Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

Jodhpur, the blue city.

Blue houses traditionally denoted those of the Brahman caste but now it is thought that blue is both cooler in the hot sun and repels insects.

Mehrangarh Fort, the centerpiece of Jodhpur.

Crumbling walls around the fort.

When the maharaja died, his wives would leave their handprints here before throwing themselves onto the funeral pyre.

One of the many ornate palace rooms.

The blue city seen from the fort.

Bree listening to Wham as we walk through the ancient fort. I told her it wasn't appropriate. 

We took a painless train ride from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur. It was less than an hour late! The next morning we headed up to the fort that dominates the city. It was as impressive on the inside as it was on the outside. Afterward we walked down to the market and clock tower, before winding our way through narrow streets home. We went out to dinner back near the market with a young Brit, travelling India for a month on break from Uni. It was nice to hear a kid with well thought out opinions and the knowledge to back it up, assessing his time here.

As we lay in bed before falling asleep we felt a heavy weight on our feet. We switched on the flashlight to see that the hotel stray cat had climbed in through the open traditional style half balcony (there is no glass or door) and picked our bed for the night. He's pretty big, we're not kicking him out. I wonder if he shared the bed with Adrian Brody when he slept in this room. (this is the smallest, oldest, and dingiest room we've had, but it also has lots of character)

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

Matt is leery of this bus situation.

From Alwar we took a quick train back to Jaipur where we managed to find yet another mode of transportation. Previously we've done plane, train, bus, rickshaw, autorickshaw (tuk-tuk), cable car, elephant, canoe, 4wd jeep, and of course lots of walking. To get to Jaisalmer we booked a sleeper bus. Instead of overhead luggage racks, there are small bunk compartments.

We arrived at the bus stand about 3 hours early because we didn't really have anywhere else to go. As we sat there among the massive bags of random cargo (that gets packed mostly onto the roof of the buses) a young boy approached us. In quick, good english he told us that his bus to Jaisalmer is very fancy and would leave soon and that his brother has a hotel there. Immediately our guard was up. No, we said, we have already booked the bus and our hotel. But he was not deterred, for the next couple of hours, he'd come up and repeat his offer of a better bus and his brother's hotel. Time and time again, we said no. But when our bus arrived, we were confused and a little shocked to find that the boy was actually working for the bus company we booked. We felt a little bad at how little regard we'd given this kid but after so many other touts trying to get us to do something we didn't want to do I think it is understandable.

The sleeper bus was strange. Our compartment was comfortable enough and had a tinted plexiglass sliding door for privacy. It was bumpy, but not that bad. We even broke out the computer and watched a couple episodes of Breaking Bad. Around midnight we pulled into a roadside restaurant along with several other overnight buses. Aside from that we were able to get a better sleep than some of the hostels we've stayed in. When we arrived in Jaisalmer, nearly 2 hours earlier than we had expected, one of the hotel owners was there to meet us and lead us to his hotel.

One of four gates that lead into Jaisalmer Fort.

The view from the rooftop of our hotel.

The window of our room looked out onto a square where local ladies hang out.

Trinkets for sale.

A sadhu (Hindu holy man).

Jaisalmer is known for it havelis, intricately carved sandstone architecture.

Cafe The Kaku, on a hill overlooking the fort and the city.

Jaisalmer is a beautiful city. It is called the golden city because most of the buildings are constructed of sandstone and give off, you guessed it, a golden glow. In the center of the town is a sandcastle-like hilltop fort that dates back to 1156! Our hotel was literally part of the old fort's walls. Our first day, we walked out to a cafe that was recommended for sunset views and got lost. At one point we stopped to ask for directions and within seconds were surrounded by at least a dozen children all clambering to ask us our name, where we're from (and for candy or pens; damn the tourists who ever thought it was a good idea to encourage begging). We eventually made it to the cafe which was yet another ancient sandstone fortification and watched the sunset beside the fort.

The road leading into the desert.

The ghost town ruins of Kuldhara.

Some locals restoring one of the buildings.

The following day we went on a camel safari into the desert (so we can add camal to modes of transportation). The trip consisted of a jeep drive to Kuldhara, another cursed Indian ghost town. Kuldhara was a town of Paliwal Brahmans. One legend goes that the people of the town were approached by a mean king from a nearby kingdom.  The king spotted one very beautiful girl from Kuldhara, who happened to be the chieftain's daughter and said that he would marry her or leverage unfair taxes on the town's people. The leaders of the town asked to think it over for a few days. The king agreed but when he returned the town and all the nearby villages had been completely abandoned.

The other legend is that Kuldhara (a town of pious Paliwal Brahmans) and nearby villages were being raided by roving bands of the desert equivalent of pirates. After the town attempted to defend itself, the pirates exploited the townsfolk's strict religious beliefs by dumping dead cows into the town's wells. Cows were sacred animals to the Paliwals, not to mention that the dead animals poisoned the town's water supply. The people of Kuldhara and the other nearby villages all abandoned their homes, but not before leaving a curse that anyone who dwelled on the these grounds would perish. Locals, for the most part still rarely venture into the town, and never at night.

Camel safari!

Bree lounging on the dunes.

With a German guy (half of the only other couple with us) posing in the distance.

The guides preparing our desert dinner.

The randy camel rolling in a bush.

Time lapsing the desert sunset.

After the ghost town, we drove deeper in to the desert where we met up with our camels. About 2 hours of bobbing around on top of the one hump dromedaries, we arrived at a series of large sand dunes. We watched (and I time lapsed) the sun setting while our guides prepared a typical desert meal: dal with veg, chapati, and rice. We sat around a fire as night set in and the guides sang a couple traditional songs for us. As we drove back to Jaisalmer, with the driver blaring Bob Marley, a quick storm blew in, complete with high winds, lightning, and hail. By the time we were back at the hotel, only the wind remained.

Almost immediately after arriving Bree and I regretting only allotting 2 days in Jaisalmer. It's a small city but we both wished we had more time to hang out in this very cool (and visually stunning) desert outpost.

- Matt

Alwar + Bhangarh, Rajasthan, India

Sagar step well with the fort in the hill behind it, in Alwar.

Sambar deer roaming the old palace grounds.

The ruins of Bhangarh ghost town.

Bhangarh is now home to hundreds of both Langur and Rhesus monkeys.

Langur mom + baby.

Banyan tree outside of Bhangarh.

Sheepherder with a nice turban and mustache.

Wanting to get a bit off the well-worn "golden quadrangle" tourist route, we decided on a side trip to the lesser visited town of Alwar. We arranged for a driver to drive us there, so that we could stop off at Chand Baori (the awesome looking step well from The Fall and The Dark Knight Rises) on the way. We discussed this plan as we were arranging the car and got the usual "yes, very good madam, yes, nice place". We even reconfirmed, and then asked the driver, to Chand Baori, yes? Unfortunately we arrived in Alwar and realized our driver was looking for Chand Baori hotel. I called our hotel to figure out where we went wrong, and after some discussion the man at the hotel asked "Actually, what is Chand Baori madam?" I expressed my displeasure at our misunderstanding, but realize that it was half our fault too. We are the ones who don't speak the language, and we assumed everyone involved knew what we were talking about. Still, it can be frustrating. I know that he didn't lie, but in not wanting to disappoint us or say no, he (and the other "helpful" folks who gave us directions to a non-existent hotel) kind of messed up our plan.

Lao Tsu once said, "a good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on getting there". My mantra.

The stress of getting to Alwar was initially alleviated by stumbling upon a hotel that upgraded us to a suite with a private roof deck (after a little bargaining, "this room is expensive, let's look at another hotel...). Of course then they denied me from entering the bar "madam, there are no ladies allowed in the bar madam". It was not the night to break barriers, and honestly I was tired of being stared at.

The staring can be hard to handle. It is worse in smaller towns that don't get many foreigners. Gorakhpur felt downright antagonistic, but I think that in Alwar there are enough people who speak a little English to ask some questions that they can take a step beyond just watching (to having their photo taken with us!). I do try to remind myself that it is cultural, it's not as rude to stare, and they are just curious, but you can't help feeling mocked, judged or threatened.

The next day we walked through the market area of the small town, and found the fort, palace, and step well. The step well water was overgrown with algae and full of garbage, but with a little imagination you could see how glorious it would have looked in it's prime. What made it better is that we shared the dilapidated compound with a few groups of boys playing cricket, a handful of sambar deer, a troupe of monkeys and a bunch of dogs.

The following day we set out at 5:30am to visit Sariska Tiger Reserve. We didn't really have any hope of actually seeing tigers, so we had little intention of actually doing the "safari" part of the trip. All we wanted to do is see the ghost town of Bhangarh.

Legend has it that a Tantrik (kinda like a wizard) fell in love with the princess of this town, but she didn't love him back. He enchanted the oil for her bath so that she would fall for him, but she knew and poured it on to the ground and it became a rock that rolled over him and killed him. But just before he died he cursed the palace, killing the princess and all of the royal family and cursing them to stay as spirits in the town forever. The townsfolk all abandoned the place. Today, no one is allowed in after dark. There are variations on this legend and completely different ghost stories of the place. But the truth is no one knows exactly why it was abandoned. Most likely reasons are a combination of war and famine over a number of years drove people away. We didn't see any ghosts, but the place is now home to a vibrant community of monkeys.

It was great to be out in the Indian countryside. An Indian man we chatted with at the hotel couldn't understand why we enjoyed this small average town so much. People were friendly, it was easy to navigate and walk around and, other than the rickshaw drivers, no one was trying to sell us something of get something from us.
Incidentally, the man in the hotel was most concerned about what Matt's parents must be doing in our absence, and concluded that brothers or cousins must be looking after them for us. We assured him they were quite capable of taking care of themselves.

- Bree