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Day 108: Inside the restored palace within Jaisalmer’s fort was a room in which dozens of portraits of the Mughal rulers hung. These were men whose reputations firmly depended on their moustaches.

All throughout Rajasthan, but particularly in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur, we came across men with both ears pierced - a Mughal tradition that has survived to this day?

Day 106: It was in Pushkar that we said goodbye to our driver of eight days, Wajid (or Vicky to his friends). This is India, so we weren’t just passengers to Wajid, we were much more than that: we were a mobile business opportunity waiting to happen.

Despite Wajid’s constant reminders to us that “it was our holiday”, every day it was a battle of wits to ensure that we were taken to the hotel of our choice rather than the one favoured by Wajid.

Wajid was a last minute, unscripted replacement for the driver that we had interviewed on a test drive and given the thumbs up to. Imagine our surprise when, on the morning of our departure from Delhi and after we’d made a sizeable downpayment, our driver of choice was no longer available as he “needed to attend the operation of a relative” on short notice. Enter Wajid.

Despite our fraught relationship, I must confess to a certain fondness for Wajid. After all, he was doing the best he could to grind out an income to support himself and his family. There were a few memorable exchanges during some of the long days bumping over roads under construction as we rumbled towards Ranthambore, including his unforgettable and touching tale about his courtship with his wife. His recommendation that lemon mirinda was a good mixer for gin was a revelation when it became evident that tonic water was hard to come by. And while his dealmaking wore us down, his driving was excellent.

Eight days from Delhi-Agra-Ranthambore-Jaipur-Pushkar-Delhi: 11000 rupees + tip (October 2007).

Days 104-106: Pushkar is on practically every traveller’s Rajasthan itinerary (it’s halfway between Jaipur and either Udaipur or Jodhpur) but it was probably our least favourite Indian town so far. Situated around a lake which is very holy to Hindus, Pushkar seems to have become crowded with fairly aggressive Hindu “priests” who target travellers in a money-for-prayers gambit which inevitably turns nasty when you don’t play ball. It was here also that the stench of open sewers and cow manure on the streets most assaulted our senses.

One morning, Jerome and I managed to get up early and climb the local mountain just after dawn for a wonderful, cowless, view back to the town and lake. With just a handful of other early risers and a troupe of happy monkeys up top to keep us entertained, it was a great way to start the day.

Days 104-106: In Pushkar, we stayed at the wonderful Seventh Heaven - an oasis of calm which seemed far, far removed from Pushkar proper. With beautiful rooms (not just ours, which resembled a honeymoon suite), a warmly-lit restaurant with good food, friendly staff and inexpensive wireless internet, this was one of our most memorable places to stay. Highly recommended.

Day 103: Dinner tonight was at the village of Chokhi Dhani, just outside Jaipur, which hosted a nightly all-inclusive Rajasthan-themed evening of food and entertainment popular with local Indian families. Following an incredible all-you-can-eat Rajasthani thali meal, we wandered from attraction to attraction including elephant and camel rides, child acrobatics, magic shows, dance performances, henna hand and leg painting, even fortune telling (lucky times, lucky times were on the way for Andrea).

Yes, it was artificial, but the locals didn’t seem to mind, and neither did we. Highly recommended for a bit of fun if you are lost for something to do in Jaipur!

Entry (which included the fabulous pure veg dinner) was a mere 250 rupees.

Days 102-103: Continuing on our whirlwind tour of the Golden Triangle, we made it to Jaipur.

(This looked touch and go for a while when our car sustained a flat tyre just outside a tiny village en route and we were swamped by curious locals. As is usual in situations such as these, conversations about cricket saved the day and kept the crowds at arms length. It is odd how much cred we’ve pulled in simply by naming “Sreesanth” as our favourite Indian player. For some reason, this always works a treat.)

Jaipur’s old city lived up to its reputation as being pretty in pink.

Day 103: Jaipur’s astronomical (and astrological) observatory was a unique “theme park” devoted to measuring various heavenly bodies. Dating to 1728 it houses a collection of large instruments pointing upwards, including what’s claimed to be the largest sundial in the world (accurate to 2 seconds, which is more than can be said of my alarm clock).

Andrew writes: Since last post (Kevin07: Taking it to the Taj Mahal) we’ve been on the road and out of touch, so you can imagine it was quite a shock to find that we’d become the target of some pretty hateful conservative bloggers for daring to show our support for Kevin Rudd while we’re on our big trip. Apart from numerous insulting comments too crass to reproduce here, the chief concern of Tim Blair’s readers has been that the photo isn’t the real deal. Is it so surprising that a couple of Aussies might want to show their support for Kevin Rudd while overseas on holiday? But, to dispel any doubt, here’s “The Making of Kevin07 at the Taj Mahal” - which is actually nothing more than a short lesson in low-light photography.

I took the first two photos below without using fill-in flash. As you can see, without the flash, it wasn’t such a great shot. I turned on on the flash (picture 3) for great results. A perfect shot in front of what surely must be the greatest of the (new) Seven Wonders.

What else can we say? We’re proud to support Kevin Rudd and we’re glad to have flown the Kevin07 flag in this unexpected location. We’re also hoping to come up with a few more surprises between now and election day.

Finally, in relation to the numerous inappropriate comments made about my wife, can I just say this: I always find it gravely disappointing when conservatives show no respect for the institution of marriage.

Kate writes: I take it as a badge of honour that Tim Blair mentioned our Taj Mahal photo on his blog - I would have thought he had bigger fish to fry in the week leading up to the election announcement. A few of the comments were interesting but sadly TB’s blog seems to be read mainly by creepy men whose idea of political debate is (1) to make crude jokes and (2) to rant unintelligbly about communism.

Thanks to Scott at GrodsCorp for tipping us off about this thread.