Room for 100 more? Sure!

Note to blog readers (if any of you are still with me!): First off, sorry for the delays... remote village in Cambodia plus blog site restricted in China equals Kim is behind on her posts! I have put a good dent in the journey, and therefore you will see a bunch of posts below. they are posted in reverse order - newest to oldest. I hope to be caught up on our adventures in India soon. Enjoy!

In keeping with the theme of extreme desert heat, we trudged out in the 40+ degree day and filed onto an absolutely crammed local bus en route to the city of Jodhpur (the blue city). The non-air conditioned bus had seats on the bottom, strange pod-like sleeper cells on top of the seats, and a random flat mattress section in the rear. Thankfully we had seats, but that didn't exclude us from the heat and the crowds (and the water bottles with the tops tampered with - a la slumdog Millionaire - that we kept getting sold in the melee). We watched in amazement as what seemed like an unending stream of Indian people got onto the bus. Families of 6 crammed into each 2 person sleeper cabin. What seemed like 100 people piled themselves on the back mattress. Another 50 or so crammed themselves into the aisles and sat on our chairs, armrests, and passed us their babies as they saw fit. It was one of the longest bus rides of my life, but quite an interesting cultural experience. Seeing everyone get off at the end was like watching the worlds most fascinating clown car unload a village full of Indian men, women, and children... with a few tourists shoved in for additional comedic effect. Oh, and did I mention the 10 second long, ear piercing, "musical" horn that the driver insisted on pressing every 5 minutes for the entire 7 hour journey? Yeah, that too!

Other than marvelling at the spectacular blue city from the fort above, there wasn't much to report about Jodhpur. We took an audio guide around the fort and the little man that gave us the machines was by far the most enthusiastic person I have ever met. He was so excited that we were seeing the fort and raved about the simple audio guide in a voice that couldn't be reproduced by the best actors of our time. I honestly considered asking him how much it would cost for him to move to Canada with me and follow me around everyday shouting motivating messages. I swear I would be a millionaire in less than a year. Our second day in Jodhpur, worn out by the heat and having seen enough of the old fort, Sam, Anjali, Mars and I made some calls and found a small hotel with a gorgeous pool. We spent the rest of the day lounging in the hot sun, which wasn't nearly as hot when you have an oasis near by :)