Dreaming Dreams

Having left all of you without a proper update for so long here is finally another post including some images for the picture-hungry

After spending 3 weeks including Holi in Rishikesh I decided to do a tour of Rajasthan, the desert area filled with marble palaces, dried up lakes, impenetrable forts, sand-dunes and camel-rides.

After spending a few days at the dried up lake in Pushkar I moved to Udaipur where I shared a car and a driver with an Irish couple for one day. First he took us to see the Kumbalghar Fort, which lies in the middle of nowhere on a steep hill surrounded by mountains.

After this it took another hour to reach the Ranakpur Jain temple. The interior of which consists of countless of finely detailed pillars and other statues made out of white marble.

The next day I spent wandering around the city of Udaipur, which is not called the “Venice of India” for nothing. It is quite famous for the James Bond movie ‘Octopussy’ which is set on the palace in the middle of its giant artificial lake. Many places have daily screenings of this film.

In Udaipur I also met up with Pieter and Simone who I knew where travelling in India (arriving in Mumbai), but it was a complete surprise to see them walking on the bridge next to the restaurant I was eating! Many cups of chai followed ofcourse.

Then the bus took me to Jodhpur, the “blue city” where I teamed up with Severin, a very cool french dude that’s doing a ’round the world’-trip. After Jodhpur we went to Jaisalmer to experience the desert on a 3-day camel safari!

Unfortunately I got sick on the 2nd day. This did not ruin our trip at all, but when the malaise kept on for another 2 days I decided to take the train to the much bigger city of Bikaner where I got IV-treatment with antibiotics and fluids at the Govt. Hospital.

Previously in Pushkar I met a guy from wales, Nick, that has been working as a musician and audio-engineer in Jaipur for 4 years. So I decided my final stop in Rajasthan would be Jaipur to visit his Morchang Studios.

After relaxing in Delhi for a few days, among others couchsurfing with a wonderfull elder american woman named Barbarra (who is also the local ‘ambassador’ for couchsurfing.org), seeing a local Indian Fusion band and buying a brand new tabla! (that I have stored for safekeeping at barbarra’s place) I went to the word-famous and overrated Taj Mahal in Agra.

I spend 2 daily budgets to get in (well, inc. a visit to the local Fort), together about 1000 rp. Compared to the price that indian people pay: 2 times 20rp!

Anyway, I had a good time there during sunrise, at which time the place is already crawling with hundreds of tourists, indian and foreigners alike.

After spending the morning and lunch here I took the train to Jhonsi and a shared tempo (riskshaw) to Orcha, where I am now typing/posting all of this

Next on my list are the erotic temples of Khujaraho (oelala) and then the stinky city of Varanassi (bbq!).

Till next time!