Kieran:
On our way from Jodhpur to Ranakpur we stopped off at a villagers house, who made rugs. We were invited into their home, where they showed us the process involved, offered us some chai and then showed us some of their handmade mats in the hope that we would want to buy one. well, lucky for them, Nick did.
We left the desert behind us and moved into greener territory and eventually started climbing up into the hills. We ended up in a place called Ranakpur, a hilltop retreat situated amongst lush green forests and quiet lakes. This was a welcome change of pace from the hectic atmosphere in Jodhpur and the climate was dramatically cooler. The hotel was rather quaint with nice garden surroundings and we ate our meals under a canopy outside.
We arrived at about midday and so after lunch we went to check out another Jain temple. But not just any temple, this one was made up of 24 large halls containing 1400+ ornately carved pillars (it had an air of Tolkien's "Mines of Moria" about it). From there we returned to the hotel to then embark out on a short walk to view a few of the surrounding lakes. The place was full of life. Out on the walk we saw loads of birds and some local sheepherders and their huts. In the evening we watched an owl (no idea what one), happily perched on a pole maybe 10 meters from our table, which was there for a good 15 minutes.
Our walk ended with rain and we wandered back to the hotel.
We played some cards and listened to some music and feeling the most relaxed and comforted we had since we left the UK, we fell asleep.
Nick:
And yeah our driver is doing good, I think his company may have been a little exaggerating about the weather in the north, and preying on our Jet Lag and New Delhi shock to get us to do thier more extravagant route... however, now we are here our driver seems like a good guy, very helpful, if a bit hardened by a the tourist routes. He's been driving round Rajastan for 18 years or something, so he has a tendency of making things sound a bit plain or unexciting, when actually they're pretty breathtaking when you get there! It's also very hard to do things local style, more like we planned, using busses and what have you. You're just treated like a tourist everywhere, no hope in hell of blending in! Especially on the route we're on now. We've met quite a few people doing a similar journey, they keep popping up!
We left the desert behind us and moved into greener territory and eventually started climbing up into the hills. We ended up in a place called Ranakpur, a hilltop retreat situated amongst lush green forests and quiet lakes. This was a welcome change of pace from the hectic atmosphere in Jodhpur and the climate was dramatically cooler. The hotel was rather quaint with nice garden surroundings and we ate our meals under a canopy outside.
We arrived at about midday and so after lunch we went to check out another Jain temple. But not just any temple, this one was made up of 24 large halls containing 1400+ ornately carved pillars (it had an air of Tolkien's "Mines of Moria" about it). From there we returned to the hotel to then embark out on a short walk to view a few of the surrounding lakes. The place was full of life. Out on the walk we saw loads of birds and some local sheepherders and their huts. In the evening we watched an owl (no idea what one), happily perched on a pole maybe 10 meters from our table, which was there for a good 15 minutes.
Our walk ended with rain and we wandered back to the hotel.
We played some cards and listened to some music and feeling the most relaxed and comforted we had since we left the UK, we fell asleep.
Nick:
Hey guys! Thanks for getting back to me, that was helpful to know, and nice to get an update from you. What was the easyjet refund for I wonder? Anyways, not sure about it being a Bulbul, the bird looked vaguely familiar to me, like I've seen it in a book or film before, but that doesn't help much!
And yeah our driver is doing good, I think his company may have been a little exaggerating about the weather in the north, and preying on our Jet Lag and New Delhi shock to get us to do thier more extravagant route... however, now we are here our driver seems like a good guy, very helpful, if a bit hardened by a the tourist routes. He's been driving round Rajastan for 18 years or something, so he has a tendency of making things sound a bit plain or unexciting, when actually they're pretty breathtaking when you get there! It's also very hard to do things local style, more like we planned, using busses and what have you. You're just treated like a tourist everywhere, no hope in hell of blending in! Especially on the route we're on now. We've met quite a few people doing a similar journey, they keep popping up!
Anyways, I'll keep in touch, phone signal is almost always good, but sometimes I have trouble sending things, if you're ever worried, you can always try calling. And our driver's name is Yunis, his company could probably reach him for you.
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