Jodhpur is the second largest city in Rajasthan and is a great place to visit. Not only did we instantly fall in love with this vibrant, bustling place, we fell in love with our Haveli too! Bristow’s Haveli is a perfect place to stay for anyone visiting Jodhpur.
The Haveli is situated in the heart of the old city and is a peaceful retreat with a courtyard garden, lots of places to sit and relax and the most wonderful service anyone could ask for. I mean when a beer is there as soon as you step inside after a day’s sightseeing, what more could you ask for? This place is so good I’m going to write a separate blog about it. Meanwhile … let me tell you what we did the first couple of days in the old medieval city.
This is Sardar market. The top big picture was taken in the morning before everything had got going. The one on the bottom right gives a better idea of how manic it gets. We were surprised that no-one pestered us even when the market was really busy and glad to say, we also felt quite safe.
Mehrangarth Palace dominates the skyline of Jodhpur and is very impressive. We walked up by the steep steps a couple of times although you can take an auto rickshaw to the main entrance. On the first day I walked up onto one of the grassy mounds by the car park and was immediately shouted out by a guard. I pretended for a while not to hear him as I wanted to take some pictures of the old town to show the renowned blue houses and the hilltop palace you can see in the picture, top right. Once I climbed down I had to take this shot of the guy giving camel rides. It looks like he’s in the desert with the camel but it’s actually in the car park! We gave this one a miss and paid whatever it was to go into the fort and museum having left our passports so we wouldn’t run off with the headsets!
The fort is impressive as is the museum. You can easily spend a day there and although there were loads of groups with their guides we managed to avoid them most of the time. The intricate acrchitecture is amazing as are the views from the ramparts and the museum is interesting too with beautiful wall hangings, palanquins and Indian art. I loved the shop though, the best I’d come across since leaving home so I did buy quite few presents as things were really top quality. Too good an opportunity to miss!
You couldn’t fail to be impressed with the intricate details everywhere.
As you walk round the city with a camera it’s not long before children ask you for a picture. Interestingly they’re not that bothered about seeing it, they just love to chat especially if you have sweets to hand out. I love this picture of this little girl who a few seconds before had been smiling away and playing with a little plastic box – maybe her only ‘toy’? She quickly grabbed the sweet but she definitely wasn’t going to smile for a picture. There’s a lot of sadness I feel in her eyes.
Travels with the Booths.blog 