Polo Heritage Hotel Jodhpur

... a time of severe drought. You can see it clearly on the horizon and is quite near our hotel, the family only occupy part of it, the rest is a hotel. There is a museum inside but we decided against it, our experience shows these types of exhibits to be expensive and not really worth the money.
So we wander down and out of the fort by a different entrance, we ask a very distinguished looking army man is it far to the clock tower - go ...

... looking at us. Your wifey, boyee, daughteree, lovely, you don’t want bad luck - give money now. I wasn’t sure how this was going to end up but I had weighed up how hard and where I would have to hit it and its mate, and pondered as to whether the watching locals would join in on my side or theirs. Another “talk to the hand” gesture from me followed with a go away now as I tried desperately to stand over it with as much physical presence and ...

... and while turning, lifts small square buckets, which are attached to a double chain that reaches from the bottom of the well, to a channel carved into a large stone slab at the top-where they are dumped. The whole system is powered by 2 oxen that are pulling a long pole, attached to the gear box, around a circular path. A man sits on the pole, behind the oxen, to make sure that they keep moving. Rampal, sensing a good photo opportunity ...

... Jain temples. These temples are always fantastically richly carved with beautifully varied marbled columns. We then went on a general walk around the streets of the fort which are full of small shop traders. There are so many shops one could almost say the fort is a bazaar. I took numerous photos of some wonderfully ornate buildings and latticed balconies throughout the fort, where there is still surprisingly some building ...

... room for cheaper that is basically the same. Haveli has the best rooftop in town. The view is the best and the restaurant is set up really elegant. But it is also the most expensive for that reason, just go and get a pot of coffee or something. Then eat dinner at one of the other rooftops. The rooftops are one of the coolest things about Jodphur . You can see great views of all the Indigo painted houses and the Mehrangarh Fort. Jodphur itself is ...

... stare. It isn't disconcerting, it's been that way for almost two weeks now. I look out onto the track as a man defecates beside the rail. A rat, then perhaps ten or twenty more, scurry over the rail, ties and through the man's legs as he performs his call.

Three days earlier we'd finally arrived in what must be the India everyone raves about. The view from the rooftop restaurant of our hotel, the Krishna Prakash Heritage Haveli ...

... gone. They kept me in the hospital Thursday and Friday nights.I made friends with all the nurses and doctors. And i had a lot of my own new friends from here in jodhpur visit me! A few people from Yogi's Guest House visited, the driver who had driven me from the desert back to yogi's when I was sick, a couple of british guests at the guest house, and the parents of the one yogi's employee whom I had visited the night i broke the bone!! It really was a nice ...

Well, it has been quite the roller-coaster ride on my first two weeks in India. I flew from Mumbai direct to Jaipur, the capital of the state of Rajasthan which borders Pakistan in the north-east of India. After being threatened by the rickshaw-driver from the airport, harrassed by touts continuously, and cheated not once but 3 times by my guesthouse, I was heartily sick of India and Indians and everything connected. A newspaper story from the local rag summed ...

... length of time, without being offered a cup of chai and usually a delectable array of accompanying snacks in little glass bowls (which, if i'm lucky, often include rasgulla, spongy little spheres of paneer that have been soaked in rosewater sugar syrup - they are violently delicious). even as your insistent protests of having to make your next appointment or having just five minutes ago taken chai are flying at your eager host, she or he is on his way to the ...

... So that the hotel sorted. After that we had another look around the town and went to the cenotaph which was pretty underwhelming! From there we walked back up to the fort and through the street back down towards the town, in the way we stopped at the SHIVAM PAYING GUEST HOUSE for food. We had pakora; veg mix rice and naan for me, banana choc pancake for DK. Lemon tea and a coffe 226Rps... And it was nice as well, nicest food we have had here. We came back ...