During the drive from Jaipur to Jodhpur our driver found that he had to take a number of detours (for some unknown reason several of the main roads were blocked) and these led to further detours when our driver had no idea where he was going. He would stop every 200 yards and ask for directions from various local people, most of whom seemed to have less idea than our driver!
The one benefit of these detours was that we got to see the real India. We drove for hours through untouched rural villages where locals would stare into our car, probably never having seen a white person before. As soon as we made eye contact we discovered something very unexpected; the locals would suddenly smile and wave, completely uninhibited and without motive. We smiled back and drove on with a warm feeling inside. It was times like this that could reaffirm our faith in human nature, clouding our memories of those less-than-friendly locals we had encountered during our travels.
We arrived into Jodhpur late afternoon and stayed in our hotel for the evening. The Park Plaza was a bit out of the centre so we didn't fancy traipsing in, especially as we would be doing all the sightseeing stuff the following day. If we had a tour guide...
We waited at reception the following morning to finally be told by our driver that we needed to go to the tour operator's office. On arriving there we discovered that Thomas Cook hadn't booked our guide, so we met a last-minute replacement at our first destination, Meherangah Fort.
Our guide was waiting for us as we arrived at the fort and we made our way into the towering construction (PICS), which overlooked the rest of Jodhpur and the remarkable Blue City. We went straight to the very top of the fort to get the breathtaking views of the old city, painted bright blue by many of its residents. It was an absolutely amazing sight, just as we had hoped it would look and we were not at all disappointed (PICS).
The local tourists who came to visit the fort were a blinding mixture of colour in their saris, dotted around the place in large groups they added a splash of brightness to the dusty brown backdrop of the buildings (PICS).
In a similar style to the city palace in Jaipur, there were several exhibition halls with examples of the kind of luxuries the emperor and his wives had at their disposal. One hall was full of seats to carry them during processions and cradles for their young children, whereas another was full of weapons that were used by the emperor's personal army (PICS).
The emperor loved colour, as can be seen by the coloured baubles in the hallways (PIC) and also in the emperors bedroom - it looked like a Christmas decoration store! His meeting room was also flooded with colour by the various stained glass windows that got the majority of the midday light blasting through the windows and into the minimalist room (PICS).
In one of the rooms were pictures of the various maharajas that had rules throughout the years, one of which looked very familiar. We had no idea that Eddie Murphy had previously been a ruler of Jodhpur! (PIC)
Perhaps the most moving and thought provoking thing we saw in the whole of India was at Meherangah Fort, a big wall of handprints (PIC). These were no ordinary handprints. They belonged to a number of women who were married to the maharajahs of Jodhpur. When the maharajas died they were cremated as is part of their religion, however, as the funeral pyre burned away the wives threw themselves onto the blaze, sacrificing themselves as they could not live without their beloved. These wives are idolised by the locals for their dedication to their husbands and the plaque remembering their sacrifice is in full view for all to see.
Situated below the fort is a mausoleum, solely used for the cremation and shrines of the maharajahs of Jodhpur. There are 5 maharajahs laid to rest at the mausoleum, which has a white marble central building and a surrounding lake (PICS). Perhaps the most interesting feature of the mausoleum is a small shrine to a peacock that, legend says, flew into the funeral pyre of one maharajah. The peacock was apparently a pet belonging to the maharajah and did not want to live without his master. Nice story.
Upon leaving the mausoleum our guide asked us if there was anything else we wanted to see in Jodhpur...um...you tell us! You're supposed to be the guide! What is there to see? We suggested a couple of things we had read about that we wouldn't mind seeing and he then mentioned that his moped was at the fort so it would be really inconvenient for him to take us anywhere else - and to ask our driver to take us there this afternoon!
Ok, so you can't be bothered then, mr.guide? We let him go and conveniently forgot to give him a tip; he was the least informative and clearly didn't want to be there. So we did him a favour and said goodbye!
We asked our driver to take us to the clock tower (PIC) and we wandered around the daily market that is set up around the base of the tower. Again the place was awash with colour from the local women's saris and the many clothes, spices and trinkets that were being sold. It was clear that this market was a purely local-driven market and wasn't set up for tourists. This made it much more enjoyable to wander around and take in the sights, sounds and smells. We were the only western people in the entire place!
Back at the hotel we took a dip in the outdoor pool but didn't stay out there for long as the temperatures were into the mid forties and it became unbearable. For the rest of the evening we caught up with emails and relaxed in the room with room service food and drinks. Who says India is hard work?!?!
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