A lovely wander at the mercy of the wind in this amazing Rajasthan (page 6 of 11)

The rest shouldn’t disappoint you because today I’m taking you to Pushkar.

I went there for the "camel fair": Thousands, even tens of thousands of people! Pilgrims, insane attractions, sadhus, fakirs, beggars, and of course the famous camel market

Wow, lucky you, Jean Michel! I’ve heard about it, of course. It must be so "thrilling"—just how I like it! 😊

Your photo with the kids is really touching. You mention the great book *The Braid* (I enjoyed the film too, by the way), which reminds me of one of our trips to India. On the plane, we had a young man from Bangladesh living in France sitting next to us. He told us about the trade in the beautiful hair of Indian women who offer it to temples. After a long process (sorting, washing, etc.), this hair is sold and shipped to the West. The young man from Bangladesh bought it to sell to hairdressers for extensions for his French clients. It’s apparently a very lucrative business, but the profit doesn’t go to the women who provide the hair.

Oh yes, Gabrielle, there are always clever folks lying in wait to get rich, but at least their hair is useful—especially for women battling cancer (and who have a well-stuffed wallet, since I’ve heard those natural-hair wigs are *super* expensive).

So today, I’m taking you back in time for a change. You’ve probably noticed that our road trip took us through quite a few places that aren’t exactly "touristy" 😅. So, we didn’t have much choice when it came to getting around. But when we left Udaipur, we said to ourselves: "Enough already... with the taxis and the hassles" 😄.

We have great memories of traveling on Indian trains, with families offering you food, tea vendors shouting "chai, chai, chai" as they pass by, and the doors wide open so you can watch the landscapes roll by, perched on the footboard.

So, full of excitement, we bought our tickets for a Udaipur/Pushkar trip.

Except this time, we really messed up: we ended up on what was basically a TGV, with a steward and freeze-dried tea bags!! Seriously, there’s no denying it—modernity can be a real pain 😒.



Plus, when we arrived at the station, only five rickshaws jumped on us, and they didn’t even try to scam us. Honestly, traveling in this country is becoming almost too easy 😄.

As usual, we chill at the guesthouse during the hottest hours, then rent a scooter to explore Pushkar, its lake, and its ghats.

But right off the bat, we’re stuck, forced to park 🤦.

We come across a beautiful temple, with a line of guys in pink holding musical instruments, who start playing the moment we arrive.



It really felt like it was all staged for us 😒.

But no party for Charles and Camilla. Today, it’s a mega celebration for Krishna 🎉🪕🎊, and we had no idea!!

The guys play for a while in front of the temple gate.



On the side, we spot beautifully decorated horses.



Then things start to get lively. The temple gate opens, and a crowd rushes out, followed by orange turbans carrying... we honestly have no idea what!!



Clearly, we have no clue what we’re seeing!



The horses join the procession, and we see a whole parade in the street, with rickshaws carrying beautifully made-up women.





Next up: the sound system is cranked up *way* too loud,



lots of chanting, and a massive party from 5 PM to 11 PM in this packed street.



And here’s a little fun fact: since the start of this trip, when people ask for my name—hard to pronounce—I often joke: "My name is KRIS, like KRISHNA" 😄.

So, when we finally realized it was all in honor of the very deity I’d been joking about, I felt like karma gave me a really nice wink 😊.

Except this time, we really messed up: we ended up on a quasi-TGV, with a steward and freeze-dried tea bags!!

The same thing happened to us from Delhi to Agra! We were so disappointed not to have taken a rickety train

Except this time, we really messed up: we ended up on a quasi-TGV, with a steward and freeze-dried tea bags!!

The same thing happened to us from Delhi to Agra! We were so disappointed not to have taken a crappy train

Christelle, Kate, we don’t want to hear you complain anymore when in France the TER is a total wreck, the AC’s broken even though it’s over 30°C in the carriage, *and* it’s half an hour late 😂😂😂

Except this time, we really messed up: we ended up on a quasi-TGV, with a steward and freeze-dried tea bags!! Really, there's no two ways about it, modernity sucks

Hi there,

What?! No more steam trains with bars on the windows where you’d try to look at the scenery through an open window and end up with cinders in your eyes?!😏 No more tea in terracotta cups?! Freeze-dried tea?! Everything’s going downhill!... Soon AI will be running the whole show!?

Well, my wife and I had taken a VIP sleeper train from Udaipur to Delhi... but that was before modernism.

For the little story, back then (April 1982), we were in Udaipur, and of course, like any traveler, we didn’t book anything... Not the guesthouse, not the train, nothing. That just wasn’t done. No way to do it... If there was no room in third class, you’d climb onto the train roof. But here’s the thing... my wife was pregnant, and on the day of departure (which had never happened to me before), there were no seats left on the train, and we had to catch our Delhi/Paris flight the next day... What to do? At that time, there were "tourist quotas," but they were full too!😕 The railway employee told me, "Sorry, sir, only VIP seats left." What he didn’t know! I seized the moment and shot back, "But my dear sir, we *are* VIPs! We work at the Ministry of Transport in France!" I didn’t exactly tell him I was the Minister of Transport, but I shoved a fancy laminated card under his nose—blue, white, and red stripes with "Ministère des Transports" written in bold. And then the guy tells me he can give us two VIP berths, but first, we have to go to the railway school (on the other side of town!) to pick up forms, fill them out, get them signed by the school director, and bring them back that afternoon... Alright, off we went, the three of us on a barely-running motorcycle (it was illegal for four!) heading to the school. We finally found the right office (a bit like in an Asterix comic), searching everywhere for the director... Nowhere to be found! People were napping in every office, piles of dusty files everywhere... Nothing. No one! We were told to come back later... We took a little walk and returned to the school... Still no director. A bit desperate, I finally let out a yell, and then a door opened—it was the director’s! He told me to calm down. Fair enough. I apologized... we chatted, and to make up for the wait, he gave us a tour of the railway school. We got to see (among other things) a model train set from the 1960s, but bigger, of course—with moving trains, bridges, tunnels, crossings, switches, level crossings, signals, etc... Alright, time to head back to the station now... Thank you very much, Mr. Director, for the tour! We set off back across town with our signed forms to pick up our train tickets, and then... Round two! No one authorized to issue our VIP tickets!... We finally got them at nightfall, just before the train departed. The stationmaster escorted us to our VIP carriage and showed us our "VIP" berths... What a surprise—they were wooden planks with nothing but a simple pillow!😏 Long live Indian trains!

We don’t want to hear you complain anymore when in France the TER trains are all falling apart, the AC’s broken even though it’s over 30°C in the carriage, and on top of that there’s a half-hour delay.

You’re right, Isabelle—we don’t know what we want! Actually, if I’d wanted something falling apart, I would’ve taken that bus And you, Christelle—have you ever taken that kind of bus, huh? 😛

I don’t know if Christelle takes these buses, but I’ve traveled through a large part of India using this kind of bus. I often make friendly encounters—traveling alone as an older woman with white hair really intrigues them, and they’re very curious. Some trips have been super lively. Now that I’m getting older, though, these journeys are really tiring, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up this kind of adventure for much longer. I doubt it.

At the end of the day, the bus comfort isn't the most important thing for me—it's how fast they drive! 🤪

at 67 with a bad back, comfort is key. 😛

Aaah, I love this kind of adventure, Jean Michel... especially a few years later 😄

No, Kate. I prefer ventilation on the front rather than on the side 🤔

Come on, hang in there, friends—this is the second-to-last post from such a beautiful, magnificent, surprising trip...

By now, you must be thinking: with her saying "amazing" all the time, is Cricri maybe spinning a few tall tales sometimes? 🤔😄

So for once, let’s switch things up a bit.

Today’s stop is called JAIPUR, and it’s supposedly one of the "must-see spots" on any Rajasthan trip.

Well, knowing us by now, I figured it wouldn’t really be our cup of tea, but since it was right on our route, we stopped for a night anyway… and honestly, that was enough 😄.

We had the brilliant idea to take a tuk-tuk ride through this 4-million-person city, right at what must’ve been rush hour 😱😱😱.

And let me tell you, the "chaotic traffic" in Dholpur and Udaipur was a walk in the park compared to the madness of Jaipur!!

A loooong avenue with 5/6 lanes of traffic, where vehicles of all kinds are bumper-to-bumper, competing in a honking contest like everywhere else!

And right by the side of this chaos is the famous Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds), which I’d imagined bordering a quiet little road 🤦‍♀️!

It’s so loud, you feel like you’re going deaf after 30 minutes.

And if you’re dumb enough to let a toe stick out, you can bet you’ll lose it fast!

To give you an idea of how intense it was, Lulu quickly told me: "Seriously, I’m so over this" 😅.

Anyway, we still headed off to visit Amber Fort.



It’s late in the day, and there aren’t too many people around.



It’s impressive, beautiful, and peaceful.



But I’ll admit it: these "museum monuments" aren’t really what gets us excited.

The next morning, we headed to the Galta Ji Temple, which had really captured my imagination.



It’s a temple carved between two cliffs with two pools where pilgrims bathe, overrun by monkeys that sometimes splash around, based on the videos I’d seen.

Sure enough, there are several stunning monuments… but they’re completely abandoned, with mess everywhere, fences topped with barbed wire, and the first pool filled with disgusting water and littered with trash 😱.



Talk about a gap between what the internet "sold" me and reality!!



Anyway, thankfully, not everything in Jaipur was a loss, thanks to the "Bissau Palace" hotel where we stayed.



"You are entering the oldest hotel in Jaipur" A palace, I should add, for 36 € a night including breakfast 😅. (I have a feeling 80% of hotels here slip the word "palace" into their name!)

It’s the oldest hotel in the city, and it felt like a museum… but still fully operational!



And there’s always an artist hanging around 🎨

Of course, for some people, it’s just old, kitschy, and outdated,

but for Cricri and Lulu, it was just perfect 😊.

Anyway, we’re heading off to visit Amber Fort.



Those birds were impressive... it was like a remake of Hitchcock’s movie

Seriously, the gap between what the internet "sold" me and reality was huge!!

That’s one of the reasons why travel journals written by travelers are so important 😉

Of course, for some people, it’s just old, kitsch, and outdated,

but for Cricri and Lulu, it was just perfect 😊.

Every now and then, it’s really nice to stay in typical hotels instead of sterile ones 🙂 It’s all part of discovering a country.

Okay, from my limited experience of Rajasthan, I immediately want to give Jaipur the credit it deserves—I really loved it.

First, because it’s home to India’s most famous cinema, the Raj Mandir, where we spent 4 unforgettable hours following the wild adventures of a vigilante cop! The show was as much in the audience as it was on the screen.



Next, because like many cities around the world, we wandered through the city center in the evening, and Jaipur at night is gorgeous—and much quieter!



Finally, because we had a guide for Amber Fort, which isn’t our usual style, but this one really brought the palace’s lace-like details to life and steered us away from the elephants and other tourist clichés.



Sorry for butting in, Christelle, but I just had to say it! I’ll hand your travel journal back now 😛

That’s also what makes the magic of India—or at least Rajasthan: you can sleep in truly unique and enchanting places for reasonable sums.

And I can tell you that the "road mess" of Dholpur and Udaipur was a walk in the park compared to the hell of Jaipur!!

I used to hate chaotic Jaipur, but on a second trip and then a third where I spent more time there, I learned to appreciate it more. Discovering its temples, its shopping streets, and its street vendors in the evening... And it's true that the photos showing the pretty facade of the Hawa Mahal don’t give you an idea of the chaos it’s in the middle of

in this city of 4 million people, just at rush hour apparently 🤪🤪🤪.

The images this sentence brings to mind make me think more of the Khajuraho sculptures

I totally agree with you because it took me at least three trips to Jaipur to really appreciate this city, and I also love the area near the Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds) and the illuminated city at night—it’s absolutely stunning. I have a framed photo of it at home, and it always catches my attention, as well as that of my guests.

Christelle, you weren’t lucky at Galtaji Temple because I’ve never seen it like that. You’ll see in my travel journal, but I’ve got another great day planned to get there ;) and what a day it was. I’ll try to post about it tonight. See you soon.