Khejarala - Jodhpur - Ranakpur

Today we visit Jodhpur, the city is known as the Sun City for the bright, sunny weather it enjoys all year. It is also referred to as the Blue City due to the blue-painted houses around the Mehrangarh Fort.

Blue houses with the fort in the background

view from the fort

Jodhpur also gives its name to a special kind of trousers (Jodhpurs) which are very commonly worn here by the male Indian population, these trousers look like horse riding trousers from the past => tight-fitting only from the knee to the ankle and flared above the knee.
Our guide for today is wearing one (looks funny to see someone dressed for horse riding but without a horse).

Our first stop is the royal burial place Jaswant Thada. Actually the name is wrongly chosen because in India they don't bury people but they burn the bodies on a funeral pyre.
It is a white marble memorial built in 1899 in memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II.

Kokechi in front of the monument

Some kids trying to make a buck at the monument

The fort seen from the monument

After the Royal burial place we go and visit the Mehrangarh Fort, it is located atop a 125 m high hill and is the most majestic and one of the largest forts in India. It was originally started (c.1459) by Rao Jodha, the founder of Jodhpur.
Inside its boundaries there are several palaces, which are known for their intricate carvings and sprawling courtyards.
There are seven gates, which include Jayapol meaning victory built by Maharaja Man Singh to commemorate his victories over Jaipur and Bikaner armies. Fattehpol also meaning victory gate was built by Maharaja Ajit Singh to mark the defeat of Mughals.
The fort also houses one of the finest museums in Rajasthan.
The least we can say is that it was an overwhelming experience, to find such beauty in a building made for military purposes. I for one start to see the Indian history in a completely different light, these people were amongst the smartest and richest in the world and they did everything to show it off. Again I wished I could have seen this place when it was at it's best, I think it would leave me completely dumbstruck.

specially for Kaan: fist weapons on display in the museum

a golden palanquin

After our very enjoyable visit to the fort Hilde and I decide to go and get a sniff of the town, visit the local markets and maybe find some nice places to shop.
Old city here we come ;-)

gate to the central market place

one of the streets around the market

a beautiful haveli in the city center

a shabby structure housing poor people

street scenery

Our search for some nice souvenirs came to an end when Hilde got overwhelmed by the heat, the temperature in the sun easily reaches 45°C and it only gets warmer.
We ask the guide if he knows a nice shop with air conditioning and ofc he does, tsjitsjing tsjitsjing he already smells the nice commission he's gonna get ;-)
The shop is all we could wish for and offers beautiful carvings, antiques, furniture, tapestries, plaids, bed linen, etc etc.
Needless to say we shopped until we dropped ;-)
Our driver Raju wasn't very happy with our shopping spree and we even had to lie about the money we spent to prevent him from getting angry. He always tells us that in Jaipur everything is much cheaper and that we should wait with buying stuff until we get there.
Luckily we disregarded his opinion this time because later we will notice that Jaipur is far from cheaper.

Sadly we can't stay here to get to know the city better, we have to start moving to get to our hotel in Ranakpur before dark.
The roads are narrow and go steep up and down the hills, it's already getting dark and just at this unlucky moment our driver decides to go Schumacher on us which is not to Hilde's liking.
Nothing we say can change our drivers driving style, yeah yeah he's a stubborn little bugger but I like him ;-)
Finally we reach our hotel in one piece, much to Hilde's relief.

Anyway it has been another nice day in India, tomorrow we go see Udaipur.