Rajasthan – Jodhpur, Jaiselmer and Jaipur
November 24th to December 2nd
Rajasthan or the Princely state is the most heavily trafficked area by tourists owing to its remarkable forts, palaces and general beauty. We arrived in Jodphur the blue city (so called for the blue wash used on most of the buildings to thwart termites) after what was unfortunately the worst train ride yet in India. Jodphur is an old city and as such has the narrow higgledy-piggledy streets crammed with stalls and occasional temples that you walk along competing for space with motorbikes, auto rickshaws and the highest population of cows I’ve seen yet in India. We ended up spending six days in Jodphur as it offers some of the best shopping we’d seen yet and frankly we have so far been quite restrained in our purchases equally we moved to the lovely Veggi guesthouse a family run haveli which with home cooked meals and a pleasant ambience was hard to leave.
We visited the majestic Meherangarh Fort which rises above the angular blue lines of the rooftops of Jodphur and is the most elaborate of the Rajasthan Forts. Passing through the gates you see the orange handprints of the departing Queens and concubines who after the death of the Maharaja would perform the traditional (now outlawed) rite of Sati which is throwing yourself onto the funeral pyre of your husband. According to the audio tour the queens piously and quietly immolated in the fire, having yelped, sworn and whimpered when I’ve received even the most minor of burns I find this composed silence whilst being burnt alive somewhat fanciful. The fort itself is remarkable with beautiful artifacts from the glory days of the Maharaja on display including Elephant Seats, weaponry and palanquins. There was a short film on the current Maharaja which displayed some of the worst editing I’ve seen (almost everyone being cut off in the middle of their sentences) but on the upside some of the most elaborate eye make up on the son of the maharaja.
However mostly in Jodphur we shopped seeking out traditional embroided bedspreads (with mirrors, sparkly!) and giving in again to the allure of buying unnecessary scarves. Shopping in India like Asia is an exhausting and amusing game of haggling as you attempt to ensure a half decent price which is particularly hard when you aren’t exactly sure what that should be. As we were looking for embroidery each shop proclaimed the great skill of its artisans who were of course blind virgin widows from a village tribe that only make this unique design for their shop each monsoon as they fast in religious observance the rest of the year…naturally we would see the same design at the next store. In between shopping I discovered the glory of the cardamom lassi from the Om stall in the centre of the market which soon became a daily ritual slurping down the rich creamy yoghurt whilst watching the havoc a large population of cattle causes in a city centre. For example, it is not exactly attractive nor practical to have a bull attempt to mate an unwilling cow in the middle of the crowded market although in fairness it is very funny to watch everyone scatter.
Moving on from Jodphur we caught the bus to Jaiselmer which thankfully we boarded early enough to ensure a seat and did not end up wedged in the aisle. Arriving mid afternoon we checked into the beautifully decorated Shahi Palace and explored another fort, this time the golden fort so named for it’s golden hues of the sandstone before having a quiet night in anticipation of our CAMEL SAFARI the next day. Like using trekking instead of walking, adding safari to any activity makes it appear infinitly more exciting and dangerous. We arose the next morning and headed out in a jeep with Priya (British India girl who had been at Veggi guesthouse with us) and four very hungover English guys. After checking out some temples and pulling over from an emergency omelette for the English guys, we met our camels. Having been on Camel Rides, nay Camel SAFARIs twice before (though not long ones) I nevertheless continue to be astounded by the digestive issues of camels and can only assume that it is their relatively low population that keeps them from being the focus of global warming concerns about methane. For the SAFARI each camel is attached to the next by a short rope meaning you are always close enough to experiences the sounds and smells from both ends of the camel which continued to elicit giggles, gags and extraordinarily lame jokes throughout the two days. We traversed the arid scrub land for an hour before retiring for a freshly cooked lunch which gave our ill used legs a much needed rest. I quickly discovered on the SAFARI that my legs were not made for sitting astride a camel, by the time we reached the dunes that were to be our resting stop for the evening my legs were cramping and alighting from the camel without falling was only just achieved. Speaking of alighting, whilst the myriad of small boys who accompanied us warned us to hold tight whilst the camel stood up I was not entirely prepared for the jerking forward and down at an alarming rate that constituted the camel sitting down.
As evening drew close the sunset upon the dunes allowed for some great photo shots particularly the camel silhouette (held by one of the child labourers we had looking after us). That night we played drinking games with bad indian rum before retiring under a blanket of stars for what was a very cold very long night (stray dogs rummaging above your head whilst the wind struggles valiantly to go beneath your Odor de Camel blankets does not make for a restful evening). The next morning we heading back to the jeep with legs aching and cramping once more making me extremely thankful I did not book the three day SAFARI. We ended the afternoon admiring the view of the fort from the rooftop of Shahi Palace (highly recommended) before boarding our train to Jaipur.
We arrived in Jaipur at five in the morning and thankfully had already organized our accommodation so although our room wasn’t ready we did manage to grab a few more hours sleep on the couches of Sunder Palace our home for the next few days. Sunder Palace (again recommended) is more a mid budget option however we managed to get a room for 350 rupees which turned out to be a small shed down the side of the actual hotel which nevertheless was comfortable with sheets and towels (a rarity) and the smallest bathroom yet (not quite a metre wide and only about one and a half metres long). Jaipur I had been before so mostly I just wander the bazaars and treated myself to some birthday jewellery. We did however check out the city palace (which I’d been to before but was keen to visit the onsite palm reader). The palm reader spoke reasonable English but I was still unable exactly understand whether I would be getting married between the ages of 29-30 or I simply should be because that was the best time for me to be married either way it seems I should probably get a move on given that small timeframe. Thankfully he just told me relatively good news which surprised me as apparently many of the fortune tellers in India do not shy away from the negative.
