After two weeks in Pushkar, I was feeling quite comfortable and at home, but also rested and ready to get back on the road and explore Rajastan before it gets too cold for riding the bike.

The night before leaving, walking the quiet midnght alleyways, I came across this guy, so intent on what he was listening to, he never knew I was there:View image.

In the morning, before leaving, I went back to my favorite breakfast place, Rainbow Restaurant, where the food is so-so, but they have illegal EGGS (!) and Espresso coffee. It took a while to explain to the young boys who run the place how to make good fried egg (with butter, not oil, and a soft yolk). In the end, I cooked them myself, to show them how, and ever since they have been perfect! Here is a photo of me and the boys on the morning of my departure. The little one, Mowgli, is such a cool kid, I'd like to take him home with me: View image.

Setting off from Pushkar, I realised that I had not been outside the little town at all in the past weeks, and suddenly became excited to see the surrounding desert and landscape. I had been advised to take a back-roads shortcut to Jodhpur, making the trip 160km in stead of 200. I quicklly fell into the lovely rhythm that motorcycle travel brings: gears, clutch, brake and sweeping curves. As they were country lanes, there was little heavy traffic, so less danger and stress than usual.

It was a peaceful and solitary ride, except that my heart was warmed many times, by the enthusiasm of the greetings from all the people in every village I passed through. I stopped to ask directions about ten times, and was always given enthusiastic and helpful directions. If anyone asks me why I travel, I'll try and remember to say: "Because I like being in environments where people are genuinely happy to see me, even though they don't know me, and even if I am just riding past on my motorcycle." Once there was a pair of teenage boys who quickly stopped their bicycles, and got off to watch and wave, as I rode by! And for the first time, even the village womenfolk actually smiled and waved to me...

I made good progress and thankfully arrived in Jodhpur before nightfall -- thereby avoiding the heightened risk of nightriding. I'm staying with a lovely American friend, Teri, whom I met when I arrived in Mumbai, and is a volunteer here, teaching English to girls in local villages, who would otherwise get short-changed on education because of their gender.

Jodhpur has very different-looking, and rather beautiful auto-rickshaws, so here is a photo: View image.

The city has two main landmarks: the amzingly-preserved Meherangarh Fort, and perhaps Asia's largest private home, the Umaid Bhavan Palace, which now houses the present Maharaja, but also a $400 per-night hotel. It is always weird to see such opulence and exclusivitiy in a country where so many are so poor, especially when we are welcomed in places many would be turned away. View image. We went to the hotel for a beer and to see the sunset from the pillared back steps overlooking the gardens. View image. We got chatting to the musicians, who were very proud of their family heritage of seven generations of traditional musicians, including being related to Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, the undisputed master of Raga music. They insisted we come to lunch with the family the next day, and we accepted -- what an honor!

Finished in 1944 after 16 years construction, employing 3000 workers, the palace reminded me very strongly of Hearst Castle in California. View image.

The next day we were picked up by Nawab, the santoor player from last night, and we followed him on the bike to his uncle's house for lunch. The uncle, Niyaz Khan, is one of the world's best Sitar players, so we were honored to recieve a private concert: View image.
We ate delicious home-made traditional food on the carpet in the neon-lit and sparsely decorated sitting room. I showed them phtotos of my home in
LA, and of my family, explaining about the reunions we do every four years, and mentioning that we are planning to hold the next one in Kerala, South India. At this, Nawab begged that we change our plans, and allow him the honor and duty of inviting us all (20 people!) to stay at their family home in the blue city of Jodhpur! I thanked him and said I would discuss it with the family. We did a group photo, thanked them, and set off to see the Fort.

On the way to the fort, we passed through the old city bazaar, which is an amazing place in itself. I loved this shot of a man sleeping on a cart, in front of a beautiful market building: View image.

The extraordinary Meherangah fort is 500 years old, but has never been taken by force. View image.
The present Maharaja is responsible for turning the fort into a museum and has thus presrved an amazing legacy of Rajasthan's cultural heritage. I was blown away by the stories of bravery and nobility on the excellent audio-tours provided. The architecture is perfectly preserved and stunning. View image.
The royal interior brings together all that is beautiful exotic about India: View image. There was also a sweet humor about the place: View image.

From the fort battlements, we could look down on the blue city at sunset, and see how wonderfully blue it really is: View image , View image , View image , View image , View image.

AFter visiting the fort, we walked back down to the old city, listening to the call to prayer ringing out from many mosques below. Having grown up with this sound in Indonesia, it is still one of the most touching and evocative sounds I know. The views of the fort, and cityscapes in the deepening night, were dramatic: View image , View image.

I'd put the fort right up there among the most wonderful things I have seen so far in India. This trip is just getting more and more superb!!!!