I am starting to get very settled in this trip and not wanting to come home just yet. Thankfully I don’t have to go home soon, even though the end of the tour draws closer. I was a little sad to only have only 1 day in Jodhpur, because it didn’t feel like enough. We slept at a gorgeous little homestay run by a local woman dressed in a beautiful orange sari and capped with a bright red bindi and splash of vermillion down her hairpart to indicate that she was married.
Jodhpur was about a 5 hour bus ride from Jaisalmer, and thankfully these buses were quite comfy – I could even read! They also had sleeper compartments above the seats, which made things a little interesting when people wanted to get down and the aisles were already full of people standing.
After arriving at the hotel we had a wonderful home-cooked meal for lunch. I ate so much that I think I waddled a little bit. We then took a walk in the local market named Sardar Market, centred by the dominating clocktower. This was all very well and good, but I’m afraid that I’m a little market-ed out. ‘Hello’ ‘Good price’ ‘Hello’ ‘Good quality, never break’ ‘Hello’. LEAVE. ME. ALONE. Needless to say after weaving through a few of the stalls, looking at the beautiful women selling reams of bracelets, the stoic and the overly cheerful men selling colourful hills of spices and avoiding cows, their excrement and the fit-inducing exhaust from the tuk-tuks and trucks, I made my way to an internet café and chillaxed for a while. I must say I’m glad that very few people smoke here, because that would really top off the chaotically overwhelming hit on all senses that some areas can be.
Dinner was at a lovely rooftop restaurant where we arrived at the perfect time – just before dusk. This meant we were able to peer out at the Blue City and watch the hues of the houses melt into the glorious red sunset framed by the Meherangarh fort, where we were to investigate the next day. After a very light dinner we headed home for a movie night. Well, the kids anyway. Once they found out that I had Aladdin on my laptop, it was all over red rover. We watched Aladdin and ate peas (don’t ask) until we were exhausted.
The next morning we had another amazing breakfast and we were off to the Meherangarh fort. This time our tour was a little different – we used the audioguides provided as according to Paddy, nobody could beat them. And he was pretty spot-on. Of course, I can’t really remember much from the tour. Unfortunately I think I’ve left it too late to remember – dammit! It was quite stunning – more a palace with a museum than a fort, thankfully because I think I’ve said previously I’ve just about had it with forts! We wandered around and looked at various items, including weapons, cradles, and the equipment people used to ride elephants and other modes of transportation. We even got to see an opium pipe – apparently it used to be very commonplace – you offer your tired guest some opium and they pep right up!
Afterwards we jumped into the jeeps and headed to Nimaj Bagh where we had a stay of one night. To be continued……
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Jodhpur photos
