Rajasthan, India

When we left to go travelling, we made the agreement not to make any plans so that we can have an open calendar in every place we go to. However, after having had intense but amazing weeks in Nepal we decided we wanted to be on a Goan beach by Christmas (and Petes birthday). We opted for 11 days in Rajasthan, which was way too short.

A summary of the places we visited in Rajasthan, from Dec 10 to Dec 21, 2019. Pictures below.

Delhi
Our first stop in India was Delhi. Because India requires an outbound ticket before they let you in to the country, we booked a bus back to Kathmandu (which we immediately cancelled after entering India, and got a full refund for). Our first encounter with India was witnessing a discussion a man in his late 30’s had with the customs officer, because his wife was in the wrong line. She had to be in the children line, as she was underaged. Yikes. And after a complicated drive, our taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong hotel. Here, a big commission was awaiting him. Suddenly, we found ourselves in a different area than we originally booked in, named Karol Bagh. To annoy the dishonest taxi driver we checked into the hotel next door to his mate’s hotel. The taxi driver “thanked” us loudly, shouting at us for not giving a tip or letting him have his commission. We were proud of ourselves for being so “streetwise”, until we found out we were paying about 3 times too much for our hotel. We were a bit too gullible. As it turned out, Delhi is a place where you should bargain, hard. Once you understand how it works, it becomes a lot of fun. We spent the first afternoon on the local markets, eating delicious street foods for a few pennies. The next day, we decided to go towards Old Delhi. We went via Pahar Ganj, which is a nice area, but aimed a bit too much at tourists. The streets were filled with little clothing shops, all looking the same. After exploring the New Delhi Railway Station in order to prepare for the journey of the next day, we walked towards Old Delhi. If you didn’t have a pair of balls before, Old Delhi can certainly help you grow a pair. Crossing the roads and junctions is not for the faint of heart, and crossing requires determination, a bad ass mentality and good karma. We got into the habit of following the lead of the courageous locals, nonchalantly avoiding all the buses, bikes, rikshaws and trucks without even looking for them. The few crossings and traffic lights we did see, seemed to provide more in a false sense of security than in actual safety. After a short ride in a rikshaw we decided to continue by foot because of the traffic. When we reached Old Delhi we found a labyrinth of narrow streets connected by a few busy main streets, packed with a countless number of people, food stalls, vehicles, chicken vendors, stray dogs, electricity poles, shops etc (we tried to capture this on the pictures below). It’s a bit tricky to walk around without falling over the people and objects lying around, but it’s a great sight. There’s a beautiful madness to it. It’s hectic but offers an amazing experience. We also noticed how tolerant people are towards the chaos and overpopulation. For instance, when our driver decided to turn his vehicle in the middle of the street, delaying traffic even further, people helped the driver manoeuvre his rikshaw instead of getting annoyed with him. We passed the famous ‘Red Fort’ (which we, barbarians, completely ignored), and went straight towards the Old Delhi bazaars where we strolled over the fantastically (dis)organised ‘Thieves market’. Great for people who want to buy their secondhand car engines in the same shop as their vegetables and Disney princess bedsheets. The early morning after this, we took a train to Jaipur. (Read more under picture gallery).

Jaipur
We travelled to Jaipur on an express train. As we had visited the New Delhi Railway Station during the day, we could easily find our way there. What I didn’t prepare for, was seeing a woman (in a burka!) being groped by a man rushing his way on to the platform. After reading a few chapters on how to dress appropriately to avoid being harassed, I decided to bin that book. The sexual harassment here is real, in your face and not ignited by how the victim dresses (duh).. We spent 6 or 7 hours on a second class seated coach. The train had a similar layout as most British trains, and was very comfortable. Once we arrived in Jaipur, we were pleasantly surprised with the guesthouses and found a small room in guesthouse Vinayak for 400 rupees per night (equal to 4 pounds). We then went to explore the city. Jaipur is called the ‘Pink City’ because the city’s former Maharaja instructed all the walls to be painted in a (salmon) pink colour to welcome their visitors: the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria. Spoiled as we are, we weren’t blown away by it. Although we were pleasantly surprised with the vibe in the city (less chaotic, more friendly) we felt like most of the activities in the city catered to tourist needs. The city’s tourist attractions asked relatively high entry prices and we got bombarded with rikshaw drivers who wanted to give us a tour, while in fact they just wanted to bring us to shops where they could get a commission on our purchases. We went along with it and enjoyed the drive, but the efforts it took to convince shop owners that we really didn’t want to buy anything didn’t help our experience of the city. We also went to the Jantar Mantar observatory, which houses ancient astronomical instruments designed to learn more about time and distance in space. That would have been really cool if I could understand a single thing they were trying to explain (picture below, try for yourself. Maybe I’m just thick). Also, we did discover the Masala Chowk in Jaipur – a hip food-square just outside the walls of the pink city. The quality of the food we had here hasn’t been beaten by any other restaurant so far. But even the delicious Paapdi Chaat and Pav Bhaji couldn’t keep us there, so we decided to leave Jaipur the next morning. (More under the pictures).

Pushkar
We travelled to Pushkar on a private bus. We booked our tickets online using an app called Goibibo (the only one accepting foreign creditcards). Trying to find the right bus was a challenge. As it turns out, there is a LOT of money to be made in transport. Whilst we were busy trying to find the bus we paid for online, a lot of clever salesmen tried to confuse or persuade us into travelling with other buses, sometimes offering half of the rate we paid online. Eventually we found our bus, but we learned it might be better not to book tickets in advance online when departing from big cities – there is always another bus, there is always a better price. “Our” bus was a shaking mess, and we were happy to arrive in Pushkar after 5 hours. Pushkar was an absolute oasis – we checked into hotel Paramount Palace and were greeted by Ganesh. Ganesh was the most chilled person we’ve met since Nepal and we were happy with his presence. Ganesh introduced us to the art of doing nothing, and we spent 4 days just hanging out on the rooftop of the guesthouse he managed. Pushkar is a very old pilgrimage city. It’s small and is built around a sacred lake, in which people take religious baths. Pushkar is filled with temples and there are wonderful sounds everywhere, such as the very loud singing of a hysterical, euphoric man through the speakers of a nearby temple. It was hilarious and magical. The same went for the view. Sitting on the rooftop, we watched monkeys play run over the roofs playing with each other, and numerous kids flying kites in order to prepare for the approaching kite festival. Something that we sadly had to miss (it’s in January). Pushkar is best to be enjoyed during sunrise and sunset, when the sun reflects perfectly on the lake and temples. One of our favourites in Rajasthan.

Jaisalmer
After 3 nights in Pushkar we left to Jaisalmer. This time, we booked a night bus that would take approximately 10 hours. Taking a night bus is a great experience, but we have learned not to do this again unless there really aren’t any other options. The sleeper buses comprise of two levels. There are sleeper compartments with single and double beds, and under these compartments are normal seats. Against expectations, the beds were quite comfortable and we did manage to get some sleep. However, the moments awake were sometimes quite stressful, as the bus often had to avoid cows and dogs on the road. We arrived in the morning, checked into a guesthouse run by Ganesh’s mate Kamal. Jaisalmer is stunning, and the location of the guesthouse was perfect: right in the fort. Jaisalmer is called the Golden City due to the golden-yellow colour of the sandstone with which the huge fort was built. The beauty of the town is best to be enjoyed from outside of the fort. The fort looks very impressive, dooming up on the edge of the Tsar desert. A big downside of Jaisalmer is that there’s not much more to do than visiting temples and going shopping. Inside the fort is completely catered to tourists, and not very authentic. While walking through the streets of the fort we just couldn’t shake off the pushy salesmen. As an outdoor activity, Kamal offered to take us on an overnight tour through the desert with a few camels. I have always told myself not to go on these tours, as exploiting animals for tourism is something I just can’t agree with. However, we trusted Kamal and we went along with it. The camels seemed to be treated fairly well. They looked happy, sociable and healthy, as far as I could see and judge with my limited camel-knowledge… They did seem better off than the “cargo-camels” that have to carry many kilos of supplies from one town to the other. During the night they are allowed to roam through the desert. Their front legs were loosely tied together so they could walk, but not run away in the night, and their noses were pierced as a means of controlling the animals. It was a great experience, but for me it was a one off – I think most animals are best enjoyed from a respectable distance. Staying the night in the desert dunes was enchanting. We drank chai and beer around the fire, ate delicious food and socialised with the others. We decided to sack off the tents and sleep outside, providing us with a blanket of stars and a very bright moon. Magical. And it’s also great fun to use the desert as a toilet (I felt like I was a cat).

Jodhpur
We took a very early bus to Jodhpur, and drove for about 4, 5 hours to reach our destination. We immediately loved Jodhpur. We decided to walk for an hour with our backpacks to the ‘blue city’. During this walk, we were greeted by many children and adults. People waved at us, they always smiled and some people even bought us a cup of tea at the side of the road. Jodhpur is called because, surprise surprise, there are a lot of blue houses. Jodhpur is home to a massive fort, which is especially stunning when viewed from the park that is situated directly behind the building (the Rock Stone Park). Another beautiful place in Jodhpur was the Jaswant Thada, a historical palace on top of a hill. We stayed in guesthouse Hill View – another gem of a place. Cheap (500 rupees, 5 pounds per night) and with a great view of the city. Jodhpur came really close to that India of my imagination. Everywhere we found many colours, narrow streets with many shops, the smell of incense everywhere, shop owners and clerks sitting on the ground selling food, jewellery and spices, and a LOT of cows and dogs. The vibe of Jodhpur is fantastic, as everyone (even the tiniest kids) smile at you and greet you. However, we sometimes got overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to take selfies with me – some people asked nicely, others just yelled “SELFIE” and went straight in for a hug. Apparently all foreign tourists share this experience. Taking a selfie with a foreigner is a BIG thing in India… Even going to the local gym wasn’t a very normal experience. Drained in sweat we were a bit surprised when the gym’s employees and some of the gym members gathered around us to take a posed picture with us. We were treated like celebrities. One of the employees even gasped when Pete “befriended” him on Instagram – they seemed strangely honoured by our presence and we became part of the gym’s social media campaign on Instagram. Even with all this (we thought it was very funny), Jodhpur was our favourite place in Rajasthan, due to the hospitality of the people living there and the little silly, random experiences that would sometimes happen in front of our eyes.

Udaipur
The last stop in Rajasthan was Udaipur. We took a morning bus to this city that’s built around a lake. By now, I’ve really gotten the hang of visiting guesthouses and haggling for a decent room at a good price. Unfortunately, prices in this area were higher than what we’ve gotten used to since Jaipur. We managed to find a guesthouse for 700 rupees per night, but it was also the least clean room we’ve come across since we came to India. The view was pretty awesome. To anyone going there, we’d recommend opting for a hotel on the other side of the river, to get a nice view of the temples and the palace that are located in the “old side” of the river. The hotel we stayed in is called OYO Dream Heaven, but the food coming out of their kitchen made us argue that name… We visited the beautiful Jagdish Temple, and proceeded to the City Palace of Udaipur. The palace is massive and a wonderful place, partly open for the public and partly the house of the king of Udaipur. After having paid the entry (I can’t remember the price but it was 5 times higher for foreigners than for Indian nationals), we got approached by a guide. We decided to go for it – it was an amusing man who could’ve come straight from a 50’s gangster film, and his dodgy appearance mixed well with his extensive knowledge about the courageous former kings of Udaipur. The tour took us longer than we wanted, because Indian Al Capone kindly but firmly insisted that we took pictures of ourselves with everything in the museum. Every. Single. Artefact. We decided to go along with it, and we politely followed him when he kept cutting in line of the other 1000 people who wanted to see the palace. After he tried to sell us boat tickets to watch the sunset for 800 rupees, we decided to leave our new found friend behind and go our own way. We found a boat tour for half of the price, and enjoyed watching the sun go down over wonderful Udaipur from the lake. After having spent weeks living a very basic live, our eyes fell on a palace in the distance. We decided to try and arranged ourselves a fancy dinner there, hopefully with some good wine (almost non-existent in India). We blagged ourselves into a reservation, which wasn’t easy. It took about 5 calls, a very fake posh English accent and an alter-ego, but we managed to get invited. We were picked up by a sultan-like man in a golf car who showed us around the premises. We had a lovely dinner and great cocktails – it felt great being pampered. The prices for imported wines were shocking – about 10 times as much as we pay for the same bottles in the Netherlands and the UK. Nevertheless, it was nice feeling a bit of luxury again. We managed to continue that for the next days, when we travelled to Mumbai. More on this in another blog.