Sunday 29th March 2009-Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

Woke up feeling a bit aprehensive as we had a camel safari booked later that day! After breakfast, went for a look around the market and to the Fort in Jaisalmer. Heard some very funny lines to try and get us to look at certain market stalls like "Hello, come make your eyes happy, sweet lady" very amusing! We got a bit lost in the fort and as always nearly run over several times by motorbikes/scooters/cows. I bought a new ring from one place for 200rps which is about 2.50, not bad esp as it's real silver (well it hasn't turned my finger green yet!).
We went back to the hotel after lunch in our fave restaurant "the trio" and got ready to go on our camel safari! Our driver, Raj, drove us a bit out of the city to meet our camel owners, Dirga and Drumo. I chose the smaller camel (as i am petrified of horses and all things you ride with 4 legs) and Sara got the bigger older one. The journey was quite fun at first, we chatted to the Camel men, learnt some Hindu-Atcha means thankyou, Namaste is hello and Swagaat is welcome! But after about an hour we had sort of had enough as our bums were getting a bit achy plus is was super hot! After about 2 hours we stopped at the cousins house of the camel owner, a brick open walled house which felt like it was in the middle of nowhere! We had some chai, and it was nice to have a rest. After about 20 mins there, we headed over to our camping spot, collecting firewood on the way and once we arrived the boys started cooking dinner for us. The boss of the camel safari company all drove out to meet us on his motorbike and brought us beer and diet coke which made us very happy! After a yummy dinner of dal, mixed veg curry and chapatis, the boys put a tent up for us and we settled down to what we thought might be a comfy nights sleep...

Saturday 28th March 2009. Pushkar-Jaisalmer, India

Not a very interesting day...woke up super early as we had and EIGHT hour car journey to a place called Jaisalmer which is right in the middle of the desert in the west about 150k from Pakistan border. The drive was v.tedious but once we arrived the hotel was really nice and we ate in a great restaurant called the Trio. We sat on a sort of bed thing and had a dish called Thali which is like 5 small dishes/currys, a dal, a kofta, a mixed veg, a yoghurty raita and a pud-usually Gulab Jammon which for those who haven't tried it, it's amazing! Get down to your local indian and order one now. I've got sara a bit hooked on them, it's basically a sort of doughnut ball in syrup!!
After dinner we were sleepy so went back to hotel to try and watch Juno on the only english channel we could find 'star movies' but the signal was crappy so we read a bit then fell asleep.

Friday 27th March-Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Woke about 8ish, Sara was feeling a bit sickly! Went and had some breakfast and then headed into central Pushkar to see the market. We got a bit conned by some men who said it was New Year here and made us do some praying and chucking water and flowers into a 'holy' lake, tried to get lots of money out of us but we only gave them about a quid so we could leave. We did get a nice bracelet and some sweets out of it though and apparently everyone i know now is blessed, so lucky you!

After we left there, we headed further down the road to have a look at some jewellery and managed to get some cheapy rings and sara got a really cool pendant for not alot. Was getting v.hot so decided to come into nice air conditioned room in Hotel which FYI is v.fancy! We're gonna get some lunch now and hang by the pool, blog you later! Sara and Caro xxxxx

Thursday 26th March 2009. Jaipur-Pushkar, India

Got up to travel to Pushkar which only took three hours which was nice. Our hotel had a swimming pool which was a pleasant surprise. After going on the internet for a bit we decided to sunbathe by the pool for a bit with a 'Mocktail' (meat, alcohol and kissing is banned in Pushkar!) We arrived in Pushkar quite late so thats all we squeezed in.

Wednesday 25th March 2009 Jaipur, India

Our driver took us to the Amber Fort which was very impressive. There was the option of an elephant ride there but we decided to go by car! The street where our hotel was had elephants walking up and down all the time. Jaipur is known as 'The Pink City' as when Prince Albert came to visit, he said that pink was his favourite city so all the buildings were painted pink in his honour.
After the Fort we headed to The Albert Hall Museum then went for lunch and had our first Thali!
After lunch our driver took us a to a jewellery emporium which wasn't exactly the kind of place we wanted to go as they are really touristy and pushy!
In the afternoon we sunbathed on the roof, but not for long as it was so hot. When we got back to the room Sara started feeling really ill so we spent the rest of the day in the room with the telly on and i ordered some dinner, aloo gobhi and chapatis! We also watched "The Darjeeling Ltd" which was very apt as it's about 3 brothers travelling round India on a train.

Tuesday 24th March Agra-Jaipur, India.

Drove for about 6 hours to get to Jaipur. We stopped off to look at a mosque but left quite quickly as there was a man who worked there who was really bugging us. We had to take our shoes off before we went in and they tried to charge us when we collected them!
Got to Jaipur and had a look around the streets but it was so hot so we went back to the hotel and had dinner on the rooftop and did some people watching.

Monday 23rd March 2009 Delhi-Agra, India

Most of today was spent in the car, we stopped at one point for our driver to pay some road fees or something and having been asleep for a while we woke to see all sorts-monkeys jumping on the car, a snake charmer WITH SNAKE, a transvestite prostitute and people selling jewellery!
We got to the hotel in Agra, then a couple of hours later we were back in the car and on the way to see the Taj Mahal. When we got there, we walked about 1k from the car as they are not allowed that close. It was so beautiful and we were there in time for sunset so after wandering outside we decided to go in and have a look at the tomb and the lake at the back. So many people kept asking to have their picture taken with us which is fun at first and then gets a bit annoying! After sunset, we walked back to the car and bought some postcards.
Once we were back in the hotel, we had some dinner in our room which wasn't great and then to bed.

Sunday 22nd March 2009 New Delhi, India

Got up and both felt a bit sickly! We had a new driver and he took us to see New Delhi. First stop was the Government and Parliamentary buildings, behind these was India Gate which was is a memorial to all the Indian soldiers who died in the second world war and had an eternally burning flame. We also went to Humayun's tomb, Lotus Temple and Akshardham Temple (we didn't actually go in here we just ate samosas outside. Our last stop was a memorial to Ghandi.
Went out for supper in a restaurant across the road from our hotel. Afterwards we popped to the crazy market and bought some bananas!

Saturday 21st March 2009 Delhi

After having a nap, we decided to venture into Dehli. We went across the road and found a tourist information place that we originally wanted to just get a map from but we ended up booking our whole trip around India which included a driver and car for Rajasthan plus a flight and trains between Goa and Mumbai.
Our driver took us around Old Delhi where we visited The Red Fort, Jama Masjid (Muslim Temple) and Ajmal Khan Road Market. In the muslim temple we had to take our shoes off and wear very fetching bright pink flowery dresses! Still lots of boys wanted to take our picture (if you want to feel like a celebrity travel to India!)
We were quite tired from travelling so we ate in the hotel and had an early night.