Jodhpur

Ze fort.
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Virander and I next headed to Jodhpur.  I had initially thought about going there, then rethought it, and decided not to.  As it was too far to drive from Jaisalmer to Udaipur, I ended up going there anyways.

Glad I did.  Jodhpur has the Merehngar fort.  It is easily the best fort in India.  It looms over the city, perched on a rock outcrop over 400 feet tall.  Inside the fort, there were interesting things, both opulent, and a few morbid sights as well. There were beautiful palace playgrounds, stained glass imported from Dark Age Europe, tiles and textiles imported from China during the Yuan dynasty, etc. etc.  All palace gates were at sharp right angles from the courtyards and hallways.  This was so charging war elephants couldn’t create enough momentum to crash the gates down.  There was also a bass-relief of women’s hands, about 20 in all.  These were the hands of the Maharani and the hands of all the Rani’s.  Upon the death of the Maharana, they had their hands coated in red plaster, and then imprinted upon the wall.  The women then performed settee by adding themselves to his funeral pyre.  It’s said, that not one of them made a sound.  The Merehngar fort is India’s answer to European castles, only on a grander scale.  The fort is part palace, with all the beauty and richness that the owners of this Silk Road outpost would have at their disposal.  It’s also part military outpost.  Thousands of troops resided inside of the ramparts, ready to go at a moments notice.  Several dozen elephants, hundreds of horses and camels also stood at the ready.

Jodhpur the "blue city."
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I stayed at Newton’s Manor while in Jodhpur.  It is a very well run family establishment.  It’s actually part of their house, with kids and grandparents adding to the charm.  An Indian family that happens to be Christian runs the house; it was kind of weird to see Bibles lying about.  They made a home cooked meal for me, with western style roasted chicken.  (Very good to be eating some meat for a change.) The house is decorated in old world British décor, so it feels like you’re in the house of a colonel during the British Raj.