Sunrise in the desert, baldness and more trains
Trip Start
Oct 29, 2011
1
10
24
Trip End
Nov 27, 2011
Where I stayed
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Sunday, November 6, 2011
It was an early start to watch the sun rise over the Thar desert. The colours of the sand dunes were truly remarkable as they were bathed in the red glow of the rising sun with dramatic shadows being cast behind them. Breakfast was cooked over the campfire and consisted of excellent chai, boiled eggs and toast toasted over the fire!
Next up was a camel safari off through the dunes in to a fertile plain and to a local desert village where we were heartily greeted by our host family and cups of chai.
After a jeep ride back through the desert, we were given a room in the hotel to freshen up in the hotel and off we went exploring the city again. Found a fabulous little rooftop restaurant which served the best pizza ever though the kitchen left a lot to be desired!
The owner of the restaurant was a lovely guy who came out to have a big chat with us. A little later, he came over to offer us some of the meal he had just cooked for his family. Delicious - though a gesture I would come regret later.
We had a lazy day strolling around and yet again, the Indians were fascinated with my bald head. Here, I was nick-named "full moon" head. I had no idea why they all found it so amusing. This has been going on since we arrived in India. Everyone wants a picture with me during the day and to have a quick feel of my head. Amazingly, they seem to have no interest with me in the evening and the attention shifts to Paul. I get told " nice look" on street! We later ascertained that it's probably to do with the fact that I look a little like Gandhi!
We headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff and it was off to the train station for our trip to Jodphur. God bless First Class Air Conditioned coaches!
The train journey was a great bit of craic. There was an Australian girl and a shady Indian character in our booth and we had great chats on the 4 hour journey - though my stomach was rumbling somewhat.
We arrived in Jodphur station and got a tuk-tuk the 10km journey to our hotel in the suburbs. It was a stunning collection of little huts and houses built around a beautiful garden. The hotel is run by a family that uses the profits to fund 25 schools in the surrounding poor neighbourhoods . Although we didn't arrive til about 10:30, they still dressed a candlelit table in the middle of the garden for us and rustled up a delicious vegetarian dinner.
We were knackered at this stage, so headed to bed early. My stomach was really rumbling though.....
