Jodhpur

April 13th:  Our first Train Trip to Jodhpur

Something we have noticed about India is that we are a  novelty wherever we go. We have to set aside at least half an hour in each location to pose for photos and take photos of other people.

We must be on the Facebook pages of random strangers all over Rajasthan, who take selfies with us at every opportunity.

Our friend Padam in Agra has upgraded another reservation for us and we are staying at The Kothi Heritage which was once an 1880’s holiday residencies in the rural outskirts of Jodphur but is now the jewel in a cluster of auto part shops.

It is described as “luxury heritage that looks amazingly graceful from almost every angle”

I’m thinking Illusions of Grandeur.

There is no doubting it’s  heritage. In fact the central living area has the aura of grandness of the Chateau Tongariro, but more like it’s rumpty old  Aunt from Te Kuiti.

Everything is slightly dysfunctional but the building itself is very charming and I start to think that perhaps we should buy a heritage hotel in Rajasthan. Roger may need to grow a moustache.

On our second day, we visit the Umaid Bhawan Palace, one of the largest private residences in the world.  Built between 1929 and 1943, it is huge and opulent and I get very excited at the prospect of visiting the perfectly preserved Art Deco rooms that we see in the photo gallery. Disappointingly, the photo gallery is about as far as we go as tourists.

We do however, spend quite some time having photos with every member of this family. Both individual and group.

It is possible to stay in the palace hotel so I ring the reception from the security checkpoint where we are prevented from going further, to discuss the prospect of having a cup of tea in the restaurant.

Apparently  it will cost us each 6000 rupees to enter the hotel.. So a grand total of $600  for morning tea. And that doesn’t even include the tea!

I think staying at the Kothi heritage has given us our own illusions of Grandeur. We are, after all, on quite a tight budget which doesn’t extend to tea in palaces.

The vast and surprisingly green expanse that stretches out beyond the palace.

Louie, who refuses to eat anything other than butter chicken, is finding it a bit tough in this almost entirely vegetarian city. After reading through pages of trip advisor reviews, we find a restaurant that serves butter chicken.

It turns out that Louie only eats the sauce anyway and is not feeling very hungry so the non-veg restaurant and the tuk tuk trip to find it, is a bit wasted on him.

We head down to the local park. More and more we are learning that the kids want to do normal things that feel familiar. Playing at the park seems to fulfil some primordial need.

I resume my role as official park photographer but then we are drawn towards a noisy procession with music and a cart with a holy looking figure who is dishing out flower garlands. Next thing you know, we’re at Lord Brahma’s birthday party.

The next day, Louie is quite sick with a fever, diarrhoea and vomiting.

Of all of the kids, Louie’s stomach seems to be the most susceptible to bugs. Stella and Rog have suffered a bit too but Jasper and I seem to have stomachs of iron.

The spice in the food at every meal is becoming a bit incessant and we are missing the fresh fruit of Thailand.

Keeping a happy family dynamic is about occupying certain members of the family when others need down time, so Jasper and I call up our Tuk tuk driver Shetti, who seems to be perpetually outside the gate and head off to Mondor gardens, a ruined city and palace fort.

Shetti is very keen to drive us somewhere and going on the tuk-tuk, while potentially life-threatening, is very fun.  Shetti has been parked outside for some time so we take him up on his offer. He takes us to a local sunset viewing point.

From the top of the rock outcrop, we can see down to the rooftops of thousands of houses. Our favourite thing about Jodphur is visiting local places where we can hang out like locals. Even if it means being in a few dozen photos.

 

As well as a tuk tuk tiny house, we think we may need a mobile band wagon. Apparently it’s great for weddings.

We’ve been saving the Mehranggarh Fort until everyone felt able to withstand the heat and the stamina involved in walking around a fort and Palace all day.

It is absolutely beautiful and better still, we get an audio guide and wander around with headphones listening to an Indian guy who sounds like he’s been transported straight out of the British Raj ( or the commentator for” Little Britain”).

Unlike Agra Fort, it maintains a lot of it’s original interiors and the coloured glass and tiling is amazing.

Spikes for repelling elephant invaders.

As my friend Delphine said to me, when I bought my crazy sunglasses, “People will see you are interesting and want to talk to you”. So far, people mostly want to try them on.

This guy carries them off very well.

Jaswant Thad: The White Monument

The cremation point and mausoleum for the royal family.

Tomorrow, the 18th, we take a local bus from Jodhpur to Udaipur.

Last morning at the Kothi Heritage, Jodhpur: 18th April

The security guard took a particular shine to Louie and was the worst of the cheek pinchers. Louie is keeping his distance.

Jasper said that Sheti, our tuk tuk driver who had 6 daughters, was his favourite tuk tuk driver so far.