Udaiphur, 22.09.03

Hello everybody

So, as you can see, I am not lost in the desert, the Camel brought me safely but quite uncomfortable back. It doesnt matter how you sit on this saddles, after half an hour it gets very unconfortable, and you have to shift from one to another position every few minutes to prevent your legs from falling off...

But still, it was a very nice trip, especially to sleep in the dunes under the starlight and than moonlight sky, you could even see the milky way, which I havent seen since up in Ladakh.

So after the Safari I had to take care of my other and more comfortable mean of transport, my Enfield, there was something wrong with the outlet valve, and so the cylinder head had to be removed and the valve and its seat to be ground to remove the residues of the combustion process... But there was a good mechanic in Jaisalmer, a beturbaned middle aged Sikh, who did a very good job.

The next day I went on a little excursion around Jaisalmer, I went to Khuri, a small village with huge sand dunes just behind the houses and to the wood fossil park, to see some 180 mio year old trees turned into stone over the centuries.

And than I was on the move again, I drove south on the National Highway 15, which is an amazing street going in a straight line through the desert and with almost no traffic, exept some army trucks. After some hundred kilometers I turned off to the east, and almost as soon as I turned of the main road, the landscape dramatically changed, I was now driving trough some landscape which could come out of the film jurassic park, some jungle like forests spiked with strangely shaped rocks and huge palmtrees. This wasnt anymore the desert, and to underline this change, the road was partially floded with 20 cm of water, and so I got wet shoes, but it wasnt that bad as up in Ladhak, cause here the water was comfortably warm.

I soon reached Abu Road, from where a curvy and narrow road winds itsself up the hill to Mount Abu, a famous holiday station for indian tourists. The drive up there was great, a dream with a motorbike, and a welcome change to the straight roads through the desert.

Mt Abu is an ugly holiday resort, with shabby concrete buildings (but indians like concrete), but its surroundings are amazing, its on 1200 meters above sea level, and very humid, and embedded in this jungle like surrounding as described above... There are some beautyfully carved marble Jain Temples to visit and some nice walks through the jungle around the town, and of course the sight of indian tourists, a rather noisy experience, especially when you come across some teenagers...

After two days I left for Udaipur, where I am staying now, in the Lake Palace Hotel a Island in the middle of the lake, the place where the James Bond Movie Octopussi was shot... of course not, I am not going to pay 200 $ for a hotel room in india, when I can rent one in a nice guest house with lake view for 150 Rupees. But 007 is everywhere present, especially in the restaurants where they show Octopussi every night during dinner time. But it is nice to see this movie and to recocnise some places just outside the restaurant...

After Udaiphur I will head to Gujarat ( I havent decided yet where exactly I will go there) and than to Bombay to become a famous indian Bollywood star, and drive with my speedboat along Juhu Beach together with the other stars and starlets and to spend my nights at boring partys with famous an rich people, and if not, I will continue my journey towards Goa and Kerala.

Martin

P.S. I have postponed my flight for one month, so I will be back end of November, and because of the mood of SWISS to cancel the destination Delhi, I will fly back from Bombay....

< Thar Desert, 14.09.03 | Martins Mails | Gujarat, 30.09.03 >