We are finally writting another entry after a week and a half hiatus. We have travelled through Rajastan at this point and are heading to Goa from Mumbai today on a 12 hour sleeper AC bus.
When we last wrote we were in Jodhpur heading to Jaislamer on a 5 hour bus through the desert to the small little town on the border of Pakistan. Jaislamer had the feel of Risikesh and Mcleod Ganj in one, right in the middle of the Thar Desert. The city surrounds the fort which sits high on the mountain side looking over the town and the surrounding area. The fort has lost much of its grandeur due to enviromental problems, it is slowly sinking because its built on unstable soil. The fort is small and has little to offer. The reason most tourists visit Jaislamer is to do the camel safari. We couldnt do the Safari because I (jeffery) was terribly ill.
We left Jaislamer sooner than expected because I was so sick and the Thar desert was not a hospitable place for someone to be with my condition. We took a 15 hour sleeper bus to Udaipur, supposedly the most romantic place in India. The ride to Udaipur was bumpy and very long. I would not advice anyone to take the same route as it was all backroads and we went an average of 40 km the entire trip. If i was going to Jaislamer again i would first go to Jaislamer then go to Jodhupur because the road is a highway, therefore, its a much better route.
Udaipur was great we arrived at 6 in the morning and jumped into bed and fell asleep until the afternoon. When I awoke I was shivering terribly so we decided it would be best if I went to the Hospital. When we arrived we were told to go to the Emergency room, right away I was looked after. I told the doctors my symptoms and they acted quickly. They took my blood and gave me an X Ray within 30 minutes. I was admitted and given a huge room for myself on the top floor. The doctors first thought I had malaria, then they changed it to severe bacteria buildup in my intestines. My liver and spleen were inflammed and I had a 102 degree fever.
Needless to say the doctors were great and everyone in the hospital thought I was Brad Pitt. The doctors would come in and chat with me and then leave it was some what of a circus at times. I was hooked up to an I.V. and given liquids for my sickness. In all I was there for 3 days until I was better. The experience was better than i expected and Marsha really helped me out with everything. She went through many weird instances such as; the antibiotics that were used on me we had to purchase before hand. Marsha had to push and shove in line to get the medicine, IVs, everything, because Indians dont understand lines. She said it was a really intense situation.
Udaipur was the best backpackers city in Rajastan that we visited. The whole city seemed to be tailered to us. Octopussy played at every hotel at 7 pm. The hotels overlooked the lake and the floating hotel. It was a really amazing scene. The only problem was that we were in the middle of a low depretion as cyclone pythan moved through the area making Udaipur very cold and wet.
We then took a flight from Udaipur to Mumbai which was an hour and a half. The airport was very nice, but as I mentioned before the cyclone was causing havoc in the area. All the flights before ours were cancelled. At one point a guy working for the airport was told to go outside with a huge balloon. All the tourists laughed as the man let go of the balloon. The guy worked for the airport and was testing visibility and wind direction!! We finally took off that day luckily and arrived in Mumbai in one piece.
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