Jodhpur - The Blue City

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Apologies for the lonnnng wait, but there are excuses again....its been a busy (and remote...) few days...

19th January 2009
Waking up at 6am in Udaipur, as we were on the move once again, we grabbed an autorickshaw and headed at high speed through narrow streets to the bus station. When we bought our 'Deluxe Tickets', we were shown an accompanying picture of "our" bus...a brand new, shiny luxury A/C coach. Naturally, we boarded a run down, dusty shell of a bus, which was actually very comfortable. Lucky, considering the 6 hour journey ahead. The trip started as if the driver thought he was in the film "Speed" - he wouldn't let the speed drop below 50 - this included over taking on blind bends around mountain hugging roads! We arrived in Jodphur in one piece however (with numb bums - more to come later!), and were pleasantly surprised by The Blue City. We stayed in The Old City, which is surrounded by city walls, and encompasses a beautiful clock tower, many winding streets and markets, and a hugely impressive hill top Fort. We stayed in a 500 year old Havelli (Havellis are traditional, ornately decorated residences) and we were welcomed with a cup of Chai on the rooftop terrace overlooking the fort. On walking around the city, we bumped into our friends from Udaipur, Anna and Raphael which led to lassis and fruit juices in the streets, and later beer on a rooftop.

20th January 2009
Braekfast today consisted of omelletes and possibly the worlds strongest coffee - which is still keeping us awake!! We then made our way up to the Fort. We decided against going the 'usual' route to the Fort (we got lost!), but encountered lots of lovely, inquisitive children and families, and one particularly anti-social dog on our way up the 125m high hill! It was quite the trek in flip-flops! We finally arrived, and decided on taking the audio-tour of the fort and palace, which although geeky (see pic) was very interesting. This took around 2 hours and ended in the ramparts with amazing views which allow you to fully appreciate why Jodhpur is The Blue City - stunning!
Later, on our walk back we stopped at Jaswant Thada, a beautifully decorated marble Memorial within the city walls. We had dramatically arranged the previous day to meet Anna and Raphael at sundown, which somehow we managed to do. The rest of that evening was sat on random rooftops drinking more beers, and eating amazing food that we will never know the name of.

21st January 2009
This is where the joy of travelling really comes into its own. We woke at 0945 and had a day of relaxation ahead. However. We decided, 5 minutes before check out time, to pack up and grab a bus! 2 hours later we were back on another "Deluxe Bus", to our next destination, and even bigger adventures.....

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Photos

Jodhpur
Meherangarh Fort

Jodhpur
Yogis Guest House

Jodhpur
Us looking good in our head phones!

Jodhpur
Our hotel is the blue one...

Comments

[Kelly Sutherland]

More updates at last! LOL!
cant believe ive left it this long to log on - and i have loads to catch up on!! The blue city looks amazing - i love that pic!! No doubt ill comment on the other entries so talk to you soon! xx