Travelling by road in India

Today we travelled from Jaipur to Bikaner and as usual it was an eventful journey with a number of obstacles in the roads! Apart from other drivers, dogs and people the first of these are cows which are on the main highways and city roads. They just amble across at will and or stand in the centre of the roads with the busy traffic rushing by them. They are sacred and therefore drivers will do anything to avoid them often swerving into on-coming traffic!

Another obstacle is the camel cart (see picture). These mainly travel on the highways at a considerably slower speed than the rest of the speeding traffic. Instead of slowing down and waiting for an opportunity to overtake them our driver prefers to drive on the other side of the road braving the on-coming traffic. Driving on the wrong side of the road is also not uncommon. If there is a central reservation then most drivers tend to drive on any side they wish despite the normal flow of traffic. This is to avoid going out of their way to turn around at the next junction.

In our five days in India we feel lucky to have only had two minor incidents. In Delhi our car was clipped by a bus and in Agra our car drove into the back of a motorcycle - all good fun when you have no seatbelt! On both occasions all parties when unharmed and everyone just carried on as if nothing had happened - obviously the norm! Rach finds the best way to overcome road travel is to fall asleep whilst Mark's fingernails have taken the brunt of his nerves!

Safely arrived in Bikaner (thank god) and visited the Junagarh Fort, a camel breeding farm and Laxminathji temple where the foundations where laid with ghee due to there being no water at the time. Now 400 years on when it is hot the floors still get greasy as the ghee rises to the surface. Mark say 'I can't believe it's not butter.' At the camel farm we tasted camel milk ice cream which was foul and tasted of camel smell - not pleasant!

Tomorrow we head into the desert on camel back (not elephant!) for one night in tents under the stars before heading to Jaisalmer.

Rach & Mark. xxx