More dust in northern India

After a few days in dusty, crowded, and did I mention smoggy Delhi, it was a relief to get on an air-con train for a 20 hour train ride west, almost to the Pakistan border. (and while we were on the train there was a bombing in Karachi, Pakistan that killed 130 or more people: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/pakistan.bhutto/?iref=mpstoryview

The four of us (Stefan, Bernie, Bernie's father John and John's partner Sue) had our own private compartment, so what if there were a few cockroaches crawling about? For more on train travel in India, see this site that was a great help for us: http://www.seat61.com/India.htm

Our destinatation, Jaisalmer, was once an important stop on a trading route, and is far smaller than any other city we've seen in India: a good part of the 60,000 or so residents live inside the old fort, and you can see the town ending and the desert beginning just a couple km away.

After a day chilling in the desert, it was back on the train for another 13 hours, heading east to Jaipur. But we were so tired of dust and crowds that we didn't explore too much of the city: John and Sue went to a temple outside town where there are separate bathing areas for men, women and monkeys, while Bernie visited the City Palace of the maharajas of Jaipur (they were expert polo players), and Stefan stayed at the hotel and worked on his thesis!