And...now we're down south

After the rat temple we stopped at Bikaner where we stayed for two nights. The second day, we arranged a rickshaw to take us to the fort, a Jain Temple and the old city. We've visited so many forts that I won't try to describe any of them except to say that they're are all unique with amazing sandstone carvings and decorations. What made this one different was a cavernous hall with carved sandstone pillars and arches and carved wood on the ceilings. It was definitely designed to impress.

What's really amazing in all the forts and temples is the intricacy of the sandstone and marble carvings. The tiniest details are included in scenes of hunting, parties, jungles and wars, and many of the windows are filled with sandstone screens with designs that pierce the rock to allow the women to observe activity below them unseen. We drove through a section of countryside that was lined with yards where men still chisel away at the stone to create these same works of art. We would have liked to buy several pieces but decided it would probably exceed our weight allowance with the airline.

The old city was a charming place of narrow clean streets with different vendors in each section. One area was all shiny metal goods: shop after shop of bowls, tiffin carriers, jugs, cups, trunks and more. Another section was filled with piles of spices that exuded clouds of scent. People were friendly and most waved and called hello. Teenage boys kept nonchalantly reaching into the rickshaw to touch Tom's knee as we passed.

After the tour ended we decided to walk to the internet shop on the corner. On our way back we were followed by two boys who asked all kinds of questions about where we live, languages we spoke and our hobbies. The older one was a little intense and would lean in very close and speak in a near shout. As we got near the hotel he demanded to have Tom's sunglasses and they both finally left after Tom declined to hand them over.

The next morning we left Bikaner for Jodhpur. The countryside between all the cities is very rural and beautiful, aside from the occasional brick-making plant. Bricks are made by hand by packing the clay or mud into forms and, judging by the smokestacks, baking them.

When we got to Jodhpur we went directly to the fort. The top level was closed while a movie was being filmed, but the place was so huge there was still plenty to see. It also included an audio tour that had a nice explanation of the details of the fort like chips in the walls left by the cannons of an army attempting to invade (an impossible dream) and the handprints left by departing widows as they walked through the gates for the last time. Along the top of the wall, which soared above the city was a wide rampart lined with cannon. By leaning way out over one section of the wall that only had two iron bars instead of stone, we could see a baby vulture on a ledge below. His parents were absent and he seemed very puzzled by our presence above him.

Before dinner we decided to explore the main bazaar. It turned out to be quite a walk and trying to cross the street could be worth your life, so we got a tuk-tuk to take us to the clock tower at the heart of it. The place is insane! Everything in the world is for sale there and it seemed like at least half the people in the world were there also. At one point I was sharing walking space with a fuzzy calf headed in the opposite direction. Once it got dark, we decided to call it quits and head back to the hotel.

The next morning we left Jodhpur for Ranakpur. Along the way we drove through several small towns. Sandstone is the most common building material in this area and it's used in plank shape as well as blocks. Fences are often 6-foot "boards" of stone buried upright as posts with barbed wire stretched along it or a solid wall of upright planks. Some of them are quite decorative and alternate red sandstone vertical posts with blond sandstone rails.

Ranakpur is a secluded area in the hills near a lake and a Jain temple. There are just a few small hotels surrounded by trees. Our driver dropped us at the temple, which is set on peaceful grounds, surrounded by trees, flowers, fields and hills. The temple itself was built from 1433-96 and has 1,444 carved marble columns that are all different from each other. We were given a tour by the high priest who blessed us and dabbed our foreheads with saffron.

The walk back was a quiet stroll in the country and at one point we saw a fruit bat hanging from a power line. When we reached the hotel we decided to sit at a table on the lawn and have a Pepsi. Near us was an area where the staff spread seed for the birds and it was attracting a large flock of parrots at that time of day. While we were watching, something spooked all the birds into flying away, except one. He continued to peck away for a few seconds before realizing he was alone and you could practically hear his panicked thoughts while he looked around for his friends.

The next morning we left for Udaipur, the final destination on our tour of Rajasthan. The section of the city we were in was a maze of streets, shops and hotels lining the lake and while the water was nice, there was a brown haze in the sky so thick you could barely see the Monsoon Palace or the hill it stood on less than a mile away. This is where I developed a persistant cold that I'm finally starting to get over.

We were originally planning on staying a few days, then heading east to a wildlife park, but decided that with the amount of time we had left and the time it would have taken to get to the park, it would leave us with little time to see much else before our flight out of Mumbai. We instead chose to go south to Mysore, where there are other wildlife parks, then work our way up the west coast. Because the trains were already fully booked we had to catch the bus from Udaipur to Mumbai on the 22nd and take tickets from the tourist quota on the train departing Mumbai December 24th.

The bus ride was a 15-hour misery, even though it was the luxury Volvo bus. Both of us are taller than the seats are designed for and my cold was kicking into high gear. After arriving in Mumbai at 6:30 a.m. we went searching for a room to crash in, finally finding a small guesthouse with rooms available. It was more like a dorm room than a hotel, but it had beds and that's all that really mattered. I spent most of the day and night drifting in and out of sleep, then we got up at six the next morning to catch our train for the 25-hour trip to Bangalore.

Compared to the bus, the train was positive luxury. We had sleeper berths in the 2-tier AC section and I was content to lounge on the top bunk sleeping, reading and doing crossword puzzles. From Bangalore we caught a 2-hour express train to Mysore, and here we are! We walked around a bit near our hotel last night. Many of the shops were closed for Christmas so everything seemed a bit sleepy, which was fine with me. We walked down to the palace, bought some fruit that we'd never seen before from a street vendor and went for a walk in the park. A boy who looked around six years old ran up to offer us packs of cigarettes and seemed undeterred by our refusals, so I offered him the rest of my fruit. He happily said "okay!" and couldn't run off with it fast enough.

Today we're doing a bit more exploring and checking on our potential route after here. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!