Ranakpur, Rajasthan

After dispatching our driver Khan in Jodphur (more on that later), we found a taxi to take us to Udaipur. On the way we stopped briefly at one of the most important Jain temples in India. The temple is in the small village of Ranakpur and was built in the 15th century. It is entirely carved in white marble and is a complex maze of 29 interconnected "halls." There are apparently 1444 pillars inside, with no two alike - we didn't even try to count...

Camping in the Rajasthani Desert

While in Jaisalmer, we were constantly asked if we wanted to do a camel safari. It seems like one of the main attractions for the area. So we decided to pack our things and head off to explore the desert hinterlands around Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan (The Golden City)

After Jodphur we headed towards the India/Pakistan border to the last main outpost in Rajasthan - Jaisalmer, "the Golden City." Jaisalmer was built by another Maharaja family in 1156. The oldest part is a massive golden sandstone fort that rises from the desert plains like a mirage. The hilltop fort is a ring of ninety-nine bastions. Inside, the fort is a maze of narrow alleys, beautiful havelis, temples, and of course includes a royal palace. The narrow, car/bike free alleys make for some wonderful wandering.

Jodhpur, Rajasthan (The Blue City)

We arrived in Jodphur in the late afternoon and immediately headed into the city to get the lay of the land. Jodphur is another Rajput town with impressive fortifications. Here, as opposed to Jaipur/Amber, the fort rises imposingly above the center of town and dominates the skyline. After wandering the streets and exploring the main square with its clock tower, we set about finding a nice rooftop cafe to sit and enjoy sunset over a cold beer.

Pushkar & Ajmer, Rajasthan

After the chaos of Jaipur, Pushkar was a welcome relief. The town is a small Hindu pilgrimage site around a sacred lake. It's a quiet, relaxing town most of the time and it gets it's fair share of tourists like us, trying to escape the din of the main circuit.

Around Jaipur, Rajasthan

After two days in Jaipur proper, we decided to explore the surrounding area. We were provided with a driver and a car by the hotel. The car is something called an Ambassador Classic, an Indian made sedan that we recently heard described as "part Rolls-Royce, part Soviet tank." An apt description, though in all honesty, it's far more "tank" than "Rolls." Believe it or not, this car is only two years old:

Jaipur, Rajasthan (The Pink City)

We started our tour of Rajasthan in Jaipur - the pink city. The city gets its name from the pink color the city was painted in 1876 to welcome a prince from Britain. The idea stuck and the old city walls and buildings are still painted pink to this day.

Camel Riding, Ladakh

During our two day trip to the Nubra Valley we stopped off in Hunder, a village at the foot of steep skree slopes set amid sand dunes and desert scrub along the valley floor.  Here we decided to explore the terrain in a new way - on camels, two-humped Bactrian Camels to be precise.

Nubra Valley, Ladakh

On the other side of Khardung La, we had a long descent to reach the Nubra Valley, close to the Pakistani border. The views of the valley were amazing. Fields and villages clung to flatter sections before giving way to cliffs and canyons to the valley floor. We followed the canyon for a while before rounding a corner to reach Shyok Valley where a river trickled at the floor or soaring mountains. The river is clearly low right now but you can see the high water marks reach right across the valley floor.

Khardung La, Ladakh

After our bone crunching ride to Pangong Tso we decided to subject our bodies to a little more. We embarked on a two day trip to Nubra Valley which would mean having to go over the world's highest motorable pass - Khardung La - 5602 m / 18379 ft.

Pangong Tso, Indian/Tibetan Border

We hired a jeep and a driver, Dorje, (along with two Aussies we met on the flight up) to go see Pangong Tso - a lake on the border with Tibet which features on many of the postcards up here. We set out at six am and the drive would not be easy. It was five hours each way on bumpy roads along steep mountain trails and over the third highest motorable pass in the world - Chang La (5289m / 17352 ft).

Leh, Ladakh, India

Our first stop on the Indian leg of our adventure was in Leh, a pretty little town high in the Indian part of the Himalayas. Although nestled in the foothills of the mountains, Leh is 3530 m / 11581 ft above sea level so our first day was spent getting acclimatized to the altitude before exploring. The Ladakh region, of which Leh is the capitol, is incredibly remote. It's a two day jeep ride over near 5000 m / 16,000 ft passes to the closest town of any size. The region is primarily Buddhist, not Hindu, and culturally much more similar to Nepal and pre-China Tibet than it is to the rest of India.