....the incredible Pushkar Camel Fair 2013........
We said our goodbyes to Pushkar,
and decided on a brief stop in Ajmer.
It’s an unusual place in Rajasthan,
being somewhat of a Muslim island amongst the Hindu majority. Ajmer has one of the most important
Muslim shrines in India- that of the
Sufi Saint, Moinuddin Christi. We foolishly visited on a Friday, so the crowds were huge, but we
found a totally unique atmosphere to any holy place we’d visited in India before, mainly due to the huge
numbers of people (men and women) sitting on the ground praying- either chanting
from books or singing and playing exuberant music. The best part for us was the
interesting and friendly market streets around the shrine, filled with very
different and varied goods, such as head coverings for women, Koran prayer
books, lots of chicken and lamb, and strange sweets. It was a good example of India’s ability to give something
new/surprising/amazing/different almost every day, after all our travels here
over the years. After a look at a couple of other smaller Muslim and Jain
monuments, we were on our way to Jodhpur.
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| Old paper cutting machine being demonstrated for us, Ajmer |
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| Strange looking Ajmer sweets |
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| MEAT!!! Ajmer market |
Jodhpur was
another previously visited place for us- last time it was in 2002 on our second
time to Rajasthan. There was a lot
of the city we didn’t explore then, so, after a bad start, with both of us
getting the runs, and Richard having a problem with his tooth, we eventually
got back on track and experienced the sights of the “blue city”. It’s so named
for the many buildings painted my favourite blue colour- distinctively Indian-
that is supposed to repel mosquitoes.
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| Dentist sign, Jodhpur |
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| The "blue" city, Jodhpur |
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| Tiny jodhpurs- so cute! |
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| Richard's cappuccino fix at Cafe Coffee Day |
The gorgeous centrepiece in Jodhpur is the massive fort looming over the town. We remembered it
being one of the most impressive forts we’d seen in India, particularly because
of the palace inside, but considering the entrance price had risen about 10
times since our last visit, we didn’t go in again.
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| Jodhpur fort at dawn |
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| The backside of Jodhpur fort |
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| Jodhpur fort from Jaswat Thada |
There were so many other sights to see- most of them free or
a minimal entrance fee. One intriguing temple perched high on a rock could be
seen from the rooftop of our guesthouse, but as we couldn’t find out the name
of it, we spent many hours roaming the twisting little backstreets looking.
When we finally came across it, climbed it and saw the fantastic 360 degree
view of all of Jodhpur, we decided
it was well worth searching out!
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| View from Baba rock, Jodhpur |
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| Sal atop Baba rock, Jodhpur |
Other sights included the beautiful, white, marble Jaswat
Thada- a memorial to past maharajas (they really love their royalty here),
perched high on a hillside; Madore Gardens, where in addition to the lovely
graves of the maharajas, we were lucky enough to watch a dramatic TV show being
filmed; Sadar Market, a mix of tourist spice stalls, second hand saris, fruit
stands and crappy plastic toys; Maha Mandir, the remaining historic building in
a busy area a couple of kilometres from Jodhpur,
where Sally was lucky enough to be felt up by a schoolboy, who was slapped
around by us and then his teachers as a result; and just generally wandering
around the majority Muslim laneways of the old city, enjoying the friendly
people greeting us, and kids shaking our hands, interesting and pokey little
shops, and occasionally catching a glimpse of the fort or the impressive city
walls, surrounding Jodhpur for
miles.
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| View of Jaswat Thada, Jodhpur |
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| Remnants of the city wall, Jodhpur |
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| Reflections at Jaswat Thada, Jodhpur |
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| Pretending to be a maharani at Jaswat Thada, Jodhpur |
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| Beautiful gardens at Mandore, Jodhpur |
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| Screened windows at Mandore, Jodhpur |
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| Richard looking very serious for some reason at Mandore, Jodhpur |
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| Mandore Gardens, Jodhpur |
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| Extras in a TV show, Mandore, Jodhpur |
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| Gorgeous outfits, Mandore, Jodhpur |
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| More extras, Mandore, Jodhpur |
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| Filming the TV show, Mandore, Jodhpur |
Jodhpur is known
for its antiques, and our 500 old haveli guesthouse fitted right in, being filled to the brim
with old furniture, pictures and odds and ends. The atmosphere seemed lovely
when we looked around, but we discovered within a couple of days that the
manager was a complete nutcase, who stayed up all night yelling and moaning,
and keeping everyone awake. After one week of this, we’d had enough, and had
seen most of what we had set out to in Jodhpur.
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| Door detail, guesthouse, Jodhpur |
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| Great old Morris, guesthouse, Jodhpur |
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| Balcony on haveli, Jodhpur |
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| Modern bride, Jodhpur |
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| Dressed up goat on a cold morning in the Muslim part of Jodhpur |
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| Cute Jodhpur resident |
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| Green door in a blue wall on the streets of Jodhpur |
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| Cute and curious little critters |
We had ideas of stopping in various desert villages on the
long way out into the Thar Desert to Jaiselmer.
The first village, ancient Ossiyan, was
quaint and quiet, and we very much enjoyed the intricate carvings on the old
Jain temples scattered around the place. We stayed with a local priest, and
considering the sudden cold change in the weather, we decided to forgo the
basic cold water shower and sleep with all our clothes on. The idea of staying
in Phalodi, a big town 2 hours away,
was quashed when we arrived the next day and saw the accommodation options. We
are certainly not fussy, as our friends will know, and have often stayed in the
most basic of places in order to break a journey, or see a remote sight off the
beaten track. But, the two hotels on offer in Phalodi were so foul and dirty, with bad smells, grog bottles, and pan (red chewing tobacco used everywhere
by Indian men) stains indiscriminately spat inside the room, we couldn’t bring
ourselves to do it- even for one night. This was very disappointing, as it
would mean missing out on seeing the Siberian cranes that migrate here at this
time of year on mass, and are apparently a spectacular sight.
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| Sexy temple carvings. Ossiyan |
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| Voluptuous carvings, Ossiyan |
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| Ossiyan temples |
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| Temple carvings, Ossiyan |
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| Another pleasing doorway, Ossiyan |
Despite the letdown, the bus journey nearly made up for it.
I found the small insight into desert life intriguing. Due to the lack of wood
in the desert, most of the fences are made of big slabs of stone, making for a
distinctive landscape. Many villages have tiny houses made of the same stone
with thatched roofs, or mud huts, with dried up thorn bushes surrounding them
as a protective fence. We saw elephants, camels, peacocks, mongoose and a
desert fox (dead), in addition to the usual livestock on the roads. There is
also a huge military presence, due to the close proximity to the Pakistan border.
So, onto Jaiselmer
it was, with memories of our first trip to India
in our minds, and hopes of a hot shower. The idea of India being a hot country is well and truly crushed in the
Rajasthani desert in winter! The heavy snow in Kashmir, had apparently worsened what was already a chilly climate,
and we rugged up in newly purchased jackets, socks, hats, and most of what we
owned underneath! Richard finally had to replace his shorts with long trousers,
although he couldn’t quite bring himself to wear socks! In a climate where they have very cold weather for at least 3 months of year, the desert dwellers seem not prepared. The buildings are all designed for hot weather, with tiny windows and courtyards that don't let in the sun, hot water is not the norm, and of of course, no heating. It must be very miserable to live here every year during this time.
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| Sal freezing in bed in guesthouse, Jaiselmer |
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| Rich and a view |
The touts in Jaiselmer
have a reputation as some of the most aggressive in India, and our memories of arriving at the bus station 16 years
ago, and being met by hundreds of screaming men holding up signs for various
guesthouses, while being held back by a police line, were still fresh in our
minds- kind of hard to forget!! Now, there is a train line to Jaiselmer, and we hoped we would sneak
in under the radar, coming by bus from the untouristy Phalodi. Funnily enough, when our bus stopped an hour out of Jaiselmer, a tout got on to promote his
new guesthouse! Since we didn’t have anywhere in particular to stay, we took
his card, and promised to look out for his “brother” when we arrived. Sure
enough, when our bus pulled in, a man was there asking for “Ricky” (Richard’s
Indian name- they all love cricket out here, and Australian player Ricky
Pointing is a big hero). We jumped in his car, and he took us for free to look
at his guesthouse. We didn’t end up staying there, but it saved us the hassle
of finding where the guesthouse area was.
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| Rich on the roof of our guesthouse, with Jain temple in background |
Despite the cold, December and January are the height of the tourist
season here due to Indian holidays, and besides Jaipur, there is nowhere more popular for tourists in Rajasthan than Jaiselmer. Of course, there is a reason for that- the magnificent
fort rising out of no-where in the middle of the desert, is quite a sight, and
the interior is quite unique, with cobble stoned streets, gorgeous old buildings in a warm golden colour stone dripping with
carvings now being used as homes and businesses. The old city surrounding the
fort and various sites around the town are also of some interest, but it is the
entire setting that is so exceptional. Unfortunately, the cold, foggy weather meant it was impossible for us to capture any nice photos of the stunning views.
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| Ramparts, Jaiselmer |
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| A rare photo of the two of us together! |
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| Large balls, once used to drop on the attacking enemies' heads, Jaiselmer fort |
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| Gorgeous fort, Jaiselmer |
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| Boy flying a kite, with the foggy fort in the background, Jaiselmer |
It’s so hard to imagine nowadays, but all these towns in the
middle of the Thar Desert were once very important, and on a main trade routes
to and from the Silk Road. The merchants who became rich from trading built
their superb homes (called havelis) resplendent
with fine carvings and/or murals all over the western part of Rajasthan. These
are mostly well preserved in the dry desert climate, and the best are seen in Jaiselmer.
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| Gorgeous haveli-cum-shop, Jaiselmer |
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| Jain temple decorations against the sky, Jaiselmer |
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| Haveli in Jaiselmer old town back street |
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| A rare clear view over Jaiselmer from the fort |
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| Haveli horse detail, Jaiselmer |
The downside of all the beauty of Jaiselmer, and the subsequent interest, is a town that feels only
interested in the tourist dollar. We always try to see a different side of the
town and people in such places, walking in less spectacular areas, where people
are just going about their daily lives, or doing day trips out to lesser seen
sites, but there was something about Jaiselmer
that didn’t let us in. It was probably also due to the fact that we had to
change hotels due to lack of warm water (never did get that warming shower),
and we had a lot less enthusiasm because of the chilly, dry weather. One day
was so misty and freezing, we were forced to hang out in a warm restaurant for
the entire day- our bodies were not coping well!
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| Ramparts, Jaiselmer fort |
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| Beautiful chhatris (pavilions), Jaiselmer |
After seven days with no hot
shower (or any shower for that matter!), sleeping with the same clothes on we’d
been wearing all day, trying to find sun traps all over town to warm up in, and
dodging hundreds of Indian tour groups, we’d had enough of Jaiselmer and decided we needed some friendly familiar faces, good
home cooked food, and a comfortable room (and a hot shower!)- all of which we
knew we could get at Vijay Guesthouse in Bikaner-
a favourite from a past trip.
