Rajasthan: Part 2

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Hello again! Leading on from my last post, we have explored 3 more places within Rajasthan - Jaipur, the largest of the three, also known as the pink city, Jaiselmer - a small town on the outskirts of the Thar desert, and Jodhpur, a beautiful city, known for its blue painted buildings. We spent 4 days in Jaipur and managed to see quite a lot in that time - the Amber Fort, a magnificent fort surrounded by a wall which looks a lot like the great wall of China! Within it, it has beautiful rooms and gardens and the audio guide brought it all to life. We also went up to see the monkey temple dedicated to Hanuman, one of the Hindu Gods, which was full of macaques and had a lively view of Jaipur from the top. Also there was the Tiger Fort also known as Narahargh on the opposite hill over looking the city which we went up to see in the evening for the sunset, the view was amazing from the bastions and ramparts! The city also has a very old observatory, which people can go and see - all the large astronomical instruments are displayed outside, and an audio guide tells you exactly how each instrument was used - quite complicated but interesting! Whilst in Jaipur we also had the chance go to the cinema for the first time, so went to see the only film that was being shown - Krishh 3, a Bollywood film about a superhero trying to save the world from a deadly virus - quite entertaining, especially the songs and Bollywood dancing! We then headed to Jaiselmer where we were able to go into the desert and ride on 2 camels, one called Michael Jackson and the other Johnny Jackson! We had a great time riding through the Thar desert, the landscape was dotted with wind turbines - glad to see renewable energy sources being used! We also stayed the night on the dunes under the stars and ate delicious food made by our camel driver Pilou. Although we stayed outside of it, the imposing fort of Jaiselmer was carved out of the steep rock face underneath it and has many little winding streets built into the interior, housing temples, shops, restaurants, hotels and local residents. It's like a little world of its own! After leaving Jaiselmer we took the short (5 hour) bus ride to Jodhpur, the blue city. Whilst there we met Amit, who was helping to run the hostel we stayed at, and went to a couple of weddings with him that he had been invited to in the evening along with 2 other girls from the US and Australia. As the wedding season is very much in full flow this time of year, nearly every venue was booked up with families celebrating and we saw so many people in the streets as part of wedding processions, dancing and singing with the groom riding on beautiful white, decorated horse behind them! We went into 2 grand wedding venues, both of which we all were met with interest and welcome - we even got a beautiful broach each from one of the families! Weddings here really are open occasions and everyone no matter how loose the ties are with the actual bride and groom, are invited! The ceremonies also go on long into the evening and had not even finished when we left at 1 am! We also went up to see the magnificent Marahargh Fort which overlooks Jodhpur city, which holds a beautiful palace carved into hillside. Yet again the views from the ramparts were amazing - you really could see why it is called the blue city, all the houses were painted blue! The rooms inside the palace were extremely grand. Within the fort there is also a museum holding various objects from India's royal history, including some of the seats that were used by the Maharajas on top of their elephants, various Rajput and Mughal weapons and armoury, intricate miniature paintings and costumes worn by the occupants of the various palaces. We had to put off our departure from Jodhpur for one day due to political rallies - one of a number taking place throughout Rajasthan - as voting day approaches early next week, which meant our bus would not be able to get through the city! We're very sad to be leaving Rajasthan, as it has been the most culturally vibrant states we've visited and has such beautiful architecture. The arts are held in high regard here, and music, painting and fashion are very poignantly displayed in the distinct culture of the place. I'm really going to miss it. Next, we are heading to Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal, before visiting Delhi, Varanasi and finally Kolkata.... that's for all now, speak soon!

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