Pink, blue and yellow
Rajasthan. Every says, “don’t go now, it’s too hot”. Well it was kind of warm, but not uncomfortably so.
In Jaipur it was 45 degrees, but as you travelled further into the desert, and south, it became much cooler (well relatively so!). The bonus is that as it’s off season now, there’s relatively few tourists around and it’s very quiet everywhere.
All the cities here are colour coded to help you know where you are when you wake up. Jaipur is pink (though at the western tip of the “Golden Triangle” not as shiny and clean as it should be), Jodhpur is blue (a Brahmin welcoming colour, and also a good insect repellant), Jaisalmer is yellow sandstone rising from the desert and Udaipur is white. All the buildings are covered in intricate jali-style stone carvings (like those wooden radiator covers).
Jaipur was the busiest place, a bustling city, with lots of historical sites. As I got a bug in Agra which meant my first day here was spent in bed, I splashed out on a rickshaw to take me round all the sites. “Babu’s Express” rickshaw took me Inside the city walls. Babu was an amiable guy who sported the shocking-ginger dye in his hair so many of the men worryingly have here. And he only took me to one shop all day, which believe me for a rickshaw driver who I think by law has to have every sibling in business is pretty good! Through the gates and traffic chaos we head into the old city where there are many towers and minarets with views to the Tiger Fort, Palace of Winds (Hawa Mahal) and the grand city palace and museum – home to the current Maharaja.
Outside the palace is Jantar Mantar- an observatory built by Jai Singh (founder of Jaipur) with many huge masonry structures used to determine various astronomical positions. Before heading to the hills, we stop at the marble cenotaphs of the maharajas, a very quiet area with some pesky “1 rupee, mister” children. It’s a shame one of the few phrases I know in Hindi is “go away”.
The climb to Amber fort is hard in the heat, with views of the elephants washing in the lake below. The fort is pink-red, and has gardens, temples and intricate mirror artwork in many of the rooms. There are passageways connecting the maharajas living quarters to the cells he kept his women in.
Jodhpur is much nicer than Jaipur and the old city is painted entirely blue, with a majestic fort on a hillside in the middle. Very photgenic. I stayed in a 500 year old Havell owned by the jolly Mr Joshi “everyones Indian Dad” (shame he wasn’t too hot on booking bus tickets…), and here there are quite a few other travellers. I arrived with a girl I met on the bus, and we hook up with a few others to wander the streets and see the fort. The Meherangarh is the most impressive fort in Rajasthan, made even more interesting with the audio tour- so no pushy guides rushing you here. The views of the city below from the ramparts are spectacular.
Next day, 4 of us head off to Jaisalmer, a remote town in the middle of the desert, just over 100km from Pakistan.. Here is yet another fort, which we stay in, though this one looks like an archaeological dig: somewhere Indiana Jones would be at home getting pursued by the German tanks … We stay at a place called Ishar Palace, an 800 year old Havelli which was a 19th century prime-ministers home. This place is run by Little Jonny and his side kick Arab who seems to do all the work. The main reason to come this far is to do a camel safari, so that afternoon we set off on our camels into the dunes and scrub. The camels are fairly uncomfortable to ride, and plod slowly through the sand, chewing continuously on their regurgitated food. The sun set is nice, and we stay for the night, sleeping under the stars. Unfortunately, the wind picks up, and dinner is very sand based, and everyone else finds it hard to sleep in the mini sandstorm. I slept through everything, and wake up with an orange coating of sand ingrained into my face- looking like those women in Liverpool who spent too much time in Tantastic. I get back onto Peacock, my 6 year old camel, and we take the short ride back to the road where we will be picked up. All good fun, shame about the sand!
Before the sleeper bus to Udaipur, there’s time to stroll around the fort which is strangely quiet.
Udaipur is a nice little town set around Lake Pichola- the most famous sight is the Lake Palace (now a hotel).
As the monsoon was good last year, the lake is full, and we took a ride around the lake stopping off at one of the island palaces.
There’s yet another fort, more temples….. a bit of overload! It’s a nice place to relax and do nothing as there’s a good atmosphere. We get a cracking hotel with balcony and pool for peanuts as it’s low season (though like everywhere here in low season, it’s a bit of a building site.) Again this is nice because there are only about 5 other tourists, though it does mean most places are closed and there are two places to eat, one of which isn’t very good! Whilst here, no-one will let you forget that James Bond: Octopussy was partly filmed here, and many places show it every evening! Of course we partook.
On a slightly different cultural note, after our indulgent afternoon tea in a “rather posh” hotel,
we went to an evening of Rajasthani dancing which was impressive, especially the finale where a woman danced with 6 pots on her head.
All in all Rajasthan was a good place to visit, once again, with every where I’ve been it’s been down to the people you meet as well as the place itself.
Tags: Travel
Nick