We just finished up our 3 week jaunt in Rajasthan. After Pushkar we cruised through Bundi, Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer. Instead of going through each one in detail, here’s a rundown of the highlights:

Bundi was a nice and quiet town beneath a dilapidated but cool palace-fort. Our guesthouse rooftop was directly below the palace for great view. At dusk the bats would fly out of the castle and retreat to the forest.

The town also has some pretty mischievous monkeys. One night out of nowhere one came up to our dinner table and snatched the napkin holder before scampering off. And one morning a monkey grabbed our sugar bowl so quickly it flung sugar everywhere. It tried to lick some up before running away. Those crazy monkeys, they work up the courage to steal something but never get anything of value to them.

Next we traveled on a crazy Harry Potter-like overnight bus to Udaipur, Rajasthan’s “romantic city.” Its several ornate palaces sit serenely on a huge lake.

It’s pretty relaxed and different because it’s the only place in Rajasthan on such a large body of water. We had a fancy dinner there at a really nice hotel with tasty tandoori chicken.

From Udaipur we hopped over to Jodhpur, the blue city. The place was pretty urban, but just enough to not be as touristy as other Rajasthan towns, yet it didn’t feel too big or polluted. The central market square around the clock tower was great for people watching and cheap papayas (yummm).

And we stuffed ourselves on giant spicy potato lentil pancakes (masala dosas) with curry and lassis for $2.50 (!) at place popular with locals.

Jodhpur’s fort is the most fantastic in all of Rajasthan. You enter through seven ridiculously high gates (the tallest I’ve seen) before even starting to explore the place. On one of the gates are the handprints of a past maharaja’s widows, placed before they threw themselves onto his funeral pyre. It was so heartbreaking. The current prince has taken really good care of the fort with an impressive audio tour and museum exhibits inside.

Finally we hit up Jaisalmer, a small town far out into the Thar Desert close to Pakistan. Its sandstone fort is still inhabited by the locals, which is neat but it’s also slowly destroying it. But inside are not only their homes but temples, shops, restaurants, and guesthouses. Although we were tempted to stay inside, we slept at a hotel in town to help the conservation efforts. The rest of the town is built with golden-colored sandstone, too, which makes the whole area pretty gorgeous from above.

Talking to the locals has been really fun. You never know what they’re going to say next sometimes. This guy in Jaisalmer told Kevin that the small moles and freckles on his arm were really bad. He said they’d turn black and fall off if he didn’t go to the doctor and get some cream for them. I guess he didn’t understand that it’s pretty natural for us to have those, and they definitely won’t come off by any cream (at least any that wouldn’t give you more problems than moles and freckles). So random and funny.

Despite the near-constant sightseeing and touristy aspects, Rajasthan was a pretty impressive place. We couldn’t get enough of the warm desert climate and rooftop cafes with unbeatable views. It’s pretty easy to get from place to place, too. But there’s a lot more of India to see (isn’t there always), so next up we’ll launch into the chaos of Delhi, the teeming capital city.