Blogs from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 2

Woolly says – After a day off, although how you can call a day when you spend most of it with your trunk in a map and your paws on the keyboard trying to sort the onward trains out, I really don’t know! It was however a day where we didn’t leave the building and we got a lot done. The morning was bright, and Jodhpur was living up to it’s Sun City name, deciding to have something other than samosas for breakfast I led the way towards the centre of town in the hope of finding a quiet place to sit and enjoy my morning fare. It seemed to be a day when everyone was washing the road in front of there homes and business and water flowed everywhere, with my paws sodden and muddy ... read more

Time to play catchup... Yesterday we left Amritsar and had a relatively uneventful pair of flights to get to Delhi and then Jodhpur. Flying in and out of Delhi reinforced how hideously polluted India is. The visibility at the airport, watching the planes in front of us take off, was no more than 3km. Fortunately Jodhpur is somewhat better and we have had a delightful time here. Yesterday afternoon we checked into our room at the haveli. This apparently used to be the town house of one of the rural landlords. However taxes and hard times have meant they, like many others, have turned their palatial homes into hotels. It is fantastic, all red sandstone, plaster, paintings, steep stairs and arches. We went by tuk tuk to spend the afternoon with Ishtar Dewan, a local tie ... read more

Enjoyed a wonderful trip around Rajasthan with our client from Germany. We travelled via private vehicle through the cities of Jaipur, Pushkar, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Riding elephants through the city and traffic (and even jumping from one elephant to another), six am camel rides to watch the sunrise in the desert, moonlight talks, fortress lunches overlooking the cities, ziplining at startling heights, indian cuisine and intermixed culture of our Punjabi driver, our Hindu Manager, our American chitchatter (me!) and our German friend on his first trip to India. Rajasthan has lots of beautiful views, amazing forts and friendly people but definately one must be careful while travelling India! (Especially in the more remote places as we did...) I myself had many firsts while travelling Rajasthan that I can now happily cross from my bucket list. We ... read more

Before leaving for my trip, I had a catch-up with two fellow grads from work. Both female, from small town NZ, similarly outgoing and travel focused, and both quite white. As I talked about my upcoming trip, one of them expressed their interest is also visiting India as one of their upcoming tourist destinations. The other expressed their extreme disinterest in the same matter. Now one of the reasons that I mention their whiteness is that I never really figured out how to describe India to non-Asian travelers. Not that it’s hard to traverse, but more like it’s hard to understand what to expect when you get there. Now without going into too much detail about their reasoning, I think their two views represents a global view of India, a land attracting polarising views regarding almost ... read more

In 1459 the ruler of the Rathore clan of Rajputs, Rao Jodha, moved his capital to the site of Jodhpur today. He built his fort on the rocky promontory which dominates the surrounding area and so arose the Mehrangarh fort. Down below the old town was enclosed by a 10km long wall. This is the greatest fort of Rajasthan and one of the greatest in India. The unassailable position and the impossibly difficult position means the fort was never taken by force. You can drive so far towards the fort then must walk the rest of the way, then buy your ticket and wind up the steep and increasing narrow passageways through numerous defensive gates overlooked by the towering walls and bastions of the fort. Into the palace and there is room after room of treasures ... read more