Camera Pictures 007

We are now well and truly in Rajasthan having taken yet another train ride 12 hours west from Agra. We are Jodhpur, a much nicer place. The children having said ‘Hello’ now ask, ‘How are you?’ or ‘What is you’re good name?’ rather than ‘Rupee!’ Everyone seems very friendly and you can walk the narrow streets without too much hassle.
We arrived yesterday on the overnight train and after a short snooze went and found the Fort. It was superb and in many ways better than the Taj. It was more organized and ready for tourists. We are staying in a Havali which is the name for a merchant’s house. It is in the old city. It is 500 years old and has imposing wooden gates to a courtyard. From here you can see the Fort high on the hill. We wandered through a labyrinth of ancient alleyways and eventually found an old gate to the Fort. For the next 300 metres or so we climbed the approach way alone. We thought we would be the only tourists there! We found the coach park on the other side!
The town is steaming with a Persian influence and has a real Aladdin feel to it. Yesterday Bill Gates was here as part of his work to eradicate Polio. He did the sights.
Rajasthan seems the home of extremely long handlebar moustaches, usually curly at the edges.
Today we headed north some 50km to a small town with a number of temples in it. We have now returned and Patrice is putting her feet up in the Havalli while I am on the web.