{Better get published now than sit in the draft forever and here goes the last post from my Rajasthan trip of December 2018.}
Stories from Day 6, 7 and 8.
I had booked a cab on makemytrip to travel from Udaipur to Jodhpur. The cab driver arrived on time and we started as early as 6:30 AM. The plan was to reach Jodhpur by noon.
Jodhpur Stories
We knew we had reached Jodhpur when we were welcomed by blue buildings everywhere. The city spoke highly of its title Blue city.
I was most excited to visit Jodhpur as I was looking forward to stay in a Haweli. Haweli’s are the older houses of Jodhpur dating back to 200 years.
Jewel Palace Haweli
The owner of the Haweli rightly said no Google maps will help you to reach my place as the roads are so narrow that no cabs can enter the circuit of old Jodhpur. With getting stuck at few gallis’s, I realised it was best to stop the cab and opt for an auto to reach the place.
We reached the place after going through a series of blue buildings. First thing I did after reaching the place was to go to terrace. The Haweli had a spectacular view of the Asia’s biggest fort; Mehrangarh fort.
The haweli also has a cozy cafe serving continental and Indian cuisine. There also is a rooftop service with view of the majestic Mehrangarh fort.
The owner and the staff were super courteous. We ended up teaching them how to make buttermilk the south indian way and they aced it!
When we were going through old Jodhpur, what I noticed was there was hardly any space between buildings and the houses. They all looked like a powerful maze from the top. All the houses are connected by common walls and can jump across terraces.
Places Visited:
Mehrangarh Fort
Fort that will take you back in time, one of the largest fort in Asia.
Mandore Garden
Mandore garden was unique with huge temples with intricate ceiling and pillar work and with lots of monkeys in the area.
Umaid Bhavan
A quarter of the palace is open to public which is converted to a museum. I did not enjoy this place much as I was overloaded with museums at rest of the places.
Jaswanth Tada
A white structure, a tomb built in the memory of Jaswanth Singh II, that overlooks the blue city. The place is well maintained and peaceful.
Rock Garden
If visited end to end, this will demand half a day. We walked for a kilometer and headed back as we were running out of time. The place is deserted and a path is carved out of huge rocks. One can also spot lot of cactus plants.
Jodhpur Markets
Best place to visit is in the evening for shopping of all kinds of Rajasthani items.
Osian ka Pyaar
This was special. We got to stay with a local family and experience the authentic culture of Rajasthan. The owner of the house picked us from Jodhpur city in a Jeep and drove us first to Osian temple; a temple which is more than 3000 years old with Shri Osiya Mataji as a diety. The architecture was simply marvelous.
As we hit the roadway leading to Osian village, the view of mustard fields with yellow flowers on either side of the road was a pleasant thing to watch. We had finally entered the Thar desert region. We spotted lot of camels that were decorated with colourful artifacts.
After a rough drive of 10 kms, we had reached the home of our host. It was 7 acres of land with desert everywhere! At their home, we were greeted by his family members; his wife, 3 little sons and mother.
We then freshened up and ate a heavy Rajasthani lunch of Dal Baati Choorma, lasang ka pyaaz, sarson ka saang and more.
Around the house, there were very few trees called Kejri trees grown in the area. The house had few goats and 2 camels. I took a look at goat shed which were like tiny huts and camel shed. Around 4PM, owner climbed on one of the Kejri trees and cut the twigs. The goats raced to eat them. He told the trees help in improving the quality of goat’s milk.
Goat’s milk was fetched by the house lady and fresh tea was made from the milk. We savoured the tea watching the infinite dunes of sand.
The camels were brought in for a ride now. Just as it was the time for sunset, we went on a camel ride on the sand dunes. It was my first camel ride ever! Hold the camel tight else you will get toppled as the camel stands. I was remembering the stills from SLB’s movies watching the horizon.
I walked a lot on the desert till I felt tired. This was surely my best memory of endless walking on the sand dunes trapped in the silence with an occasional screaming of peacocks in the background.
Sunset on desert was the best sipping chai again. Moon rise was perfect just after. I laid down on the meshed cot gazing at the full moon and the star lit sky enjoying the chill breeze in the moonlit land of golden sand.
The house had a small flour mill where Bajra was freshly ground and rotis were made using firewood for dinner.
With barren land, tourism is sort of like the only business to run the family.
For direct bookings, you can contact: Nainsukh Osian(9660436875)
Happy Travelling!