The Rajaputs Say Hello

Namaste Everyone...

How are you all doing?

We are now in Jodhpur, our second stop in Rajastan Land of the Rajaput warriors and Maharajas.

We are both waiting to see the pics as I'm sure you are too... The thing is we are a bit afraid to hand over the 7 rolls of film to a local in a hole in the wall shop, so I think we will try and see if we find a good reliable shop in our next stop - Jaislamer... (not promising) Also most of the internet computers here don't have CD drives so its kind of hard to see the pics on the CD without a computer (I never understood how these computers could write so small... Amazing thing technology...:)

Ok enough babbling... We last wrote from Goa.

Goa was lovely, sunny long beaches, lovely ocean, and all together a nice atmosphere, and yes the Garas was the best we have ever smoked (you asked so I reply)

We took a motorbike and drove from our beach (Palolem) to Old Goa, which was the former capital and to Panaji, the current capital. Both cities had a strong Portuguese influence - lots of churches, the pastel colored alleyways with flowers flowing balconies. A strong European feel. Most of the locals are catholic but still a lot ware the always colorful Saris. They have, what they call, Goan food, but it wasn't much different from the rest of the Indian stuff, maybe just a variation.

From there we moved on to Rajastan in a 33 hrs train ride which surprisingly was ok... We made a stop in a city called Ahmedabad in Gujarat state for around 12 hrs, took a room, had some rest saw a nice mosque and boarded the train to Udaipur.

Udaipur is considered the white city as most of the houses are whitewashed. There is usually a lake in the center which adds to the atmosphere but as there have been 5-6 bad monsoons (not enough rain) its dry in the dry season. So we saw it only in the postcards. But still the Lakeview guest house has a nice view of the palace.
Only in India can you have a Lakeview guesthouse with no lake...
Yes Rajastan is the land of the maharajas - every city has a palace or 2 or at least one fort. These maharajas lived good, very good. Enormous palaces with great views of the city around, richly decorated - you can feel the richness here. Up until the 18 century they had a lot of trade passing through towards the Mediterranean and the Rajaput states maintained their independence till the Indian independence... Some of them still live in the palaces or around though they have ordinary citizenship - but they are still wealthy. The popular thing here is rooftop restaurants with stunning views - they are indeed stunning...

We made a 3 hrs jump to Ranakpur - it has a Jain temple - all white marble intricately sculptured and carved - with hundreds of pillars - none are identically decorated. The jain religion BTW is quite weird - their holy guys walk around almost naked with a broom - to sweep the floor in front of them so as not to accidentally step on a living animal (flies etc.). Also they cover their mouth with cloth so they don't accidentally inhale any insects... They don't eat after sunset so to avoid any insects, that were attracted to the light, from falling into their food... ya a funky religion... but the temple was amazing... one of the best we have seen.
You can find out more about Jainism here
And see photos of Ranakpur here

From there we moved on to Jodhpur which we think is even nicer... all in the next post.

We have heard that the bells of peace are ringing in the distance - may they ring only louder!!!

that's all for now, Divluly sends his warm furry hugs (BTW Dad he has no tail because gibbons have no tail - you should follow the links we put in here - its not for me you know.. ;). He reports that he has managed to buy some water purifiers for a colony of Thai monkeys that are still stuck in a tree in the ocean after the tsunami and is asking for any donations, he can be contacted at:

Divluli Sleazy May,
The 3rd tree on the right after the big boulder just after the second left turn
as you enter the Kao Sok National park,
47633,
Thailand.

We of course can transfer money to him - just put it in our bank account ;)

Lots more next time - including the amazing Indian heavy food bonanza - if the sauce is sludgy and spicy as hell - its in the list ;)

We will write from Jaislamer,

Lots of love and kisses,

Hila & Mr. Morphhh Sleazy.