With 550 temples Pushkar is one of hinduisms holiest towns. It is said that Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, did battle with the demon, Vajra Nabh, and slew him with a lotus blossom. A petal fell from his hand and landed on earth thus creating the Thirtharaj lake in Pushka. Many Hindus come to bathe in the lake believing it will wash away their sins and earn them a place in heaven. Armed with romantic notions of a beautiful, magical place full of pilgrim...

Getting to Udaipur took approximately 8 hours. As usual we took a public bus but fortunately this time we did have a toilet stop! However the tiny toilet was the exclusive domain of the women and children so David had to join the rest of the Indian men (and wild pigs) and go al fresco - well whilst in Rome! Our accommodation in Udaipur isn't a hotel as such as we are staying in the home of an ex army colonel and his wife with mad hair and a hearing problem (or a...

Next stop was Jodhpur and yes the riding breeches do hail from here. Seeing the wealthy men of Jodhpur wearing these riding pants the British were so impressed at their comfort and practicality they decided it was one thing they definitely needed to export home! We travelled to Jodhpur on a public bus which had 2 levels, the lower level had conventional seats whilst the upper level had compartments where passengers could lay or kneel. In addition to the reserved...

Travelling to Jaisalmer the most westerly destination on this tour at approx 120km from the Pakistan Border, was interestng to say the least. We travelled by train which I have to say was in much better condition than I expected (despite the resident mouse in our carriage). We are very much objects of interest here in India. It first started in the station where we were surrounded by 3 deep of men (yes men, rarely women!) who relentlessly stared at us even when ...

In a magazine in a coffee shop in Connaught Place metro station I saw the following quote 'It's there, beautiful, unchanging, mystifying, filthy - the perfect metaphor for paradoxical India', which I thought was a pretty good description. India currently has a population of 1.4 billion people and 14 million of them live in Delhi and don't we know it. I think this is the biggest culture shock for us, the sheer amount of people! But there are other things such as ...