Udaipur...finally a place with water

Thats a little peacock painted on my crappy short nail by a minature artist. For generations his family have painted minature arts for the royal family. Back in the day minature art was like a photograph. When the maharana was celebrating he woul have his artist depict the scene then within a day or 2 he would have it finished for the king to recall.

This place is the most greenest city I have seen so far. I even walked across a palace lawn with grass. It was so nice to feel grass on my feet again! Staying in a pretty hot hotel, overlooking the lake with the famous white palace in it. (Accommodation has become paramount in this country. It’s so mental that you just need a nice place to stay, revitalize and get away from all the craziness. I’m loving the 2 english channels that most of the hotels have to watch friends re-runs or movies on, especially when I have been sick. Nicole Kidman was here yesterday and left the very shop where I am going to get my henna done tomorrow. Something else that was interesting and kinda fun - I randomly starting talking to a local shop owner who turned out to be from the caste that practices face and palm reading….he told me so many things about me and my life, what I am thinking about + that i think way topo much + what’s coming up... It was just a regular conversation then he kinda kept throwing things in…I have never had someone be so direct and correct about my life and my personality. Ask me about it and I’ll tell you all the details!

On the shopping front, I have a coat being made for me (yep i know!)….the design is fucking cool and it’s in a soft pea green colour. Made from merino wool and lined with this pink silk that has a green sheen (when I describe it, it sounds quite awful but believe me, it’s hot!)….here’s hoping for a cold winter when I get back to oz.

Have found some beautiful oils too; Opium, sandalwood, red jasmine and vanilla. I’m going to get a bottle of each so that I can mix them up at home for my own perfume. Anyone else want some?

Had to see the doc again today too. My tummy is still screwed. This time the doc was really thorough and has prescribed me ciproxan which was what my doc prescribed for me back in oz to bring with me on my travels. I just forgot to pick it up. Oops.

So another day here then we’re off on overnight train to Jaipur. Apparently that’s the place to buy shoes….i probably shouldn’t buy anything more though! I seriously don’t know how I can bring it all back. I’m thinking I may have to send a massive bag of stuff + all my hiking gear back from Dehli before Thailand. Though I’m just freaked out that it won’t all get there!

In the middle of nowhere

After Jodhpur we drove south to a small village and stayed in a super nice havalei. I had a gorgeous massage and we went out that night on a local village safari. Basically to see how Sheppard villagers still live today. I felt weird doing this. Kinda intrusive though they were just as interested in us, and the girls even had the cheek to comment on how my skirt and scarf didn’t match. Here I was just trying to be culturally sensitive and cover my shoulders. After that I took it off. Just shows you that no matter where you are in the world, girls in groups can be real bitches. (they obviously weren't really offending me but it was still an interesting insight)
Awesome shots though… I especially love the ones of the kids

Local women carrying their daily water back to their family home in big pots. The married women wear bangles right up their arms.


The Jain temple of XXXXXX (i'll get back to you with this) Dates back to the 15th century. The Jain temples are dedicated to different Jain Tirthankaras or hermits. Various animal or human figures are carved on the marble walls in the famous dilwara style. This one was nestled in the middle of no-where and was so beautiful. All marble and carved to perfection.


Me and Travis in the temple after being blessed by the priest and dotted with an orange dot.

Our Hotel's courtyard
Our room and me all dotted up from the welcome.

The colour scheme was gorgeous. Lots of orange and blue with painted murals with mirrors.

Jodphur

it's only been less than a week but we have already been to 4 new places...from Jaisalmer we took a local bus to Jodhpur, the blue city and home of the horsey pants. The place we stayed at was pretty average and you could tell when we were close cos you could smell sewerage. nice. I was so close to throwing up about 3 times when we'd pull into the driveway on a rickshaw. With our guide totally checked out, we have pretty much done everything on our own and changed the itinerary completely. (We have just learned that this is his last trip as he is going off to live in Spain with his girlfriend of 3 years?!)

So Jodhpur we went to a circus which was pretty much like what they must have been like in the 50's. Full of animals like elephants playing cricket and hitting the ball into the audience...which i caught. weird human acts where 5 girls would hang from steel rings by a piece of cloth and spin around up into the air, dodgy motorbike tricks where i was sure at least 1 person would die, strange dwarfs, ringmasters that look like that famous old porn actor....very odd but lots of fun. We were all pretty over indian food so both nights we ate pizza hut....how bad is that?!!! it was so good though.

We also managed to get into the incredible Unmaid Bahavan Palace hotel. Perched high above the desert capital of Jodhpur, Umaid Bhawan Palace is the last of the great palaces of India and one of the largest residences in the world. It was supposed to be 100$ for us just to get in but for some reason when we decided that it was way too exey for us they just let us in. I officially celebrated my birthday there in the veranda bar/restaurant overlooking the gardens, listening to Rod Stewart crooning away. It is quite possibly one of the MOST beautiful, most opulent places I have ever been too. (i don't haver any pics from the inside) Everything is marble inside and golden sandstone outside. There is a library with the oldest books and massive oils littering the walls, the foyers and halls look up into the main dome of the palace. The flowers are all exquisite, there are stuffed cheetahs positioned up one of the staircases and a trophy room...its all very posh but i love it. You have servants following you around waiting on you hand and foot too….it’s seriously insane. The palace, which served as the principal residence of Jodhpur’s royal family is definitely a place where I would like to be whisked away to for a weekend.

Camel Safari

Alice the camel had only 1 hump...which i don't think really classifies them as camels..
Camels long ostrich neck and my new bracelets

We trekked out about an hour and half into the 'desert'/ middle of nowhere. We had a dinner out there and local nomads entertained us with music and dancing. We slept the night under the stars and i had the company of a local mangy but very adorable dog who slept right next to my bed. I wish i could have touched it but dogs here are seriously mangy. Riding the camels was good fun. They're super comfortable to ride and like dad said, they barely make a sound when they walk. Travis and I even got our trotting enough for us to race...which I won, so that was even better. Con's of camel riding is their stinky breath. It smells like the worst morning breath you've ever smelt mixed with dirty knickers. Sorry it's true.

The camel i won the race with

Me and my buff. I know i'm vain

Jaisalmer...the golden city

I think we're about 2 weeks into the trip now, my gastro has finally gone after i called the doctor and got some serious medicine. A little note to any other travellers - Gastro here is bacterial and not viral like in aus, where you just suffer for a day or 2 then its over...i suffered for 5 and that's been plenty. So, these past few days have really only been my first where i have felt 100%. I think it has taken a while to adjust to this country too. I pretty sure I experienced a bit of culture shock...how could you not? The constant stink of cow shit, sewerage & incense, especially when you're ill, is enough to want to board the next flight out of here. At one stage i wanted that. I last wrote on my birthday morning which was all fine but then i pretty much cracked it later on. I felt crap, i wasn't with all my friends and family& our guide was/is a shit. It was just rubbish. We went for a drink at this old fort which was amazing and would have been great to have dinner at but instead we left and had dinner at some crappy place. I was so close to tears, then i was like, fuck it, i can't do anything and if i leave this place and tour i know i'll regret it. It was definitely a turning point for me. Giving up the tantrums at 26. great. So 2 towns later and we are in Jaisalmer. It is called the golden city because of all the yellow sandstone that is used. At the centre of the city is the huge fort dating back to sometime around 1126 and spanning 5km in radius. Inside the walls there is the palace and a labyrinth of alley's full of the most exquisite shops selling miniature paintings on silk and postcards from the early 20's and 30's, camel wool and silk pashmina's embroidered with beads and sequins, maharaja pants that balloon out & silk dresses and skirts made from every single pattern and colour imaginable, intricately beaded wall hangings and throws for your bed, couch, table....its just an endless shopping mecca and for the first time i can understand why people like to come to India. I was just saying to Gemma there's a few great business ventures to be made from this trip...and possibly some buying trips in the future.? Yesterday and today i had a full body ayurvedic massage. The lady who runs the place is stunning. She is like a royal goddess and i couldn't believe that she was 42. I wish i had a picture of her. She was married at 14 to her husband who doesn't work because he has depression. She has 2 sons and 1 daughter, though 1 son and 1 daughter are adopted, all of them work in the massage parlour and because of her sons profession she is finding it hard to marry him off...the local families think that it isn't good enough?! So, instead Baiju is allowing her son to go to Calcutta to find a wife. how sweet! In Calcutta you don't have to have arranged marriages, so hopefully he will find a wife! Reason i know all this is that i had lunch with them today after my massage...another nice surprise :-)

my new skirt...love!

MY BIRTHDAY!

Finally i reach 26 years old. I swear to god that every year i feel like i'm at least a year or 2 behind myself. Today i'm in Mandawa. A small town in Rajasthan about 6hrs drive south of Dehli if you are sucicidal. Our driver was. We played chicken with every single car, motorbike, camel and bus that came our way on the potholed road/highway. It was so surreal but for some reason i justified it all because we were doing it the local way?...and this was how they all drove?

This morning, we visited some beautiful Havalei's (houses) that in their day would have been the most opulent homes in the world. Each Havaeli has around 20 rooms and is richly decorated with hundereds of frescoes depicting the lives of their deities. Our accomodation is also in a famous Havalei and it honestly feels like i've stepped back in time...It is all stone, highly decorated with tiny windows, open rooftop where we done by candlelight, large courtyards with reclining chairs and bourginvilla flowers and vines......gorgeous.....

Varanasi early morning boat ride

Heres a few shots from my 6am boatride along the Ganges. Its a beautiful experience and way less hectic than alking along the banks. Esp considering i had been part of all the chaos the night before. Garland of flowers from the cremation ghats

Pilgrims and locals washing, praying and getting ready for their day. It was Sunnday so a lot of people were being quite social and washing together.

pondering....or half asleep

Bunches of young boys and men practising yoga