty sure we were flying round a mountain with sheer drops on my side! Just had to shut my eyes and hope for the best! It was also absolutely freezing at night as the windows slid open with every bump. Of which there were many. Anyway, I am pleased to say it was absolutely worth it! Among the scrubland desert was a magnificent fort surrounded by beautiful sandstone buildings. We met 2 English girls on the bus who had pre booked a highly recommended hotel so we grabbed a lift there with them and managed to get a room. When we arrived the owner said "welcome to Pakistan" haha. We are only 100km from the border here. The hotel is a beautiful place called Shahi Palace. The rooms are gorgeous - all sandstone with bright curtains made out of saris, elaborate windows and expensive bedspreads. We explored the fort for the afternoon and it really is a magical place, like a scene out of Arabian Nights!! We went a bit mad shopping...but we knew we would. Next day we went on a camel trek with a group of 8 from our hotel, including one of the girls from the bus. It was very different to riding a horse...very high and I didn't like not having any reins! It was good fun though. One of the guys' camels was really naughty and kept sitting down! We stopped after a couple of hours to have chai and then lunch which was vegetable curry, rice and fresh roti. We have that for dinner and lunch the next day too but it was very nice! During the 3 hour afternoon ride it started to get quite painful, so I was glad when we stopped at 5pm! We stopped on amazing sand dunes, the camels were unloaded and let loose (they had their legs loosely tied together so they couldn't go very far!). As the sun was setting we climbed up the dunes and spent some time rolling down the dunes...couldn't resist! Camp fire was lit and we sat round it to eat dinner. Then the guides joined us to sing to us with some drumming which was very good. Then it was time to sleep under the stars =) and I have never seen the stars look so bright! We were worried about being cold, but once we lay down they covered us in about 10 thick blankets that were so heavy and warm we could barely move!  This was my first experience of sleeping in the open, and  in the desert under the stars with the distant grumblings of camels it was pretty cool. We all woke naturally with the sunrise at 7am and were given chai and breakfast. It was then time to set off on our sore bums on the camels again. We were supposed to stay on the trek until 5pm that day but we couldn't face another 5 hours so actually stopped at 1pm! At 11am we stopped for a long lazy lunch. One of the girls was handed an empty bottle and asked to go and get milk for chai from the shepherd and his goats! Sure enough she returned with half a bottle full and it went into our chai. Fresh! After lunch we were picked up in a jeep and taken back to Shahi Palace. We got lucky and managed to get assigned (somewhat reluctantly!) one of the best rooms in the hotel for the same price as the first. It was gorgeous. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in the fort...oh dear spent far too much money!! But this may be the only time we ever come to Rajasthan so making the most of it!! Got the dreaded jumping bus back to Udaipur last night but were prepared with 2 big blankets so it was still awful, but less cold.  Did a 2 hour cooking class today! It was amazing. I know now how to make a proper curry - butter paneer/butter chicken, samosas, raita and chipathi and other Indian breads. Can't wait to try it when I get home! We ate what we made afterwards and it was very nice!!
Tomorrow we will sadly be leaving Rajasthan, and flying back to Mumbai. We will spend a few days there and then fly to Sydney on Wednesday. I will be sad to leave India, but am really looking forward to seeing Australia. Hoping the weather will be ok.

(Jaisalmer and Udaipur photos to come - internet is far too slow here!!)

Love Eleanor xxxx