Friday 30th November
I got to the bus stand before sunrise, leaving on a crappy old bus at 7am. The journey took a little over five hours, and I had been on worse trips in India. The sight that met us as we got off the bus was hilarious: about twenty rickshaw-wallahs and touts crowded round the seven or so western tourists that were on the bus, shouting out the names of hotels and attempting to thrust leaflets and cards advertising places to stay into our hands. These guys get a commission from the hotels if they bring someone to their doorstep and then choose to stay for a night or more. They get so close, even grabbing you by the arm or taking hold of your baggage so that you are forced to go with them. My approach was to blank them as best I could, and it worked pretty well.
I had got talking to a couple from Portland in the US - Spencer & Regina - during the bus journey and they were going to the same guesthouse as me, so we shared a taxi into town, eventually extracting ourselves from the melee. Unfortunately, the hostel was booked up and another place we went to didn't offer much, so we ended up going our separate ways. I found a decent enough family-run guesthouse, which seemed welcoming and friendly, and well situated for the massive Meherangarh Fort that dominates the Jodhpur skyline.
I took a walk around the fort and it was particularly impressive, sitting high above the city, looking imposing above the many blue painted houses and shops below it. The blue buildings themselves lend a nice atmosphere to the town, especially as the sun began to set. To my surprise, the walk through the fort was very peaceful and quiet, and with no touts about to disturb the calm. The views from the ramparts were fantastic, and the faint sound of the city going about its business below was wonderful - because I wasn't in the thick of it!
That didn't last long, however, as I decided to take a walk through the town, which itself is the usual noisy, polluted, traffic-heavy urban head-wrecker that I had to come to know. However, the road off which I was staying was much different, more of a neighbourhood than a commercial district. Many people said hello for the sake of being friendly or, in the case of the many smiling, playful kids, to practice their English. I was even saluted by an old man who wished me a quick 'Hello....Welcome...Goodbye!' as I walked past. It is little random moments like this that remind you that there are some very nice - and funny - people in India.
