Continued from Jodhpur Day 1.

Woke up relatively early this morning at 7. Guess what! The awesome dinner last night did not poison me. I only get one full day in Jodhpur, so I shall make the most of it.

Good morning Mehrangarh Fort. This photo was taken at the roof top restaurant of my hotel. There are actually two hotels run by the same extended family in the same building. I had dinner at Indique last night which is technically the restaurant of the other hotel. I heard the hotels are run by two brothers, and they don’t always get along.

Free continental breakfast. Chocolate pancake, yum.

During breakfast, the table next to me was occupied by an English speaking girl. She sounded American, Californian. I started talking to her and it turns out that she was indeed from California. She had been in Jodhpur for a few days already and had already seen the fort, but had not seen the palace yet. She was going to make a reservation for dinner for her and another couple from our hotel at the restaurant in the palace tonight, and invited me along. Sweet! I had plans to eat there, and now I’ve got dining companions. The reservation for dinner was made and there’s a 2000 a person minimum. We made tentative plans to meet up at 1:30 in the afternoon to share a ride to the Palace for the museum then dinner.

Didn’t meet a single soul in Jaipur, and I knew it from the beginning. Felt great about Jodhpur, and it only took me one morning to make a friend. I wonder what part of my clairvoyant intuition figures these things out? Or is it a self fulfilling prophecy?

Got a rickshaw. Negotiation is only about a 5 out of 10 on the irritating scale. Thoughts about these popular rickshaw model in Jodhpur. I have no idea who makes them. The engine is under the seat, and they need to be started by a separate string that the driver attached to a pull starter. The ride quality sucks. The already bumpy roads of Jodhpur is exacerbated by the live axle and leaf spring setup. They do have a lot of leg room, but that’s about it.

Up the hill we go. If I remember correctly, I paid 80 from the hotel up the hill and to the fort. Not the cheapest price, but it’s basically around what the hotel said I should pay.

Pit stop at this overlook point.

Ah, yes. This view is why I was so mesmerized by the Mehrangarh Fort. It just towers over the blue city beneath its feet.

Driver pull starting the engine. After the engine starts, the starting string just gets thrown on the dash.

Happy to be here.

Let’s go!

300 for the ticket, then of course, 100 for the camera fee. I guess it works out if you come in a big group and you’ve only got one camera. Again, single travelers get screwed. What’s nice is that a free audio guide is provided with the entry ticket.

The palace and royal residences inside the fort.

Those circled cracks are from cannon strikes.

The construction of the fort began in 1459 and had been added on and modified by the different rulers.

These are the hand prints signifying the queens and the concubines of the ruler throwing themselves onto the dead ruler’s burning cremation pile as an act of love and devotion.

Not only did your husband just die, now you’ve got to throw yourself into a burning pile of fire and commit suicide. I guess none of these wives poisoned the king…

I loved the design of the overhangs that curved around and drooped down. Though, many of thin tips have since fallen off. I wonder if anyone was actually killed by those falling pieces.

Engraving on a blade. I tiger. I bite elephant. Gggrrraaahhh!

There was a whole room of drawings depicting life of the king. King=Pimp.

Pool party! I think this is actually depicting Holi due to the water color guns. Holi themed pool party? Nice!!!

Loved this unusual staircase. It looked very modern, so I don’t think it was part of the original structure. Nonetheless, cool.

This is the entertainment room. I am sure a lot of belly dancing happened here.

Of course, it’s covered in gold.

Awesome vantage view of the domain. Umaid Bhavan Palace in the distance.

Leatherback turtles get no love as shields.

Damascus steel.

This is where the king sleeps. Those beads reminds me of Mardi Gras.

Westerners had already made an appearance by this time, so there are drawings of Western women on the walls. I couldn’t find them, but that’s what the audio guide said.

The other side of the fort. I believe this is the older part of town and you can see the original city walls. The Brahmins colored their houses blue with indigo(also kept away bugs). Now, non-Brahmins also do the same.

Cribs.

Where the king holds court. There were 5 high alcove looking hidden balconies that allowed 5 of his queens to listen in.

On the way out, but this is towards the beginning of the tour. This guy volunteered to sacrifice himself to make it rain. For his sacrifice, he got a giant plaque and everyone else still got rain based on the whim of the weather.

I exited the fort really happy with the whole experience. The photo of the fort that mesmerized me years ago did not disappoint in real life either. After the fort, I took a short walk to see Jaswant Thada Mausoleum. It’s located in the same hill top as the fort.

Short walk, but the sun was now already beaming down on me. Though, as a whole, this weather has been relatively nice. High 80s and maybe once in a while low 90s. I can’t complain. It’s been pretty dry as well, so that makes everything much better.

The pigeons here are well fed. Look at all this bird food just laying around, uneaten. The pigeons must feel like Americans.

Just ahead is Jaswant Thada mausoleum, built in the memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II.

I may print out this photo…..maybe. I am just so in love with this fort that I can’t get enough of it.

I believe this is where many of the royalties are cremated.

The fort just looks out of this world towering over the old town of Jodhpur.

Looked like handkerchiefs tied to the rope in front of the alter in the image below. Not sure what this signifies.

The Jaswant Thada mausoleum was pretty small, and took me no time to look it once over.

At the Jaswant Thada, this guy was outside busking with this strange instrument. It has a keyboard on top and a bellow as the backside of the box. The man would pump the bellow with one hand and play the keyboard with the other. It sounded very similar to an accordion. I looked it up on Wiki and it’s a harmonium.

Too cool! I want one! It reminded me of my accordion so much that I asked the man if I could play it. He agreed. The bellow must pump the air into some sort of bladder because the more you pumped the louder the sound got. Too bad there were so few tourists, or else I would have helped him busk. I did give him 20INR though.

I think I am going to come back from this trip with either an accordion, a harmonium, or a harmonica. I am going to come back with something!!

Back at the clock tower by hotel. I’ll have a look around the bazaar.

Looked like blocks of salt to me.

Nothing too interesting, so I went back to the hotel to grab some lunch.

Many of the hotels in India have this style of lock for the door. In this hotel, my key is attached to a bell, which forced me to leave my key with the front desk every time I left so I didn’t walk around sounding like a cow.

I knocked on OC’s (the girl I met this morning) door, and we will grab a rickshaw to the palace after I eat lunch.

To be continued at Jodhpur Day 2 Part 2.