Jaisalmer

By Sanne

We were welcomed into Jaisalmer by a sandstorm. The last 50 km's we were battered by winds that threatened to sweep us across the road and into the dessert. Riding in a sandstorm - guess we can tick that one off the list! Apart from the sandstorm the road to Jaisalmer was really quiet and we were actually able to take in some of the scenery - a rarity in India where just a second's glance off the road can land you in serious trouble.
I think it's fairly safe to say that we love Jaisalmer. A small city in the middle of the dessert it has some of the nicest people we have met on this trip. Everyone here were incredibly friendly and the town has a real laid back, peaceful feel to it, or very "shanti shanti" as they say here. It was quieter than usual as not many tourists hang around this time of year because of the heat but the few days we were here the temperature dropped a bit so it was quite pleasant. Jaisalmer is probably best known for its Golden Fort which is very beautiful. It was built back in 1156 and it looks like it rises out of the dessert around it. Inside the fort is a little city in itself with Jain temples and Havelis (private mansions) with the most beautiful, intricate carvings. It is possible to stay at a guesthouse inside the fort but authorities advise people not to as pressure on the fort infrastructure is contributing to subsidence.
While here we met and became friends with the most lovely family. We were admiring a custom built Royal Enfield at a local mechanic and next thing we knew we were having tea at the family's house. The family consisted of Gurmail, Gurvinder, Hardev and Manpreet and their gorgeous kids Simarjot, Ranjyot and Ekaagar. They are actually two sisters who have married two brothers. They cooked us dinner and Gurmail and Hardev even serviced and washed our bikes for us! Amazing people which we hope to stay in contact with. They restore old Enfields in their workshop and Mark and I were drooling over one they had just finished. If somehow we could have bought it and shipped it back to Australia we would have. But we hope to come back one day and then buy two Enfields from them.
We could have stayed in Jaisalmer for another week but the vicious heat returned and chased us on our way!

Resting in the little shade we can find

Lots of these guys around

Jaisalmer with the Golden Fort in the background

Inside the fort

Little kids playing cricket - a common sight in India

Cute, isn't he?

The classic Enfield

Gurmail and Gurvinder with their little one 

Ekaagar - so cute!

Double trouble - Simarjot and Ranjyot

Gurmail and Hardev

The poet of Jaisalmer - and Mark

The famous Lassi Shop where they sell "special" lassis...

Jodhpur

By Mark

From Jaipur we made our way west to Pushkar and made the mistake of leaving late therefore riding into the heat of the day. It was by far the hottest day on the bike so far but at least we only had a short ride ahead of us, once we managed to navigate our way out of town. Pushkar is meant to be a laid back town with a small population but we didn't not find any reason to hang around long enough to really find out so we decided to push onto Jodhpur the following day. We left early this time after our previous day's mistake and hit our next destination not too long after lunch. Navigating into town was not too bad and we found ourselves a nice little guesthouse. We got straight back onto the bikes after unloading and set off for the main fort to have a look around. On the way we managed to get lost, the fort was only 2km's from our guesthouse and took us about 5km's until we got to it. The most frustrating part of it all was that we could always see the fort since it sits on top of a hill. Signage in India is severely lacking in places and relying on the locals, directions can sometimes be better of ignored. A map can also look easy until you are thrown into the mix of everything else that goes on in a big Indian city. Once we finally arrived we decided against paying the fee (always much higher for a foreigner) to enter the fort and instead just checked it out from outside the forts walls. The fort is impressive in size and you notice this once you reach the fort entrance. After we had a quick look around we moved onto Jaswant Thada, a milky white marble Memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. The views back over the fort and city from here are beautiful but with the afternoon heat bearing down on us and having another long day in the saddle we made our way back to the guesthouse for an early night as we decided we should push on early the following day to hopefully avoid the main heat of the day if at all possible.

Pushkar

 

Meherangarh Fort

Jaipur

By Sanne

We have arrived in Rajasthan and it is scorching! The temperature is in the high thirties and being mostly dessert here you really feel it. Not just off the bike, on the bike too. Usually when you're riding at a good speed with the wind in your jacket the heat doesn't feel so bad but here the wind is just hot air blowing in from the dessert so not much relief. The bikes are feeling it too, especially in the cities at low speed. The hot air mixed with all the vehicle fumes sent Mark's bike to boiling point. A major service will be scheduled for the next major city we get to. Good thing we're here now though and not in a month's time as apparently the temperature rises to a cosy 48 degrees! We are guzzling water from our camelbacks like thirsty camels - lots of those around here too.
Jaipur the capital of Rajasthan is called "The Pink City" as most of the buildings in the old part of town were painted pink as per orders from a Maharaja back in the 1800s. The city itself is surrounded by some stunning forts rising from rocky mountainsides.
While here we met a nice young lad by the name of Puneet Soni who invited us to his family's house for lunch. Unfortunately I couldn't go as I was sick (pulled an all-nighter of vomiting) so Mark went by himself and they treated him like royalty. They even sent Mark home with some food for me, how nice is that?
The day we were meant to leave Mark decided it was his turn to be sick! So we ended up staying one more day which I spent on recovering and Mark spent on going to the loo.

These guys loved the camera!

Mark with Puneet Soni

 

The Hawa Mahal

View over Jaipur city from Nahargarh Fort

Jal Mahal (Water Palace)

Amber Fort

Agra and the Taj Mahal

By Sanne

It took us a few days to get from Varanasi to Agra where the Taj Mahal is. During this we stayed in dusty, nondescript towns in run-down, mostly dirty rooms paying more than what the rooms seemed to be worth. We have been very surprised of the price of rooms here as we always expected India to be dead cheap. That is not the case and there is not much value for money. At least the food is cheap though.
In one of the towns we stayed, Kanpur, a man invited us into his little food stand/cafe, sat us down and proceeded to give us chai tea, cold water and homemade samosas. When we offered to pay for it he refused to take our money! Such kindness from a complete stranger really warmed our hearts. The night prior in Allahabad a young guy walked around with us for half an hour just to find a shop that sold toilet paper, after which he offered to pay for it! He then walked us back to our hotel and then said: "Can I go now, mam?" So you really meet some wonderful people in this country; you do also encounter some that will try to rip you off blindly and scam you so you have to keep your wits about you, but generally we get a good feeling from people. You just have to get used to being stared at. And have crowds form around you the second you stop. The Indians are very curious people and we usually have a crowd of about 20-30 people around us. Sometimes one person will know some English and will have a conversation with us but that means that you still have 30 sets of eyes just staring at you, usually really close too. It's not uncommon for traffic to come to a complete halt because of us! People will drive past and see a crowd forming and then stop in the middle of the road and just stay there staring at us, ignoring the beeping horns behind them! In Agra we inadvertently caused a traffic accident as an auto-rickshaw rear-ended a motorbike as they were both focusing on us instead of the road! Yep, India is one hell of a crazy place.
Taj Mahal was picture pretty, although they charge you a small fortune to see it. Indians pay 30 Rupees, foreigners pay 750 Rupees. Just a slight difference in price. We got up at 5am to be there for the sunrise and then they didn't even open the gates until after sunrise! It is a beautiful structure built of white marble by emperor Shah Jahan as a love testament to his wife who died during the birth of their 14th(!) child. Construction started in 1632 and was completed 16 years later. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.

In India there's always a crowd!

As grumpy as they may look, these guys were really friendly!

The famous Taj Mahal

And then there's the other side of India

 

Auto Rickshaw, Varanasi