|
Before checking out of my last hotel, they called around and found another
(Newton's Manor)
for my stay the next night. This hotel even sent a car to fetch me, so I
went to the new hotel first thing in the morning to drop off my luggage and
then sightsee. I was sad to leave Ratan Vilas, as it was such a nice hotel
(and the food was great).
However, once in awhile something which seems initially sad
turns out to be very fortuitous.
When I got to Newton's Manor, I found the reason why changing
hotels was a GOOD thing.
Not only was Newton's Manor furnished as you'd expect for the old
Victorian England days (complete with stuffed Bengal Tiger), but it also
had its own motorcycle museum!! Okay, "museum" is a littls strong of a word.
But they had five magnificently restored antique bikes, and they're working
on more. Quite a hobby the owner has. I'm astounded they're kept outside
under an awning, exposed to the elements. (the picture's at the bottom of
the page) The hotel was like a museum of turn-of-the-century (LAST century)
artifacts and decorations. My room was interesting, though for some odd reason
had a larger-than-life photo of Brooke Shields in the bathroom. Whatever.
After checking in, I took off to wander around town and see what I could see. Jodhpur is called the "Blue City" as many buildings are painted with an indigo color. This cools the building, and even provides some measure of mosquito repellant. The guidebook talked about the Sardar Market and Meherangarh (the old fort), so off I went. Jodhpur is a walled city, and I spent my entire time inside the confines of the wall. Once on top of the fort, you can see the wall around the city. Throughout the entire trip I had been looking for places with open bags of colorful spices, so that I might photgraph them. I never found them- Dehli and Mumbai were supposed to have places such as this, but they were either closed when I'd gotten there, or I couldn't find them at all. The marketplace in Jodhpur was supposed to have a really good one. I looked all over, taking little bitty streets off the beaten path. I saw many interesting things along the way, but I never did find the spice market. Oh well. It was fun exploring anyway. I enjoyed Jodhpur more than both Mumbai and Delhi, despite my sinues feeling completely solid from the smoke in Delhi. In fact, that may have helped in a strange way- The guidebook spoke of the ambient smells of the open sewers in Jodhpur, but I couldn't smell them at all. I never thought heavy sinus congestion could be a GOOD thing! |
 Safety doesn't exist here. |
 Foot, Oxen, and vehicular traffic |
 Carts of garlic and produce in the market |
 Sardar market gateway to clock |
 Clock through the gate |
 Everything for sale |
 The clock tower |
 Loads of cramped and varied shops |
 The Fort overlooks the town |
 Decorated trucks and auto-rickshaws |
 Look at this shot awhile. What all do you see? |
 |
 Camel power |
 Basket weavers |
 Even in modest area, old-world beauty exists |
 Iron doors from days gone by |
 Not a college prank- People travel this way |
 Open sewers |
 Off the beaten path |
 Someone threw out a perfectly good cow |
 Roads, gates all seemed placed haphazardly |
 REALLY open sewers |
 |
 Canopies draped to cool street |
 |
 Vendor eats too much of his own fried snacks |
 Buy in bulk |
 Food and paint |
 VERY busy street |
 |
 Cart of flowers |
 How to describe this? |
 |
 Beautiful food (though I didn't try any of it) |
 |
 Cow likes shade |
 Making speakers- not enclosures, The DRIVERS! |
 Farmer's market |
 Crumbling |
 |
 Oxen power |
 Rooftop view |
 Umaid Bhawan Palace |
 Old Fort |
 |
 Blue City and city wall |
 Blue City |
 Palace |
 Fort lookout |
 Strong iron doors |
 Amazing architecture |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 Look at the detail here too |
 Look at the detail here too |
 |
 |
 Protective cannon |
 Overlooking blue city |
 |
 |
 |
 Anti-elephant protective spikes |
 |
 Wow. |
 Wow. |
 Elephant car |
 Elephant car |
 Hookah demo |
 Guards in period garb. |
 Armory |
 Armory |
 Armory |
 Armory |
 Old cannon |
 Armory |
 Spectacular beauty |
 Beautiful even now |
 Water wheel |
 Boom. |
 Jaswant Thada memorial tomb and city wall |
 |
 |
 Clock and market from fort |
 |
 Guards resting |
 Nice bedroom |
 Elegant hallway |
 |
 Blue city |
 Royalty's cribs |
 Royalty's crib |
 |
 |
 Home is where you make it |
 The bike collection |
 My bathroom |
 The sitting room |