For our English-speaking friends - Travelling Rajasthan

After visiting New Delhi and trying to digest our first shocking impressions of the Indian way of life, we start our trip around Rajasthan.

We begin with the famous "Taj Mahal", a beautiful and enormous building in the loveley setting of well kept green gardens, and the "Red Fort", where Elmar and Annette spend more time than necessary, because they don't want to get back to the reality outside.

Our next stop is the ghost town of "Fatehpur Sikri", the ancient capital of Mogul emperor Akbar's empire. This is where we first gaze at the fine sandstone decorations of the time.

We then go on to "Jaipur", the capital of one of the eighteen principalities of "Rajputana", the land of the kings. It is also called the "red city", because during the visit of Prince Albert of England in 1876 the walls of the old town have been painted red, the traditional colour of hospitality. From our point of view, the two major sights are the ancient Palace and the Fort of "Amber", about 10 km out of todays town, where we spend a whole day, and the temples of the Vipassana Meditation Centre, called "Monkey temple of Galta", where pilgrims wash themselves in water we don't even want to touch with our fingertips.
We enjoy walking through the main bazar and watch all the little scenes of daily life along the road and in the windows above. Every now and again, people ask us, whether they could get on a photograph with us and we happily agree. Here at least we don't have to fight our way through pushy shop owners and begging children. This is something which we had got really annoyed of and what had made us feel very uncomfortable, because at some point you react in a very harsh and unfriendly way.

At the holy lake of "Pushkar" we appreciate the peaceful atmosphere of pilgrims singing and playing the drums, following their washing rituals at the lake, walking the alleys of the small town and the nice cakes of the German bakery. On Christmas Eve we first have breakfast in a sunny roof-top-restaurant and then take a nice walk to the two temples of "Savitri Mandir" and "Gayatri Mandir" on the hills north and west of town. From up there we enjoy the view over the lake, the town and the surrounding desert just as much as the silence.

Being next on our list, the city of "Jodhpur" welcomes us with a nice little family run guesthouse. A very interesting and entertaining audio-guide-tour takes us around "Meherangarh Fort", a wonderful and picturesque place.

The "Golden City" of "Jaisalmer" is definitely worth a visit. The yellow sandstone and the beautiful decorated and carved fronts of the old houses are just as wonderful to look at as the powerful colours and patterns of the womens saris.

The driving is not as bad as in Iran but you still have to concentrate like mad. Everybody seems to drive a zigzag course and finally we decided to join it: that's the safest way! Some days we have to overtake or drive around more animals than other vehicles! You find cows, pigs, dogs, goats camels, donkeys and horses on the road - either wandering around or pulling a cart of some sort. What is absolutely necessary is a working horn!

Garbage is a problem of certain quarters of the towns and cities, like the one around the bazar or station and the slums of the outskirts. The landscape outside the towns is neat and clean.

Temperatures are nice during daytime but cool down in the evenings. So a nice and hot cup of tea is what we appreciate when we have dinner in one of the many roof-top-restaurants.

Rajasthan has been beautiful so far and in the meanwhile we start to feel a little more homelike. Let's see what the way down south will be like!