Jodhpur is known as the Blue City. Many of the houses are painted completely light blue. The Brahamans (Priests) Caste (the highest of the 4 hindu castes) used to paint there houses blue. Then in the 1970s, everyone started to do it, basically because they thought it looked cool. It sounds a bit silly, but when you look at it from above, it is really quite amazing.

We began the day at the Merangah Fort. The fort was home to the Maharajah of the area and is situated on top of a huge mountain. With all these forts we've seen, I'm starting to get the feeling that these Maharaja's and Emperors didn't trust each other very much.

We went to dinner at a rooftop restaurant near the clocktower at the centre of town. Before we got there, we stopped at a temporary 10 day market. Richard was particularly excited about this because it was a locals market, not meant for tourists. The market was HUGE - more like a carnvival - set up on a sporting ground, with vendors, food stands and rides.

We very quickly realised that it was indeed a local market, as we were the only white people there. The looks people gave us made me feel like we were an attraction in the zoo. Keep in mind that in Indian culture it is OK to stare at people - though mostly just curiosity, this made it a bit weird, especially as it got dark. The looks ranged from: "why are you here" to "you know there aren't any other white people here" to "ooh a white person, let's jack up the price". Richard had a great time... I am glad I had the experience... So that I don't have to do it again.

Also today we saw a bunch of fighter jets blazing through the sky. If we were in the US I would assume that a sporting event just started, but when you're just 300km from Pakistan, its not the same sense of excitement. I was relieved to hear that they were Indian not Pakistani jets.

Tomorrow we drive to Udaipur - 6 hours. Apparently the last 3 are through windy roads in the hills. Already worrying about all the passing our driver is going to do!