Mandawa

Mandawa is a small town in the desert state of Rajasthan, famous for its Frescoes. We stayed there two nights, first in town in a Haveli (old merchant homes with frescoes painted everywhere) restored to a charming hotel. We enjoyed walking around looking at the artwork, of which most seemed to retain their vibrant colours even though they are about 300 years old.
The next night we stayed at a resort made of mud- the walls, beds night tables were all made from local mud. It was beautifully painted with designs by local women. We overlooked the desert which had sand of course, but also trees spaced out as if they’d been planted. We swam in the afternoon and then in the late afternoon, when it was slightly cooler, we went for a camel ride to a nearby village. On the camels we were so high up that we could see into everyone yards; the villagers didn’t seem to mind but I don’t think I would like it. All the yards had a water buffalo, goats, sheep and cows. At the village a local family invited to their house and offered us Chai. There was even enough room in their yard to park the eight camels. My first camel ride- neat!