Jodhpur – The city gets the blues!
We take an
overnight bus to Jodhpur. Again, it’s like being in Afghanistan or Iraq! The
buses are awful. We don’t get it. We are in one of the hottest tourist circuits in India. Come on people, the tourists really don’t mind paying a bit
more, raise your bloody game. Did I mention the road is terrible? And no
alternative, too far for taxi, too close for flights, no trains… Well, we get
there in the end.
Anyway, we
arrive at around 5AM only to be greeted by a guy from our booked hotel. We are
so happy! But wait, he is not there to pick us up, he’s just there to make sure
we don’t go anywhere else… Again, the
hotel is fabulous, a heritage home(Haveli – traditional big house). The
service is great and the veg restaurant is ok too. We check in, sleep till noon
and get to brave the world.
Jodhpur is also
known as the Blue City, as most of the houses in the old city are painted in
shades of blue. The shopping is awesome, spice and fabric paradise,
and the hassle is not so bad. Also, we finally manage to have a fabulous meal
(butter chicken and lamb rogan josh) at the Khalinga Restaurant. During the
meal, we had to call the maitre d' and ask him if the waiters could stop staring
at us so we could eat in peace, smooth! After lunch, we walk around and buy a few
amazing 2nd hand saris and scarves at the bazaar.
On the second
day, we go to visit the Mehrangarh Fort, the biggest fort in Rajasthan, with
it’s amazing views of the Blue City. The fort is a huge complex, housing the
Maharaja’s Palace and several temples. You can see lots of people who are employed to
bring the place to life, dressed in period costumes, playing traditional
music, it should have been awfully tacky, but somehow, it works. Well, enough moustaches and turbans for the day so we
head for the Cenotaphs. The Jaswant Thada Royal cenotaphs are lovely, built in white marble and it’s quiet and very cool and peaceful here after the usual bump and grind of India. A few more mustaches and
turbans are on show here. Looks like we can’t get away from them.
Time to say
goodbye to Jodhpur and we do so in style, taking a well deserved taxi ride to Pushkar.
