Rajasthan

From Ahmedabad, we made our way to Jaipur. It was our first taste of Rajasthan, India's most flamboyant state. Our hotel reflected that fact. It was called the Pearl Palace and the walls, doors, furniture, and restaurant were all ornate and very flashy. My favorite in particular was a massive 6 foot peacock that lived on the rooftop restaurant. We spent many meals there because it was cheap, relatively good and had a nice ambiance. We only had a few days in Jaipur, but we were able to pack in a lot thanks to the help of Babu, our friendly auto rickshaw driver. He brought us to the Amber Fort, Monkey Temple, Water Temple, and some cool local stores.

The Amber Fort was much better than I was expecting. The place rests picturesquely up on the hill and you have to climb up to get there. Not only is it still impressive from the outside but it's still retained a lot of its magnificence as the palace was still very much intact. Visitors can wander the multi-story palace freely. Allowing everyone to get their own unique feel of the place. As you exit, there is a fabulous art museum that had some very inspiring Indian paintings, a few of which we regretted being unable to purchase. Alas, the backpack, thwarting yet again the range of souvenirs we can bring home. Anyway, the Water Temple was cool because it looks like it is literally floating in the water. We couldn't enter though. Babu allowed us to fulfill one of our greatest wishes in India. We drove a rickshaw. It's surprisingly difficult and makes me respect the impressive driving I see everyday even more. The Monkey Temple itself was underwhelming but the experience was worth it because we got to hand feed monkeys peanuts! The day was also a success because Alexis and I got some rockin' tapestries that we are very pleased about. I packed that day into one short paragraph but it was a very exhausting, satisfying, gratifying day.

The rest of our time in Jaipur was spent in the old city wandering the market streets. We were on a search for the famed Rajasthani bangles. We did find many fabulous bangles, so many in fact that by the end of the day, they all looked the same. On our first day of bangling we weren't even able to buy any we were so bangled out. And I have to say Jaipur itself is very overwhelming. Shopkeepers, swindlers and beggars are so aggressive that it isn't uncommon to be grabbed, pushed or assertively directed to accommodate someone else's agenda. India pushed it's limits on me that day and if someone had offered me a plane ride home I very we'll might have taken it. But that's India for you. A constant struggle.

Jaisalmer was a whole other beast entirely. It is very aptly named the Golden City and seems to rise out of the desert like a mirage. Outside the fort reminded me of Tatooine from Star Wars and I half expected Obi Wan to be around the next corner saying "These aren't the droids you're looking for." We didn't spend much time in the city however because...we went on a camel trek! We left very early in the morning so we could eat breakfast as the sun rose in the desert. For the desert, it is surprisingly cold in the morning and we huddled around the cook fire with fresh made chai to warm our bellies.

Then it was camel time. My camel's name was Johnny Walker and Alexis's was Lucky. Getting on a camel is an exhilarating experience. It feels like a mini roller coaster in itself. Then there's the actual ride. It's true the novelty wears off pretty quickly and turns to pain, but as you plod along with desert on all side ps as far as you can see, with nothing but blue sky, you can't help but feel like a cowboy. We were on the camels for 3 hours before lunch time (getting closer and closer to Pakistan), which was plenty of time for our groins and thighs to be severely strained. We rested during the heat of the day under a large desert bush and then pushed on. The second part of the day i felt less like a cowboy and more like Rango because it was HOT. Like so hot you couldn't even sweat you went straight to roasting. Which in my opinion is better then Kerala heat. And I'm happy to say we were so covered the whole day, we didn't get sunburned! It was funny, when we arrived in camp, these French people told us, they had thought we were Japanese people because we were so covered up when we first rolled up to camp! The sand dunes were spectacular. I sang Arabian nights on repeat in my head for the first two hours we were there. We watched the sun set over the dunes and then sat around a campfire for dinner. We tuckered out really really early. But who can blame us? Our whole bodies were jello after a full day on a camel! We fell asleep to the sound of french children's songs around the camp fire and we slept out under the stars under very thick blankets. The French people we were with were very impressed that we were sleeping uncovered (they had brought tents) but I wouldn't have done it any other way because when we woke up in the middle of the night we saw millions of stars and the outlines of the sand dunes. It was stunning.

The morning was rough. It was cold, noses were runny and our whole bodies were beyond sore. But we persevered and after breakfast we were back on our camels heading back to Jaisalmer. The ride was comparatively short and before we knew it, we were saying good bye to our camels. It was a short but extremely satisfying trek and most definitely one of my favorites so far in India.