Maharajahs and shepherds

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And so, another day another train. This train had been going since 8 o'clock the previous night so we were surprised that it was only showing as an hour late when we checked it from Pushkar. It was also showing that it was only going to be 5 minutes late when it got to Ajmer so we set off as planned. There was no paper chart up at the station which is how they normally show where people have been allocated places on the train but H had received a message that we were to be in coach 12. When the signs came up to show where each coach was going to stop (the trains are very long!) none of the numbers matched with that or the air-conditioned first class sleeper (there are no ordinary seats on this train) that we knew we had booked so like a number of other foreign travellers we were wandering up and down the platform asking people but not getting a straight answer. We headed to the end of the platform to which we'd been most consistently directed and were in almost the perfect place for the coach, albeit that there was no sign of it being called coach 12! The coach had separate sleeping compartments each with a letter - H's message suggested we were in different ones but we sat in the first one and waited to be told where to go. It turned out there were only 2 other people in the whole carriage and the guy in charge didn't seem to be at all interested. He was more concerned that we didn't want him to lay the beds out with sheets etc which seemed rather unnecessary at 2 o'clock in the afternoon! So a very pleasant and comfortable journey only spoilt by the train guy who kept insisting on closing all the curtains on the windows that we were trying to look out of!

We were a little late into Jodhpur but Ashish, the owner of the guest house we were staying in, was there to meet us. He has a new house built in the grounds of the Maharajah of Jodhpur's palace (he's been selling off development land to make some money). I was instantly disappointed by the room Ashish showed us to as it did not match up to the description or reviews. It was cold, shabby, full of mosquitoes and the hot water tank was definitely not large enough to give a decent shower. We spent a good few minutes chasing mossies with a zapping machine that he had and I asked for a heater and some drinking water. I was already looking up other places to stay when H went out to order some food for dinner. Ashish could tell that we were not happy with the room and he offered to upgrade us to his best room which was free. The room he showed us was just one floor up but completely different - warm, clean, mossie free and water provided by the solar panels on the roof. We were delighted to take it and after that blip things went very well. It's clear that the room he gave us originally is the fall back room that is nowhere near as good as the others that fall into the same category which we saw later. I'm just glad that the room we got was available.

We spent 4 nights in Ashish's house, eating breakfast and dinner there with Ashish often there to chat to. This was a great way to find out more about modern day India, how its society works, the changes that are happening and how that compares with what we are used to. We also got out and about to see Jodhpur in a much more interesting way than we had other places, partly due to better research! The first morning we were met at the hotel by Rajveer who took us by tuk-tuk to the Brahmin area of the city. Brahmins are the highest or priest caste and traditionally all lived in the same part of town. They used to paint their houses blue, partly because it kept them cooler and partly because it was believed that the combination of materials used was an insect repellant. Many of the houses are still blue today though more parts of the city now also use it. Rajveer took us on a 3 hour walk starting in the Brahmin area showing us interesting buildings and telling us all about the caste system, how the area is used now, the connection with the fort built by the Maharajah which towers over the area and all sorts of other interesting snippets. He took us to the 2 lakes inside and outside the fort walls that were built as water sources by the Maharajah - one for the city and one for the fort. These are very peaceful rather beautiful areas which are still used for ceremonial occasions. From there we wound our way into the market areas and Rajveer took us to various shops, to taste gulab jahmoon (incredibly sweet!), smell tobacco and identify spices. Towards the end he took us into a small temple with pictures from the Ramayana around the wall and explained these to us along with basic details of some of the Hindu gods. When he left us at the clock tower in the centre of the city we felt that we had learned more in those few hours than in the last couple of weeks. I think it was good to do it then though as it answered lots of questions we'd had from other parts of the trip.

After a lovely lunch on the roof of a hotel looking up to the fort we took a tuk-tuk to the Maharajah's palace which is on the hill above where we are staying, about 4 km from the centre of town. Much of the palace is now a very fancy hotel and while we've been staying here it's been reported to be the No 1 hotel on trip advisor in the world! It is a spectacular building which looks like a sandstone version of the Taj Mahal but only built in the late 1920s/early 1930s. The museum, which is the only part open to the public, is small but quite interesting with lots of information about the king that built it and his other interests including polo and the fact that he started the Jodphur flying club. There is also a very impressive collection of old classic cars including a morris minor that looks nothing like any morris minor I've ever seen. We walked down the hill from the castle back to our guest house and had our first experience of getting through the security on the gate into the residential area. It took a while to get through to them that we were staying there but after that they were all smiles each time we went through.

The following day we took a tuk-tuk to the fort which overlooks the city. This also belongs to the Maharajah's family and was put into trust by the current Maharajah in the early 70s to enable restoration work to be done before opening it to the public. This is the best such building we have seen so far in terms of the layout, museum displays and excellent audio guide. The building itself is really beautiful and we spent a great few hours there. Sadly they were not allowing anybody up on the ramparts which would give great views of the city - we later found out that a couple of days before somebody had fallen off while taking a selfie which explains everything. While it's terribly sad, it doesn't surprise me - the selfie culture has really taken off here and people just seem to be constantly looking at themselves in their phones rather than taking in anything around them.

We then walked down to the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park which is set in the land just beyond the fort. This is also funded by the Maharajah and is a conservation project to remove invasive non-native plants, mainly mesquite from Mexico, and replant with native plants from the desert area. We took a guide to show us around - Denzil has a geography degree but was self-taught in terms of the plants and animals. He showed us all sorts of plants, a few birds and lots of butterflies. He also took us to the best viewing point to see the guy at the fort who feeds Black Kites every day at 3.30pm. This is a form of offering from the palace and there must've been more than 30 kites swooping around to catch the pieces of meat. He also took us up on the city walls for great views of the city and the fort.

We'd planned a quiet last morning in Jodhpur but went for a walk around the area we were staying in which is very upmarket and completely different from everywhere else we have been. They are still building on lots of the plots - each one is different but they all have to have the same sandstone to fit in with the palace on the hill. Ashish had pointed us in the direction of the step well which is a modern version of a very old design which was essentially a water tank with steps on all sides which meant that however deep the water was it was easy for the women to get down to collect it. The one in the development was huge and a beautiful construction though was being cleaned out so didn't have much water in. We also came across gardens clearly designed for walking in to meet your neighbours though I'm not sure that really happens. Back near the entrance there's a huge building with outdoor pool which is the Royal Marwar Club intended to be used by all the residents but again, it wasn't clear that this was being used much.

We were trying to find a restaurant that Ashish had recommended which involved walking into another part of the residential area - this involved us getting past more security and they were just not having it. They could see no reason for us to walk through and either didn't understand us, or didn't want to. We gave up and went back to the guesthouse!

In the afternoon we were picked up by Shambhu for our 'village safari'. South of Jodhpur there are a number of Bishnoi villages where the people have a long tradition of conservation of wildlife and plants. There is a story that more than 300 sacrificed themselves to try to prevent a group of the Maharajah's people from cutting down trees for firewood and there are festivals to remember them by each year. As a result of their beliefs there is still quite a lot of wildlife in the area and we were very lucky to see a large bat, many peacocks, including one displaying for us, blue bull or nilgai, a large number of demoiselle cranes by a lake (see next blog!) and blackbuck. Shambhu also took us to see pottery being made - traditionally done by muslim families in this area, to see a shepherd family and the homes they live in, we were shown a traditional opium ceremony (no alcohol or meat here but opium is drunk at all special occasions and more regularly by some), had a turban tied for us and shown how dhurries (two sided rugs) are woven. The weaving demonstration was by Shambhu's parents and we met his wife, son and various other nephews and nieces. His wife cooked maize chapatis for us to eat with some cabbage curry which was very tasty. Shambhu then tried to do the big sell on the rugs but we politely refused - they were lovely but no room in the backpack!

We got back home tired and very dusty, me in particular as I had been bouncing around in the back of the largely open jeep! It had been a bit of an eye opener being faced with where Shambhu and his family live and the even more basic conditions of the shepherd families- it's not that we don't know that people live that way but seeing the reality does have an impact. I haven't said much about the poverty or general standard of living here - none of it is a surprise but some things do pull you up with a start. I think for me the most shocking thing was when I realised on the second day in Jodhpur that the staff working for Ashish all sleep in bunk beds set up in the garage of the guesthouse and when they're not working that's where they spend all their time. I'm sure Ashish thinks he's a good employer and that they are fed well and paid the rate for the job but in the UK he could risk prosecution for keeping people like that at home.

So, while we learned a lot staying with Ashish and did some really interesting tours around Jodhpur we also started to understand the reality of life here a little more.

Remember to watch BBC2 tomorrow night for the programme about our guesthouse in Jaipur!

S +H x

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