Capital City : Jaipur
Population : 68,621,012
Official languages : Rajasthani, Hindi
Money : Indian Rupee
Main Modes of Transport : Train, Bus, Tuk Tuk, Camel, Elephant
Back Packer Budget : 20 US - 40 US per day
Midrange Budget : 30 US - 60 US per day
Luxury Budget : 100 US starting per day
Top Three Experiences
1. Camel Safari into the Thar desert
2. Snake Charming in Jaipur.3. Holi Festival in Pushkar
Top Three Food Experiences.
1. Mughal Paneer
2. Lamb Kebab
3. Spicey Mughal Chai
Rajasthan is the largest state in India, Its lands cover the inhospitable Thar desert. The province borders Pakistan and its capital city is Jaipur. 
My journey began in Rajasthan when my train left the Hindu flats and arrived in the Chaotic City of Jaipur. Jaipur is named the “Pink City”, and its easy to see why, everything from the buildings to the turbans on those moustached men are pink. This city is Exciting, The streets are a mess of camels, Tuk Tuk’s and thousands of people living there everyday lives in this hectic environment. Every corner you turn you are confronted with a jaw dropping temple or a market that is so abundant with spices your eyes water from the air you breath. But one thing is a must is to beware of the monkeys. The monkeys rule this city, they are clambering on the sides of buildings and stealing food from the food stalls, and they will sneak upon you and steal the peanuts right from your pocket…. And trust me they do. I spent my first day exploring these streets and trying the intensely spicy but exhilarating Mughal food. To beat the afternoon heat I strolled into the Emperors palace, interesting enough dig filled with great architecture and moustached men at every corner, But the main attraction to coming to Jaipur, is Jaipur Fort or also known as Amber Fort. Amber Fort is outstanding, its military strategic positioning is a classic example of Mughal power and architecture. To get here just hire any taxi, the going rate for taxi is usually around 10 US for the day, but that depends on your bargaining skills. When arriving to Amber Fort be prepared to be solicited, there are great stalls with everything you could need here as the shop keepers will tell you. One of the salesmen will try to sell you a Elephant ride up to the top of Amber Fort. Its expensive (25 US), but it’s a awesome feeling riding the elephant up a 1500th century fort, plus it’s a mighty long hot and sweaty walk up. On my way to the top I found a local snake charmer. He Asked me if I wanted to see the Cobra, I replied, I want to charm the Cobra actually. The man seemed thrilled that a foreigner was wanting to attempt the snake charm. He wrapped his turban on me and handed me a jack fruit flute, I tuned what sounded some what like a Indian tune from the flute and to my surprise the lid on the bucket fell off and a Cobra raised into the air. The Man started clapping and telling me what guts I have to do this because Cobras don’t like foreigners usually….. What an outstanding feeling doing this. I then Explored more into Amber fort, its filled with antique weaponry, and hundreds of shiny glass rooms that blind you with an array of diamonds and glamour that would make even the biggest star in Holly Wood feel not so rich. After Amber Fort I paid my driver to take me to the Floating Palace, (it really is a Floating Palace in the middle of a lake), and then off to the Monkey temples. Exploring the monkey temples is interesting, its in a beautiful location in the mountains. You learn much about the Hindu religion and also you learn how to survive monkey attacks. They are tricky guys you can feed them by hand but there will be one monkey behind you stealing from your back pocket. The feeling you receive from the monks at all the temples is of only great hospitality, everyone welcomes you in and lets you partake in Hindu ceremonies you leave with Hindu Bracelets and a red dot on you forehead, but also the appreciation of understanding the religion a little better.
The next day I boarded a train to Pushkar, not direct but pretty close. Pushkar is one of the oldest and holiest cities in India. Its hundreds of Cow filled temples surround this holy lake making it one of the top spots in India for Hindu Pilgrimages. Its hard to get over how everything is written in Hindu, English, and Hebrew because of the hundreds of Hippy Israelis who descend here trying to find enlightenment. it’s a great stop for a few days but the reason I came here was Holi festival. Holi festival is the religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Its basically a giant party in the streets where everybody partakes by throwing coloured dies at each other, it’s a colourful epic battle filled with Bolly wood music and Holy parading cows, experiencing this is a must in any trip to India I highly recommend planning your trip during its time. Holi festival is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month it usually happens in the later part of February or March. I spent the next few days in Pushkar exploring the surrounding mountains and the beautiful temples in Pushkar lake. One of the Top highlights in Pushkar is the Brahma Temple built during the 14th century AD. Very few temples to Lord Brahma exist anywhere in the world. Another great stop is climbing Pushkar hill, not many tourists do this and it is a steep climb but you are rewarded with a beautiful temple and outstanding views. While visiting the temples you will be asked to take part in a ceremony by the lake, it’s a great experience but its very touristy meaning you should arrange the price before hand or else you will be asked to pay a large sum of money to a man your not even sure is a monk. 
Leaving Pushkar was not so great, I landed myself on a very hot, sweaty and dirty bus for nine hours, the bus seated thirty six people, but there were over one hundred in the bus along with a few dozen more people on the roof, and a few dozen chickens and goats situated near me… its all part of the experience. My bus stopped in a City called Jodhpur, Jodhpur is “the Blue City”. The entire city is blue and in the centre of the city is a fairy tale looking citadel,( Citadel means really big ass Fort). Exploring these small blue crowded ally ways is a great way to spend you days here, and I did just that. Another top highlight in Jodhpur is searching for antiques. Jodhpur is home to some of the largest Antique markets in India, I purchases some five hundred year old gold coins from the Mughal empire for about five dollars a piece. On my second day here I ascended 
Jodhpur’s fort. it’s a long walk but very worth the effort. The fort is filled with beautifully decorated rooms filled with sparkling diamond studded lamps to handmade Persian rugs the size of your house. Another great stop in the fort is the weapons museum. Here you can find rifles that are about ten feet long, and a abundance of sharp fancy swords and spears. I spent the next few days Exploring Jodhpur’s interesting history and meeting many interesting people, one by the name of Raj let me take his motorcycle in the crazy Indian traffic. 
It’s a short bus ride from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, Jaisalmer is the final desert out post before the open sands of the Thar desert to the Pakistani border. Jaisalmer, like the other Rajasthan cities includes a giant yellow for in the centre, but Jaisalmer has a different feel from the other cities. Its building are built from mud brick and what looks like yellow sand, one of its main industries is Camel leather, and it houses a holy desert oasis lake. Jaisalmer’s sand and camel filled streets make you feel as if you’ve really ventured straight into the heart of the Thar desert. My hostel was pleasant enough, its name was the desert outpost and its rate was about 10 US dollar per night, its lush oasis looking garden, and 1001 nights architecture made you feel like you were living the life of Aladin. 
The owner of the hostel arrange a trip for me into the Thar desert. His brother owns a few Camels and frequently takes tourists on Safaris for 25 US dollars a day. The next day The brothers other brothers uncle arrived to pick me up in his jeep. We drove for about three hours straight into the desert. I became good friends with my new travel companion his name was Sanjeev. We arrived at Sanjeev’s camel farm, we roped a few camels and after a one hour riding lesson we set off into the Thar. We passed through countless villages where all the villagers came out to see us. Everybody was dressed in such vibrant colours and all welcomed us into there tents for tea. Slowly the villages became fewer and fewer until there was nothing but me my camel and large sand dune structures around me. it’s a real surreal feeling knowing that you are really in the middle of know where. The nearest town at this point is a full days camel ride….. And out here there is no other form of transportation. At knight we would roll our rugs out (our beds), and prepare Mughal chai tea and supper. Sanjeev was a masterful cook, he used a abundance of desert spices and created some of the best Indian food I have had from very little provisions. Sleeping in the middle of the desert is amazing, I have not seen the stars this good since I was a child living in the Tundra of Canada. 
We spent the next day heading further and further into a span of nothing. The simplicity and beauty of the desert is revealed to you at this point, all you can do is stare into its dunes and wonder about its mysteries. The next day Sanjeev told me we have to find a well or our Camels will die, so the race is was on. We hushed our camels further into the large flat space until finally what looked like a pile of rocks, we found our well. Sanjeev through is satchel made from a goat and pulled a large sack of water and our camels were suffice. Later we arrived at a Gypsy village and they greeted us with the usual tea. They showed us around and how they love there simple life. That day we arrived in another small town where Sanjeevs relative picked me up and I sadly left my camel and new friend. After about four hours we arrived back in Jaisalmer. I spent the evening in Jaisalmer’s smoky bazaars bargaining on camel skins and Persian rugs, then i finally made my way down to the holy lake to feed the giant holy catfish that lay beneath its murky waters. Next morning my hotel owner offered me to rent a motorbike from his other uncle. I rented a Baja 200cc motorcycle for about 5 US. Ripping through Indian traffic in the desert was great. I ventured to small desert oasis’s and towns and was always greeted with smile and curiosity. The traffic does get scary but as long as you keep your mind on the road all goes well and the experience is worth it. I had gone from Bus to Train, Train to Camel, Camel to Motorbike, with a few elephant rides in between, Rajasthan is truly amazing. If your looking for pure adventure and fun this is the place to be, here you will be rewarded with rich culture and new experiences that will stay with you for the rest of your life. This was the end of my Rajasthan adventure, but only the next step into another part of India……..
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