DAY 12 - JODHPUR We decided to spend our first full day in Jodhpur visiting its iconic fort. We resisted the temptation to get a rickshaw straight to its entrance, instead opting to walk the much more rewarding route through the steep alleys behind our hostel up to the fort's base, before following a path which gradually ascended up to the main gate, passing rows of small houses containing children screaming greetings. We would return to that same path a couple ...

DAY 11 - UDAIPUR/JODHPUR We arrived at the coach station shortly after 7 and drank some chai as the morning warmed up. The coach journey was interesting, travelling with a whole variety of Indians, from peasant land workers to men in suits. The landscape continued to become more barren and mountainous, the occasional spread of crop fighting its way through the parched land as farmers tended to their fields. People jumped on to the coach at every stop as others d...

DAY 10 - UDAIPUR After breakfast we decided to visit a Tibetan market located in the south of Udaipur and then make our way back via a couple of the city's main sites. It was refreshing to experience a marketplace which had set-prices for its goods and a relaxed and unconfrontational atmosphere, the hassle that we had been constantly receiving evaporating the moment we set foot in the square. The Tibetans running the market stalls seemed pretty chilled out and l...

DAY 9 - UDAIPUR We grabbed a large breakfast at our hostel in the morning before heading down to Udaipur's large City Palace complex to visit its museum. It documented the compelling history of the Rajput Dynasty (apparently the longest serving ruling family in the world) and contained many interesting artworks and artifacts, displayed tastefully throughought the magnificent building. We had a nice lunch on the bank, again enjoying fantastic views the Lake Palac...

DAY 6 - JAIPUR We spent the morning eating breakfast on the roof terrace and chilling out with our mate from the jewelry shop and his friend, a fellow student. We went down on to the street and settled next to a chai (tea) stand where groups of men watched the street's traffic roll past. Whilst in the their shop later, his brother offered us a business opportunity which we gracefully declined. We talked into the afternoon and eventually separated and got some lu...