A lovely wander at the mercy of the wind in this amazing Rajasthan (page 10 of 11)

Great travel journal, Christelle—it really brings back some wonderful memories. Without hesitation, for your next trip, I’m voting for Mauritius and its little neighbor: Rodrigues. But if you’re not happy with your current camera, Lulu will probably get you a new one to keep you happy and take some wow photos, because in Rodrigues, that’s all there is to do. 😄 You should also dip your head in the water, where amazing creatures will leave you in awe. You won’t regret it... Roberto

Thanks Pagal for this info about weddings in India. Roberto

Thanks for taking the time to enlighten me—really interesting discussions about weddings in India. Roberto

Oh, but this "vote" isn’t about our next destinations, Roberto 😄. My list is what we’ve seen over the past few years. Just to decide which travel journal to share here (since I make one every time). So far, we’ve already visited Mauritius and Rodrigues, and they were both truly wonderful surprises for completely different reasons 😊

Well, looks like we’ll be a big group, Pagal, since I’ll be joining you on your Senegal travel journal!

Another one because it’s Pagal writing the journal 😜

Well, I’m crashing this future travel journal too—it sounds right up my alley! Okay, I’ve got work to do, someone’s waiting for me on another journal 😉

For Christelle—super São Tomé, it’s still on my list since your travel journal. I’m signing up today 😏 for the trip

Turns out India is also a nature destination. 😇 It’s funny, sprinkled with sharp observations. Unfiltered (but with a touch of magic). Insightful too, in a casual way.

The office is closed, but I would’ve voted for Benin. I’ll also be reading Pagaljavab’s inside travel journal on Senegal with interest.

and I’d only put 4/5 photos here. It’ll save me a lot of work

Cheapskate!

Well, Jean Michel, I just love my photos so much that I ended up putting 10 per post, just so you know—maxed out, actually 😄

As promised, if you're up for it, our new adventures are here 😁😉:

https://voyageforum.com/forum/sao-tome-ile-oubliee-d10699060/

Otherwise, just out of curiosity, are any of you here who took part in HOLI? How was it? On the spot, I heard some not-so-cool things. The next day in Bundi, we were at the hotel with some Spanish girls who had powder all the way down their backs and stomachs 🤭. They told us the big game was to pull their T-shirts to put the powder inside (and hands too, I imagine 😅)

Well, I’ve been wanting to share my Holi in Nawalgarh for a long time! It was more like: sex, sex, sex, and more sex! The women’s festival they’d told us about the night before! A weird take on Women’s Day, if you ask me. Anyway, on another note, I really love your travel journal—I just picked up reading it again, as promised. I’d stopped when your husband’s underwear started smelling musty and you gave him yours...

I read, I read, I read, I laugh a lot too, and as I go through this travel journal, I realize why some women told me I was completely wrong when I said that India has changed a lot. But Rajasthan is a state apart, stuck a century—or more—behind. Personally, I wonder if we should be happy about it or despair. How can women find this acceptable? (I’m not talking about you.) The weight of traditions isn’t just heavy there—it’s fierce and terrifying beneath the pretty picture you paint so well. This isn’t just "traditions" anymore; it’s total obscurantism. Long live communist Kerala!

Well, by the way, I really love your travel journal—I just picked up reading it again, as promised. I’d stopped when your husband’s underwear started smelling musty and you’d given him yours...

Awwww, I’m so glad you like it! I wasn’t too sure, Jean Marie, given how different our perspectives must be! And I’m also happy your comments bring this journal back to life a little 😄.

Anyway, I don’t remember all the nonsense I wrote, but it takes 2 Cricris for 1 Lulu, so there’s no way he’d fit into my underwear 😂.

It's a temple carved between two cliffs with two pools where pilgrims come to bathe and overrun by monkeys that sometimes also plunder according to the images I had seen.

Indeed, there are several magnificent monuments... but completely abandoned, mess everywhere, fences with barbed wire, and a first pool with filthy water and littered with trash 😷.

Oh no! That’s one of my best memories of Rajasthan! Do you want photos of what *I* saw? Lived, I should say...

I read, I read, I read, I laugh a lot too, and as I go through this travel journal, I understand why some ladies told me I was completely wrong when I said that India has changed a lot. But Rajasthan is a state apart, stuck a century—or more—behind. Personally, I wonder if we should be happy about it or despair. How can women find this acceptable? (I’m not talking about you.) The weight of traditions isn’t just heavy there—it’s fierce and terrifying beneath the pretty picture you paint so well. We’re no longer talking about "traditions" but about total obscurantism. Long live communist Kerala!

Yes, Jean Marie 🎭 It’s the final struggle Let’s gather and tomorrow The Internationaleeee Will be the human race 🎭😄

But same here, I’ve written so many pages that I don’t see which one you’re referring to

Yes, sure, but there are also those (especially women) who rebel against this tradition. See *The Chamber of Perfumes* by Inderjit Badhwar.

Oh wow! That’s one of my best memories of Rajasthan! Do you want photos of what *I* saw? Lived, I should say...

Well, Google showed me tons of gorgeous photos!! That’s exactly why I was so disappointed (which doesn’t happen often!).

But I don’t remember who here went a few weeks after me, and apparently, they’d done a big cleanup of the basin, so don’t cry 😊. I probably just hit the wrong time!

We can feel proud and original showing a destination in a way that’s different from what you see everywhere.

That’s what I’d like to try to do... https://voyageforum.com/forum/gratte-ciel-marches-glacons-tourisme-cascades-thailande-demesure-d10702071/

I wasn’t really convinced, Jean Marie, given our inevitably very different perspectives

Do I usually say what I don’t think? Different perspectives aren’t necessarily incompatible. I love lively travel journals and thoughts that make me laugh. We just have different writing styles, and you like to blur the line between dream and reality, which isn’t my thing. That’s where our difference ends.

Same here—I’ve written so many pages I can’t tell which one you’re referring to

I’m talking about everything you describe of a Rajasthan you’ve just visited. I’ve wanted to return to Rajasthan for years—I loved it for all the reasons you mention and show. But every year I end up backing out because of what I know lies behind that magnificent tourist facade. When I was 20, I loved bullfights in Spain. Now, I’d campaign against them if I lived there.