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Fortunately, Jan has recovered considerably. We'll be taken to the fortress of Jaisalmer. Beautiful how the fortress is located there; proud in the sun with her 99 bastilions!
Walked all morning through the city within the walls of the fortress. We marvel at all the beauty; the houses the people, the colors and the smells. We buy some nice souvenirs. Jackets and scarves. We have a drink on a roof terrace. In the afternoon we go to the hotel.
We have our clothes washed for little money. That is very convenient because you are only so short everywhere. In one day everything will be clean and ready for you.
In the afternoon we take a rickshaw to the fortress and stroll at our leisure through the small streets within the walls. We will leave palaces and temples for what they are. We buy bracelets, scarves and pillowcases. So we have to negotiate extensively today!
Ingrid called home for a while and that went fine. For 50 rupees (approx. 1 euro) you can call for minutes. You can't do that on your cell phone!
Of course we also had a drink on a roof terrace. What a view. Activities to see everywhere. At the end of the afternoon surfing the internet in an internet cafe. Goes well in a heavily incensed building.
When leaving the fort we meet about 70 men / women who enter the fort in beautiful clothing.
Later we come across another singing event. In a building this time. We decide to take a look at a corner in the room where the meeting is to see what is going on. Shoes off. It's a religious gathering. Very nice how you are invited everywhere here. If you adjust, take off your shoes and don't step too much into the foreground, you can see everything. We get a kind of host when we leave. A lump of something unstable, but a little later we gave that to a holy cow. Must be good too! The cows mainly eat newspapers and cardboard it seems.
Ate at an Italian restaurant on the city wall. Very tasty by the way. We decide to treat ourselves to half a bottle of wine. This is taken very literally here! We see a man with a full and an empty wine bottle. He sits in a corner on the floor and pours endlessly back and forth until there is an equal amount of wine in both bottles.
Wonderful day!!
This morning a quarter to eight we leave the hotel. On the way to Jodhpur we stop at a Vishnoi village. Nice! The people immediately come running. It is a small compound with a few huts and some goats. In a hut a woman is churning the milk.
After our visit to the village we drive on. We are close to the border with Pakistan. Although there are no incidents at the moment, there are many army camps and military vehicles here.
Around half past two we arrive at our hotel in Jodhpur. It looks fine again. The room is adjacent to a terrace. The eight of us eat a grilled cheese sandwich. In the afternoon there is still time enough to go to the bazaar.
We walk through the city and admire all the merchandise. We can't resist making a few more purchases. Scarves, tablecloths .... How do we get it all back to Holland?
In the market is someone who sells incense. We sniff all the incense. We buy darjeeling tea from his son. A few beautiful women sell thin traditional scarves. Ingrid buys one. How beautiful they sit there with all those colorful cloths against that blue wall!! The person from whom Ingrid buys something must first be awakened.
People, cows, dogs; they snore in the craziest and sometimes the busiest places.
We see a beautiful terrace on top of a haveli. We are very happy! In the distance is the fortress. We also decide to eat there and have a delicious vegetarian meal. All kinds of bowls with sauces, spinach, yogurt, etc. Very tasty. Beautiful birds of prey sit on a pole next to the terrace. Lots of beautiful birds. Especially at the setting sun you can see them swinging around beautifully.
This morning after breakfast our driver Singh and his assistant take us to the big fort.
On the way up we first visit a temple. It is a kind of commemorative monument. Beautiful serene atmosphere. There is a table with commemorative things and photos. A rope has been stretched to which all kinds of handkerchiefs have been tied.
Then the fortress; that's very beautiful. We think it might be the most beautiful fort in India. There are many artifacts from ancient times and drawings of the ancient Maharajas. Lots of cribs in the attic. A new crib is designed for every new maharaja baby. The Maharaja held an audience in a large hall that you can visit. You can come up with 1001 stories yourself when you visit this fortress
From the fortress we have a magnificent view over the blue city. The city really turns blue! After the visit we decide to walk down ourselves. We don't regret that.
A unique road with of course a lot of blue houses! Eventually we end up at the same terrace where we sat yesterday. We take it and sit in the sun for a while. It is warm but not too warm.
Then walk around again. It is always worth going into small alleys, straying away from the “main road”. You often come across the most surprising things there. It's an anthill here but it all feels very safe.
At the end of the day we are a bit smoked. What exhaust fumes and smoke from fires! Dinner at the hotel in the evening. Very cosy. With six of us. A nice smoked chicken.
Breakfast at the hotel this morning. Around 9 am we leave for Udaipur. It's quite a distance. We ask Toei to visit a village on the way, but he didn't understand(?) and stops instead at a carpet shop. We'll be out of that shop very fast . Along the way we have a coffee stop and in the afternoon we arrive at the Jain temple of Ranakhpur . We wander around between the columns. Nearby is another colony of monkeys.
After our visit to this famous, impressive temple we drive on to Udaipur. On the way we make a last stop at 2 oxen that keep a water wheel in motion for irrigation. The oxen have painted horns.
The landscape has changed a lot in the meantime. Greener and also quite hilly/mountainous. People largely remain the same. Many small "farms" with small livestock. People work on the land. Women also work here in construction and road construction. It's amazing how they keep those fine colorful scarves together! We wouldn't be able to do that!
In Udaipur we are again accommodated in a fine hotel. Again we are hung with flower garlands. We arrive around half past four and a little later we take a rickshaw to the lake. We enjoy a lovely romantic dinner at a waterfront restaurant in this Indian Venice. From the restaurant we walk through a street where we end up at a tailor who is going to make 3 vests for Ingrid. From silk. We are curious. About 16 euros per blouse. Ingrid leaves a vest of her own as an example. Tomorrow evening he will bring them to the hotel. Finally, we take a rickshaw back to the hotel and have a drink there.
What a day! in the morning around half past eight we leave after breakfast.
With a rickshaw we go into the center of the city. Have a nice walk around. Lots of nice shops everywhere to visit and oh how we shopped! In a miniature shop we chat extensively with the shopkeeper, drink tea and buy some beautiful miniatures. Including a few cards. Nice cards of hand-painted elephants.
Then we end up at a jeweler. There too, sitting extensively at the chai and after a long time making a deal about a number of necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings. We buy 3 blue necklaces and have two of them made into 2 bracelets. We leave. After a few more shops we arrive somewhere high on a roof terrace . Ingrid notices that the bracelets she immediately put on are causing blue wrists. What a fake!
We go back to the jeweler. After showing Ingrid's blue wrists many apologies and chai again. It's because of the blue thread that everything is strung with. The stones do not give off (?). Stone bowls with water are brought to put it to a test. So he will re-thread everything with white thread. We get a pair of earrings for the inconvenience. After some time we go back to pick them up.
We also pass a tailor where we have trousers made.
We visit a temple. Before you get to the temple you have to climb a very high staircase with a lot of more and less holy people sitting on it.
We want to book boat trip, but that is not possible. Everything is fully booked! Unfortunately!
Finally we end up back in the hotel and… yes; blue wrists again! So bummed. Anyway, back to the jeweler. However; the shop is now closed. People in the street with whom we speak point us to a shop further down the road that is still open. It would belong to our shopkeeper's brother. We go there and ask the shop owner to call his brother. Finally, our jeweler arrives again. This time we are done with the tea. We actually get our money back! What a hassle! We still have to hurry because at 9 o'clock the pants are already brought to the hotel! We can keep the earrings that we had received for the inconvenience!
In the hotel we eat together for 6 euros! The pants are brought; they are fine. The jackets from the day before are also brought. All turned out great! Been on the internet for a while. We get some nice messages from Jan and Jetske and Peet.
Up early this morning. 7 o'clock breakfast and half past eight we drive away. It's quite a long journey today. There's a lot to see. Crowds in the villages we drive through. Lots of beautiful people again. Unexpectedly, a van stops somewhere along the road. A couple of men give carrots to a wild colony of monkeys. We ask Toei to stop and take a look. We also feed a few carrots to the monkeys. There are about 50 monkeys. There are also some cows; we also give them some carrots.
Around 2:30 PM we arrive at our hotel in Pushkar. Reasonable hotel. Less fancy than the previous one. We walk to the center. Strange town. Beautiful lake. Holy, nice to see but the town itself is very touristy. Very sixties. It seems a bit unnatural. We walk around and have a drink on a roof terrace. Not bad to continue the next day.
In the evening we eat in the hotel. Not an unqualified success. The TV attracts considerably more attention than the guests. In addition, it is very cold on the roof! But we have something warm in the stomach again and crawl into bed on time. Slept wonderfully!
It's cold tonight! We really needed an extra blanket. Who would have thought that in India. Have breakfast on the roof. That's the only place to eat. Cold! 4 degrees it is. But nice warm toast and a nice cup of tea.
We leave at half past eight. The journey is going well. It is very busy on the road but our driver, Mr Singh drives excellently! Very safe. He only honks when it makes sense.
In Jaipur we go straight, before we go to the hotel, to the Amber Fort. Nice to have a look. Not very spectacular and very touristy. From all sides, our kitsch elephants are pushed under the nose. It is very busy in the fort. Much busier than the previous forts. We gasp for air and want to leave!
After the visit to the fortress we continue to our hotel. A breath of fresh air! A picture! Bissau Palace. Right in the middle of this busy city. We have a nice room, completely in old style. An old bed, ditto bench. Outside the room a large patio with luxurious chairs! We have lunch in the garden between peacocks and various birds, including a kingfisher. What a wonderfully peaceful garden!
After dinner we walk into town. Busy, busy, busy, noise and a lot of stench! It's not easy to cross the road! Again a lot of beautiful people but also a lot of poverty. Fruit and fabric sellers, especially of very thin fabrics.
We made some small purchases. India remains a shopper's paradise! There are more begging people here. The hotel is located in the Muslim quarter. This city is really a chaos! Sometimes very attractive, sometimes also repulsive.
Back at the hotel we try to call Ingrid's mother and Marjon. Ingrid's mother is not at home, Marjon is. Nice to catch up. We eat in our hotel. Very tasty. The restaurant in this haveli is in a beautiful space. The food is a bit hot. Queen Elisabeth once stayed in this hotel. There are still pictures of her stay.
In the evening we pack our bags again. A lot of travel this round trip and tiring days. Many impressions during the day. But you don't want to miss an impression either! Slept great last night.
We can sleep in a little this morning. We have breakfast around 9:30 am. In the city at ten o'clock. The city center is about 200 meters from the hotel.
The pigs are sniffing around the corner at the hotel among the garbage. We actually walked around all day.
Stopped once and had a coffee in a good coffee house. Many other tents looked unappealing. Not inviting to use anything; let alone go to the bathroom.
We bought stuff again; scarves, earrings, tablecloth. By now we have bought a lot, but it all looks so nice and colorful, and it is so incredibly cheap!
What a fumes and stench around us! Exhaust fumes, fires that are lit everywhere, pans filled with oil in which to us unclear "delicious foods" are fried. From a side street we suddenly find a large square with hundreds of filled jute bags! Dried red peppers, garlic and you know what else. Most pockets are sewn closed with large stitches. They are often endlessly adjustable.
There are huge oxen, with horns painted green, carrying the sacks on old wooden wagons. If you have an allergy to dust this is not the right place, because even we get a sneeze. What a hard work for the people here! Working here for a lifetime will not extend the life.
A very special spectacle. Never seen anything like it, and maybe in a few years it will all be replaced by plastic. There are also several nests with dogs.
We are back at the hotel by 6:00 pm. Tired of strolling all day, but we also saw many special things. We enjoy watching life play out here. What a hard life, and what powerful people.
We get a text message from Holland. Everything fine there too.
At half past eleven the bags are packed again and we go to sleep. The days are exhausting; a lot of impressions. But you don't want to miss an impression either!
