Today I visited Mehrangarh fort at Jodhpur, built by Rao Jodha, after whom the city is named. Its a richly impressive set of buildings and, like the others, built into the rock of the Aravalli hills in the 15th century. As with the other forts, the military aspect of defending Jodhpur fort from enemy attack was combined with the most lavishly decorated palaces that are truly breathtaking: the flower and mirror palaces were particularly impressive. The audio guide, partly narrated by the current head of the ruling Rathore clan (albeit a ceremonial role now) was really excellent. The museum also had some fascinating artefacts such as palanquins and costumes.
Before leaving the fort I treated myself to a meal at a lovely restaurant built into the fort that offered traditional Rajasthani thali that was very different to other Indian food that i'd had, including dumplings of compressed lentils, and some sweet and sour dishes with lovely breads. The place provided wonderful views of the fort by night. A brilliant place!
After leaving the restaurant, I collected my backpack from the haweli and caught the midnight train to Jaisalmer, a city to the north east of Jodhpur. My train ticket was in the regular no-frills sleeper class of the train, which felt pretty uncomfortable as the compartment wasn't separate from the rest of the train so it felt that anyone could wander into where you were sleeping. My bunk was on the top, and my paranoia of having my backpack stolen meant that I pulled it up to the bunk and attempted, fairly unsuccessfully, to sleep with it.
Getting up to the top bunk was quite an effort, and involved using a small set of ladder rungs at the end of the bunk to pull myself up, and the small gap between the bunk bed and the ceiling of the train made it quite a gymnastic effort! I think anyone over 6 feet in height would find it quite difficult, and the limited length of the mattress made it more of a challenge, although the mattress itself was surprisingly comfortable.
I briefly chatted to the group of Indian post-graduate students in the bunks across and below from me, who weren't saddled with as much luggage as I was, and were more relaxed about the whole situation than me. So I lay there cradling my backpack and probably managed a couple or so hours of sleep. There is no bedding provided, so passengers bring along there own sheets, and I'd bought a cheap one myself for that purpose.
The train got to Jaisalmer just after 6am, and the guy I'd met in Pushkar who travelled a fair bit round Rajasthan recommended a particular hotel, the Sky Plaza. Getting out of the station, various auto-rickshaw drivers offered lifts to passengers, so I took one straight to the hotel, where I knocked on the door and a man who had obviously been asleep let me in, showed me to a room and after negotiating a price, I managed to get a couple of hours sleep, which felt luxuriant after being on the train.
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| Jodhpur Fort |
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| Jodhpur Fort |
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| Jodhpur Fort |
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| Jodhpur Fort |
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| Mirrored Palace |
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Howdah
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| Night view of Jodhpur fort |
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