Anyway, our first day started with a four/five hour drive to Mandawa which was actually more like eight or nine hours but I managed to sleep for half of it so I was alright, Jack! We drove through villages where the women were wearing the most amazing brightly coloured clothes and down potholed roads narrowly avoiding cows and camels and the occasional man squatting at the side. We got there quite late so were taken straight to our hotel which we were taken aback with as it was a beautiful Persian looking building (we thought we would be getting low budget hostels). Inside was just as stunning, as was our room and the strange wailing Punch and Judy show happening in the courtyard just outside! No time to rest yet though as we were taken on a whistle stop tour through the quiet town and shown their painted havelas which are big houses owned by various families of the higher castes that are now abandoned as the owners have moved to the bigger cities where they can make more money. Our tour guide was a happy man called Jack, full of well-practised catch phrases and moves, who informed us he was actually studying to become a doctor but needed the money from this job as it was so expensive to learn. He then took us to the market which was a bit terrifying as it was full of bulls just wandering around and introduced us to some local celebrities: "This man's father built this big beautiful archway but he just likes to sit around drinking beer and whiskey".
Monday 5th March started off with a breakfast that consisted of bananas, very sweet, cold porridge, coffee and white bread toast that tastes worse than Bimbo bread (if you've been to the Balearics before you'll know what I mean!). Then we jumped in the car again with Raj for the four hour drive to Biknar. On the way we encountered lots more camels and our first sighting of an Indian train which blow steam out the top and are faster than I imagined. We also made a stop in what I can only describe as one of my worst nightmares: a temple full of rats. You have to take your shoes off before you go in and they are scurrying around everywhere, drinking milk and being scary. I think it is something to do with a family being reincarnated as rats and if you find a white one or eat some sort of sugary ball covered in rat saliva then you are lucky. I'll let Professor Dumb elaborate on the finer details of this holy shrine in another blog as I was a massive wimp and couldn't stay in there more than five minutes much to the amusement of Raj!
Next stop was a massive and extremely impressive fort which we walked round for hours listening to the audio guide who was an over-the-top Indian man with a very posh British accent. You could go right to the top and it had some awesome views as well as a few too many weapons to look at but all-in-all it was wonderful. We were then taken to a rug factory without much explanation but all became clear once we were inside as the charming and persuasive men started showing us their wares. Their finest quilts sold to famous fashion designers and patterned pashminas made of the wool from a camels neck (the best part apparently). "You can't buy one as it won't fit in your bag? No worries we can FedEx them! Look we have a book full of orders from people all over the world!" I have to say they nearly got me but Daniel was - as ever - the sensible one when frivolous purchases are involved and managed to politely but firmly tell them no we didn't want to buy anything (even if he did have to say it about ten times before they gave up!).
We are now at another ornate hotel with a big comfy bed, mini bar and tea making facilities about to go to dinner. Mustn't get too used to this as tomorrow we will be camel trekking into the desert and staying the night there. I am both terrified and extremely excited as camels are much bigger than I thought...
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