It lies in the state of Rajasthan, or better known as the Land of Maharajas (Kings). One significant trademark of the men here is the brightly-coloured turban worn on their heads and the magnificent and HUGE mustache, and also the colorful sarees of the woman.
The state of Rajasthan is also home to the Rajputs, the ancient warriors who have controlled this part of India for over 1000 years. The Rajputs men would fight against odds and when no hope was left, they would rather carry out mass suicide than die at the hands of their enemies. The women and children would burn themselves in funeral pyre. Their sense bravery and honour were unparalleled, leading to the Mughal emperors (Muslim invaders from the northwest) having many difficulties in controlling this part of their empire.
We were both looking forward to this leg of the trip, as we have read and learnt that the city of Jodhpur is also better known as the 'Blue City'.
Jodhpur is said to be a blue city and initially, the very noob Traveller Tan thought that it was so because the people were always feeling downcast, disheartened and hopeless. But in actual fact, the city got its name from the colour of the buildings, which in majority is painted blue. The color blue was said to cool down this very hot city.
Being the budget travellers we were, it was strictly a taboo to be taking an air-conditioned room and so we had to stick to the rigid backpacker's code of accquiring the cheapest or most cost effective form of accommodation ever available.
The room cost us 250 rupees with attached bath so it was not so bad afterall.
But as there were no windows at all and with the frequent power cut occurring in India (which means the fan wasn't working 99% of the the time), the room was so hot that it feels like we were eating steamboat and doing a suana in a desert.
What really amused us was the availability of water heater in the cheap room (which i later find the irony in Pakistan where its cold all the time, there isnt any hot water at all). By the way, who the hell uses hot water in a city bordering a dessert where the climate is hot all the time?
Jodhpur is a relatively small city, at least with respect to the tourism; Two days should be more than enough to cover this city but we were staying there for three days to recuperate from the 1800km train journey in the last 36 hours
The first day was spent in the Blue City walking around absorbing the local culture. The touting was much less rampant here than the other Indian cities. The traffic condition was also more bearable and it wasn't as densely populated as the rest of the cities we had been to so far, with the exception of Goa that is. Now other than the usual cows and dogs, Jodhpur has two more variety of animals on the street: The Horses and Camels!
The bazaar at the Old City (where we were staying) was a lively scene of bright colours and vendors promoting their wares. The striking turbans of the men, the colorful cloth borne by the women, tasty roadside omelettes, plus a dozen more cups of Chai (tea) made this a pretty nice place to visit.
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Local vendors displaying their colourful array of wares |
A visit to the Mehrangarh Fort lies in the agenda the following day. We woke up at 7am to make sure we could finish the tour of the impressive Fort before the scorching sun made it too difficult to do so. The entrance fee was a little hefty at 300 rupees, but included a worthy audio guide that explains the history and provide information of the important and majestic structure within the magnificent fortress.
The fortress is indeed a formidable feat of construction.
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The megastructure dawning upon us with the steady ascent up |
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