To the border and back

(Argh the Internet reception is terrible so I have given up trying to upload pictures!) After leaving Udiapur, we travelled further west towards the Pakistan border stopping at a Jain temple called Ranakpur. We both agreed this is one of the most awe inspiring buildings we have ever seen. As always the priest was very enthusiastic and wanted to share his religion and the history of the building with us, which was very interesting. At the end of the tour, he sat us down on the floor, and sat one and a half meters in front of us, crossed legged and in a meditating position. He rolled his eyes back in his head and gave blessings to us. The sound of these is very peaceful and sounds like the priests are singing. Thankfully I am getting better at controlling my inappropriate giggles, but I am still not good enough to actually concentrate on what they are doing so I have not been enjoying these as much as Beedie. He manages absolutely fine, which is a good thing as otherwise I am not sure we would be allowed back into the temples. On to Jodhpur and another spectacular fort, this time positioned on the top of a large sandstone out crop, towering over the 'blue city' below. The heat really started to get to us as it was 47 degrees C and there really wasn't any escape from this, apart from to stay inside our hotel room. Even the air con was giving up and we had to move rooms three times to get one which worked! The next day we drove for 6 hours to within 50 miles of the Pakistan border. The dessert was so vast and baron and we saw goats everywhere with lots of farmers transporting their goods by camel. We also saw lots of military vehicles and bases to which our driver pointed out "the Indians don't get on with Pakistan" Spoken like a true diplomat! That evening we went on a two hour camel ride into the dunes to watch the sunset. The dunes were amazing and there were lots of beautiful wild peacocks. My camel kept farting and after the water break did the largest burp I have ever heard! I decided that my camel reminded me of my brother Michael. After a camp dinner we slept under the stars and watched the moon rise, which was more spectacular than the sunset. The wind picked up and we were actually cool for the first time in twelve days needing duvets to sleep. It was so nice! In the morning and on our way back to the camp, our guide stopped at a well to give the camels some water. Here there was a local man pulling up a bucket (we estimate 15m) to fill large sacks on the side of his own camel to take back to his village, so they had some water. To fill the sacks probably takes an hour and this water was filthy and sandy. We have seen a lot of things in India which have made us both very grateful to live in Scotland. But this particular scene really made me appreciate this more than anything. I don't mean to sound like a cliched traveler, but it is unthinkable to imaging having to work so hard to collect water everyday, which ultimately is key for our survival and something which we have, quite literally, on tap. When I next get stressed, I hope I will think about this scene and I am sure it will put my problem into perspective. We went to yet another city with a fort, which is a good thing as we are now becoming experts on Indian forts and palaces. Something we were really hoping for from this trip!!! Sarcasm aside, Jiasalmer and the fort were lovely. This is the only fort where people still live within the walls and has a population of 5000. However, despite being populated we quickly noticed the lack of litter, a first for our trip in India. At one restaurant the young owner was very enthusiastic and explained to us a newly formed group from Jiasalmer meets once a week to collect rubbish - incredibly forward thinking in India. As a result this is something that has turned a city not recommended by our 6 year old Lonely Planet into one of our preferred stops on this trip around Rajasthan. I hope the rest of India catches onto this concept. The same keen restaurant owner showed us how to make chia tea. I love this drink and if you fancy making some yourself the recipe is at the end of this blog. Our long return to Delhi was broken up by stops in Bikaner, the less said about this place the better, and Mandawa. In Mandawa we had a lot of fun and Beeds fulfilled his ambition of playing cricket in India. The hotly contested match was with 12 school kids, who were delighted to have Beedie playing with them. Beedie was even more delighted when I told him afterwards that the boys had said he was a very good cricketer. He is still talking about the 6 he hit over the bowlers head and the "wonderful cover drive on the pitch with variable bounce!" We were invited back to play the next morning, but the 5am start was not very appealing. One of the boys gave us the card for his restaurant, so we decided to check it out, thinking it wasn't actually his restaurant but his parents. The meal was delicious and we were amazed to find out that it was indeed a family restaurant, but the chefs were the three brothers aged 14 to 18! The hard work ethic of these boys is incredible; cricket at 5 am, school 9 till 5 and very grateful for it, and then home to help run the family business. Coincidently their dad was the village yoga master, so we attended a very unusual and bizaar meditation yoga class the following morning. This involved lots of breathing exercises. The yoga master snotted on himself, answered his mobile mid-meditation telling us to carry on and relax, Beedie was given a tissue to blow his noes as it was making so much noise and I could barely contain my giggles! We then drove on to Delhi and said our goodbyes to Sandeep the driver. He was a great guide and he provided us with some fantastic quotes as he was politically insensitive. The trip also wouldn't have been the same without the Bollywood soundtracks and Justin Bieber "who has a great voice!" - this replaced our "boring music". We left India after an amazing experience and trip. I especially loved the contrast of the bright colored saris to the dessert landscape of Rajisthan and how friendly the people were.