we're deep in rajasthan now. from the white city of udaipur, its giant lake and white capped domes, we headed north to ranakpur for a day.

ranakpur, the jain temple here, with over 1444 columns, no two alike, in a series of nine halls set back in the desert was peaceful and cool. we had to cover our legs with giant, mc hammer, pyajama pants rented for 15 cents and couldn't bring any water in (???). the four hour, bumpy government bus ride, each way from udaipur was a bit much though.

from udaipur we headed further to the blue city of jodhpur. it's a mish-mash of ancient twisting allweyways, buildings white-washed and stained with indigo, to a deep brahmin blue, brilliant in the day light. the meherangarh forth, of yellow sandstone sits high on the hill above the city, while shop vendors rip us off in the market by the clocktower below. the fort is incredible. i've been here before though, walked these halls, touched the walls. i was bitten by a rabid dog on the street just outside the market two years ago, and endured a month and a half of anti-rabies injections. good times!

after jodhpur, we hopped on the overnight express train west through the thar desert to the golden city of jaisalmer. so named because of the yellow sandstone used in almost every building here. as the sun sets, it glows golden. there's a great fort here and a palace, a few nice jain temples and a lot of camels. the fort is crumbling because of water over-use and wastage. it was never designed to hold or manage the amount of water that the hotels and restaurants within its walls use today. three of the 99 bastions have already collapsed and the fort is slowly sinking. it's a shame, not much is being done to save it, and jaisalmer's fort may not be here another 100 years...let alone 500.

in jaisalmer, amanda and i rented three camels, and two guides: piru and kabal, along with bedding and food, to take us the hundred or so kilometres around the circuit of ancient temples and cities through the great thar desert edging towards pakistan. it was a four day, three night trek, 5 hours on the camels a day. the stars out above the sand dunes in the scrub brush, were incredible and falling asleep in the cold of the desert tucked-in under layers of blankets with the sky above us was amazing. piru was a great cook, with over 20 years experience doing camel treks. he cooked a mean dahl (lentils and spices), tasty chapatis and vegetables and milked the camel every night for fresh camel's milk chai tea and rice pudding. we saw old temples and abandoned cities, but the best part was just the ride. bumping up and down on my camel, raja, was something i'll probably never experience again. i had an indiana jones hat, my mp3 player, views of eagles circling, deer, herds of bell-tinkling, non-stop farting goats and sheep, hoards of flies, lizards and cacti...and neil young singing "been through the desert on a horse (camel?) with no name, it felt good to get out of the rain..."

from jaisalmer we went train crazy, and made it the 800 kilmoetres through the desert to pushkar. that's where i'm writing from. hindu epics say that brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth and pushkar lake floated to the surface. it's a holy city, strictly vegetarian: it's impossible to find chicken (or any other meat for that matter) anywhere...eggs aren't even allowed. drugs and alcohol are prohibited...beer is nowhere to be found and sadhus (holy-men) wander around with sticks asking to have their photgraph taken for money. you're not allowed to take pictures of the bathing ghats that line the lake. people come here to wash away their sins, just like the ganges in varanasi. the lake is only about 250 m around a encircled by holy temples, snowy white domes, cows and monkeys and flocks of pigeons who shit everywhere. shoes aren't allowed within 40 feet of the water, which makes it hard to dodge the bird crap and cow piss anyways.

we're out of pushkar tonight, heading to agra to see the taj mahal. from there it's back through delhi to rishikesh (where the beatles studied at an ashram and wrote most of the 'white' album). home in 10 days! ahh!

Labels: india, pushkar, rajasthan, travel

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back in ahmedabad for the wedding, my father's home city, the capital of gujurat and a bustling, metropolis in northwest india.

ceremonies and family. my cousin from australia and aunt and uncle, my sister and dad, grandma and great aunts, cousins, neices and nephews and more uncles and aunties. amanda and i got mehendi (henna) on our hands and danced the night away to indian classical music (sort of). we drank chai and ate cookies for breakfast. we watched marriage ceremonies: my cousin being bathed in turmeric paste, the burning of cow dung patties, special rituals, fires, costumes and flowers, songs and music. she's a married woman now. weird, i remember when she was just a wee baby, i guess i'm getting old. after five days we hopped on a bus and headed north to where we are now, udaipur.

the flat plains of gujurat gave way to the hills and rocky cliffs of southern rajasthan. elephants now mixed with camels, and the men cao draped in giant, brightly coloured turbans and white knee length shirts. the women in coloured saris. we're in rajasthan now, a collection of princely states figureheaded by maharajas. a land of palaces and holy temples, of camels and pastel coloured buildings, lakes and rivers against a backdrop of palms and desert brush.

udaipur is known as the 'white' city and white represents purity. most cities in rajasthan have been designated a colour: jodhpur is blue, jaipur pink, jaisalmer gold and so on. we're staying at lalghat right on the enormous pichola lake, our rooms looks out on the water and the mystical lake palace. we spent today wandering through the city palace, rajasthan's largest, and are heading to an ancient jain temple in ranakpur on a day trip tomorrow.

we've decided to stay a couple of more weeks and will be here until just before christmas.

Labels: india, rajasthan, travel

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