I'm not the only one

So I wrote this entire blog post and added pictures and everything, only to have the computer crash on me. It was probably the best thing I've ever written, but now I just want to have this thing done so it will probably be awful. Enjoy!

Yesterday afternoon I finished wandering the fort. I wandered so much, in fact, that the shopkeepers started saying "Namaste, again" (basically hello again) and smiling like I must be a moron lost tourist. I totally wasn't lost though.

For lunch I ate at a rooftop restaurant, which is where I took the picture above. The bill came to 80 rupees, or $1.62 (approximately). I gave the guy a 500 rupee note (a little more than $10) and he wouldn't take it. It's extremely common here that no one wants to make change for a 500 rupee note, so anytime I can break one I try. In this particular case the guy really wouldn't take it. Besides that I only had 15 rupees, so I offered to pay that and come back later with the rest. He told me to just come back later with the rest, so I walked out (or rather nearly crawled out. The doors were about 4 feet tall and there were 4 of them) without paying a dime. I eventually broke a 500 and came back and paid. It was weird, and very trusting.

Later I got what I hoped would be a relatively bland dinner of vegetable biryani, an Indian rice dish. It was hardly bland. I love spicy food and all, but eating it for every meal is turning out to be a bit much. Sometimes I just want some calories, not a burning mouth to go with the crazy hot weather.

I came back to the hotel through what I would describe as a mild sandstorm. In reality it was just windy and this place is full of sand, so it was a little unpleasant, but just a few kilometers (almost forgot that time) away in the sand dunes people were on camel safaris with high wind and sand everywhere. I think I made a good choice (actually I know I did).

Back at the hotel the power was out once again. It's a routine thing here, unfortunately. It turned out to be a good thing because I just started talking to some other tourists out in front of the hotel. When the power came back we moved up to the roof of the hotel, where I took the picture to the right of Jaisalmer Fort. We talked about our hatred of Delhi and how India was growing on all of us. It was nice to talk to people without the expectation of money changing hands at the end of the conversation. We chatted into the night, and it turns out one of the couples is coming to California at the end of their 9 month worldwide trip, so I may see them again.

This evening I'm taking a train to Jodhpur, a 4 hour number set to arrive around 9. I'll be bringing plenty of water.