The national park ruins of a village suddenly abandonned 300 years ago

Impressions of India: 20
I’m currently travelling for 3 months in India, through Goa, Kerala and Rajasthan, with a pretty hot and hectic schedule of boutique hotel reviews. The galleries below are my online photojournalist diary of scenes caught, people met and things found along the way. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did and am still.

Please do take a moment to log and/or e-mail me your reactions and comments and, if you're on Facebook, attend/join my Indian Adventures photo-blog cyber-event there, or become a Follower, due right on this page? The more people I know are reading and enjoying it, the more fuel it adds to my fire.

Here's a taster of the absurdly-romantic, 350-year-old haveli, Hotel Shreenath Palace, deep inside Jaisalmer Fort which made me feel like a Juliet, though without her Romeo. 

And this, below, is the abandonned village of Kudhara, one of over 80 villages deserted overnight by thousands of Paliwal Brahmins. Raj, the Hotel Shreenath Palace owner-manager who kindly took me there on the back of his motorbike, had this version as to why. 

A Rajput prince took a fancy to one of the Kudhara families' beautiful daughters. She and her family didn't share his enthusiasm, particularly in light of the rumours about the terrible injuries caused by his massive penis. So, rather than have to fight a war about it, all 80-plus villages relocated en masse, in the middle of the night, to a destination unknown. But they also apparently left a curse behind them which still scares many locals away from the village to this very day. 

Another version is that the Paliwal Brahmins, known for their benevolence, prosperity and strong sense of community, fought off a number of Mughal invasions before one particularly vicious one in the 18th century after which the Mughal leader ordered dead animals to be thrown in all their drinking wells. Hence the sudden exodus. 

It has been designated a 'national park' with a modest entrance charge, and a small army of full-time employees are slowly rebuilding and renovating the ruins to their former idiosyncratic charm. The delicately-painted decorative details, which feature on many a home in Rajasthan, remind me of Native American art. 

A view across Jaisalmer from Hotel Shreenath Palace's roof at night,

and an open-to-the-stars rooftop bedroom, again something you see a lot of in Rajasthan.

Raj's father, a government official, who ran the hotel for 30 years before handing over (most of the) control to his only son. I did mention to Raj that his father lying around in reception, sipping chai from a saucer and chewing his pan was more 'homestay' than 'boutique'. But he was a lovely, kind man who rushed off on his motorbike as Raj escorted me to my Jodhpur bus, only to reappear with 2 full plastic bags of travelling snacks for my 6-hour-journey.

Hi son Raj (below) is happily and (he says) faithfully married, with one young son, but told me he is baffled by the number of single female tourists who keep falling in love with him. He has a certain lithe intensity, and tends to sit close to you while engaging in fairly personal conversations, which could explain their mistake. I assured him there was no danger of that happening with me as I was happily coupled-up, and he seemed just a little offended.

He knew most of the men waiting around my 6pm Jodhpur bus, so introduced me while he bought my 'Indian price' ticket, and they were all keen to have their photos taken and several to experience the novelty of one of my rollies too.

Photographing their shoes made them laugh in disbelief, as to them they seemed so unremarkable. To me they're so much more exotic and graceful than Western ones that I wished I'd had room in my bags to buy his and hers pairs to bring home with me.

To be albino in India must be incredibly tough, if only because of the fierce heat, and this young man didn't seem remotely happy or at ease. He also seemed very isolated, within the crowd by the little roadside stall. 

Another gracefully-veiled lady. I really hope the majority of Indian women never swap their beautiful, rainbow-coloured saris or salwar kameez for Western-style jeans and T-shirts as their country would lose so much beauty.

A little boy, on some errand with his big plastic bag, whose look of bitter resentment, as I trained my big camera on him through the window of my 10-foot-high coach bunk, was understandable but painful to see.

And a serendipitous photographic moment nailed as we paused to pick up more passengers. 

Posts still to come before we're up-to-date: 
Jodhpur and Jaipur

Magical Jaisalmer Fort

Impressions of India: 19
I’m currently travelling for 3 months in India, through Goa, Kerala and Rajasthan, with a pretty hot and hectic schedule of boutique hotel reviews. The galleries below are my online photojournalist diary of scenes caught, people met and things found along the way. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did and am still.

Please do take a moment to log and/or e-mail me your reactions and comments and, if you're on Facebook, attend/join my Indian Adventures photo-blog cyber-event there, or become a Follower, due right on this page? The more people I know are reading and enjoying it, the more fuel it adds to my fire.

Jaisalmer Fort, built in 1156 by the Rajput ruler Jaisala, was reinforced by subsequent rulers and has 99 bastions around its circumference. Apparently the only 'living' fort in the world, my Lonely Planet guidebook, and another travellers Footprint one, declared that the toll taken by the tourist footprint and government indifference meant it was in danger of collapse, and on the World Monuments Watch list of the 100 most endangered heritage sites worldwide. As a result Lonely Planet doesn't list any hotels inside the fort and urges travellers to 'make their own ethical decision'. However, Raj and other Fort hotel-owners swore this was a lie spread by hotels outside the fort to get more business. And when I checked online, I found that they were right - it isn't on the WMW or Unesco list of endangered sites at all. 

2 out of a big group of women, with their children, selling souvenirs and jewellery just inside the entrance to the Fort.

A poster in a rooftop Fort restaurant, whose gentle owner Vishnu said yes, he did indeed try to follow all its instructions on a daily basis.

When Raj, the owner of the haveli I was reviewing, saw this picture, taken in one of the streets near his hotel, he said 'That's my son!' - though it looks more like a girl, so he might have been pulling my leg. 

The entrance to Gadsisar Lake, constructed in 1367 by Maharawal Gadsisingh, which has been the main source of water to Jaisalmer Fort for centuries. The entrance sign also said: 'Many small temples and shrines adorn this lake. The beautiful arched gateway believed to have been built by a courtesan.' 

According to my guidebook, a rich and famous prostitute was denied permission to build her gate (Tilon-ki-Pol) by the local maharajah, but built it anyway and put a little Krishna temple on top - which meant it was now sacred and couldn't be torn down. However the maharajah never entered through the gate, believing it beneath his dignity, and would always visit the lake by a side route instead.  

Again, the lake has shrunk severely over the past 3 years of Rajasthan drought - it normally reaches up to the steps. Any idea what the dark patch in the water in front of the saried ladies is?

Catfish! Leaping and slithering and climbing over each other to feast on the rubbish and any scraps thrown by tourists.

A young boy sitting lakeside in the gathering dusk who'd initially smiled sweetly at me but then arranged himself for his portrait and suddenly looked very old for his years.

The Fort, beautifully lit-up by night.

The Jain temples ticket-seller.

Inside the incredibly-carved Jain temples. The 7 of them apparently took 200 men 35 years to build in total.

The honey-pink Jaisalmer sandstone can lend the whole fort this soft glow.

No cars are allowed inside the Fort, and tuk tuks wait in its entrance square as the streets are too narrow for them too. But lots of men bomb around its little lanes on motorbikes or scooters instead.

Patwa-ki-Haveli, the most magnificent of the Fort's 3 antique havelis open to the public, and owned by the government. 

Its ground-floor ceilings were dripping bats.

I can't decide whether the expression on these pigeons faces is embarrassment or guilt.

This young man could be taken as a definition of optimism, given that I was on the roof of the haveli and he was on the ground. He must have hoped I would throw down some coins. I've zoomed in on the same shot below so that you can see him more clearly.

And this is the also-astonishingly-carved Maharaja's Palace.

My tuk tuk driver, Vimal, taking a break while I took photographs. 

and a friend of his VJ, who said he is on the look-out for a lovely English wife. I promised to spread the word.

Posts still to come before we're up-to-date: 
The abandonned village and Jaisalmer to Jodhpur
Jodhpur

Jaipur