Suzi 14/06/06

Rode a camel for the first time ever in Jaisalmer! Heaps of fun and, although we did have a driver helping each of us, actually easier than we thought it would be. If you would like to see a photo of Thorsten majestically astride "Desert Boy" and me on "Kalia", please have a look on our tiggerstree website (having now found a broadband connection we have uploaded a couple more photos!).

Jaisalmer itself was lovely. The fort is inhabited by over 2000 people so it's really busy as you walk around but inside the temples and palace was really beautiful and serene. We, and everything we owned, got completely covered in sand but we really enjoyed it and being in the desert was actually really nice at night as it was much cooler. Funniest experience was the bus journey to Jaisalmer. We took a local, non a/c, bus for 6 hours through the Thar desert! We had a family with 3 children sitting in front of us and, after a bit of smiling and saying hello, after 6 hours we had all 3 sitting on our laps, playing counting games and looking at the pictures in the rough guide! Was really nice but somewhat sweaty!! We also really enjoyed a mutton (which is goat in India) vindaloo on our last night, cooked by the hotel owner. We were also somewhat sweaty by the time we had finished that but we're loving the food here!

We're now in Jaipur and it's equally nice, our hostel even has a rooftop pool (for 7 pounds a night, with a/c, are now back on budget after the "excesses" of Scandinavia!)! We visited Amber Fort today and was very interesting. The Maharajah and his 12 wives used to live there in the days of Rajputana. Was a bit scary dodging the monkeys though as they try to steal anything you leave lying on the floor for even a few seconds and they're not cute in the slightest up close, huge teeth! We also went to a textile factory to watch the local workers making traditional block-printed goods and then watched the elephants at Amber Fort cooling off in the lake with their midday swim. They looked like they were having a great time! Tomorrow we are off to the City Palace,"The Pink City".