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Published: August 21st 2009
The vibrant colours of Rajasthan
These are the fabric squares that the ladies wear!After settling into our hotel and cooling off in the pool we caught a rickshaw into the old town to explore. The driver dropped us on the busy road outside the city walls and we spent 15 minutes trying to identify where we were on our map - I don't know why we bother because we can never seem to be able to read them - we ended up following the city wall until we found a gate (which are always large arches) and we joined the throng of people walking along the narrow lane ways. Jodhpur seemed much the same as many of the cities we had visited before, tiny shops, jumble of power lines above, washing strung over every available surface, strong smell of urine at regular intervals and cows everywhere! In fact Jodpur seemed to have more cows then Bikaner wandering the streets.
Jodhpur is known as the 'Blue City' because many of the older houses are painted blue - they were originally painted this colour for termite prevention. By chance we found our way to the main square, in the centre of which stood a clock tower. This square was full of stalls, many aimed at the
tourists but as many catering to the local population. The pressure from touts here was pretty bad, most of them young boys, who earned a hefty commission if they managed to persuade you to visit a shop - any shop! This sort of pressure can make wandering these areas wearing so after a while we sheltered in a cafe and had our first saffron lassi. Lassis are yogurt based drinks, flavoured with everything from salt to blended fruit. We love them and the saffron ones (yellow in colour of course) were no exception. It was so rich it was a meal in a glass!
Jodhpur is dominated by the immense fort which is set high up on a ridge behind the old town. It is really impressive and is the main tourist attraction. We were looking forward to visiting it and though we planned on doing it the following day somehow in the heat the swimming pool at the hotel was much more appealing! We did stir ourselves later in the day and find a supermarket somewhere in our area. Western style supermarkets are rare items here - the local people certainly don't use them to buy vegetables from as
most of the vegetables in them are old and withered! Late in the afternoon we headed back to the old town for some more exploring - this time starting from the main square and heading into the streets below the fort. Much more interesting and once away from the tourist areas no pressure from shopkeepers. We watched groups of ladies sitting on the steps of their houses hand rolling cigarettes and threading tiny pieces of charcoal onto threads (for what reason we could not find out!). Another group were sewing gardening gloves by hand. All to earn an extra few rupees for themselves. They were very friendly and were enjoying themselves, laughing and chatting together.
Next day we had booked a taxi tour of the surrounding district and though we went with a guide book recommended company we didn't like the driver when he turned up. He was very arrogant and as we were leaving Jodpur informed us that he didn't like driving tourists around! On the outskirts of the city we passed large groups of people all standing at a major crossroad. The women were dressed in amazing outfits with white bangles from their wrists up to their shoulders.
The driver said they were very poor and were waiting there for casual day work - all laboring work as that caste only did laboring jobs. A contractor would pick his group of workers, mainly for road construction, they would then be transported to the work site in the back of trucks.
On the way to the first village we started noticing peacocks everywhere - they are very common here but to us seem very exotic. They are considered royal birds and the local people love them. We stopped and watched one dance - waggling his rear end and fanning his beautiful feathers out in the courtship ritual - right in the middle of the road in front of our car. There were also a lot of small deer in the fields. The village we visited was a Bishnoi village. These people are legally allowed to take opium in the form of opium tea and we watched as a man made us some, which we drank. It tasted like muddy water and probably was! He did show us his lump of opium though and it certainly appeared to be the real thing - though I've only ever seen it in
photos. The opium was pounded first and then added to water which was strained through cloth funnels a few times - the opium teapots are wooden with silver tips. Opium is grown in Rajasthan further south from Jodhpur and is highly controlled by the government. The Bishnoi people have special permission to buy a specific amount of opium each year. They drink opium tea daily for medicinal purposes. The ladies were wearing the bra style blouse which is worn with an overshirt which is cut away around the breast area to show off the bra underneath plus a long skirt and veil. They all wear large nose rings as well. We also visited a potters village and had lunch in another very pretty little group of houses where they were weaving durries. The colours were beautiful - I was tempted but didn't have any where to put it so it's really pointless buying one and having to post it home. The village huts were built of mud which was painted pale blue with patterns drawn all over them. Jerry has been interested to see how widely the swastika sign is used here - it is a religious symbol here which
represents the sun and energy and is associated with good fortune and luck. Another village we visited is renowned for it's pit weaving where the weaver sits in a hole in the ground and uses a large loom to weave fabric. In this village they dressed us up in traditional costume and we looked totally ridiculous! It was a fun day though which was only spoilt slightly by the attitude of our driver. He certainly didn't get a tip at the end of the day. Tipping is expected here and we're happy to tip if the service and attitude deserves it.
Begging is a nuisance though - mainly from children who follow you around ' one pen sir, rupee sir'. The other total nuisance and it's driving us crazy is 'what country you from?' If you say Australia then you get 'Sydney, Melbourne, Ricky Ponting, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - you come visit my shop?- I show you many things . Look is free.' It is driving us mad and they can be so persistent that a couple of times we've lost our cool. That usually happens with the teenage boys who walk backwards in front of you and then pull
at me - they don't do it to Jerry. I will admit that after our initial wanting to feed the street kids after 11 weeks in India so far most of the time now I brush them off. Sounds cold but there are just so many of them.
The next day we visited Meherangarh Fort or Majestic Fort which is sprawled along a ridge above the city. The walls are 36 meters high and 21 meters thick and the building of it commenced in 1459. There is a fabulous view of the city and surrounding plains from the top. As the oldest part of the city was always traditionally painted blue and it is situated way down below at the base of the ridge upon which the fort sits you can really see why it is known as the 'blue city'. From our viewpoint above we looked down on a sea of blue houses. You entered the fort through a series seven massive gates, all heavily studded with spikes to withstand enemies on elephants. The last gate has handprints (37 in total) of six wives and the more favoured of 57 concubines of a Maharajah who died in 1724. The
prints were taken as they went through the gate for the last time enroute to throwing themselves onto the funeral pyres of the Maharajah. As in all these amazing palaces the stone work was intricately carved, particularly the window screens around the womens' quarters. Once again there were lovely glass windows, Belgian Christmas balls hanging from the gilded and painted ceilings and mirrored walls. They certainly lived in style! The museum armory was full of nasty looking weapons including some which had two blades which opened up like scissors once inside the body. Charming!
We loved the fort - you can't help but enjoy looking at the immense rooms, fine decorations and in this case the birds eye view of the surrounding area. Afterwards we visited the cremation grounds of the rulers which was set below the palace - again a marvel of white marble carving.
That evening after another swim in the gorgeous pool at the hotel and a great pizza from the restaurant next door, we explored the area around the hotel. It was full of expensive houses as we were staying in a government office area of Jodphur. Next day we found it hard to leave the
hotel grounds - it was hot - and swimming pool so didn't! The manager arranged for a man to come and cut my hair - they set up a chair and mirror in the garden - all for $5 AUD. All the hairdressers here are men and the salons look a little sleazy (and dirty) for a woman to go into. Local ladies have long hair and I guess get it trimmed at home. Another man came and fixed our laptop - nothing major but another en site visit for $6! I love India as there is always somebody who will find somebody to do all these little jobs for you - obviously for a fee but not an excessive one. Our last evening in Jodpur was spent wandering around and getting totally lost again in the bazaars around the old town. It was great fun checking all the bags of spices out, the shops selling handmade shoes and lacquer bangles, and dozens of stalls selling red cord threaded with beads. They were very busy stalls and we found out a few days later that girls buy the cords to give to their brothers on the 5th August as a
These taste terrible!
They are hollow and are filled with raw onion etc plus a foul tasting fluid. they are almost used as a cup. show of love and respect. The men give gifts, usually cash, in exchange. It's a big family celebration here. I had fallen in love with the bangle shops and could watch the men make the lacquer bangles indefinitely. They are like the lolly shops we have in Australia except they roll out gaily coloured bangles and then decorate them by hand with sparkles and beads. They are very pretty shops and some of the bangles which are decorated with European crystals are very expensive. All Indian women, regardless of age or caste, wear bangles - an equal number on each arm. In the market I watched as the bangle seller forced the bangles over a ladies knuckles as she picked the ones she wanted. Once on they can only be cut off. I bought some and had them pushed up my arm as well. They are not indestructible though as I had only had mine on for an hour before they were scratched when a cow decided to butt me! I was rescued with my feet off the ground by a passing gentleman - my new bangle got dragged up the wall as the cow lifted me. We've both been
very wary of the cows and bulls since - they seem to get quite aggressive later in the day.
We enjoyed Jodpur but admit it took a day or so to warm to it. The hotel (Inn Season - highly recommend it) we stayed in was fabulous - great staff who were very professional (fairly unusual here) and the best swimming pool and garden. It wasn't in the old town but as we stayed 5 nights we felt there was no need to be in the centre of everything. And it only cost a dollar for a tempo (autorickhaw) to the old city. We left, once again by taxi, to drive to Udaipur. We were planning on spending a few hours on the way at the Jain temples in Ranakpur.
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