Jodhpur is known as the Blue city and it certainly lives up to its name. Apparently people painted their houses with a chemical to get rid of termites which turned their white houses blue, as a result the old city around the fort has a bit of a Mediterranean feel to it. Along the blue theme we stayed at the Blue Guest House, a family run place – and they liked to stress the fact that you were part of the family every time you saw one of them, it got a bit annoying after a while. It had a great view overlooking the Fort which stands high above the old town.
Click the images to enlarge
We arrived before the sun was up so our room wasn’t ready, but we were able to use another room so we went straight to bed. In the afternoon we ventured out and didn’t realise we were heading into the rain after the morning had been so hot. Indian cities aren’t the greatest place when it rains as the streets turn everything that is dumped on them – vegetation, rubbish, excrectment etc into a thick mud so the sandals weren’t the greatest idea! We wandered round the old town and through the maze of markets but decided to leave our venture up to the Fort for the next day. Luckily the rain passed and the next day the sun was back out.
Click the images to enlarge
The Meherangarh Fort juts out of the rocky hill it’s built on and after walking round the inside we headed to the ramparts which have a sheer drop down to the city below. It’s the only one we have been to that is still run to some degree by the Maharaja of Jodphur so the family still have an input to the place, and even contribute to the audio guide you get with yoru ticket. You can also tell that the best of the british education facilites ie; Eaton and Cambridge is good enough for this family.
Click the images to enlarge
Afterwards we headed back down to the Old Town and on the way sampled what the guide book claimed to be the best makhania lassi in all of Rajasthan, in fact in all of India (a bold statement!). Personally I don’t think it lived up to the makhania lassi in Jaislamer but you need to try these things!
Click the images to enlarge
