Jan-Feb 09, 3-4 weeks, start Jodpur, end....?

Hi everyone, would appreciate your help and suggestions, this site is such a gem!

I am going to Jodhpur at the end of September to volunteer for 4 months and when I finish I would like to go for a little trip to see a bit more of india. I finish in Jodhpur 13 Jan.

I only have 3-4 weeks but would like to outside Rajastan - I will probably cover some nearish sites whilst I am in Jodhpur.

Budget - $20-40 a day.

Trains prefered to flights - but could take one cheapish flight if necessary.

Point of departure - anywhere, so long as you can get a flight to London.

May be travelling alone so nothing too scary please! (I'm a 21 year old female) On the other hand I hope I'll be a bit acclimatised by then and should speak ok hindi. I prefer small places to big cities - beautiful landscapes, temples, festivals... Having said that I would quite like to see Varanasi.

This is my first time in india as a proper person (I was in nappies last time!) so I'm open to any suggestions! I don't either know whether to head north or south!

Thank you very much in advance for your help. Sorry for being so vague

Hi Jess,

Are you still around in Jodhpur? I am planing a trip there in Jan (around 7-10th) and have no clue about the place. I need to do some furniture shopping and was wondering if you are going to be around or have some tips?

Hi, yes, those will be my last few days in Jodhpur actually. I haven't done a whole lot of furniture shopping here I have to say but I do know where some antiques shops are. I'll be at work during the day though so won't be able to show you around unfortunately but I'm happy to give some tips if you let me know what you need to know!

Well you can do quite a bit of window shopping on the net, search Rajasthan Furniture or similar and you'll find plenty -

http://www.rajasthanart.com/wooden-f..._furniture.htm

http://www.antiquesindian.com/

Thanks for the tips. Its like a small scale industry project conceived with the idea of eliminating middle men and buying directly from the artisans/craftsmen so that they get better pay-offs.