Last Day in Jodhpur

14 Oct 2010

Having done the fort the previous day we decided to crack the remaining attractions today; the Maharaja’s Palace Museum and the Jaswant Thada Mausoleum.

The Maharaja’s palace is one of the largest in India but was only finished in the late 40’s, taking 3000 people 15 years to build. Rumor has it he built it as a philanthropic project to help his people survive during a drought.  Amazingly it didn’t really cost very much – I guess the cost of land, labour and building materials was so low – the whole palace cost just 1.5 million back in the 1940s, not a huge amount of money for a huge amount of building!

The HUGE Palace

The palace is built in the local stone; yellow sandstone and is very striking. The palace is still the home of the current Maharaja but is also a five star hotel and a museum. The museum documents the design an building of the palace and included these drawings by a London based architectural firm:

Drawings of the Palace

And also this model – quite impressive and gives an idea of what the whole building looks like.

And the model! 

The museum also houses some serious naff art deco period glassware and furniture, trendy at the time I’m sure but very dated looking now. It also tells of the proficiency of the Maharaja at polo. By far the most strange thing however is the collection of clocks – again serious naff – but very varied including a pirate ship with clock inset.  

Olivia’s brush with royalty

Having been successful in the morning we jumped in a rickshaw over to Jaswant Thada mausoleum. We were pleasantly surprised how peaceful it was, having timed our visit to perfection just as the school trip was leaving. The mausoleum itself, although no a patch on the Taj, beautifully crafted from marble and sits under the watchful gaze of the fort.

Jaswant Thada

In the evening we caught the train to Jaisalmer, a place we were really looking forward to having heard so many good things. 

Jodhpur Fort

13 Oct 2010

While at breakfast on the roof of our guesthouse we got chatting to two fellow travelers sitting at the table alongside, one a Frenchman the other a fellow Englishman. Later in the conversation two things transpired; one, that the French chap was called Olivier and two, they were also planning to head to the fort that morning. Amused by having three ‘Oliv...’ names we decided to go together.

Olivia and Olivier!!

Any fort wants to be as high as possible and Jodhpur Fort is no exception, made worse by the searing heat. We trudged up the sloped path until we were just below the walls:

Jodhpur Fort from below

Entry to the fort came with a free audio guide so we all donned the headsets and set off like a group of Japanese tourists, cameras in hand madly bashing buttons on the handsets as prescribed by various numbered boards around the fort. The fort was actually the best one we had seen and the experience was definitely enhanced by having the audio guide.

Jodhpur is known as the ‘blue city’ since the walls of the old city were traditionally painted blue, both to keep the houses cool and also, apparently, as a natural insect repellant. Whether a colour is effect as the latter remains to be seen but the effect is very attractive.

The Blue City

One thing that set the tour apart from other forts we had seen was the quality of the museum element, which included many display cabinets of paintings, weapons and tapesries. On top of this the museum staff ran various demonstrations, such as a turban tying:

A demonstration on how to tie a turban. 

We were very impressed with the fort and the views from the top were really great, especially as from the guest house we couldn’t see the old town. It was great to meet some other folks and share our various travelling tales with one another.

Us under one of the many arches!

We wandered round the markets in the afternoon which sold mainly fruit, veg and spices. We did come across these guys however, which explained how women manage to so perfectly match their scarves, trousers and tops.

A wee bit messy!!

Onwards to Jodhpur

A brief post breakfast tour of the Bramah Temple was about all we had left to see in Pushkar... glad we didn’t give it half a day to look around – we spent a total of about 15 mins scooting round it. Following the excitement of another temple, we headed back to Ajmer to give ourselves plenty of time to change our travel arrangements. We have decided to cut out a detour east of Ahemdebad to Sanchi for a few days and instead will get to Goa three days earlier than we had planned – on the 27^th Oct.

On the bus on the way back to Ajmer we saw this warning.  

We didn’t somk the whole journey!

We arrived into Jodhpur on time, I was impressed, but after dark so the main concern was accommodation. We got in a rickshaw and sent him to the clock tower, not really sure what the clock tower looked like, thinking we’d recognise it when we got there. We did:

Quite an imposing building at night. We then headed out to find somewhere to eat; more trick than you might imagine in a city. We eventually ended up about 45 mins later at a place not more than 400 meters from the guest house we were staying in, on the roof of another guest house, albeit slightly more up market.

On the way back to the guest house we encountered dancing:

The street up to the guest house had been turned into a tinselly dance haven, apparently for some festival or other.

We watched the dancing for about an hour before we eventually called it a night – leave the party in full swing and all that.

As with all children, there is always a ring leader!!!

ANOTHER Relaxation day

Some serious activity today – went to the internet cafe, Olivia went to a beauty salon and we did some more aimless wandering around town trying to find things to do.

Did find this stand interesting

But this was pretty much the only picture I took! Beginning to get really bored in Pushkar; not really my scene. Too many beardy weirdies.

[10/10/10!] - Relaxation day

After a short walk to one end of the ‘holy’ brown lake we decided we might just as well do a lap of it, see what – if anything – there was to see.

A very holy lake - you can see the bathing 'Ghats', basically stairs into the water

There isn’t anything. Pushkar is very, very small and is basically a bit of a hippie retreat where you can indulge in some sersious self discovery using whatever legal or otherwise method you see fit!

Lunch in our hut

After a stop for lunch we headed back to the hotel and sat by the pool all afternoon, which made sense since we were paying slightly over the odds for the benefit. Luckily, the tortoises put on a bit of a show for us appearing variously under hedges

Hide and seek?

And wandering past as we sat by the pool

Flying along!

Monkey temple (Jaipur >> Pushkar)

9 Oct 2010

Since it was our last day in Jairpur we decided to make the most of it and do one last sight – the monkey temple or Sun Temple (another monkey temple I hear you say!). Having looked at the map it was a fair trek so we decided to get a cycle rickshaw there and having flagged one down the driver/rider assured us he knew where it was. When we were dropped a little over half way outside a shop we realised this clearly wasn’t the case; luckily his ‘mate’ in an auto rickshaw did know where it was, only problem was the rip off price he was charging. Pissed off with having been lied to by the cycle rickshaw driver we gave up and returned to the only trustworthy and reliable form of transport in India – walking.

We arrived at the foot of the temple and began another ascent up, picking up some monkey food en-route. It wasn’t long before we found the star attraction – the monkeys. I pulled out the food in the plastic bag and had it immediately snatched from my hands by one of the larger, bolder monkeys (a cheeky monkey?!). I grabbed the bag back and then fed them more gingerly from then on. We very nearly lost our Lonely Planet to one small chap:

Sneaky bugger!

Amusingly, and fittingly I suppose for a temple, there was loads of cows also vying with the monkeys for food generally getting the upper hand over the monkeys due to their size advantage. Two local men turned up on their moped with about 30 bananas with the sole purpose of feeding the monkeys and cows. Cows it turns out have a penchant for bananas and will happily eat them skin and all.

The temple itself was nothing particularly special, although the ladies who lived there were pleasant enough. As usual we were expected to make a donation, in return for which Olivia got herself a Gap Yah piece of string bracelet.

Nothing much to see, but pretty views

Having climbed up to the top of the mount we were rewarded with panoramic views of the city, the scale of which was apparent only for this high.

The main road into the city (and the air pollution)

Having duly paid respects to some god or other, we pottered back down the path through the troops of monkeys to the bottom courtyard. Yet more locals feeding monkeys greeted us, but what amused us much more was this chap taking a swim:

He looks like a little old man!

Having enjoyed Jaipur (mostly) we got back on the train, this time headed for Ajmer and then onto Pushkar. The train journey was easy, us steadily becoming veterans of India’s rail system, and upon arrival at Ajmer we were whisked off in a rickshaw to the bus station and took the scenic 30 min bus over the ominous ‘snake pass’ to Pushkar town.

We stayed in a place called Navaratan Palace for two reasons; it has a pool and it also has tortoises free roaming in the garden! The actual room itself was basic but the location was good.

In the evening we came across this Am Dram production:

Not sure what it was all about but it was interesting for quarter of an hour, until we got completely lost and could work out which god was which. Still, the kids watching seemed to be enjoying it. 

Just writing up more posts...

I have got a bit behind with the blogging... but i'm writing up now and will hopefully be back up to date after the really long train ride down to Goa from Mumbai tomorrow... watch this space.

PHOTO PROBLEM

Fixed!!!!

Please tell me if there are any photos that you still can't see...

Photo Problem

I have figured out what the problem is that is stopping some people not being able to see all the photos. When I next get the chance I will sort it so that you can see them all. Sorry about this!

A day of R and R

8 Oct 2010

Today was a lazy day; we didn’t even wake up ‘til 10. We then read until 12 before eventually deciding that we were starving so headed out for brunch. We settled on a restaurant called Little Italy, which was recommended in the guide book. It turned out to be a bit of a yuppie hang out and extremely disappointing. Thoroughly unimpressed we returned to the hotel to read a bit more. Endless forts, temples and palaces, amazing as they are, begin to get a bit tedious so a day off was definitely called for.

Later that afternoon we headed out into the old town again to collect my shirt from the tailors. Although I had asked for a slim fit, I hadn’t quite bargained on it being figure hugging. Oops. It’s a shame since the shirt is good and I like the material. If you happen to read this Rob Harris – do you fancy a shirt??? 

Amber Fort

7 Oct 2010

One of the major attractions at Jaipur is the Amber Fort and Palace. It is, funnily enough, just by the town of Amber, about 30 mins on the local bus, passing the Water Palace en-route (the proper name of which I have forgotten).

Water Palace

Having found the guide we took at the Taj a bit OTT, we decided to take an audio guide instead – some seriously daft role playing on it but pretty informative. Not so good for not getting lost however. At one point one of the fort guards came over and directed in the right direction, then had the cheek to ask for a tip before opening a door back into one of the main courtyards!

The most popular form of transport for the westerners

The view on the way up into the fort

The entrance into the main part of the fort - taken from the parade square

It's tough to see here but all the dark looking bits are mirrors - quite amazing

One of the pictures the guard 'kindly' took before asking for a tip

The main courtyard of the palace - latterly home to the hareem

The tunnels under the fort to allow its occupants unseen access to the town - now full of bats!

Totally unrelated to the Fort; Olivia discovered a jet of water that squirts your bottom when on the loo! Quite amusing to use but not that effective...

The Pink City

Having arrived in the middle of the night (once again) we recovered in the morning. By late morning we were starving so headed out to grab some food, after which we went exploring in the old town – the Pink City. We soon found out why it was called that:

One of the main streets in Jaipur Old Town

Guided by the guide book, we followed a walking tour of Jairpur old town that included a walk through the motorbike repair district, the marble carving district and the tailoring district (where I had a shirt made). A vibrant little city, with shops that were literally crammed to bursting with spices, saris, oil and even this shop selling chains:

The shop that specialised in chains!

We then came across the observatory, not far from the royal palace. The observatory at first glance looks a like an art installation you might find at the Tate Modern; lots of individual sculptures that have a certain elegance and grace. Closer inspection reveals the graduated faces and intentional shadows that are cast across them all. The biggest of them all is a sun dial that is accurate to 2 seconds – quite an achievement

The biggest sundial know to man?

Following the observatory we continued along the walking tour, until we ran into this:

The Hawa Mahal - the ultimate people watching spot

On the face of the Hawa Hahal you will notice a significant amount of lattice work. This building was built so that the women of the palace could watch the goings on of the ordinary people on the street below but not be seen themselves.

By this time it was getting late and the sun had set, so we started wandering back towards the hotel, stupidly deciding to go by a different route to the way we came. By 8 o’clock we accepted defeat, knowing that we were close we caught a rickshaw. We were literally 10 mins walk away! Knackered we fell asleep and didn’t wake up ‘til 10pm. No real chance of getting food by now so skipped dinner and started to dream of breakfast instead!

Taj Mahal

5 Oct 2010

As with most people, our only real reason for visiting Agra was to check out the Taj Mahal. It was well worth the trip. Not only is the Taj itself impressive, but the ground and surrounding fortifications are equally impressive. Rather than bore you with everything our guide bored us with, here are some photos... (the guide really fancied himself as an amateur photographer – hence all the posed photos!)

The inner entrance gate to the Taj - complete with semi-precious stone inlaid into the marble

One of the most impressive things about the Taj Mahal is the symmetry. Everything is symmetrical about the centre line (the line this photo is taken down) right down to the marble carvings on the walls.

The Taj with its four minarets

The first of many posed photos!

Just had to be done. It's weird how 2D the Taj looks at this point

Pretty stunning in the morning sun

The minarets all lean away from the Taj by a couple of degrees - to protect it in case of an earthquake apparently...

The mosque adjacent to the Taj (there is a guest house the other side that looks the same - to keep the symmetry!)

The sexy shoe covers that you can wear

Post Taj, it got serious hot leaving Olivia and I with no other option than to go and track down a swimming pool! We found a great one in a five star hotel and made ourselves comfortable for the whole afternoon, NICE.

In the evening we hopped onto out train to Jaipur – by this time becoming pro’s at ‘training’ so without hassle.

Delhi Commonwealth Games - (Mens Gymanstics)

4 Oct 2010

Having spent all of the previous day trying to pries two tickets from the iron-like grip of the organizing authorities, we had little hope for the games themselves.

Upon arrival at the metro station things looked good, although slight bizarre going through security before exchanging the travel coupon for a ticket, the system worked well and we got to Indraprastha station with no problems. Upon arrival at the station there appeared to be no transport to the stadium so we decided to walk the supposed 1km. It was actually much further since they had closed most of the entrance gates to the stadium and had even closed the pavement surrounding the stadium (go figure that one out!) so we and other coming from the station were left walking along the motorway!

Wandering along the main road - because they had shut the pavement!

Things were not looking good for Delhi’s CWG. When we arrived at the first security check point we were told that in their list of banned items was all food and water. Food we had read about, but water we weren’t expecting but faced with no choice we reluctantly gave up our water bottles. When we asked where to put the water bottles we were told to simply toss them on the floor – should’ve guessed.

The security checks were thorough, with everything being x-rayed; including my guide book. That said they were efficient about it too. Once inside the ring of steel we were amazed by the army of volunteers, at least a four to one ratio – volunteers to guests! We easily found our seats and enjoyed a good few hours of exciting gymnastics.

Touristing it up in the arena

Following the first round of gymnastics there was an interlude, which was great since we were parched and starving. However, no one seemed to have realised that spectators would want to drink or eat and as such all the stalls advertising coca-cola were empty! There was also no food to be found anywhere; we tried following directions here and there but all to no avail. No body, not even the shiny new track-suited volunteers, knew where we could eat. We eventually resorted to begging some water from the police and we even managed to purloin some Special Thali from helpers carrying it to somewhere we never fathomed. Result, now we had food and drink – no thanks to any official outlet I may add.

The second half of the gymnastics was even more impressive than the first, with the English and Australians in close competition the whole way through. In the end the Aussies managed to grasp victory, but only just leaving our boys with a very respectable 2^nd place.

Following some very flamboyant marching from one of India’s armed forces and a dishing out of medals, we headed off back to our hotel.

Cue the serious marching!

The return journey was distinctly more impressive; a rammed bus, but a bus nonetheless to the metro, then an official queue jump courtesy of an Indian army officer (thanks!).

"For your safety this vehicle will only move with the doors closed" - oh yea??

Overall we weren’t very impressed at all with the games organisation, although watching the gymnastics was great.

The boys from England take their place on the podium

Our evening’s entertainment, post dinner was catching the train to Agra. We were in sleeper class for this trip which caused much amusement amongst the locals that tourist she be down the classes with them. Not a bad journey though, apart from arriving in the middle of the night into Agra.