Camels and the Blue City

Hello all!

Well I had quite a weekend. I went with four other friends to Jodhpur, a city in Rajasthan. We left on Thursday night by sleeper train. Generally I love sleeper trains but this time I was not able to fall asleep at all. It was definitely more crowded than any other sleep train I have been on but I guess that everything in India is more crowded then usual.

We arrived at Jodhpur at around noon. We quickly found a place were we could do a camel safari and got in a jeep that took us to the edge of the Thar Desert. The jeep ride was great. We were in a World War Two jeep. We took off the top and it was a great experience. The driver even let us drive a little (we were on an nearly abandoned road, don't worry mom…)! When we got to the edge of the desert, there were five camels waiting for us. The people in the village were very fascinated by the white people in their town and a bunch of women and children surrounded us. They were especially interested in the sunscreen…

We got onto the camels. I really liked riding them, or at least getting up on them. It is like a mini roller coaster ride because you are slanted for a while the camel gets one half of its body up and then the other half up. It is really quite fun. We began the two day 'camel safari' we would be doing. It was great. On the first evening, we rode into one of the camel riders' brother's home. It was a collection of mud huts around a common area and then a brick building off in the distance. All around the home there was millet fields, basically subsistence farming. It was so cool. They made some really good chai for us and we hung out with them for about a hour and half. We have minimal Hindi skills o we could communicate with them. But it was just so other-worldly top be there. The house was in a valley of sand dunes (although this is not the traditional sand dunes… there are shrubs growing on them) and the sun was starting to lower so the whole valley was filled with a golden glow. The kids were running around the common area and through the fields and old Rajasthani men with long, bushy moustaches were sitting on the floor having conversation with each other. They seemed like such proud, strong men. In fact all these people had a special quality to them. They were men and women hardened by years living in the desert. It is a very noble quality when one is faced with it. They all look so much older then they are and their skin seems weathered by sand, sun, and that unique Rajasthani heritage. It was so cool.

We left the home and went more into the dunes where we watched the sunset. It was really beautiful but unfortunately, being monsoon season, the clouds blocked the sun from making its final and spectacular sunsets so known in the desert. We left at twilight for the home of another camel rider. This one had been developed for tourists so it was different in that way but it was still wonderful. We had a thali plate of home cooked Rajasthani food (great!). For those who don't know, a thali plate is a plate with several bowls containing small portions of different food. It usually comes with roti (bread) and rice. We had it in his havali (a square shaped building with a central, open-aired courtyard) under the stars in the courtyard. Later that night, my friends and I opened a bottle of wine that we had brought and chatted about everything and nothing. It was an undeniably pleasant evening. The people who I went with were all very interesting and fun to talk with so this was truly a pleasure. When we got tired we made our beds under the stars and fell asleep. It was great…

The next morning we had breakfast (from the milk of the cow outside our sleeping quarters!) and got on the camels for some more exploring. We visited a small village which was okay… we went around and looked at handicrafts. While it was touristy, it was also good because 1) it really does help the local economy, 2) you can tell by the houses and area that this place isn't wealthy from tourism (you can also tell that by how interested and shocked they are to see white people), and 3) it was interesting seeing how they made the handicrafts. I got two rugs which I want to hang on my wall.

We headed back and then left the desert to go to Osiyan, a town also on the edge of the desert but it also had two cool Buddhist and Hindu temples. They were okay but nothing to remarkable. We left to go back to Jodhpur that afternoon.

When we got into Jodhpur we went to our hotel which was in the Old City of Jodhpur. Jodhpur is the second largest city in Rajisthan (behind Jaipur where I am gojng next weekend) but is unique for 1) it's impressive fort on top of the local hill and 2) the city surrounding the fort which has all been painted a unique shade of blue. Blue is the color of Brahmins and the old city was where they lived in medieval times. To distinguish themselves, they painted their houses blue but now, just about everyone does it, Brahmin or not. The hotel were were at was a backpacker haunt in a 500 year-old building. Our room was the rooftop where we would sleep. But the best part about the rooftop was the view. We arrived at early duck and when we were brought to the roof, we were blown away. We were near the top of the opposite hill facing the fort with the old city between us. Blue buildings stretched over the city landscape and people were out on their roofs. Around dusk, lots of children (and adults too I guess) fly kites from their rooftops. The rooftops are like something out of Arabian nights. You could travel from one edge of the old city to the other just by hoping roofs. Watching people fly their kite and the sun set with Mehrangarh Fort as the backdrop was one of those moments which really make me think, "Where am I?"

After we took some much needed showers, we spent the rest of the night eating at the hotel restaurant, a comfortable place with cheapish food and pillows on the floor on which one can lay out. Yet another night of good friends and conversation made for more positive memories.

We woke up with the sun (we were on the roof after all), got breakfast, and visited Mehrangarh Fort, a fort built over the centuries by the maharaja of Marwar (the region around Jodhpur). It was an amazing fort and very well preserved (which is quite rare for India). Plus, there was a great audio tour that came with the ticket. The top of the fort had some great views of the blue buildings of Jodhpur and the arid surroundings of Rajisthan (why would anyone choose to live there I have no idea…) We went to get lunch at a place in the market that was recommended by a local and it had great food, some of the best I have had in India. And for how much? $2.50. There are times I love India.

We took the sleeper train back to Delhi later that evening. This time I slept much better. In fact all of us slept so well that we didn't even wake up when we got to Delhi. Luckily, Delhi was the last stop on the train so we just woke up to an empty train. It is nice to be home.