Jodhpur

The blue city
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Day 34: Got up early to catch the bus. There were another couple of westerners which made a nice change. We have tended to hardly meet any westerners on our travels, one of the downsides of not doing any tours. The bus left at 0820 and commenced the bone shattering journey to Jodhpur. The overtaking technique was something to be believed, felt like the bus was going to tip over. We got dropped off in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, but we got an autorickshaw (they are very fancy looking ones here) to our hotel. We had snacks at the hotel and unpacked and then had dinner at the hotel whcih is nice, and had an early night. The travelling between towns is very tiring.

Seti handprints
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Day 35: Woke up early as the room is fairly noisy. Went up and had a healthy breakfast for a change. We did the hotel check-in and got the train/bus details and will change our room tomorrow. We got a local map and headed to Meherangarh Fort, having as usual got lost and having to ask for directions. The fort was very lovely and the audio tour was excellent. We spent the whole morning wandering through the fort as everything was well labelled and very well maintained. We saw a palmist at the fort who said I worried too much and Scott is a procrastinator - at least he was right. He said we had disagreements mainly on Scotts side - not a good sign. After the fort we wandered to the clock tower and had a sugar cane drink (I became addicted to them in Singapore). Scott tried the local Makhani Lassi before delving into the fruit and veg markets and spice markets. We found a stall selling the most lovely deep fried bread with a paneer stuffing which we had as an afternoon snack. Scott has the start of a cold, so we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. We had dinner at the hotel as the food is nice and caught up with other travellers.

Jodhpur was our favourite city. Easy to navigate, lots to see, great food and very relaxed. The highlight is the Meherangarh Fort and their audio tour.

The palace architecture
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Day 36: The neighbourhood dogs barked all night long, so sleep was at a premium. We got up early to have breakfast before a day of guided sightseeing with Anthony and Jo (from Victoria). We had another healthy breakfast of toast, fruit salad and curd and honey and the usual pot of Nescafe. A tuk tuk arranged by the hotel dropped us off in town at our taxi-jeep. We met our driver and the guide; the driver (Mr Maharaja) was quite adept at missing the bigger holes in the roads (roads = potholes joined together with crumbling bitumen); the guide (Vikram) spoke very good English and was a history student at University hoping to get into teaching. Our first visit was to a local family in a nearby village. The people were farmers and had a clean but modest dwelling adjacent to their fields. Mum was very much in the forefront of the domestic affairs; she ground the millet into flour and made the flour into chapati. She was assisted by the oldest daughter and a mute son. The other kids were elsewhere or at school. Dad was lurking behind the scenes - probably happily supping on opium, the drink of choice in Rajasthan. From there, we went to another village and watched (with amazement) a local potter start his wheel spinning and cast a clay pot with perfectly fitting lid, making a money box in only seconds. Anthony then had a go at making an object that was supposed to have been an icecream bowl - better leave this work to the professionals! After the potter, we went to a local Hindi temple that was cleaning up after burying the local sharman who had recently died. When we arrived, the women were sweeping the dust whilst the men watched; another group were rolling up hundreds of beds and bedding, and carpets left over from the ceremony. The temple itself was very ornate (as usual) but had an odd feeling to it. We were guided through the complex by a local chap who was more annoying than helpful (he couldn't speak any English). He showed us the place where the sharman was buried and we learned from our guide that soon they will build a cenotaph over his grave. From the temple we went for a bounce along a road to another village to meet the Dhuram carpet weavers. There must be something in the carpet-manufacturing guild that says you have to put the hard-sell on anyone who views your work; this family were no exception. After the family realised we weren't going to buy any carpets they provided an awesome lunch of fresh made chapatti, flavoured yoghurt, home made pickle (chutney) and the staple vegetable that is harvested from the trees in the area. After we had finished eating we took a stroll around the rest of the village and viewed a partially-government sponsored cattle co-operative, that looked like it was operating quite successfully. Fortunately for our bums and heads (there wasn't a lot of headroom in the jeep) the roads home were smoother! We were dropped (somewhere) on the outer part of town (?) so took a tuk tuk back to the hotel. Whilst we were out, our gear had been shifted to our new room, with a view and bigger bed and bathroom. A short stroll to sort out some travel and accommodation, check the email and it was shower time and beer o'clock.

There are still cows and carts in the main streets
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Day 37: Had a leisurely start to the date (excellent) and a healthy breakfast. We walked to the fort by the back way near the hotel which was nicer than the main path we took the first day. There were some lovely houses and structures. We walked to the Jaswant Thada which is a memorial made of the same marble as the Taj Mahal. We were given the tourist talk by a guide inside the memorial, but he was actually very knowledgeable and helpful, so we willingly gave him a tip which he didn't ask for. The building wasn't very old, so there were only a few cenotaphs, but a nice quietish garden. We got a rickshaw to the Umaid Bhawan Palace and Museum, which is also partly a Taj Hotel. The museum was disappointing as not much was open and you couldn't wander around the grounds etc. We got a rickshaw eventually from there, the first guy wanted Rs80, what a rort. We eventually paid Rs30 to go to Sojati Gate and had a Thali plate and Paneer Dosa for lunch. We walked back through the bazaars to the hotel having a good nose around. We bought some snacks on the way back. We got back and had lassi's and then finished our snacks on the rooftop. I then had a nanna nap while Scott went and sent some emails etc. We then headed down to the hotel restaurant for the new traditional beer and fresh lime soda.