Only a short blog.So here we are in Jodhpur home of the riding trousers. It is a big busy dusty town. In short it's an Indian town. We've booked into a hotel which was once a colonial house. It's a peaceful sanctuary from the chaos outside the door. Everything seems good then we log into the wifi and find out within seconds our house is flooded and Jill's ATM card has been cloned and her account emptied. Deep breath then scream.

Emails are fired off and we head out into the chaos of Jodhpur. Back in the hotel we check the e mail responses. It goes a bit like this. Townends have spoken to our insurers who seem very matter of fact. They appear to be saying it's no problem and they have it in hand. Barclays bank seem very relaxed and says it can be sorted. I'm reserving judgement on our insurers L&V until they come up with the goods. Barclays is easy, like Santander they are a bunch of tossers. They know we are travelling abroad. There is a massive amount of irregular activity on Jill's account typical of an 'express kidnapping' and their response is to send a letter to our address in England. We then spend over £100 on mobile calls to them. They want forms completed and faxed back to them. First they send it as a PDF which you can't write on then tell us their international fraud office doesn't have a fax machine. I truly despair of banks and know of two who are going to lose two customers in about 3 weeks.

Anyway back to Jodhpur. Our reason for coming here was to see the huge fort which overlooks the city. It is a fascinating place to look around. Unlike most Indian sites it is in good condition. This is probably because it is owned and occupied by the old Maharajahs family and run as a business. The city was founded in 1459 and grew on the profits of opium. It is busy and chaotic but has a certain charm. People are much more friendly in Rajahstan.The pictures say more than I can.

After a couple of days we head for Jaisalmer where there is another fort. Rajasthan state is pretty much Forts R Us. It was founded in 1156. Here is a massive sandstone fort. Most of the town's occupants live inside it. The walls house shops, houses and hotels. So many in fact that the sewage system is collapsing and the fort is sinking. Jaisalmer looks like Beirut in the 70's or Iraq now. Rubble and rubbish are everywhere. It is described as a desert area. Don't picture sand dunes it is really just dusty scrub and a few camels.

Having said that we have had a few relaxing days in both towns. Nice hotels make such a difference. Next stop Delhi.