On my Own

Own my own again. I got on the Suryanagari express last night to Jodhpur, Rajasthan and arrived this morning at around 7am. After a bit of searching and asking around in my broken Hindi I was able to get my bag in the cloak room and use the ladies room in the AC Class waiting room to freshen up and change. I had over 12 hours to kill until my train to Jaiselmer.

Unfortunately, my hindi skills were not good enough to hide my obvious NRI status and got taken for a ride, literally by a riksha driver who charged me 60 rupees for a 30-40 rp ride. Oh well, 50 cents isn't going to kill me. I found a roof top restaurant that had a great view of the fort so I chilled and had a masala chai and masala ommelete since the fort wasn't opening till 09AM.

One advantage I do have with being Indian and being able to speak Hindi is I can get away with paying Indian prices for entrance fees. Which in some cases can be a difference of 200-300 rupees.

The Meherangarh (Magestic Fort) is a must see in Jodhpur. With parts of it built as far back as the 17th century the fort is still run by the Maharaja. From all around you could see the surrouding Old Jodhpur city glowing in its shade of blue within the old city walls. Most of the houses are painted blue, once a sign of the Brahmins but then picked up by other locals. While visiting the entertainment room decked out in intricate paintins with gold plating - where the maharajas would be entertained by dancing and singing ladies - i met Bahatsingh, an employee of the fort's. He was kind enough to tell me about the fort and show me around.

Afterwards I walked over to the Jaswant Thada, a white marble memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. Set a bit of way from the city, the place was beautiful and quiet... in the shade the white marble was cool to the touch and a great place to relax and recover from the heat. I've never been in India around this time, its strange to feel a chill in the morning and to have the heat during the day be so dry.

On my way here, to the Internet cafe, i got caught in a marriage procession. Sitting on his horse was the groom as the Jaan (guy's side) made there way dancing and singing to the wedding cerimony. Wedding season will start soon, so hopefully it won't be the last one I see

Okay going to get a bite to eat and head over to the Usmaid Palace, where the current maharaja lives now. And then of course I'll go to the Sadar Markets to check out the local goods :)