Jaisalmer was amazing, although it is discouraged (for preservation reasons) we stayed in the fort. This was incredible as the view was fab. There were quite a few storms and they were great to watch from the fort! Uncle Buck, you would have loved it! We visited Jaisalmer's Fort Palace which was fab! The audio tour (free with entry) was great and had lots of other info about Rajasthan, the history of the area and other cultural info! We spent a lot of time exploring the fort and resting here. It was a great stop! We caught the train to Jodhpur after two nights in Jaisalmer.
We arrived in Jodhpur around 5am and made our way to the hotel we wanted to stay at. The rickshaw drivers (tuc-tuc) in India can be tricky and some are well documented for telling porkies about hotels being full. They do this so that they can take you to another hotel and gain commission. Lonely planet warns of this in most places but we only experienced it in Jodhpur. We resolved the issue and after Rads told the Rickshaw driver off (politely) we were on our way to the hotel!
Jodhpur is known as the blue city (all the buildings in the old city are blue). We went on a trip to the Umaid Bhawan Palace (or Chittar Palace) which is part hotel, part museum and part royal residence for the original successor of the maharajah. This was a fab place, lots of lovely things have been done for the community by the royals here. The palace was actually built to help create jobs at a time of hardship! Lots of photos and info about the relationship with the british raj and their influences. This was a great trip until I lost the camera down the toilet! I was really cross at the time but it's a funny story now! It was a good thing that I'd backed it up in Jaisalmer!
We spent two nights in Jodhpur and we visited the Mehrangarh fort on our last day. This fort was much larger than Jaisalmer, we were allowed to see more of the former royal rooms too. Fabulous place enriched with a fascinating history and enchanting stories! We stopped for about 30mins here to shake hands, speak to and have our photo taken with lovely people! The children in India are so sweet, such big smiles and big hearts! Whilst in Jodhpur we tried some Rajasthani sweets and drinks (machiniya lassi, like a yoghurt drink with Saffron, yummy).
We took our final Indian train from Jodhpur to Ahmedabad, which is where we flew to Goa from. There wasn't much to do there as it was Sunday and a few things were closed. We checked out a few Mosque's, Jain temples and then headed to the airport. We were very excited to be on our way to Goa!
We arrived later than scheduled in Goa and it was just getting dark, so we had no idea how incredibly beautiful it was/is. We took a cab for an hour and a half down to Palolem in Goa's southern beaches.
Waking up in Palolem was a dream, it is absolutely stunning! We went to the beach and found a nice patch to chill at for the day. Amazing! Such a great sunny day too! We had lunch on the beach at a great restaurant and saw the local
fishermen bringing in the catch. It looked like the entire community were there and they each took their turn to take something. I really enjoyed watching this and I have never seen such big prawns! Unfortunately the rain became quite regular (monsoon season) so we went to the beach less than we would have liked too. We still managed a couple of swims in the warm sea.
Fortunately the majority of the community were celebrating the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. This is the celebration of the birthday of Lord Ganesha the god of wisdom. Communities construct various idols of Ganesha and prayers, offerings of sweets, dancing and vibrant music take place during this time (Ganesha is famous for having a sweet tooth and a love of/for dancing). The festival is marked by a big procession of the idol through the local community toward the beach. Once the idol has been taken to the beach there are further prayers and offerings of sweets then finally the idol is immersed in the sea (idols are made of clay in Goa). After this the sweets are shared amongst the community, fireworks are set off (most of the time) and the dancing begins. I believe this is the only festival that welcomes the involvement of the general public! So we were lucky enough to be involved in the dancing, fireworks and sharing of sweets! This was an incredibly special night and will remain one of my fondest memories of our time in India.
We left gorgeous Goa after four nights of bliss to return to Mumbai! So the Indian (and Nepalise) adventure ends right back where we started almost a month ago. Our last night in India was spent on Chowpatti beach sampling Mumbai's famous Bhel Puri and Faloodahs! We had one final great night in India.
India has been an incredible place to experience! We will take away fond memories of the places and the amazing people! Apologies that there are no photos with this blog, it won't let me upload pictures from my mobile.
So, next stop Thailand via Singapore! Off to meet Heather and Garth (who are legends for bringing out a new camera for us) ....... I anticipate some good times, memories and (bucket induced) stories to come!
