Jodhpur, India (Day 8)

This morning we got to sleep in an hour later than usual... wohoo! So I'd gone the whole trip until now without getting sick, but was just a little sick this morning... go figure.. right after the first time I ate dinner at a hotel. That said, I think it was from something I had when we first arrived at the hotel/camp. All the hotels offer small glasses of something when you walk in, sometimes red liquid, others green or blue. This time it was red and I figured I might as well try it once. I tried a tiny sip and it tasted OK, then as I took a bigger sip and was about to swallow, I looked at Hajar and realized it might have water in it, and froze. She looked at me and just said, "..Spit it back." So I did. Sure enough.. next morning.. a little sick. Boo. Not too bad though.

During our several hour drive back to Jodhpur, I slept since I was up late, as usual, catching up on this blog the night before. When we stopped for a break, I started to buy a Pepsi that was labeled 25 rupees, but the place wanted 100 so I went without. That's definitely something to know if you visit India.. many items, including packaged food, have the price printed on them on the back.

We keep seeing barber shops out in the open, and I haven't been able to catch a picture of one yet. At one point in Jaipur, we were going around a roundabout and near the inner edge of the circle, there were multiple men sitting on the ground, shaving the faces of other men! The closest shot I've gotten was not on the street, but in a very small room of a building, shot from the car with my cell phone.

Barber shop

Once we were back in Jodhpur, we went to a shop called MV Spices that Hajar had found online so she could purchase some spices. From what the store girl told Hajar, she's one of seven daughters who took over their father's spice business after he passed away thirteen years ago. Per usual, we were told the prices were "very good" and were fixed. Per usual, but after longer haggling than the norm, the prices weren't fixed after all. Each time after haggling once the deal is done, we're (politel) asked, "Are you satisfied, ma'am?" Another if-you-come-here tip: just because a store says "fixed prices," doesn't mean they're fixed. Just because someone says prices are fixed, doesn't mean they're fixed. From what I read before visiting, government stores and some higher end stores will have fixed pricing, but not other stores.

Inside of MV Spices

Just like Maharani Spices, her purchase was placed in a cloth shopping bag to take home.

bag with spice purchases

A couple of days ago, maybe an hour after purchasing several items from Maharani Textiles & Handicrafts, I realized that they hadn't finished the scarves as they promised while giving their lengthy sales pitch. Without finishing, the scarves will unweave themselves, and I wanted to exchange one scarf I had for one of another color. So we told Gajraj we needed to return to Maharani and he asked his friend to lead us back through the Sardar Bazaar to the store. I had folded my neon pink scarf up and put it carefully in the top of my purse before we left the hotel, and on the way back to the store, it got stuck in the zipper! I was SO upset.

After trying myself for a while, a man at the shop trying, and Hajar trying to get it unstuck, she succeeded but it was left with an unavoidable hole near the end of the scarf. They thankfully replaced it, and allowed me to exchange the other scarf.. I felt so bad that I'd ruined the other and they replaced it, I didn't ask about the finishing. They took Hajar's scarves into another room and returned maybe ten minutes later with them.  The scarves looked exactly the same. I don't think they did anything to them, and am hoping they didn't downgrade them while out of our sight. If you go to India: resist the urge. Don't buy from the stores a guide or driver takes you to. They get a decent commission from it so you pay more. Go in, enjoy the show, take note of the pricing and lessons on detecting quality, and go elsewhere.

Blurry logo

On the way to dinner, we saw the logo for our company on multiple eyeglass store signs! We tried to get a picture but unfortunately were unable to get a clear one.

For dinner we returned to Gypsy (upstairs version), but it wasn't open yet. True to something else I'd read about India before coming, there were two restaurants called Gypsy right beside each other, one upstairs, one downstairs, but without any visible shared passageway...I'm still confused about whether or not they are related as each had a totally different feel. The one that we thought was well rated on Trip Advisor was upstairs through a totally separate entrance, but just below it there was an almost fast food restaurant, same name, same branding, with the same Trip Advisor signs. The weird thing was that the Trip Advisor pictures were of the upstairs place, not the downstairs one. Anyway, I decided to order a Baby Corn Sizzler, a Chinese-Indian fusion dish my friend Vidur had recommended to me. Hajar looked at the menu for a while and decided to go upstairs when that Gypsy opened to have thali again. The sizzler was great! True to its name, it came in a little sizzling cast ion skillet with cabbage leaves holding everything in. It had a base of rice and ramen-like noodles, then red onions, baby corn, peppers, paneer and gravy. It was really good!

Baby corn sizzler

When I was almost finished, a big group of teenagers walked in. I was sitting at one of the few remaining empty tables in the place, which was two booths backed up to each other. A girl came over and asked me something, and I told her they were welcome to sit there. After saying whatever she was saying twice, she got irritated and told me, "that wasn't what I was saying, never mind," and left. OK... Sorry for trying to be helpful? A minute later, probably seven teenagers piled into the two booths where I sat, filling all the space except for the seat directly across from me, and more piled into the only other open booth in the restaurant. I felt bad that they were cramming in so kept trying to get the waiter to come let me pay so I could leave and find Hajar. The girl to my immediate left sweetly asked if I was uncomfortable, and I told her I just felt bad that they were cramming in, and that I would leave so there would be more space. While I was paying, Hajar got back from her dinner and we went to the car.


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10th Feb: Day 08: Jaisalmer Jodhpur (300 KM)
Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel & drive towards the Jodhpur. Check in to Hotel Park Plaza.
Later proceed for half day city tour of Jodhpur visit the Meherangarh Fort, situated on a low sandstone hill. The palace apartments like Sukh Mahal, Phool Mahal, and Sheesh Mahal etc are beautifully decorated and house Jewellery, costumes, armoury, palanquins, howdahs and other remnants of the past. See the Jaswant Thada, an imposing marble memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II built in 1899. Later the royal crematorium and three other cenotaphs were also built here. Also visit Sardar Bazaar and Clock Tower markets where you can see the vegetable, spice, Indian sweets, and textile and silver markets. These colourful markets with tiny shops dot the narrow lanes replete with woodcarvings, wrought iron, lacquer work, silver and ivory ornamentation and leather handicrafts.


Overnight at Jodhpur

Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, India (Day 6)

Today we got ahead of our itinerary a little bit and toured Jodhpur, the blue city, before heading to Jaisalmer. We started off by going to Jaswant Thada (Jaswant was also our guide's name), a memorial overlooking the city that was built in 1906. Behind it you could see the city wall along the tops of the hills, along with a fort, and Umaid Bhawan Palace, a modern palace/hotel. It was interesting, unlike the other places we've visited, at this one we had lower priced tickets (30 rupees), but had to purchase a photography permit as well (maybe 10 rupees). The memorial is home to numerous royal tombs, but no bodies are buried there. All were cremated and scattered in the Ganges River.

Jaswant Thada

Jaswant Thada

Once we finished at Jaswant Thada, we went a few miles over and up a hill to Meherangarh Fort, a fort that overlooks the city. Once again, we had to purchase tickets, a photography permit and this time elevator tickets. We've seen a lot of forts, but they all have interesting aspects that set them apart. For this one, it had four lavish rooms that were just incredible: Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Mirrors), Moti Mahal (The Pearl Palace) where the king would hold court, Phool Mahal (The Palace Of Flowers), and Takhat Vilas (Maharaja Takhat Singh’s Chamber).

View of Jodhpur, scattered blue buildings

Meherangarh Fort

Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Mirrors) 

Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Mirrors) detail

Phool Mahal (Palace of Flowers)

Phool Mahal (Palace of Flowers) 

Takhat Vilas (Maharaja Takhat Singh’s Chamber)

Moti Mahal (The Pearl Palace) 

Moti Mahal (The Pearl Palace)

Meherangarh Fort

The fort also is home to the Mehrangarh Museum, where we saw palanquins (boxes with horizontal poles where royalty would be carried), weapons, paintings, and royal cribs. Our guide explained to us that the way to tell a Muslim sword from one that is Hindu is to look at the shape. He said Muslim swords are curved, while Hindu swords are straight.

Horse handle of sword

Palanquin - Mahadol

Covered palanquin for women

Open palanquin for men

Royal tent ceiling, walls, floor

Stones and the color of paint they produce

Royal crib, rocked by hand

Hajar and me with a man who works at the fort

On the way out, our guide pointed out a sign that said, "Careful, you are being watched!" I thought it was going to continue on to say something about cameras, but instead it said to look up at the ceiling and that we would see nests of a birds called Little Swifts. The birds nest in tightly packed colonies, typically inside man-made structures. Sure enough, we looked up and saw them! And we thought Barn Swallows in Texas were bad!

Birds nests on the ceiling!

After parting ways with our tour guide, we headed on to Jaisalmer, about five hours on the road. During our exciting bathroom break about half way, I found myself locked in a toilet stall.. hooray! I would turn the handle to get out, but the tongue wasn't quite clearing the catch, so I was stuck. Hajar tried to open it from the other side but couldn't. Thankfully after a few minutes, a lady attending the restroom tried for a bit and got it to open.  A couple of hours after that when we were just outside of the city, Gajraj stopped so we could visit a military museum.

Firts time I've seen one behind a fence... but he was on the side with the road!

When we stopped for a restroom break

Camels alongside the road

Indian flag at the military museum

Display at the military museum

Once we arrived in Jaisalmer, we dropped our bags off and went to dinner. It's funny, I've started using my credit card more the past few days so I don't run out of rupees, and I keep having men tell me they don't take cards. Then if I say I'll just buy less (spice shop yesterday), or keep pushing (dinner last night), they take it! And it's far from the only thing we have to push back about.. going somewhere we want for dinner vs. somewhere we're told we should go has also been a regular event. Oh well.. we're figuring it all out!

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Planned itinerary: 8^th Feb: Day 06: Jodhpur-Jaisalmer (300KM)

After breakfast drive to Jaisalmer; Jaisalmer - a fairy-tale town in the Thar Desert founded about 800 years ago by Jaisal. Unlike any other city, this desert fortress is one of Rajasthan's most exotic and unusual towns. Jaisalmer, an important ancient trading centre because of its strategic location on the camel trade routes, is often described as the 'golden city'. 

The havelis, built by merchants of the 19th century, are exquisitely carved from golden-yellow sandstone and are still in a beautiful condition. The fort built by Rawal Jaisal in the 12th century, stands on the 80-meter-high Trikuta hill, with beautifully carved Jain temples. The annual desert festival takes place in January and February each year and is a riot of colour and activity. Jaisalmer is also famous for its embroidery, Rajasthani mirror work, rugs, and blankets, antique, silver jewellry, and stonework and camel safaris.

Check in to hotel Desert Tulip.  Overnight at Jaisalmer.

Actual itinerary:

Later proceed for half day city tour of Jodhpur visit the Meherangarh Fort, situated on a low sandstone hill. The palace apartments like Sukh Mahal, Phool Mahal, and Sheesh Mahal etc are beautifully decorated and house Jewellery, costumes, armoury, palanquins, howdahs and other remnants of the past. See the Jaswant Thada, an imposing marble memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II built in 1899. Later the royal crematorium and three other cenotaphs were also built here. 

Jodhpur, India (Day 5)

Today we spent a little over five hours on the road to the second largest city in the state of Rajasthan, Jodhpur. As always, there were lots of sights along the road.

Roadside store

Cows taking up our lane

Colors

Stone fence

These barricades are frequently used

When we arrived at our hotel, we had a couple of hours to get settled in our room and then left to see Clock Tower and the Sardar Bazaar.  I looovveeed the bazaar, it reminded me of the souks in Morocco. So fun! My gosh though.. I have no idea how people stay out of the way of the mopeds and auto rickshaws zooming by, though. There’s so much honking, you don’t know if it’s at you or at something else.

Clock tower

Fort on top of the hill

Lunchboxes with two and three sections

fabric

While we were walking around, we came across a temple and Hajar asked if we could go inside. It was really beautiful, the whole ceiling was painted with murals and people inside were singing.

Temple

A bit after that, our guide took us into Maharani Art Exporters, “a government recognized export house.” We’ve seen them cover the floor in rugs before, but man, they outdid themselves this time. The company makes quilt-like blankets for Anthropologie, blankets or scarves for Hermes, Miu-Miu, and blankets for Valentino’s house. We both ended up buying a few items to take home as gifts after some intense haggling on each of our parts.. I got a pink neon scarf.. of course. From there he took us to a spice store called Maharani Spices. We both purchased a few more items there. I bought garlic masala that smells AMAZING.

Before...

After!

For dinner we went to Gypsy’s, another tahli place.

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7^th Feb: Day 05: Jaipur – Jodhpur (300KM)

After breakfast drive to Jodhpur - Arrive to the Blue City – Jodhpur and transfer to Hotel Park Plaza.

An oasis in the arid Thar Desert, Jodhpur is the second largest city in the state of Rajasthan. Representing this colourful city with shades of blue, Jodhpur has a history that is rich and a present that beckons strongly to the discerning tourist. Forts and palaces, temples and havelis, culture and tradition, spices and fabrics, colour and texture, Jodhpur has them all and in plenty. Situated in Western Rajasthan, Jodhpur has long attracted both the domestic and outside tourist. It not only offers tangibles, in terms of what you can see and buy but also fills one with a sense of history and the splendours of an era gone by. The hospitality of the locals, the demure women, and the colourful turbans -all set against the beloved desert (Marwar) is something to feel, not just see. Every pore of Jodhpur tells its own tales of heroic deeds that made legends out of kings and soldiers, romances that continue to warm the heart and a time when epics were lived out on the streets by everyday man.

Rest of the day is free for leisure.

Overnight at Jodhpur.