11th July - Arrived in to Jaisalmer train station at 11.15pm where we had a free pick up from our accommodation, checked in and straight to bed.

No, we are not in the Himalayas, but this is a setting on our air conditioning and boy do we need it. Thought Jodphur was hot but this is hotter - considering we are in the Thar desert bordering Pakistan I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. Jaisalmer is also called the gold city as all the buildings are constructed from sandstone and covered with lattice work, very beautiful. We walked to the fort and within the walls is the palace, Jain temples and 4000 residents. From a distance it looks like a giant sandcastle with it's ramparts and bastions rising up 100m from the town below. A lot quieter than Jodphur and easier to walk around as not being run over by motor cycles and tuk tuks. We visited the palace with the usual audio guide, two Jain temples and a couple of famous Havelis (Patwa Haveli and Nathmalji Ki Haveli) before making our way back to our accommodation (Hotel Pleasant Haveli) and the comfort of our airconditioned room where we remained for the afternoon. We ate upstairs in the evening (on the roof top of course) and stocked up on beers to take back to the room to watch the England v Croatia semi-final which was starting at 11.30pm local time. Interesting to watch the match together with the commentary in Hindi and only understanding, just, Harry Kane. As it went to extra time we didn't get to bed until 2.00am - probably our latest night yet.

12th July - Went to visit the local vegetable market and found a mobile phone shop to get a new screen for Dan's broken phone (£20 as opposed to the £80 he paid in the UK last time it cracked). After an hour we were once again too hot and looking like we were in a sauna fully clothed we went back for a shower and to cool down before our desert adventure later in the afternoon.

We left the hotel at 3.30pm by 4 x 4 jeep and drove an hour out of town in to the Thar desert, passing little villages, herders with their goats, and plenty of camels. We arrived at our waiting camels and although Heather was a little nervous, we rode the camels towards the dunes in the distance and admiring the desert landscape. Images of Lawrence of Arabia came to mind, especially with Dan and his turban - so his nickname for the evening was Dan of Thar. Although our guide preferred to call him Maharaja - he is certainly getting preferential treatment in India! We dismounted and walked down one of the sand dunes where our guide/driver was waiting for us and proceeded to make us Masala Chai on the open fire. Never seen tea made this way, but it does taste delicious - powdered milk added to boiling water, then loose tea with some sliced ginger. Strained in to a cup and it shouldn't taste as good as it does. Heather is not a lover of tea but has been converted.

We then walked back up the Dune to watch the sunset whilst our guide and camel leader made us fresh pakoras for snacks and a lovely meal of Dal curry, vegetable curry, rice and chapatis. By this time it was dark and the desert sky turned black and a million and one stars appeared - with no moon or light pollution it was amazing to lie back on our mattresses and just gaze up to the sky. Heather also saw her first ever shooting star. All too soon it was time to go home and an hour later we were back in our airconditioned room - we wish we had stayed the night in the desert.

13th July - We had to check out at 10.00am although our train wasn't due to depart until 4.45 but hotel very kindly gave us the use of a small bedroom to relax and shower before we left for the overnight sleeper train to Jaipur