FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21st, JODHPUR

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21st, JODHPUR

Jodhpur is famous for the blue color of many of the old homes in the heart of town. We learned that the reason some houses are blue is that members of the priest class paint their homes blue because blue is the color of Krishna. And only members of the priest class may do this. The other main attraction of the town is a spectacular fort on top of a mountain. It’s made entirely of stone despite the fact that some of the windows are so intricately carved that you would swear they had to be wood (think Egyptian mashrabeyas carved of stone). As an added treat we got a lesson in turban tying and I’ve attached a photo of our model, Cliff, wearing his. Turbans are made of 9 meters of cloth, so how many feet is that anyway? A lot.

We had a lovely lunch at a posh Taj Hotel and by the time it ended the afternoon was half over. Indians seem to eat lunch very late by our standards; they begin at 2pm, so the afternoon can disappear quickly. After lunch the group went in search of whatever goodies Jodhpur had to offer. We didn’t find much that we hadn’t seen in other cities but the jewelry quality is much improved I think because of our proximity to Jaipur. We are all eager to reach Jaipur.

Our hotel is interesting; rather like a sprawling tented camp. Ferris’ and my room is far from the lobby and each time we go back and forth we struggle to find the required turns. At one point you have to go through an opening in a wall (impossible to describe but imagine a complicated maze) and if you miss that zig you could wander in circles for hours.

We had a low key dinner at the hotel and packed yet again to be ready for an early departure tomorrow and another seven hour drive on the crazy (no driving rules here!) Indian roads. Jaipur here we come.