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Other entries in Jodhpur

Jodhpur

Its pretty hot in the desert in Jodhpur, the sun really has a sting to it.
We landed in the afternoon by plane from Delhi, and got a rickshaw to our Hotel.
As we bumped along the road through the town the famous mehrangarh Fort loomed toward us. It literally towers over the town, covering the top of an entire mountain. It looks more like the natural extension of the mountain, as though the fort has been chiseled out of the mountain face as would a statue from marble. Te golden rock faces glared with intense sunlight. We arrived at our blue painted hotel. In fact, most buildings in the town are painted blue. This tradition originated from the priestly castes (Brahmans) painting them blue, then it was thought to be a decent colour for insulation as well as an Insect repellent. After dumping our luggage, I went up to the rooftop restaurant for a view of the town.
We are right below the fort. The magnitude is inconceivable, and pre flying machines you would imagine it impossible to break its walls or even climb up to the front door! This initial impression proved to be true, no army in history succeeded in breaching its walls. It was built by a maharaja of the Rajput clan, a brave and fierce race of desert dwellers.
I sipped lemonade as vultures glide in the lazy currents above the castle walls, their shadows tracing the many contours of the castle face. In the other direction, mostly blue concrete eve less buildings, and more medieval architectural relics from the 1450's onwards.
We planned to arrange onward transport to venture on to Mt. Abu, then go explore the Fort despite the heat.
Our hotel manager enquired on the train service for the next day, and he informed us it was all booked out. We were suspicious of this, and rightly so. We went to the registration office ourselves, and found that all classes were available! So we wasted a big load of time in the heat looking for the office then queuing for a ticket, and had to leave the fort till the next day. Not impressed. We went back to the hotel, and in a two pronged attack, we gave it to the hotel guy for giving us false info. It turned quite heated, and we disagreed on disagreeing. Later on we were on the roof again at night taking some shots of the fort lit up by flood lights. We saw Yogi, the manager up there sipping a beer. He apologized sincerely, which we accepted, and he bought us a beer. He turned out to be a really nice guy, and can tell an excellent story or two. He has spent a lot of time traveling and had some good insights into what is happening in the area.
It turns out that a lot of his other friendships started in fire, so we may be friends for a long time yet!
We listened to the city soundscape of the mosque on one side, the clanging Hindus on the other, and the dogs and cows all chucking their 2 rupees worth into the night air.
A fabulous French couple we met in Jaipur, Bule and Fleur walked up the stairs here in jaipur much to our delight! And since we had a few beers under our belt, we got swapping travel stories.
Our new buddy Yogi had to catch a late night train to Jaisalmer, so it was a sad good bye that went a bit too long, cos he missed his train.... hahaha he got a cab driver to drive him all the way to Jaisalmer instead.
The next day the tour of the fort exposed the exquisite detail of the Fort in all of its former glory, ornate terrace dwellings, clever designs for cooling, and a fancy room for social occasions including gold roof, immaculate stain glass window designs and paintings all over. It looks like they could throw a decent party, and the Maharajas no doubt had their share of Concubines, as depicted in some of the art on display. There were chariot cabins the empress traveled in, which was carried by male servants. It was surrounded by thick drapes to hide her from the eyes of the men. I joked with harminder that we need one for her, since we had already told a handful of ignorant, disrespectful males to kindly f%@* off.
There was an array of weapons and cannons, clothing, and jewelry boxes. It was all accompanied by a comprehensive audio tape tour. The Fort is owned by the current day maharaja, who is held in very high esteem by the people of Jodhpur. The maharaja spoke a little on the tape, and told of his family’s story, and of how, at the age of 4 yrs old, his father died, and he became the Maharaja of Jodhpur. He remembers looking over a sea of bowed orange turbans, and felt thrust into the world of men with immense responsibility. While he was being educated his status was reduced to an ordinary citizen, and while he has inherited a massive fortune, today continues some of his family’s traditions, and is an Ambassador for the people Jodhpur to the world. Harminder and I were sad to hear of his misfortune at the moment, his son, and only heir to his families empire, is in a coma after a polo accident. It is a very pleasent walk around the Fort, and great views can be had from all sides, including looking over the blue city.
Its like there are two main clours. The blue of the sky and buildings, and the sandstone yellow of the fort, the rocks and the desert.
As we were on the way to Mt. Abu by train, we met some German tourists at the station, who had about 5 longneck beers for breakfast. They were hilariously funny, and told us all of their mischievous stories while in India. They had made a point to steal random, and almost meaningless little objects everywhere they went. I think they justified it by Karmic retribution to being ripped off all the time. Half of their luggage seemed to be mostly worthless stolen goods, including a big sign they were lugging around from a train station in Jaipur. They had apparently scaled a roof to unscrew it. They were also making their way to Mt. Abu. Perhaps we will bump into them, who knows.
Doing a course on meditation here in Mt. Abu. Will let you know how it goes.
I would love to hear how you are all doing.
My Inbox is lonely. :-( hahaha
Ben

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