Tales from the Trail

A few people have asked me if I am enjoying India. Overall, I’m enjoying it a lot more than I expected. It’s a vast, diverse country which I can only begin to tap into on one short trip. At times it can be a bit exhausting and overwhelming, but I am learning to go with the flow and have the art of haggling with the auto rickshaw drivers down to a fine art. I’ve had a mildly upset stomach for a couple of days, but nothing serious, and have stuck to vegetarian meals.

Apologies if this is too long. Best you make yourself a cup of tea and settle down with a couple of Tim Tams. Seriously though, any feedback would be appreciated.

I have spent the past 10 days or so travelling through Rajasthan – the Land of the Kings. It’s a really interesting and diverse part of India with loads of history. The region was ruled by fierce Mughal warriors, and there are impressive forts and palaces in every main city.

On the streets of Jaipur – the Pink City

More street stalls in Jaipur. There are hundreds of these stalls in every city I have visited. They are selling chewing tobacco. Needless to say what goes in has to come out, so brown spitting (and teeth) are common features in all the streets.

A window from Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) to the street below

Jaipur skyline from the Hawa Mahal. In the distance is Jantar Mantar. For those who are interested, it is an observatory built in 1728 and consists of fourteen major geometric devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars’ location as the earth orbits around the sun and ascertaining the declinations of planets.

The upper floors of the Hawa Mahal

Artwork at the entrance to the City Palace in Jaipur

From Jaipur, I headed to Pushkar, a small town built around a holy lake. It was great to spend a few days chilling here. It was a nice change of pace, with less touts vying for your business.

The bathing ghats around the holy lake

View of Pushkar from a hillside temple. Yes Sharon Mulligan, I walked, and it was the first decent bit of exercise I had done since the Camino!

A religious procession on the streets of Pushkar

Next stop was Udaipur – the Lake City.

Lake Pichola in Udaipur with the City Palace in the background

A mobile street stall

The pathway leading to my hotel. Yep – I am still doing India on the cheap!

The view from my hotel room

An all too common sight – beautiful architecture that has seen better days

A local fruit and veg market in Udaipur

For the man or woman who thought they had everything they needed – a shop selling glasses and second hand dentures

Udaipur from the City Palace

For my last stop on the Rajasthan express, it was off to Jodipur – the Blue City

The view from my hotel terrace of the Mehrangarh Fort – the most impressive fort that I have seen in India. Construction began in 1459 but most of it was built during the 17th century.

One side of the imposing fort structure

One of the main sets of gates. The metal spikes were to prevent enemy elephants ramming the gates

Some of the intricate architecture inside the fort

Inside one of the reception rooms

The detailed stone lattice work was to allow the women of the fort to look down to the courtyards. They were forbidden to be seen in most areas, apart from those designated to them.

View of Jodhpur from the fort – it really is blue

Just in case you have forgotten what I look like