India Pictures
Rajasthan

India Photos: Rajasthan men in Jodhpur with their trademark turbans and moustaches; Disney for real - Jaisalmer's gorgeous, mud walled town, until recently surrounded only by the Thar desert but now beginning to disappear under the weight of accelerating tourism infrastructure; Rajasthan women wearing traditional red for visibility in the desert near Jaisalmer.

Rajasthan is India's number one target for most travellers, within easy reach of Delhi and crammed with exotic people and sights, including the calm lake-centric 'White City' of Udaipur, the choked 'Pink City' of Jaipur, the arid 'Blue City' of Jodhpur, the camel fair town of Pushkar, the almost fairytale fortress 'Golden' town of Jaisalmer and the rolling yellow dunes of the Thar desert.
For those on a short leash Udaipur and Jaisalmer should be the prime targets, though the latter is a long way and demands solitude, but you will not be alone...nor should you expect to leave poverty behind.
Wildlife seekers have their best chance - though it's not a good one - of seeing a wild tiger in the Ranthambhore National Park, near Jaipur. Keoladeo NP, near Bharatpur and en route for Agra is the place for those twitching for birds.

Camel Rides from Jaisalmer: these are very touristy and unnatural, with common routes and sunset points showing serious signs of traveller spoilage. If you want a good camel experience and prefer a little solitary splendour then choose to trek for a couple of days, visiting desert villages on the way and getting used to kicking the grumpy brutes into action. If you're riding a male camel then leaning over and whacking the beast on the testicles with a stick is an especially good way of getting its attention. These are not horses! Brutality rules in the Thar. And don't forget to take warm clothes for the night time.

Transport: Flights are available to the bigger of Rajasthan's cities but who needs check-in queues/ engines falling off/ baggage arriving in Calcutta situations when a hired car and driver is competitively priced, travel is at your own pace, local knowledge and hopefully interesting discourse is on tap all day long and distances are reasonable.

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