India 4 - Jodhpur

I got the train to Jodhpur and arrived 2h late at the station at 10pm. Bit of a horror as the hotel hadn’t sent the taxi I phoned for and I got surrounded by a large group of men who behaved like extras out of Night of the Living Dead. Anyway, I’ve been staying at Ratan Vilas which is a lovely old hotel, the only problem is the weather, which is so cold at night, I am freezing!!

Took a trip to have a look round the Meherangarh’s palace within the fabulous fort. The place is full of sandstone lattice work which has been carved so you can see out but nobody can see in and apparently the Maharaja’s wife spent all her time using strategically positioned mirrors to view all the courtyards and eavesdrop on everyone… see what happens when you have too much time on your hands??? The original Big Brother I suppose. I have too much time on my hands at night when I am in solitary confinement and have been obsessively folding my clothes.

The landscape from the fort is beautiful, white cenotaph of members of the royal family called Jaswant Thanda one side, sprawling city below and the Umaid Bhawan Palace in the distance.

The cubist blue buildings on the hillside is the old town is where all the Brahmins live, looks lovely but the tiny, busy streets you can’t see are choked with grime, motorbikes and fumes - a real shopping experience!