Sat 14 Nov, Early morning we left for Jodhpur. Took a local bus- this was interesting to say the least! Luckily we had seats and so sat in relative comfort. whereas the hoards of locals that hopped on and off the bus and squeezed into the holes above us may not have had it so good. Though at 40rps a ticket, for a 7-8 hr journey, im sure they werent complaining. We arrived to Devi Bhawan hotel in Jodhpur around midday and our jaws dropped athow beautiful the hotel and its grounds were. It was very tastefully done with gorgeous individually decorated rooms. i slept on a ffour poster bed with silk sheets and felt like a queen!
We freshened up and headed to the Mehranga Fort- the main attraction in Jodhpur. We paid a hefty entrance fee but got an excellent audioguide for it. It's a fascinating place and the added commentary really helped on imaginewhat life was once like in the fort. the grandeur is mesmorizing. im sure with some TLC and help from the government, many other palacesand forts could be restored and revivied to their former glory. the current maharaja has used his position to this full advantage despite losing all his priveleges after independence. This was a tourist hotspot but a bloody good one at that.
Sun Nov 15.- Bishnui safari. paid and wasted500rps on a car ride that took us to see local tribal villages and the traditional work that they still do today i.e. pottery, handlooms etc. Sounds great but really wasn't! it was a commercial money grabbing exercise with little to do with the culture we were surrounded by- the anthropologist in me was a tad infuriated at this point! Apparently, the Bishnui tribals are special in that they live in a very eco-friendly way. They reuse and recycle and only use natural products- no electricity, plastics etc. They even use the dead bodies of animals as fertiliser upon which to grow the fruit and veg they eat. It was a very attractive prospect of going to see them go about their daily lives but sadly all i gained from it was a mouth full of dust.
Got back to the hotel and relaxed. It's customary for our group leader to take us on an orientation walk around the city in every place we visit, so we did that before dinner. He took us to a famous lassi place where i had the thickest lassi i've ever tasted. it was so sweet it was more like a desert than a drink. I could barely finish it (but of course i did!). it was very similar in taste to indian desert srikhand which i loooove.
we ate dinner at a thali place that is renowned for its quick and hot food. It was very good value for money at 125rps (under 2quid) a plate and you can eat as much as you like. One boy in our group ate a monumental 14 chapatis and took full advantage of it! i didnt eat so mcuh as tempting as it was watchjing them come off the pan hot and fresh.
