Jodphur

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Jodhpur 16/10/2008

Took the 4.00pm train to Jodhpur which was on the platform when we arrived and left on time!!!!

Sat next to a very nice Spanish couple from Majorca. They were travelling all over India in 3 weeks. From Nepal to Kerala! They were meant to go to Srinagarh but were advised against so they went to Kerala for 3 days instead! Leide had a sister who worked at the Spanish Embassy in Delhi and had booked it all for them. Again, by 5.00pm everyone was bedded down for a kip!!! This time we had pillows, sheets, blanket and a towel!!!

Guest house Jee Ri Haveli is very well located just near the market and clock tower and a lake with fountains called Gulab Sargar and has a 360 degree view of the city from the roof top restaurant. Hamansu the owner looks shocked when we say we are only eating 'veg' and don't want a bottle of wine or beer. What can those brits who have been here before been like?????

2 whole weeks now without a drink and don't miss it at all ..... though do dream of a cold Alhambra occasionally. It is just too hot to think about a beer....though it has cooled down a degree or two. Om called it a 'gift'!

Jodhpur is quite nice and friendly and yes we did see a man wearing a pair (a posh taxi driver). The Maharajah is a huge polo fan and the local team are the Jodphur Eagles. He lives in a beautiful palace on the outskirts which is part palace, part Heritage Hotel and a small museum. Museum a bit disappointing and we weren't invited in for tea like Sanjay Bhaskar! Should have tried to go into the hotel for tiffin but couldn't be ar..... bothered!

The Mehrangarh Fort however was very impressive. It is enormous and very well preserved. I reckon the old M went to Eaton and Oxford because the commentary was superb and it had an excellent Museum Shop at the end. Couldn't persuade David to buy a Jodhur Eagles polo shirt though. We worth a visit is the Jaswant Thada Cenotaph, a white marble memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh 11 built in 1899 known as the mini Taj. Lovely gardens and a lake there too. Haven't seen this much water since arriving in India.

Jodphur is the second largest city in Rajasthan and is very big, very noisy and quite polluted. From the fort you can look out over the city. Many of the old houses are painted blue. Partly because it is the brahmin colour and partly because the chemicals (including copper sulphate) to keep out the termites!

We bought a few things in the market last night including postcards ... with stamps ....(must remember the difference between a post box and an elephants backside!!!!Not much else to do here unless you start taking trips out so we will chillout today and walk around a bit avoiding the rubbish, cow dung and auto-rickshaws.

Booked a car to take us on to Ranakhpur tomorrow as there are no trains and you have to be seriously brave to risk a bus

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Photos

Sacred!!
It's that cow again

Meharangarh Fort
View from our rooftop