Rat Temple

The name says it all. Rats run this temple. Milk and sweets are put out for the rodents to enjoy by worshipers who believe that they are the holy reincarnations of a storyteller from the 13th century.

Only in India.

Like other Indian temples, the Kari Mata requires you take off your shoes before entering. Here, however, tourists have the option of cloth foot covers. When we enter the temple, we see rats in every corner nibbling or scurrying by. There are so many rats that we have an odd primal reaction as if our deep Dark Ages ancestors are screaming "bubonic plague! bubonic plague!" Soon we're laughing, though not too loud as to offend.

Most of the temple is open air. Though I explore some of the darker corners, Temple thinks it wise to remain in the light.

Desert Festival

We arrived in Jaisalmer two days before their world famous desert festival was set to begin. We extended our stay to see the parade and festivities which included Mr. Desert and Mr. Mustache competitions, camel decorating, and turban tying. For laughs there's also a tourists turban tying competition where Clay's attempt at the traditional turban scored only a few points short of first place.

Jaisalmer

On the edge of the Thar Desert sits the sand castle fort of Jaisalmer. Unlike other forts in Rajasthan locals still live within its walls.

Blue City

From the ramparts of the Mehrangarh Fort stretches out the Blue City of Jodhpur. Many generations of mahajaras marveled at this view from their impenetrable fortress, that weathered war-elephants and cannonballs. The royal family lived here even after Indian unification. Now, its gates are open to all and everyone can enjoy the once royal blue views.

Jain Temple

A string of orange flowers hangs over the entrance to Chaumukha Mandir, the famous Jain Temple in Ranakpur. After removing our shoes, we slide our feet across cool marble floors to enter a kaleidoscope of color. A Jain ceremony bursts forth with sounds and smells. Generations of family sit playing music, chanting, and performing rituals that include offerings of food and dance. In a haze of incense, they perform devotions as if the onlooking tourists don't exist.

Udaipur

On a hilltop in Udaipur sits the imposing City Palace glowing golden in the setting sun, while at a distant ghat colorfully dressed women wash the day's clothes. We circle the lake in a small boat cramped with Indian tourists getting an up-close view of the elegant floating palaces. A mother and child sit beside a barefoot man while he masterfully plays his ravanahatha, a traditional Indian fiddle.

Pushkar

According to legend, when Brahma dropped a lotus flower thousands of years ago he created a lake in the middle of Pushkar. This makes Pushkar one of Hindu's most holy cities. In the bustling streets around the lake, music and prayer fill the air. Worshipers gather at the lake's many ghats, seeking guidance and purity while making offerings of brightly colored flowers and sweets.

After meeting the swamis, touring their temple, and becoming friends, we are invited to attend their puja ceremony that evening. Pushkar Temple by ClayBolton

Jantar Mantar

Like many of us, Jai Singh II was fascinated by the stars. His interest led him to build observatories all over his kingdom and the largest, Jantar Mantar, is in Jaipur. Jantar Mantar means "instruments of calculation." These structures, built between 1727-1732, gave Singh II the ability to record time, locate stars, and track eclipses. Jantar Mantar has the largest sundial in the world called Samrat Yantra (The Supreme Instrument). The instruments continue to be accurate and used to this day.

Block Printing

On the roof of Gandhi Textiles, a small ink-stained team of block printers work with surprising speed and detail. All the work is done by hand and put in the sun to dry. The final products are large pieces of cloth that will become bed linens, saris or scarfs.

Jaipur

Our two week tour of the colorful kingdoms of Rajasthan begins when we meet our driver, Rajeev, a.k.a. Raj of Rajasthan. He's actually a sarcastic 24-year-old from Delhi who drives like a mad man. We learn this all too suddenly when we get into his car and are spun into a continuous whiplash motion accompanied by incessant honking. Before the car moves, he honks. When he passes a car, cow, or rickshaw, he honks. Before turning a corner, beeeeep! So I ask him "Do you always honk like this?" He responds with an Indian proverb, something like "No wife, no life; no girlfriend, no tension; no horn, no car". It seems funny enough, so I convince myself that I will adapt for the next 2 weeks with Raj.

When we arrive in Jaipur a few hours- and many honks- later, it is dark. We haggle for the 350 rupee ($7.00) hotel price and are off to bed. The next day we wander through the streets, forts and palaces of Rajasthan's capital. First, we tour the Amber Fort, its yellow walls welcoming tourists riding decorated elephants. Raj drives us by the Water Palace and a royal crematorium called Gatore Ki Chhatriyan with its beautifully carved white marble. We eat a delicious lunch of vegetarian tali which is like an Indian sampler: mixed vegetables, dal, masala, raiki, roti, papad and rice. Next, we walk around the City Palace, its ornate gates leading to stately halls, where maharajas (kings) received other dignitaries. Finally, we enjoy the ever rising windows of the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds).

Fog Mahal

We walk through the fog and darkness of pre-dawn Agra, hoping to beat the throes to the Taj Mahal. Passing through the gates, just as the day begins to glow through the heavy fog, all we hear are birds chirping and cameras snapping. The encompassing cloud gives the marble mausoleum a mysterious aura as we admire its symmetry and inlay work.

Kuwaiting

Syrupsun had been going smoothly, a little too smoothly, and we got sloppy. We landed in Mumbai without a plan but, more importantly, without visas. We soon found ourselves in a small room with a few immigration officials who questioned us and began paperwork. We naively thought that there was some alternative, that we could get a visa on arrival. Some of the staff we talked to seemed willing to help, but when Clay looked over the form said "Refusal to Land." Despite pleas for help, we were soon on a plane back to where we'd come from, a place we hadn't wanted to go to in the first place: Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Before boarding, Kuwait Airlines handed us tickets to go all the way back to Amman where we'd left the previous morning. We refused to go that far or pay for those tickets. Luckily, we got our bags off the plane before they flew there. In Kuwait, we immediately went to the Indian Embassy and explained that we'd been deported and needed a visa asap. We were shuffled back and forth all day between the consulate and the passport office. At one point, we heard that we could get the visa the next day if we got a certain man's signature, at another point we were told that it would be a minimum of 10 days. After hours of no official answer on how long we'd have to wait, our top priority switched from getting into India to getting out of Kuwait.

We left the embassy with our passports and decided that if we had to wait, we'd do it somewhere beautiful, and cheap. Thailand. We found tickets online and surprisingly Thai Airways had a Kuwait office open until 8:00 pm every night. All day long regular people at the embassy had been helping us even as they dealt with their own problems. This continued as people in the internet cafe lent us cell phones, people on the street helped us with directions, and in the end, one guy walked us all the way to the airline office. We were amazed and grateful at the kindness of the people in Kuwait who made the ordeal bearable.

We flew to Thailand the following day. The Indian Embassy in Bangkok guaranteed our visas in five business days. It suddenly seemed so simple. After dropping off the passports we got on the first bus to the beach.