By far the most spectacular place we stayed in India was Mandawa Castle, on a hill in the center of town. Owned by the maharaja, each room is uniquely decorated with exquisite detail. Our room came complete with a canopied bed, two sitting antechambers--one with three-hundred year old wall paintings, and a huge marble bathroom. It was not luxurious in the western sense, but each authentic detail made it the experience of a lifetime. We truely felt like kings. Dinner was served in a huge, outdoor tent, with charcoal braziers and dancers and musicians. We definately were not on the backpacker's tour anymore.

We certainly could have stayed longer, but we had a lot of places to see in Rajasthan. We were with my parents, my brother Mike and his wife, Heather, and my brother Adam and his girlfriend, Britta. My parent's room was in a tower with a long, circular staircase with rooms on different levels, Mike's room had a swinging loveseat suspended from the ceiling.

The next day we traveled to Bikaner where we saw the palace, camel breeding center, and the most excellent Rat Temple. The Rat Temple is very cool and we'd recommend it to anyone, though it is a little out of the way. Thousands of holy rats inhabit a temple and its courtyard. The door to the temple is wide open, but the rats didn't seem to want to leave. There was a netting over the top of the courtyard to prevent hawks from snatching up the little creatures who seemed quite happy in their surroundings.