Sunny greetings from Agonda, Goa

Hello everybody!

Enjoying the time in Goa with lots of sunlight, a nice beach, lots of snoozing and eating.

I will post more entries tonight when the temperature has dropped a bit.

Arrived in Cochin, Kerala

After 45 hours in a train from Agra to Kerala, we arrived at Ernakulam Junction. That sounds way worse than it actually was, even sleeping was comfortable.

Found our hotel and went to Cochin Fort by ferry for exploration.

Tomorrow we will be picked up for a Backwaters trip, where we will spend the night, too. Then we take another train to Goa.

No more updates during that time, I guess.

But stay tuned!

Day 6 - Khuri and Jodhpur

The night in Khuri was filled with fresh air, which was a really nice change from all the dust and dirt of the big cities. The downside: it was incredibly hard to get out of my three blankets and into the cold morning.

After breakfast we left towards Jodhpur.

Road between Khuri and Jodhpur

On the way there, Sanji showed us a little village with goat farmers. The kids in the village are not going to school, the next one would be too far away anyway. The little clay houses have 10-15 residents.

Village kids and me

As advised by Sanji, I had bought some bonbons for the kids. Thinking of it now, I don't find that the greatest idea though. I have to find something else, which is easy to bring and actually good for them. Maybe nuts or something like that instead.

When trying to hand out the sweets, it got a bit chaotic, so I gave them to the village chief instead, who handed them out to each of the kids. Each of these villages has a chief, who has the say and takes care of the village residents.

Arriving in Jodhpur, we checked in at the hotel. That hotel is my favourite so far, with nice fountains and wall drawings. The temperature also stayed comfortably warm during the evening and night, so I didn't freeze on the rooftop and in bed for once :) Yay!

Hotel in Jodhpur

After checkin we walked to the fort. I really liked Jodhpur and its blue houses, from which the city gets its other name; "The blue city". The blue color was once reserved for the priests but today many others are using it also. It turns out that the color gives an effective protection against mosquitos and sunlight. The fort was really nice and worth a visit, it also offered a great view over Jodhpur.

Streets of Jodhpur

Streets of Jodhpur

Streets of Jodhpur

Cleaning lady in the fort

View from Mehrangarh Fort

Musician in Mehrangarh Fort

Birds with Jodhpur in the background

Streets of Jodhpur

In the evening Sanji and I walked to the Clocktower and the famous spice market nearby.

Clocktower and spice market in Jodhpur

The day ended with once again great food and mango juice on the rooftop of our hotel, being able to see the lit fort above us.

Day 5 - Jaisalmer and Khuri Desert Trip

The day started with a nice hot Indian breakfast (I so prefer that over continental) in the cold and windy rooftop restaurant.

After breakfast we met up with a local guide, who would show us around Jaisalmer that morning.

Bhagwan had lived and studied in France and Australia, so his English was really good.

Streets of Jaisalmer with the fort in the background

We walked the streets of Jaisalmer and its sandstone buildings. Jaisalmer is also called the golden city because of its distinct sandstone and architecture. Bhagwan explained how to distinguish Hindu and Muslim houses (Hindu design has a lot more flowers, they are integral to the religion).



Date of marriage on a house in Jaisalmer



The fort of Jaisalmer is 847 years old, which makes it the second oldest fort of India, and it has the oldest palace. It was once again impressive, like the other forts before. Every single one looks completely different though.

Sadly, due to water erosion, the fort is slowly rotting away and nobody knows when it will fall apart. There are 5000 people living in the fort, and it has 50 hotels, 50 restaurants and 500 shops, which doesn't help preserving it.

Shop in Jaisalmer fort

View from Jaisalmer fort

Family living in Jaisalmer fort

After descending from the fort, we took a tuk-tuk to a cloth shop, where I found some really nice things for me. I also wanted an outfit with cloth I chose myself. They took measurements, cut it, sew it together and delivered it to the hotel. All within an hour. Wow!

Tailor shop in Jaisalmer

Then we landed in the house of a silversmith and his family and I chose some nice jewelry.

Shopping at a silversmith

It might sound like every guided trip through a city ends up in a shop. Well, it does. Easy like that.

In the beginning it was hard to just walk out again without buying anything, when I didn't find anything I liked, as they put so much effort in the whole process. Sometimes I wanted to give a little tip at least, but they all denied that. It would be their duty and job, they insisted.

Besides, all these shops were nice to be in. You could sit down, drink tea and look at the items being presented to you.

Now, all the street merchants are another chapter. In the beginning that might feel rude, but you won't get rid of them unless you wave them off like an annoying fly and just look in another direction.

Cow stealing carrots in the vegetables market

Wild pigs roaming the streets of Jaisalmer

After the end of that shopping spree in the early afternoon, we walked back to the hotel. Sanzi was waiting for us already and we left immediately towards Khuri, in the desert.

At a short break along the road, Sanzi explained to me how to find, or rather avoid snakes. I decided to look out for rabbit holes in the future. Snakes use them as their houses.



Road towards Khuri



Mangalam Resort in Khuri was really nice. Several huts with straw roofs and a fireplace in the middle of the resort.

We had to explain that we do NOT want to ride a camel up the dunes, nor take a camel cart. Actually did that back in Delhi in the tourist office already, but turns out you have to explain things a lot of times to get it through.

Instead, we walked. Now that was just great. We could see all the camels and people up on a high dune in the distance, so it was hard to miss. It was such a great feeling walking through the nature and uphill in the sand. Having arrived up on the dune, we went a bit further to a spot with almost no tourists to enjoy the sunset in silence. After sunset we made haste to be back in the resort before darkness. We had a huge tree as landmark, so that wasn't a problem either. Could also have followed the caravan of camels and tourists back to Khuri, but I rather wanted to enjoy the silence and beauty of the desert.

Khuri Mangalam Resort

Camels in Khuri



Walking to the desert dunes from Khuri



Walking to the desert dunes from Khuri

Camp in the desert near Khuri

Desert dunes near Khuri

Sunset in the desert near Khuri

We arrived perfectly in time before darkness. The evening ended with a great buffet while sitting on ottomans, listening to musicians and watching a graceful dancer.



Greetings from Agra

I am sorry I barely post anything. Just usually too tired in the evening or no/ limited internet available.

We arrived in Agra today and got to see the Taj Mahal. Really impressive. Was built by 20.000 people over 22 years.

Tomorrow we will take a train to Cochin in Kerala. Will take 40 hours and most likely no internet available during that time either.

I am sure it will be somewhat exhausting, but looking forward to the whole experience nevertheless!

Day 4 - Bikaner and Jaisalmer

In the morning we did a one-hour tour of the Junagarh fort in Bikaner.
The fort had been built by 16 different maharajas over 350 years. Each of the palaces of the fort looked different, representing the varying tastes of the maharajas. Really impressive looking at all the little details everywhere.

After that we left towards Jaisalmer, which is only about 100 km from the Pakistan border.
Of course, on the way there we had food at a roadside restaurant again.

Road between Bikaner and Jaisalmer

Tea stand in western Rajasthan style

Waterhole with cranes on the way to Jaisalmer

We arrived in Jaisalmer just in time to watch the sunset outside the city.

Sunset outside Jaisalmer

After checking in at Apollo Guest House, Sanzi walked us to the Desert Cultural Center & Museum, where we watched a muppet show. Sanzi had told us to come back the same road and not walk anywhere else, so we did that.

Stringpuppets at the puppet show in Jaisalmer

The roof top restaurant where we had dinner was about 500 m away from the guest house and somebody from the hotel joined us on our way there. Food was nice and I tried Kingfisher beer. It was quite cold and windy, but the nice view over the lit Jaisalmer fort made up for it.

Day 3 - Mandawa and Bikaner, Rajasthan

After a quite unexciting continental breakfast, our guide for the morning, Pinvin, showed us around Mandawa.
It was still early in the morning, so the streets were empty and filled with mist. That was a nice contrast to the usual hustle.
Pinvin led us to several havelis, built 200-400 years ago. Each of the havelis was unique, with different drawings on them. He also showed us a 4000 m deep well in the middle of town. I decided I should not lean over too far.

Streets of Mandawa in the morning

Haveli in Mandawa

Courtyard of a haveli in Mandawa

Dog feeding puppies

We ended up in a textiles shop, which was owned by Pinvins family.
Entering shops and buying goodies is always a huge procedure here. The merchant is spreading his wares before you, while you are being served tea. The items you like are put aside and presented to you again later.
I found a really nice wall hanging and we had a good and long chat with Pinvins brother about various subjects, like the Indian school system or salaries.

Donkey cart

Market Streets of Mandawa

Tailor in Mandawa

One of the many roadside merchants

One of the many camel carts

After having made our way back to the hotel, we left towards Bikaner. On the way we stopped at a roadside restaurant and I had a really really nice Malai Kofta. Taste was incredible and the food was so cheap (less than €2), just like Sanzi had told us.

Road to Bikaner

One of the many roadside tea stands/ restaurants

Before going to Bikaner, we made a quick reroute to Deshnok (30 km from Bikaner) for the Karnimata rat temple.
I found it soo cute having all the rats running around me and over my feet and trying to nibble my toes.

Rats at Karnimata temple

We arrived in Bikaner when it was dark already. The hotel looked awesome again, with an inner courtyard and four floors surrounding it. It even had Internet in the lobby, that is when I posted my entry about Day 1.