Our trip to Jodhpur was in the evening and we were hoping that the train would be quiet enough to grab a free sleeper for some kip. No can do, largely because we had not checked our tickets closely and were actually in plain second class. Seven hours on a plank was interesting and people watching was impossible because everyone was watching us but we shared some particularly tasty pakoras with a friendly Indian and the carriages were a cheaper price than the sleepers (can you believe 1gbp for 1000kms) so we chomped happily on our 20p snacks until we reached the blue city.
It was so late by the time we got to Jodhpur that the famous blue buildings weren't
visible. We collapsed into our room at the Cosy Guesthouse, ignoring the dust and choosing to see the character instead and fell into a fitful sleep in the 30 degree heat of the night. The next morning we woke to a sea of blue. The rooftop terrace, whilst too hot to sit for long, afforded amazing views of the old city. Blue washed buildings boasted orange lined windows and bright green doors. The monkeys jumped from terrace to terrace stopping occasionally to gaze at the Jodhpur Fort set on a hill towering over the city streets and surprisingly brown in defiance of the sky blue both below and above.
The blue comes from the copper sulpher used to paint the structures to prevent termite damage and in the sun it turns the buildings blue. On the ground, the streets are so narrow that dodging the auto-rickshaws and leap frogging the cows (who seem to realize they are sacred and can therefore wander wherever they like) becomes
quite a sport. It was just too hot to wonder around in the day and we chilled in the Cozy Restaurant until late afternoon when we visited the Jodhpur Fort. The audio guide was excellent and gave a great sense of history and the pomp of the Maharajas. We had our palms read in the Fort for what turned out to be spot-on in terms of our personalities although later we became skeptical - had our entrance into the office given us away? For example, Steve was rather accurately described as hating objects out of place such as a desk lamp placed three inches from where it normally sits. But maybe when he placed his bag on the floor and then looked at it and moved it so that it was precisely 360degrees to the left gave him away? Anyway we discovered that we would be exceptionally happy after our 48th year. Not long to wait then.
At 11pm that evening we caught the sleeper train to Jaiselmer and after being bombarded by aggressive camel trek touts for ten minutes the lights went out and we slept in peace dreaming Maharaja's painting whole cities blue.
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