Forts and Fireworks

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Rollicking round Rajasthan

Rajasthan is a region of contradictions; dazzling architecture of rulers past and present is juxtaposed with the abject poverty of present day beggars, dusty landscapes are littered with women draped in bright saris and smells of spices fight for attention with the stench of human waste. It is a region with a population exceeding that of the UK, many of whom are sadly amongst the poorest in India, that ranges from noisy cities to deserted deserts.

Jodhpur

My train in from Mumbai arrived in Jodhpur at 5am so I was spared the full impact of just how busy Rajasthan can get. That said I was left to the mercy of the early morning Rickshaw drivers all clamouring to get commission for dropping me at a hotel (a word to the wise, when a hotel pays a driver commission they up your bill to pay for it - so it works for everyone involved but yourself), I chose to irritate them by sitting down and reading my book until it’s a reasonable time to go and check in. The hotel I ended up in (Shivam) was lovely - pretty little room and there’s a fantastic fort view from the roof top restaurant.

Meherangarh Fort is the star of Jodhpur, one of the highlights of India even. The outer walls towering above the blue city at a height of 125m (Edinburgh castle eat your heart out) encase a multitude of sandstone courtyards and palaces. The walls themselves display the history of the fort - the plaque to commemorate the man who was encased into the walls alive to stave off drought is particularly chilling (to this day his descendants are looked after in return for his sacrifice) as are the handprints of the wives of one Maharaja who committed Sati by throwing themselves on his funeral pyre.

Sadly my photos of the latter are missing as I was particularly stupid and managed to delete most of my photos, the ones I have were kindly salvaged by a computer geek in an internet café while we watched India beat Pakistan in the cricket semi finals. The town errupt when they won, fireworks were set off and hoards of Indian men took to riding the streets on their motorbikes at break neck speeds. I decided that it was best to watch the revelries from the roof as no one seemed to be paying attention to driving laws or the health and safety guidelines on the fireworks - people were just holding them in their hands and setting them off in the streets. I pity the doctors working in A&E that night.

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Photos

Rocking the audio guide
The audio guide was very very good.
And got rid of the need for friends!

Now that's a bedroom
Apparently the Raj liked his baubles...

Washer woman
The women even wear beautiful saris to clean in

Plaque for the guy in the wall
creepy!