Jodhpur

We left our 2 boys in the capable hands of our 2 nannies and headed out for a weekend trip to Jodhpur to celebrate 7 years of marriage! We arrived by 1 pm and met our rickshaw driver who took us to Singhvi’s Haveli, a guesthouse we decided to try out. Jodhpur is known as the blue city because the buildings in the old part of the town are all painted blue. The main attraction in Jodhpur is a huge fort that sits on a hill overlooking the city. Our haveli was located right in the middle of the old city at the base of the fort. Since the buildings are built up and not out, we had almost 40 huge steps up to our room. We were to stay in the Maharani Suite which boasts of having 10 windows that look out over the city and fort, all for the low price of $30 a night! Many of the guesthouses in Jodhpur are targeted towards the “backpacker” type of traveler. We had stayed at many nice hotels in India and decided we wanted to see some other types of accommodations. The view from the roof of the haveli was incredible and since it was located in the middle of the old city we were able to walk around it and hike up to the fort. (Despite all of that, we decided after one night that we were going to change to a nicer place for our second night). Jodhpur is located on the edge of the Thar Desert and has a population of only about 1.2 million (unlike Mumbai’s 20 million) and life here is just slower and less congested. There was hardly any traffic! On our way to the haveli, we actually had to stop at one point to get a cow to get out of the road for us. Our driver got out and pushed on it a few times. A man standing nearby tried to help too and the cow just laid its head down in the road! Finally, they found a stick which they used to slap its rear. It decided that was enough harassment and got out of the road! After our things were in our room we grabbed a not-quick lunch and then started the walk up to the fort, called the Meherangarh Fort, built in 1459 A.D. Joel and I do pretty well in the heat and decided it would be more enjoyable experience to walk to the fort instead of driving. It was a great, yet extremely hot, experience. It was over 100 degrees out and since the fort is up on a cliff (over 400 feet up) there is an insane incline that you have to walk up to get to it. My clothes were completely stuck to me by the time we got up there, but it was a fun hike. The fort has an outstanding audio guide tour that you can take. We got our audio guides and did the 1 ½ hour tour of the fort. It was great. Here are several interesting things we learned. The fort has 7 gates that lead into the main area. These were designed to make it difficult for their enemies to get in. Right before you would get to the gate, you would have to make a hairpin turn. This was done so that the elephants (that their enemies would ride into battle) couldn’t get running full speed to ram the gate. They would have to slow down and make the turn first. Then, they put these huge metal spikes on the doors to further dissuade the elephants from ramming the gates. Inside the fort they had a museum set up where you could see lots of artifacts from the lives of the Maharajas that had lived there. There was a room filled with howdahs, exquisite seats for carrying people on an elephants back. Another room with palanquins, chairs that you would have 12 men hold up and carry you around in. There was a room filled with baby cribs for the royal babies. Then they had tons of weaponry including daggers, swords, guns, armor, cannons, etc. It was really well done and very interesting. There was one place where you could see handprints on the wall. We learned that one of the Maharajas had died and all of his wives decided to carryout the practice of sati. They all got dressed in their wedding clothes, put their handprints on the fort wall, and threw themselves into the burning funeral pyre of their dead husband to die with him. I think there were almost 30 handprints! The practice of sati was made illegal in 1829, although last year I did see in the newspaper that a lady had just done it when her husband died. After our tour of the fort, we walked down to the clock tour. This is where the Sardar market is located. We just wandered through the maze of shops looking at all the spices, handicrafts, and textiles for sale. Joel had 2 different guys come up and make comments about his muscles! One even came up and started grabbing his arms! I thought it was hysterical but Joel didn’t care for it too much. We caught a rickshaw back to the haveli when we were done. Joel had secretly made plans for the haveli to have a dinner for the two of us with champagne and flowers to celebrate our 7 year anniversary (on June 15th). I was very impressed by the thoughtfulness. Unfortunately, the haveli was not able to follow through like they promised. The driver was supposed to be there at 8. He didn’t show so we went to ask the staff. Every time we had a question, they would have to make us wait while they went and found this old lady who spoke English. She didn’t know anything about the dinner (even though the owner had confirmed it with Joel that afternoon). So, we made her call the owner and get the details. He had left that afternoon for an emergency (someone was in the hospital) and apparently didn’t get the plans taken care of. So, despite all of Joel’s efforts, we were left with no dinner plans. I think it was the thought that counted though! We went to one of the hotels and had a nice dinner in their restaurant.