Rang Rasiya Be it on clothes or on the city walls, colours are evident everywhere in Rajasthan so much so that even the major cities are identified by their hues

Ram Ram Saayin!” welcomed the tall, sun-burnt man with wrinkled eyes, smiling softly at us in the wee hours of a cold January morning as we stepped off the Mumbai-Jaipur Express at Jaipur station. “Mera naam Narayan hai,” he said with such warmth and affection that all the uneasiness of being in a new place just vanished.

That was my first impression of the people of Rajasthan -- warm, honest and genuinely helpful. The next thing that struck as we toured Jaipur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Nathadwara, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer and many other places was the long stretch of roads. It is a dream to drive on miles of straight roads snugly ensconced on both sides with fine white to off-white desert sand and watching ambling groups of camels looking down from their royal height or peacocks with long 'eyed' feathers trailing behind them, and that too in their natural surround-ings as on the stretch from Jaipur to Bikaner and Jodhpur to Jaisalmer.

However, one needs to be extra cautious driving on these roads from the fleeing deer and neelgais. Of course, neelgais with their marked feet are very shy and generally don't flit across the roads. But the small, innocent-looking deer are something else; they flash across so fast in front of the car that if you aren't careful you are likely to hit them and invite trouble, for the Bishnois not only love them but are protective about them too.

We had an eerie but unforgettable experience while on our way to Jaipur from Bikaner, after having met craftsmen of lacquer works, handcrafted leather works and visiting the usual tourist spots like the Junagadh fort, the Jain temples -- Bhandreshwar and Sandeshwar and the museum. We left Bikaner around 6 pm and were confident about reaching Jaipur three hours later, but being typical Mumbai-wallahs we hadn't considered our encounter with the desert fog, which stealthily arrives and surrounds you in its embrace.

Within an hour of leaving Bikaner, we found ourselves in the midst of a thick fog. Though we had read that fog in the deserts sets in very fast, we just weren't prepared for such a solid wall of fog that surrounded us within minutes and made us feel completely lost on the lonely stretch of road between Jaipur and Bikaner. The other travellers on the road were truck drivers who, aware of the danger of travelling at night with the fog, had decided to strike roots wherever they were.

Our driver Narayan had a dilemma. He had two women passengers and didn't want to risk waiting in the dark, freezing night on a lonely roadside and so decided to drive to the nearest human dwelling. He too wasn't prepared for the thickness of the fog; beams of the powerful headlights bounced back within an inch of the bonnet! Sticking to the road's edge, taking care that the vehicle didn't slide down the road and get lost in the desert, after nearly six hours of literally feeling our way, we managed to travel a mere 10 kms and reached a wayside hotel ‘Ashirwad palace’ on Churu bypass in Sikar district, about 110kms from Jaipur, but nothing short of heaven for us.

Once again the courtesy of the locals was very much evident, for the manager and the chowkidar showing the way with a lone candle ushered us to our room, heated water on the gas and served us warm rotis and fresh vegetables at 12 in the night: all this with a smile. Sleeping under piles of quilt we woke up around 9 in the morning only to realise that we were the only guests in the hotel as the management had decided to close for the winter months!

By noon the fog lifted. We reached Jaipur by evening and visited the Hawa Mahal, the Sawai Man Singh Museum and the city palace which stands bang in the centre of the main market street. Having visited the major cities of Rajasthan over a week, we realised our eyes had soaked in enough colours to last a lifetime.

Swaggering moustaches, heavy silver anklets, bulky red, yellow or orange turbans, pleated veils and mirror-inlaid saris were all waiting to be captured in camera. The extravagant palaces, forts and finely carved temples, was all there. On the outskirts of the small town of Osian, 64 kms north of Jodhpur, lies the state's largest group of early Jain and Hindu temples.

Colours are evident everywhere in Rajasthan and the major cities are identified by their hues. Jaipur, the state capital, is known as the ‘Pink City’. Overlooked by the country's imposing hilltop fort, the walled town of Jodhpur with sky-blue painted mass of cubic houses is called the ‘Blue City’. The remote desert outpost of Jaisalmer built from local sandstone that glows in the evening light is the ‘Golden City’ so brilliantly essayed in Satyajit Ray's Sonar Kella (Golden Fortress). In the far south of the state, Udaipur is yet to gain a colour tag, but it could be called the ‘White City’ coated as it is in decaying limewash -- its waterside palaces and havelis perfectly reflected in the still waters of Lake Pichola.