Rajasthan: Jodhpur (only a few random power cuts)

One of the best cities we've done so far, nicknamed the Blue City.







Plenty of interesting places to visit, a buzzing market/bazaar and not too much hassle from street vendors. Apparently the Tourist Police have been quite tough on local thiefs (children after tourist bags) as many shopkeepers from the bazaar explained; meaning that the children who come up to you for a chat get told off by their elders to avoid any trouble... but it's still quite easy to have a nice chat with locals and talk about their culture and customs.

The city clock tower is beautiful at night when light up, and is a lovely place to have a fruit juice or lassi whilst stuffing yourself with freshly made samosas and fried dahls.

But most impressive is the city fort, called Mehrangarh, and managed by the current Maharaja’s Trust. They have done an excellent job at restoring it and explaining what the place is all about with a really good audio guide (for once!)... A mix of comments on the features of the fort (main gates at a 90 degree angle, loaded with spikes so that elephants couldn't get any speed to charge, canon ball marks on the walls), and incredible stories (one guy sacrificing himself by being buried alive when the fort was constructed to counter some kind of draught curse !). This invincible fort was built in 1459 and was never defeated in combat. Quite a feat when you realise how much fighting took place in the region.

          

We also found a cool internet café opposite our hotel, run by three brothers and a cousin, all very nice, and as they liked to say, there was no “white tax” there.

The first night we went there, the youngest brother was chatting up on his webcam some Philippines’ girl about how much he wanted to marry her. We told him to beware as there are many lady boys, and the one he was talking to didn’t look that feminine… I think it cooled him down a bit.

The next night, the guys were celebrating their first entry in the Lonely Planet 2009 edition (#1 spot!!), so they were cracking gigantic fireworks in the street at almost midnight… not sure that was too popular with the neighbours! But Lonely Planet is so major here, I guess most people don’t really realise the effect it can have on a business. As one of the guys put it, it’s like having your name in the Bible for a Christian !! One Guesthouse who had been #1 for many years was down to #10 with a not so good review. The owner was not to be seen for several days and apparently very depressed…

We had quite a few chats with them after closing time, and on our last night one of them read the lines of our hands. Not sure if Sonia had any involvement in this, but the guy (nicknamed Gucci) seemed to think we would be successful once married… and also that I wouldn’t make old bones, 55 to 60 tops! No need to say that got Sonia really upset!! (out shadowing all the wedding stuff!!)

Comments

[tooty]

t'as pécho de l'indien mon salaud mdrrr baleze en plus ;-))