Jaisalmer with all it's wonders and camels

Here we are, in beautiful picture postcard Rajastan, in the middle of the desert, Jaisalmer. In the evening sun, free wifi because we befriended the owner of the hotel, the famous Jaisalmer fort on the background. Lovely cold Kingfisher on the table, all my shopping purchases of the day in a big bag next to me.

The fort is an amazing place, as they say in the lonely planet, the biggest sand castle on earth, and it is indeed.

It is like stepping back to the middle ages with all it's smells (not all lovely, but it's India) and colours and market shops.

We've got a lovely hotel just outside the fort and through there we booked an overnight camelsafari beacause the lonely planet told us to do so..! There was a Dutch guy in our group, Eelco, a German, Helmut, and Rob, one of our christmas orphans who we met up with again! Early morning we left with a jeep that dropped us off at a Jain temple first, then we went to the Thar desert. India shares this desert with Pakistan. The camels arrived, they are amazing animals. I have never seen Duncan this nervous..! He was bound to Mr India for 2 days, he had an uncomfortable saddle and I had a nasty bitch called Goddik. She had her own will and a small baby. After an hour ride through the desert we were glad it was lunchtime, Dunc had a broken ass as the indian guide said it, and I already had sore thighs. Sandy chapati's taste strangely good when you're in the desert..! After lunch we went off again, duncan walking next to his camel because of his brokes ass, and we went to our overnight spot. The absance of Indian noise and garbage was a very welcome change. After a walk over the sandy dunes while the sun went down, we had another lovely veg curry with sandy chappati's and built a massive campfire. The group dynamic was very nice. Lovely chats and lots of jokes around the fire and the stars. Our guide sang a few Indian marriage songs for us, while playing the Tablas (Indian drum) on the metal cooking pans and he insisted we sang a song aswell, so there I was singing "als ik boven op de dom sta" from the top of my lungs, and Johnny and the kid (our guides) laughed and laughed and played the tablas..! We slept underneath the millions of stars and the milky way that night. It was amazing(ly cold...) The next morning we woke up very early, Johnny and the kid were already making breakfast and we headed off again on mr India, Goddik and the 3 other camels. We stopped at the village of our guides where both Dunc and I had the most amazing(ly bad) nailpolish job of our life and they tried to overcharge us massively for a cup of chai. Tourism at work. Little did they know 4 out of our 5 man group was travelling for more than 3 months... So they weren't very lucky today..!

We had again an amazing lunch underneath a tree. Then all of a sudden Johhny and the kid shouted "DESERT MARRIAGE..!". I looked back, jumped up and shouted: " Oh no, my camel is being raped..!" There was Goddik with a strange camel on top of her, squeeling. Her baby screaming because her mother was being raped, I told you she was a dirty b*-ch..! That was a sentance I never thought I would say..!

Well then, after an hour on the back of our camel-friends, we had a freightning journey back to Jaiselmer in the back of a jeep. What an adventure again..

Tomorrow we're leaving for Johdpur, the blue city. Excited to see what that'll bring..!

Time is pushing now, we've only got 3 weeks left before flying back to the uk. Well, at least I've got all my souvenirs sorted now, I bought you a great one today papa..!

Again, Lots of love from Incredible India,

Dunc and Ellen

New year Agra and colourful Rajastan

We arrived after dark in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. The hotel that we had booked, so it said in the lonely planet, has the best rooftop-views of the Taj Mahal. Very excited we logged our backpacks to our room and rushed to the roof to see one of the 7 world wonders. But unfortunately it wasn't lit up, we only saw a vague silhouette. The biggest surprise was in the morning.

What an amazingly beautiful building it is.. As with any landmarks you've seen hundreds of pictures of it, but here it is, right in front of you!

The next morning we woke up very early (with a slight hangover thanks to a bunch of Irish lads) and we entered the gates of the Taj Mahal at 7 am, when it was still quiet. It was surrounded by mist, magical. The building changed from white to pink as the sun came up. Walking around you get mezmorised by all the amazing detail of the inlay of the (semi-) precious stones. And not just a little patch but the whole Taj is covered in them.

We walked around for 2 hours and left just as the touristbusses arrived and the Taj was swamped.

That night was new-years eve. Our hotel staff had been prepairing the party the whole day; putting tinsel up, a disco light, lovely indian buffet, etc.

We had a very international party. Dutch, Enlish, Irish, German, Australian, Canadian, Lebonese, Romanian and ofcourse Indian. It was lots of fun. Unfortunately the only cd they had was the Venga Boys so we were rocking out on "I'm a barbie girl" the whole night.
So we were at the Taj Mahal, full moon AND Lunar eclipse for our new year!

Our train was supposed to leave new-years night at 4.45 in the morning so we partied untill 3, packed our bags and took a riksha to the station. Only to find out our train was delayed. and even more delayed, and more... There we were, tired, tipsy, thirsty.. Our train ended up leaving at 9.30 in the morning. We were glad to be able to sleep in the train.

From Kota to Bundi we had to take an other riksha for about an hour. Driver was a nutter, riksha broke down, had to get in another one, then he hit a bump at full speed and I hit my head quite severe on the roof, big bump and bruise..

But what a nice town Bundi (Rajastan) is. It is a bit off the main tourist track so not as busy. The colours are amazing. Our very expensive hotel (800 rupies = 14 euro's) has an amazing view of a beautiful palace and all the blue rooftops of the town.

The palace is quite fallen-down but it has amazing views and wall-paintings (see pictures). All the painting-rooms are also filled with small mirrors and gold-leaf.


The town itself is lovely. It is a walled town and a shopping walhalla for me. I will have to buy a new suitecase for all my purchases. And all so cheap, camel leather shoes for 3 euro's, shawls for 2 euro's etc... LOVELY..!

So we've almost done 3/4 of our trip. All we have to look forward to is the rest of Rajastan which is picture-postcard India.

I must say we're both very tired, India is an intense country to travel with all its people, traffic, cows, and new impressions every day (still after 3 months..)
The continuous stream of "Come see my shop, what's your good name?" There is ALWAYS something happening.
But we're still loving every minute of it. Europe will seem so boring when we come back..



Happy new year from Incredible India,
Duncan and Ellen