TrekDigest: Jodhpur, India, the Blue City

Jodhpur town square at twilight. Look at the activity, even as the day is winding down.

The tailor sewing, customers at the pakora cart. In the background, trucks and

motorcycles rage ahead near cows, and above it all - the ghost of the
British empire, the landmark clock tower.

Jodhpur - the Blue City, from the Fortress the Mehrangarh

Jodhpur, the Blue City of Rajasthan

After an afternoon train ride from Jaisalmer, we arrived after dark at the bustling Jodhpur train station. We were quickly ushered out towards the cabs through the crowds, into the dark, noisy night. Local travellers were sleeping outside, next to the station. Every free spot of ground was occupied. Something was moving at the base of the walls of the station....quickly and rythmically. Rats. Hundreds of rats, running in and out of cracks and holes in the walls of the station - scurrying around the blanketed sleepers. It was a startling but mesmerizing sight.

In the Fort, Jodhpur, India

Busy, crowded, colourful, friendly.....Jodhpur.

Mr. Sharma, astrologer, in Jodhpur, India

The Mahrangarh

With only one full day in Jodhpur, we headed to the Mehrangarh. The formidable, impressive fortress of Jodhpur, the Mehrangarh, rises solidly on rock above the blue city. It houses cannons, gates and turrets, grand palaces, jewelled rooms of maharaja royalty and an interesting, popular museum. We took the recommended audio tour. Famous astrologer, Mr. Sharma, read my palm and astrological chart inside the fortress. Astrology has been valued by the people of India since ancient times, and astrologers are consulted for many matters, including marriage compatibility. What better place for an astrological reading than India?

The Mahrangarh in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

In the fortress at Jodhpur

Markets near the Clock Tower Landmark

We walked around the lively Sadar market and the narrow streets and medieval bazaars of old Jodhpur. The marketplace was bustling, with crowds of local shoppers, carts with fresh produce and lunch foods, stores with teas and spices, beautiful bolts of fabrics, Rajasthani crafts, and household dry goods of all sorts. The friendly people of Jodhpur were happy to chat with us.

Spices and friendly people in Jodhpur, India.

In the old town and marketplace in Jodhpur

Vibrant Jodhpur

Jodhpur, a city of just under a million people, is rich in the cultural history of Rajasthan. It has a rural feel about it. Jodphur was the most colourful of any of the places we visited in Rajasthan, with a panorama of blue buildings, dazzling neon fabrics, sparkling handicrafts, and brightly decorated auto-rickshaws, or 'tuk tuks', as we called them.

I love my pictures from Jodhpur - some of my favourites of the entire trip. We stayed two nights in Jodhpur, as planned. It's a place worth visiting, on any trip to Rajasthan.