what a field day for the heat, a thousand people in the street

We've been having a wonderful time traipsing about Rajasthan since we talked to you last. We have crossed off Varanasi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur, and Udaipur.

In Varanasi, we stayed at the ill-named Elvis Guest House, and saw the famous sunrise over the Ganges from a boat. Nils got a turn at the oars, which he bungled quite badly. Varanasi is the site of several burning ghats, since it is an auspicious place to be sent to the next world. Five sorts of people are not allowed to be cremated, though: (1) Women with child, (2) Lepers, (3) Infants, (4) Beggars, and (5) Those killed by snakebite.

An overnight bus to Agra let us take a whistle-stop tour of the most beautiful building in the world. Well, Nikki claims the Al-Hambra was better, and Nils isn't quite sure about the Sultanahmet Camii. The Taj has a steep entrance fee (750 rupees, about 20 US dollars), which means it is rather peaceful inside the spacious grounds. Restoration work seems to be going around the clock. The inner archaeologist in Nils is a little disappointed that there seems to be more of a focus on restoration than on preservation, but at least it keeps the buildings lovely. We also began to run into "the change problem". Nobody has change. Any change. I was skeptically evaluated for paying a 15 rupee bill with a 20 rupee note. I have no idea how tourists are supposed to ever get small bills to pay with exact change. It might be a scam to elicit tips.

A few hours away is the much grander--if less pretty--Fatehpur Sikri, "Akbar's Only Folly". Fatehpur Sikri is an entire city with a large palace complex built by Akbar the Great to be his new capital. It was a city of great learning and great ambitions, but unfortunately little in the way of aqua vita. Despite heroic efforts of Akbar's engineers, Fatehpur shrivelled and died, much to the delight of the present day. We spent the day wandering around all the red ruins. Fatehpur Sikri was definitely the high point of India for Nils.

We hitched a ride to a bus station where we caught a departing bus to Jaipur, the Pink City. We fit in a showing of a Bollywood film at the famous and blobulous Raj Mandir cinema, which did not need subtitles to convey the plot of "let's dance and sing". The same producers also did "Neal 'n' Nikki", which has confused everyone to whom we try to introduce ourselves. The old city of Jaipur is filthy with banana peels, cow dung, plastic, and rickshaw drivers. It is home to the fantastic observatory Jantar Mantar, which is what you would get if you asked Disneyland to install several half-scale models of Stonehenge. We spent altogether too much time lovingly pawing pashminas and saris. Nils arrived at the conclusion that the only grass in India is behind very tall walls.

Another overnight bus (comfier!) took us to Udaipur, "the most romantic spot on the continent of India". We believe it. The wedding cake Lake Palace and fortresslike Monsoon Palace were the setting of 007's Octopussy, a fact which no budget restaurant will let you forget when they flick on their nightly showing. The implausible autorickshaw chase scene is twice as awesome when you've spent the last few weeks in those very contraptions. Sometimes I think our zealous drivers have taken tips from the movie. We also took a day trip to the remote many-pillared Jain temple of Ranakpur and long-walled impregnable mountain fort of Kulbalgarh, now uninhabited. Ranakpur also has a 50-cent all you can eat lunch, which almost disproves TANSTAAFL.

Tonight we catch another overnight bus to our final destination, Jaisalmer, the Golden City, where we plan to leave behind the "sandcastle fort" and take a camel safari into the scrub desert, before returning to catch a jet plane from Delhi to home sweet home Seattle. That means this will probably be the final post on this humble blog. Be sure to check out the image galleries we've linked here before for plentiful updates in late December or early January. From South Asia,

Namaste.

--Neal 'n' Nikki