Rajasthan, the desert
state, is truly a land of royalty, maharajas, majestic forts, amazing palaces
and, unfortunately, a few too many silk emporiums just a little over anxious to
get their hands on your tourist rupee. In keeping with these rich and lavish
traditions, the luxurious train “Palace on Wheels” is the perfect means by
which to be transported in style around this most regal of Indian states. Whether
sitting in the plush dining car feasting on a five star meal or relaxing after
a day’s sightseeing with a glass of gin and tonic, it really is the only way to
travel. It is, however, also the most expensive and did not play any part in
our itinerary. Therefore, our “Palace on Wheels” was a somewhat rather more
modest five year old 4-door Tata Indigo driven by our soon to be new best
friend Raj.
Once it became clear that there was little chance we could
see the places we wanted to visit by regular train due to the overbooking then
we decided the best way would be by car and with a driver. This had a few
implications for us but probably one of the biggest was the issue of
commission. The name of the game is clearly to drag you in to as many silk
emporiums as possible in between any sightseeing as, of course, anything you
spend will mean a tidy little commission for the driver who took you there. Raj,
our driver, was a great talker but not such a good listener as all my pleas to
avoid these situations fell, initially at least, on deaf ears. Naturally, we
had wanted to give Raj the benefit of the doubt and when, on our very first
evening with him, he had invited us to a “party” at a friend’s house we were
more than a little excited to find out what this would mean in a city like Jaipur,
the first stop on our tour. As our car slowed down to a standstill, our
excitement turned to despair when we saw we had stopped right outside another
silk factory. Day one and this was our third demonstration of block printing
before being led upstairs to the warehouse stocked to the ceiling with an array
of bed covers, pillow cases, saris, scarves and much more. Having politely
declined the pushy offers to buy anything we were then dragged up another four
flights of unlit stairs to a dilapidated rooftop for the “party”. Here, we
found four men glaring at us over the rim of their glasses, filled with cheap Indian
whisky, while a fifth seemed to lie unconscious in a sleeping bag nearby. Needless
to say, this was one party we did not mind checking out of early and we soon
beat a hasty retreat back to our hotel ….empty handed without any silk
purchases!
This incredibly awkward situation on the first night did not
prevent Raj attempting a similar trick the following day and it was at this
point I decided, with the softly softly approach not working, to go for the
more direct approach and mercifully this seemed to do the trick. For the
following few days we barely saw the outside of a silk emporium let alone the
inside.
With relations with the always jovial Raj now back on track
we were really able to enjoy what we had come to Rajasthan for. Our journey
took us first to Jaipur, the capital of the state and also known as the Pink
City due to the pink sandstone of the buildings. The city boasts a fine palace
and the unusual, but beautiful, Hawa Mahal building, but the real highlight for
me was the magnificent Amber fort which is located about 10km from Jaipur in
the surrounding hills. We also really liked ambling through the hectic bazaars
and the spice market in the old city of Jaipur…though the usual “hazards” still
had to be avoided while walking!
From Jaipur we moved on to Bikaner, a drive Veronika did not
enjoy too much as the previously four lane road narrowed to two and the driving
became more erratic. Unfortunately for Veronika, her day was about to get much worse
as we stopped at the Karni Mata Temple in Deshnok, 30km south of Bikaner. Karni
Mata Temple is also known as Rat Temple and for an extremely good reason. The
second you step foot in the courtyard of the temple you are confronted with thousands
of the little furry creatures everywhere. Of course, there is a legend (which I
will not go in to) behind the reason that many Hindus make the pilgrimage here
to feed and worship these Holy Rodents. Suffice to say, if you are really lucky
(and they truly believe this here in this temple) the rats will scamper over
your feet and, naturally, what do you have to do in a temple to show
respect….remove your shoes. By this point, Veronika was practically trembling with
fear and it looked like she was almost dancing as she did not want to keep her
feet on the ground for even a second. Needless to say I was given the camera to
take a few shots before Veronika could take no more and ran out. The town of
Bikaner itself, of course, has a fort but here it is the inside rather than the
outside that steals the show. The ostentatious interiors really give you a
glimpse in to the former lives of the Maharajas here.
Rat nightmares still fresh in the memory, we continued west
on to Jaisalmer where the old Fort, the second oldest in India built in 1156,
sits proudly (for now at least as it is sinking apparently) on top of Trikuta
hill. The fort, from a distance, is a spectacular sight. It is also great to
wander inside the fort where there are several (rat free) temples worth a
visit. This is also the only great fort in India still inhabited, with about
five thousand people living within the 99 bastions of the stronghold which
makes it a real living museum as the guide books like to say.
As we moved from Jaipur to Bikaner and then on to Jaisalmer
the camel count had risen quite noticeably as we moved deeper in to the desert
to less than 100km from the Pakistan border. It was, therefore, only
appropriate that we embarked upon a camel safari of sorts. For this, we went to
the small village of Khuri, 40km even further in to the desert from Jaisalmer. Lawrence
of Arabia I am certainly not...and never having even been on a horse I admit to
being a little nervous about getting on a camel. When the moment finally came,
my fears only grew as my camel started howling in protest at the thought of me
sitting on his hump. Meanwhile, Veronika’s camel was as cool as a cucumber and
completely chilled out. Only after I jumped on did my camel “driver” reveal
that my camel was very young and new to the tourism business…which did even
less to calm my nerves. With me hanging on as tightly as I could, we trotted
away on our hump backed friends in to the sand dunes for sunset. Once I had
reassured myself that even if I did fall off I was in for a soft landing on the
sand, I really started to enjoy the occasion and with the sun setting over the
magnificent rolling sand dunes I have to say it was an experience I will never
forget. After sitting on a camel for 4 hours my legs certainly did not forget
it for the few days either!
Safely back on four wheels, rather than four spindly legs,
we continued on to Jodhpur, or the blue city as it is often referred to on
account of all the blue houses. Here, the city is completely dominated by the
mighty Mehrangarth (Fort) which looks out over the entire city from over 140m
high. After hiking up to the fort and taking a fantastic tour through the
entire complex it came as no surprise to learn that it had never, in its 500
year history, been breached even once. Veronika’s defences were, however, breached
later that afternoon. As I have previously suggested, watching where you step
is an integral part of being a tourist here. One of the drawbacks, though, of
always keeping an eye on the road directly in front of you is that you leave
yourself open to an attack from above and that is exactly what happened to
Veronika as we strolled through the local bazaar and a ruthless pigeon took aim
and found its target. Despite my feeble
attempts to suggest this was actually lucky, Veronika was not amused.
The quaint village of Pushkar was by far the smallest of the
destinations on our tour. As we meandered through the narrow streets it took a
while before it dawned on me just why it was so relaxing….no cars and,
especially, no Tuk-Tuks whizzing past inches from your toes. What Pushkar may
have lacked in terms of forts and palaces, it more than made up for with its
relaxing vibe and hippy culture. Here, it seemed like every other tourist, some young and some that should know better,
fancied themselves as a bit of a Guru (of what I have no idea). Up to this
point on our travels I had resisted the temptation to dress like one of the locals,
a trap most of the tourists here seem to have fallen into… with varying degrees
of failure. (Ok – so maybe Veronika suggested I did not need to enhance my
already bandy legs with a pair of brightly coloured overly baggy trousers!).
As the flat barren desert landscape slowly gave way to a
greener and hillier setting, we finally arrived in Udaipur, the final leg of
our Rajasthan tour. Very different to what we had seen before, Udaipur is
beautifully set on Lake Pichola with the Aravalli hills as a picturesque backdrop.
Rising out of the middle of the lake are two fantastic looking Royal Palaces,
one of which can be seen in the Bond flick Octopussy and the other….was the
scene of a Shakira concert a few days ago. True to form, the city also has an
eye-catching City Palace with a great museum. The highlight for me, though, was
sitting in one of the many rooftop bars and restaurants with a cold beer with
the sun setting over the hills and seeing the palaces reflected in the
glistening lake. Udaipur does not carry the tag of India’s most romantic city
for nothing…and it felt like a great place for us to end what had been a fantastic
tour of Rajasthan.
