Mon,Nov 30 - To Jodhpur, The Blue City

As breakfast wasn't served until seven, we got to sleep in until six!  I was feeling pretty logy, but had an OK night.  I just had some toast and chai tea.  Our bags were picked up and we joined the other on the bus for the six hour ride to Jodhpur.  The weather was clear in the 60s when we left, warming up to the low 80s.  There still was a hazy layer about 30 degrees up from the horizon which made it very difficult to see if we were driving through a flat plain or if there were hills on the horizon as the visibility was only about 2 miles.

We drove on the smooth six-lane tollroad and our bus driver expertly wove us back and forth across the lanes, around slow trucks and motorbikes while Bob and I wheezed and coughed.  We stopped for a rest stop and lunch at a garden restaurant, and finally reached Jodhpur at about three, where we picked up another history guide who took us to  the Mandore Gardens, an area that was settled as early as the 4th century and ruled by the Rathore Rajputs in the 1300s whose monuments are in the gardens.

We first saw a long wall of Hindu gods and goddesses carved into a stone face and then painted.

We then walked over to a group of cenotaphs (where ashes are buried and are plainly decorated, from the 1600s.  There are also high ornate towers of Sikhara which do not contain ashes of the deceased and are decorated with gods, elephants and other figures.

   A Sikhara

                                                   

   Detail

    Both Cenotaphs and Sikharas

The area is inhabited by many Black-faced Langurs, non-aggressive, playful monkeys whom the locals feed.

We then drove to the lovely Bal Samand Lake Palace & Garden Retreat, and, as it wasn't quite dark yet, walked through the extensive gardens of this Maharaja Palace.  We came to a huge peacock fountain that unfortunately wasn't on, and climbed up to the top where a dam had been built in 1157 , which must be one of the first large dams ever built.

   The Peacock Fountain

We didn't actually get into the old city where the blue buildings are, but we are returning to Jodhpur, after we visit Jaisalmer.

We walked back to the bus and checked into our nice rooms (the former stables of the Maharaja) and went to the restaurant where we had Indian and French food, which was a pleasant change.