Jeremy's Cool Travel Blog: Rajasthan: Jodhpur

I was excited to get to Rajasthan. Everyone who's been there seems to love it; once there I started to understand why. Huge fortresses and palaces, desert landscape, vibrant clothing and jewellery, camels, big moustaches, colourful bazaars - Rajasthan is all of the things that people typically picture when they think of India ("the real India" as my Indian friend Dhillan sarcastically put it). The highlights of Rajasthan include the cities of Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, but I had no intention of overextending myself during short my ten day visit, so I settled on Jodhpur (the 'Blue City'), Udaipur (a romantic honeymoon hotspot) and the quiet town of Bundi.

I flew from Mumbai to Jodhpur on February 3, where I stayed until the 6th. Even as I waited to board the flight, I could tell that I was bound for a region of India much different from those I'd visited in the south. For starters, there were a couple of guys in the lounge with painted faces and dressed in some kind of traditional robes (they might have been sadhus); they were also chatting on thier iPhones.

Jodhpur

Jodhpur (pop. 1 million) is known at the Blue City because of its thousands of blue, cube-like houses (traditionally, blue was meant to signify the home of a Brahmin). It is also home to the mighty medieval fort of Mehrangarh and a picturesque, hectic old quarter that is a literal labyrinth of narrow, winding streets and alleys. Like most of the guesthouses in the old city, mine had a rooftop terrace / restaurant that provided an amazing view of Mehrangarh and the surrounding area.

Some highlights and observations from Jodhpur:

The city is a photographer's wet dream, particularly the crammed maze of streets and old buildings in the medieval old town. Walking around this area can also be extremely disorienting (I got lost everyday).
Less charming is the endless stream of motorbikes and scooters that race through these tiny streets, honking constantly. It's stressful, man! Combine being lost and having to constantly keep an eye out for oncoming traffic and people (not to mention dodging cows and cow patties) and endure constant honking, and have people tell you that you're going the wrong way and have people ask you if you want a rickshaw or water or to look at their paintings... and you've got one irritated tourist. "Just go with it, Jeremy. It's India." Whatever. Thankfully Valium is sold over the counter here.
But just when you're thinking "!@#$ this place" you have a surprise interaction with someone on the street with your minimal Hindi and their minimal English. This makes you happy. Then you take a chance on some delicious street food and chat with the vendor, which makes you even happier. A while later you give a banana ("kaila") and a carrot ("gajar") to a little girl and you end up taking pictures with her family, and all is golden. I forget who told me this, but it was to the effect that just you think India has you beat, something good will happen and turn everything around. And so it goes...
Speaking of Hindi, it's nice to finally be in the northern part of India where Hindi is most commonly spoken. Each day in Jodhpur I added a few more Hindi phrases to my quiver and practised reading signs in shops and restaurants. Like in Greece, I'm finding that a few phrases in the local language go a long way in making connections with people.
Weddings here and everywhere in India are an event. Every night in Jodhpur there was a wedding party parading down the street, filling the neighbourhood with the sounds of drums, horns and fireworks.
The muslim call to prayer occurs several times daily and can be heard all over town. It will also wake you up everyday at sunrise, so no need for an alarm clock.
I get irritated by tourists who shamelessly take pictures of locals going about their day-to-day lives without so much as even asking these people if they mind being photographed. We've all been guilty of this, but if you're going to get up in someone's face with a camera, try to at least ask them first.

Udaipur

On February 6 I headed off to Udaipur (pop. 451,000). For the 6-7 hour journey, I caught the bus in the early morning which took me through many small towns and the Rajasthani countryside. Many villagers boarded along the way and it was interesting to obverve thier interactions and manner of dress (enormous nose rings, colourful turbans, etc.). As we approached Udaipur, one young lady who'd boarded with us in Jodhpur casually leaned out the window to vomit several times and then sat back down just as casually. I thought about the motorists riding alongside the bus as she was doing her deed.

In Udaipur I stayed at the Dream Heaven guesthouse, right in the heart of tourist district (aka. "backpackistan"). Its best feature is the beautiful rooftop terrace / restaurant that provides a stunning view of nearby Lake Pichola and Rajasthan's largest palace, the City Palace.

Apart from exploring some of Udaipur's major tourist highlights, a lot of my time was spent hanging out with my friend Shraddhaa Murdia, with whom I was put in touch by my Toronto friend, Abhishek. Shraddhaa was a very gracious host. She took the time to show me around the city a bit and made sure that I experienced Rajasthan the right way: through food. She was also kind enough to invite me to her home to meet her family and to try some homemade dal baati, a popular Rajasthani dish comprising of dal (lentils) and baati (a type of baked or fried wheat roll). I'm grateful to Shraddhaa and her family for their hospitality.

Some highlights and obervations from Udaipur:

I already knew this, but Udaipur reminded me very quickly that I don't like staying in the tourist center of any town. No, sir, I don't need a rickshaw; no, sir, I don't want a bottle of water; no, sir, I don't want to visit your shop (repeat every five minutes).
Why do so many older tourists feel the need to dress like they're going on safari. Do Tilley hats, cargo shorts and hiking shoes make sightseeing any easier or do these people just want to stand out even more? Why don't they just wear the clothes they normally wear back home?
During our first meeting, Shraddhaa, her cousin and I had lunch together at a nice restaurant not far from my guesthouse. Shraddhaa ordered so much food (which I in turn ate) that I thought I would pass out. After lunch I waddled through the City Palace in record time, for all I could think about was getting home to lay down. Later that night I suffered bad cramps and was finally sick for the first time on this trip (and just when I thought I had India beat!). In the end it wasn't so bad and I was 100% a couple of days later.
Shraddhaa, her husband and her in-laws run an invitro fertilization clinic and live just above it. It was interesting to learn a bit about invitro fertilization in India, though I declined Shraddhaa's offer of an in-depth tour of the clinic. I was also happy to visit her huge and beautiful, multi-story apartment, and meet her lovely family.
On the eve of my departure, I met Jon from New York, an excellent character who was staying at the room next to mine at Dream Heaven. It was great to finally meet someone who understood my humour and with whom I could exchange travel stories and observations. Jon was coming from Delhi which was one of his worst travel experiences ("Don't trust anyone" he warned). I was curious as to how I'd find the city, as I'd not yet met anyone, Indian or otherwise, who'd had very positive things to say about it.

I left Udaipur on Monday, February 10. And although I didn't explore too much of the city itself, I was happy to have spent some time with Shraddhaa and get a more local experience with her and her family.

Some photos from Jodhpur: