Jodhpur - Jaisalmer - Jaipur
The bus to Jodhpur is a bit of a boneshaking experience... We're part of the entertainment for the seemingly hundreds of people packed onto the bus, and squeezed into the sleeping compartments where you would expect luggage racks to be. There are few to no trains from Udaipur so the bus is the only option. We get to Jodhpur safely though and transfer take a rickshaw to our hotel which is in a quiet street away from the hustle, bustle, pollution and the hassle on the street. The further we get into India, the more obvious the poverty becomes with people living and begging on the street, the more the smells purvey everything, and the more cows seem to be roaming the streets.
Although out of the centre of town, our hostel is near to some decent restaurants, so we dig in to more curry - back on the meat now after veg only in Udiapur. The main attraction in Jodhpur is the fort, sitting on a hill looking down on the city, and it is stunning. The views are magnificent, most of the houses are painted a pale blue, which scares off mosquitoes and also keeps the building cool. The fort is full of the history of the Maharajas of Jodhpur (and how jodphurs came to exist due to their penchant for playing polo), and some great views across the city - its obvious why Jodhpur is called the blue city...
The rest of the city is based around the central bazaar which seems to sell every piece of tat that you could possible want alongside some aubergines and chai - everywhere sells chai. We wanted to stay an extra day in our hostel to chill out on the roof, but they are fully booked, so hurriedly sort out our bus to Jaisalmer - the train is fully booked, and decide to move on the next morning.
Even more people seem to be crammed onto to the Jodhpur - Jaisalmer bus, and there are dozens of people travelling on the roof! At least the roads are a bit better to Jaisalmer, and we're a little less shaken up when we arrive in what feels like the back of beyond. We're pleased to have someone from our hotel meet us as there are loads of touts waiting at the bus stand to tempt us to their brother's hotel where they will bag a large commission. Somehow they have got from our man that he is waiting for James, so there are about 8 people all saying "Are you James?" The man in the know also has the surname. Its a tricky old business getting to a hotel safely...
Jaisalmer is in the middle of the desert, near the border with Pakistan, and the military are very much present. We hear jets patrolling the skies, and are aware of plenty of soldiers on the street. It properly feels though like the furthest we have been from civilisation, so there is only one thing for it, find somewhere for a beer. We're not the only tourists in town, and find a load of Germans, and French are doing the same thing - having a beer while watching the sunset.
Jaisalmer is another fort-town, this time built from sandstone, giving the town a golden glow. It a well laid presented fort, and again has some stunning views, even though it is a little hazy. The streets around are a huge bazaar, where everyone wants to take your rupees. Its starting to get tiring again, the relentless questioning about where we're from, and the begging is much more obvious and in your face, children tapping your arm as they walk alongside you asking for money. There's little else in Jaisalmer, and it feels like we have come a long way out to the desert, as we arent interested in going on one of the ubiquitous camel safaris advertised everywhere, but we do find a great restaurant for more curry that evening! There are a couple of decent restaurants, in one of which we almost experience a true Goodness Gracious Me moment when the Indian guys on the table next to us order the blandest food on the menu - chicken in a basket!
Saturday in Jaisalmer, and we are planning the crazy time of getting on the overnight train to Jaipur. We kill the morning in the internet cafe, and for lunch have an amazing tandoori mixed pate of chicken, paneer and veg koftas to set us up for the 13 hr train journey, which passes off quite uneventfully - the trains in India are 100 times better than the trains in Egypt - better organised, everyone has their seat and bunk bed, leave on time, and arrive only about 20 mins late, and we have good chat with an Indian couple who have been to Jaisalmer for the weekend, and now returning to Delhi.
We arrive in Jaipur at 500am, and are not really up for the stares (particularly Luce) or the hassle from the rickshaw drivers, who want to take us somewhere else, not where we have reserved, but we dont let them. I dont think that they had planned on dealing with us at 500am! Understandably, our hotel is all in darkness when we get there, but once we ring the bell, we are shown to our room, and catch up with a bit more sleep.
Jaipur is the pink city - although I would say it is more of a burnt orange. We're not at our best, and get very quickly frustrated by the constant hassling to jump in a rickshaw or hand over cash, but have a good explore around the enormous city palace.
Next day we hire a driver to take us out of town to the magnificent fort at Amber, the Jaigarh fort with great views back to Amber, and also the Narhargarh, which has great views back to Jaipur - having a driver is a great treat, and sure beats having to negotiate all of the 'up' by ourselves! We've been recommended an out of town evening event at the Chokhi Dani - you get dinner and there are all sorts of entertainments so we decide to give it a go. Its more than a little bizarre, with elephant rides, dancers, camel rides, magicians and all sorts. Firmly for the family audience, we are not up for participation, and soon get our car to take us back to Jaipur.
The last day is the pink city is birthday! Its an expensive start to the day as I've trodden on my glasses and have to pay for a new pair. Fortunately, Indian opticians are as quick as UK, so I can soon see again! We spend the afternoon pottering around the rest of the city - Palace of the WInds, which is an ornately decorated in the cetre of the town for the ladies to watch what is going on in the streets below, and the Jantar mantar - a huge observatory with enormous for watching the stars... We dont really understand it! Having had enough curry to last a lifetime, we go out for pizza instead - a cute rooftop restaurant, which doesnt have a booze licence, but gets round that little problem by serving beer in a teapot with a pair of mugs. Odd to say the least.
We're leaving Rajasthan and all its forts and palaces to go to Agra, and the Taj Mahal next up...
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