Bundi

We took the train to Bundi, along with a group of boisterous Tibetans who were going all the way to Delhi. We've lost count of the number of times we have been told not to accept food on trains (apparently some locals have drugged food and stolen bags), so when we were offered food by our travelling companions we gratefully accepted (they wouldn't accept no anyway!) and tucked into the tandoori chicken, mutton curry, (Very hot) chillies and naans - it was really good, and they fell asleep before us anyway!

Bundi is a small quietish town with a palace that looks like its falling down a hill. We walked past the palace along an overgrown path (ok, so we did take one wrong turn which made it even more overgrown) to the fort at the top where there was no change to the path as the fort was in ruins and also overgrown, but extremely peaceful and nice. We relaxed and explored in the silence and solitude until we realise we weren't alone......there were also hundreds of monkeys that seemed to come from no where and were suddenly all around us, it was like a scene from a film (no partially expose statue of liberty to be seen).

We hired rickety old bicycles and, dodging the cows, pot holes and people, headed out into the country along quiet lanes where it became lush and green with wheat fields surrounding us as we passed many temples and cenotaphs - along with friendly locals who continue to have a conversation with us from the back of motorcycles.

In the ever increasing heat we took the opportunities to find various shelters where we could sit and watch the world go by including a treehouse we stumbled across overlooking a lake where we were joined by many parrots and other birds, the garden of our guesthouse where we could chill out and chat to the family and other travellers, and a quiet lakeside cafe where there was just the sounds of the birds over the lake and an old French lady farting.

Udaipur

The bus journey to Udaipur highlighted how the colours in Rajasthan have become more vibrant. Men wear bright turbans and women seem to wear brighter pinks and yellows that glisten with sequins and jewels. There is jewellery everywhere, huge silver bangles and gold discs for nose piercings that are so big they cover part of the face. Glass bangles in every colour shine in the sun and ankles and toe rings cover the feet - Beautiful India.

Udaipur is known as the romantic city of Rajasthan so where better to spend valentines day. It's built up around a lake with lots of beautiful buildings with huge archways that create pretty shadows. We've been to see a traditional Rajasthan dance show that started with a strange dance representing a quarrel between two Gods and involved a man putting hot coals into his mouth. The performance continued to involve women dancing the 'quick step' with pots of fire balanced on there heads, this was followed up by more women clinking brass discs on string all over there bodies! One man did a funny puppet performance and the concluding act involved a lady balancing 10 pots on her head and stomping on a brass dish and shattered glass. As well as these strange acts of madness there was drumming, singing and beautiful dresses.

Holy Cow!!

These sacred beasts wander all the streets, occassionally lying down for a rest in the middle of the road. Apparently gentle and placid, we have found out differently as both of us has received a 'friendly'nudge over the last few days - they are now getting a wider berth!

Johdpur 'the blue city'

The bustling streets and busy bazaars that surround the clock tower in Jodhpur were quite a contrast to the calm and quiet desert we just left. We can buy everything here the markets are never ending and we spent hours exploring them and more trying to find our way out. We've sampled the local lassies flavored with saffron which are superb just like a vanilla muller light (minus the light i am sure).
The for of Jodhpur, Mehrangarth, is magnificent and our favourite so far. The ticket guy gave us a David Dickinson style introduction then we headed off round the fort with our excellent audio guide (very 80's and very fun). The fort itself was well maintained and we saw the beautifully decorated palace rooms with geometric design in the courtyard. The views from Mehrangarth really showed Jodhpur as the blue city. Most of the buildings are painted blue/indigo as an insect repellent - we have not been bitten so perhaps it works.
We rounded off the visit with dinner and a show, a scrumptious thali and an open air performance of Macbeth in the fort gardens. Excellent

A close shave

Camel Safari

Our trip as a 2 temporarily became 3 as John joined us in Delhi, we spent an afternoon getting lost in the markets before taking the train to Jaisalmer. It was good to see him and we spent the 16 hour train journey drinking Old Monk (who'd have thought that India makes great Rum?) and catching up.

Jaisalmer is built of sandstone and it seems to creep up on you as you approach, with the huge Fort looming over you. We spent the day exploring before enjoying a meal with some beer and music, and getting caught up in one of the many wedding celebrations that seem to happen every day here.

Jaisalmer a desert town and we set about exploring the desert on camels (with guides). We spent 3 days (about 15 hours) on the camels going through dry scrub, sand dunes and several small villages. Our guides cooked us meals and we slept out in the open, on our second night witnessing an amazing electrical storm in the not so distant clouds and the millions of stars above our heads - fortunately we managed to stay dry, just.

We had a great time with John (and flyface, leggy and chewy), despite some slightly tired and sore legs, and the constant 'wind' from the camels.

Goodbye to the Orphanage.

We continued our time at the orphanage with a variety of lessons, ranging from jumping frogs to questions about song lyrics we wrote on the board. We spent one day upstairs with the really little ones - most are fully able kids but come in from the slums - they were both adorable and terrible at the same time, very excitable with short attention spans - we were pretty exhausted by the end of that day.

On our penultimate day a group of children came from a local public school to give a performance, there were comedy routines (in Hindi, but still funny), singing, and dancing, which the kids all clapped along to. Some kids from our class got up to give their own performances, with Kuldeep doing some awesome dancing and Suman playing the harmonium and singing. Somewhat inevitably we were summoned for a performance of our own. So, to the cracking bollywood music on the cassette we pulled out the 2 bangra moves we'd picked up, some 'running man' and some dosey does, to bring a round of applause and raise a few smiles. We were then invited to the public school for a look around (where we were treated incredibly well), it was a huge school with 4000 kids and some amazing facilities, quite a contrast to our little orphanage. We hitched a ride back on the school bus.

There have been ups and downs during our three weeks at the orphanage, but at the end of it we were sad to be leaving, purely down to the children who have been great, and we have got to know as individual personalities; Kuldeep the deaf dancer. Polite & friendly Susmita. Clever and cheeky (in a good way) Vikash - with one blue eye and one brown eye. Cheeky but sweet Praveen. Beautiful and adorable Seema. Power happy Mukesh. And Suman with his hand pedalled bicycle. In the younger class there is Deepak, the coolest kid in town. Ganga, the tomboyish boss of the class and the shy and quiet Sapna, amongst many others.

We will miss these and the rest of the kids and hope for the best possible future for them in what will no doubt be difficult lives. Despite everything that is against them they are tough, hard working and always have smiles on their faces. We are privileged to have spent time with them