Cities of Pink, Blue and Gold

Rajasthan has a reputation for being colourful, and in accordance with this, Jaipur is known as the Pink City, Jodhpur as the Blue, and Jaisalmer as the Golden Fort. These have been our last three destinations, and they've been great.

The Blue City of Jodhpur

Since last time we have nearly travelled the length of Rajasthan, moving from Jaipur to Jodhpur and now staying in Jaisalmer. Traveling west has taken us deeper and deeper into desert country. Here millet (which is ground to make flour) is the major staple unlike rice in the wetter, southern parts of India. Further the Greens of the south have been replaced by yellows and browns of endless dry plains. Jodhpur was a wash of blue houses all looking up at the ancient fort which dominates the skyline. from Johdpur we took a "village safari" which showed us a lot about local rural life. For me the most interesting thing was learning a little about local customs: in the Bishnoi tradition men all sleep outside and women inside, including married couples and children as little as one year old. I was also fascinated by the traditional buildings built from local material to achieve ingenious results. For the Bishnoi people all wood used had to be dead and collected from the ground as they believe cutting down trees to be sinful, a very practical belief in an area where drought is much worse as a result of tree felling.
Jaisalmer is a beautiful golden town, in which the nicer old homes are built with intricately carved sandstone fronts. Full of hairy-smelly pigs as well as cows, its suburbs stretch wide around the old city wall which originally protected a tiny hill top village closed within. The major draw of Jaisalmer for most is a "camel safari", we took a three night trip out into the desert with camels to ride and blankets for the night. The landscape makes for hot days and cold nights so after tiring days of riding a bumpy camel we slept wrapped up tightly under the stars at night. On the first day , while getting used to the camel, riding was not very pleasant but as things progressed they got much more fun. Our enjoyment was however, entirely down to our 3 wonderful guides Ali, Murad and Suban who cooked us fresh food and generally looked after us. To see sand dunes with my own eyes was amazing, they seemed to randomly slice through the desert landscape. On the third day it was particularly exciting riding fast in a mock chase of some deer we spotted, which of course outpaced us with ease, making graceful leaps carrying them many metres at a time.

Jamie

A Potter Giving Us a Demonstration

Our trip to Amber fort in Jaipur was a fun day out. The palace inside was an interesting maze of winding corridors and staircases around a couple of central courtyards. We got a free ride back from the fort provided we browsed 4-5 shops on the way. From the top of the fort in Jodhpur we had a fantastic view of the old town and were able to spot our guest house in amongst the hundreds of blue washed buildings in sight. It’s believed that the blue wash, made from indigo, keeps homes cool in the summer and repels mosquitoes. The village safari was really interesting, well worth it. We we’re taken to a memorial placed in remembrance of the 363 lives that were taken at the sight by the local Maharajah’s men. They we’re killed because they clung onto the trees there which they believed to be holy and which the Maharajah’s men had been sent to cut down. A few villages later we found ourselves trying out a bit of pottery, being guided by the shop’s craftsman, which was great fun. The potter made it look ridiculously easy as you’ll be able to see if the video uploads. The honey coloured walls of the old hill top village in Jaisalmer are quite beautiful, the inside is less impressive but it does offer some great views of surrounding city.
The 3 night camel safari from Jaisalmer has been one of the most exciting things we’ve done recently. The daytime temperature was fine because we had a breeze when riding the camels and we stopped and ate in the shade through the midday sun. At night we found ourselves wearing a couple of layers of clothing, a sleeping bag, 2 thick sheets and thin bottom one to keep us warm. In the end we were sometimes a bit too hot but we still found ourselves sleeping with our sleeping bags up over our heads and pulled tight leaving just enough room for our mouths and noses to breathe through. The nights were pretty uncomfortable at times but an amazing sky filled with more stars than I’d ever seen before made it much more bearable. Speaking of uncomfortable, the camels shook us around a hell of a lot as when they ran which was thrilling but left us all feeling quite tender below the waist! Once you take your mind off of it, it becomes really enjoyable. Our safari guides were great; they were very polite and eager to please and constantly checked to make sure we were ok. They made the whole safari such a great experience.

Peter

Trekking Through the Desert on Camel-back

We only stayed in Jaipur for a couple of days after our last post (all those weeks ago), but we managed to squeeze in a visit to Amber Fort before heading to Jodhpur. Jodhpur was a lovely place, an old blue city with winding streets that were easy and lovely to get lost in. We stayed at the lovely 'Cosy Guesthouse', possibly my favourite accomodation so far. The kitchen chef even gave me a free cookery lesson! The fort was great, offering fantastic views over the blue-washed city. To be honest I could have stayed for another couple of days at least, but we had already booked tickets to move on to Jaisalmer, our penultimate stop.
I like the feel of Jaisalmer a lot. Although it is slightly busier than I expected, and seems to have very recently turned into a slightly more touristy place than it used to be, I have spent a couple of very enjoyable afternoons wandering the streets of the bazaar and the old town in the fort itself. The whole fort and town is made of sandstone, giving all the buildings the same golden colour. It is famously called the Golden Fort, and in the sunlight really lives up to its name.
Five days ago we embarked on a three-night camel safari through the Thar Desert, where we rode camel back during the day and slept on the dunes under the stars all night. It was an incredible experience, absolutely great fun, and something I'm not going to forget for a long time. Our three guides were invaluable, taking us miles through the desert, cooking us delicious indian curries and chapati and waking us up each morning with a hot cup of steaming chai.
We are heading to Delhi in a couple of days as our last stop on our amazing tour of India, where we will spend our last week before flying home. It is going to be a massive contrast to the calm of Jaisalmer, but I'm excited to see what its like.

John

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Our Morning Chai

This is Where we Slept on the  Second Night.

Murad making Chapati