December 10, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

Greetings from the Indian desert in the small sandy town of Jaisalmer located about 60 km from the Pakistan border. After we last wrote, we toured the Jodphur Fort which was very impressive and educational as the cost of admission came with English headsets that were very informative. Details such as the golden handprints of the widows of the Maharajas taken just before their were burned to death on top of their late husbands body would have been missed. Along with the fact that to ward off evil spirits a man agreed to be buried alive inside the walls. The Fort was never taken over by an enemy and you could see why with the care that went into creating the doors with spikes on them built at right angles, etc.

We arrived in Jaislamer around 2 PM (after taking a dust shower inside the train cabin) to hordes of persistant hotel touts and had to haggle for a rickshaw driver. You know you've been in India too long when you start feeling royally ripped off and yelling when the driver has the audacity to charge 10 rs (15 cents) more than the equitable fare. Fortunately we met a guy in Goa that gave us a good recommendation for a non-touristy camel safari company so we went there first and then they recommended the hotel. Hotel Calcutta anyplace other than India would sound like a dump, but here it's quite nice and cheap so we are happy. After checking in Jeff bought a red-printed Rajasthani turban which he proudly wore around town. He had the shop keeper tie it on and his camel driver has promised to help him learn on the safari. Liz thinks he looks pretty good as do the other people in town.

Our train was an hour late leaving Jodphur which made us think that except for the train from Varansi all the trains have been late. Maybe trains to Varansi are on time because that's how they transport all the bodies for cremation? Morbid thought - huh? How do they all get there? A lot of people travel to Varanasi to die, but not the majority.

Internet here is super slow, so we won't be writing again until we are in Delhi. We leave tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM for our 3 day 2 night safari. Our train leaves Dec. 14th for Delhi and we get in the 15th.

Before we forget, the looniest tourists we met were in Jodphur. The woman was nuttier than her boyfriend, but both cases. She's travelling with 4.5 liters of Ganges water with her! She's also doing a lot of very noble things and charity work, but to hear her talk about stepping in cow shit was like meeting Mother Theresa in person. We thought it was funny, especially since we both cringed at the thought of her dumping Ganges water on us to annoint us - which she offered.

Anyway - we are off to walk the narrow streets in the Old City some more. Our hotel is inside the Fort Walls which is really neat - though contributing to the water shortage. Hope all is well with you all. Love Liz and Jeff