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Published: October 21st 2008
Jodphur
Jodphur Blue Ranakpur 20/10/008
With hindsight we probably spent a day too long in
Jodhpur and by the end, the dirt and the incessant noise was getting us both down. Also once you had seen the major sights (in a couple of hours), there wasn't that much to do, so we were glad when our taxi arrived to take us on to
Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur. We started the journey on a major road then turned off onto what can only be described as a single track road across the plains and off towards the more mountainous Ranakpur Hills.
The journey to Kumbhalgarh took at least 4 hours and the scenery became much more interesting as we went further away from the desert. The Fort at K was truly wonderful set in the hills and spreading over many acres, with a palace and temples and extensive battlements 36 kilometres long, all in really good condition. Judging by the number of teenagers here, it was evidently a popular place for secondary school history trips. Why it was built there remains a mystery but I often wonder why castles were put on the top of hills. Why didn't invaders just go round
them???? Must be a man thing!!
After leaving K we carried on down through the most picturesque valleys, farms and villages and nature reserves. I for one found my spirits lifting as I realised that at least some people in
Rajasthan get to live in pleasant surroundings! Not unlike inland Spain we thought.
Our hotel at
Ranakpur Hills Resort is a real treat with a swimming pool and beautiful gardens full of trees and flowers. Frangipani scents the air and it is cool at night. Apparently there is no town, just a few houses and hotels and one of the 5 most holy Jain Temples in India which has remarkable carving on the 1444 marble columns, no two of which are the same. Very lovely setting in gardens with peacocks birds and
langurs (monkeys). Really pleased we stopped by here!
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