24 Fabulous Hours in Jodhpur

We arrived to Jodhpur on Missy's birthday after a rather long, sweaty, uncomfortable train ride. Expectations of Jodphur were pretty low since we hadn't read anything outstanding about the place, and because we were all anxious to get to Jaisalmer to ride camels. We only booked the hostel for that night and were planning on breezing through Jodhpur the following day to then jump on the night train to Jaisalmer. But, once again, India slaps me across the face with a "well screw you" and we ended up having a fabulous 24 hours in Jodphur.



The Omelette Man:

Breakfast in Jodhpur came to us by recommendation from the manager of our hotel. "Go down the road, turn left, then turn left, then you will see a man on the side of the road serving omelettes...get the cheese masala omelette...it is sooooo delicious!" SOLD. Literally, the man stands on the side of the road, his hair is orange from dying it with henna, and he has hundreds of eggs stacked up outside his cart. The entire scene reminded me of a Seinfeld episode. Mr. Omelette man has a guest book with raving reviews from global travelers and brags about the fact that he is featured in Lonely Planet. Homeslice has been serving omelets since the 1970s from a pushcart. I gave the man $1 and ten minutes later was literally lapping up the remains of my cheese masala omelette. Heaven.



Let's Just Shop:

I spent $350 in Jodhpur on souvenirs and Christmas presents. Once I started, I was on a serious mission. Missy and I spent 30 minutes in a jewelry store (because it was air conditioned), and we tried on traditional Indian wedding jewelry. I walked away with several gifts and an Indian head piece. I am determined to make the look popular in the US...someone quote me on this...

The spice market was a real treat. Farmers from all over Rajasthan grow their own spices and package them up for the markets. I can't wait to get home and try to make my own Indian food. Also, to my family who is reading this...get ready for some curry stocking stuffers this holiday season!

Paintings anyone? We literally stumbled upon a small art school and store and spent over an hour looking at handmade drawings, paintings, and stamps of camels, elephants, horses, and traditional Rajasthani images. The master artist has works that took him twenty days to finish, he had a collection of special pieces made by his grandfather, and he had tons of art made by his students. There were two small boys in the store practicing their strokes and technique to eventually make elephants. Our new art friend explained to us that he does not know how to get his shop into the Lonely Planet book and asked if we could help him. Missy and I really regret not getting Uncle Kev's email after our Dharavi slum tour. For the loyal followers, you will recall that Uncle Kev was our acquaintance from Mumbai who was in town to update the 2010 Lonely Planet guide. So, Uncle Kev, if by some miracle of God, you are reading this, please make sure your friends put ..... art store in your Jodphur Lonely Planet chapter. Please. The video below is courtesy of our friend, the art man, who made each of us a small painting of an animal on a lentil. I mean, a lentil. Absurd.

For those of you who are animal rights activists or vegan lovers, please skip this paragraph. If you do decide to read on, do not judge. Yup...we bought bags made from camel skin. They are beautiful and the shop owner promised us they were made only from camels who died naturally. I repeat, the camels were not killed to make bags. Indians need their camels for survival. To the camel community...I am a BIG FAN of yours and I am sorry if you find my purchases offensive.

Who wants to see another fort?

Not these girls. We boycotted the fort in Jodphur by not going in, but we did climb to the top to see the view of "the Blue City". On our way up to the fort, we found ourselves winding through different Jodphur communities. We ran into a man who was sitting on his front doorstep, just taking in the day. He saw us walking by and yelled, "WHAT COUNTRY!" When I told him we were from the US, his face lit up and he whipped out a binder from behind his back and called us over. In his binder were hundreds of bills and coins from all over the world. It was a seriously impressive collection. When he got to the sleeve of bills from the US, I noticed all he had was the $2 bill. Because I was feeling generous from my gift buying, I whipped out a $20 American bill from my money belt and handed it to him. Missy and I really thought the man was going to cry. My heart did flutter a bit by how happy I had made him. He gave me about $8 worth of rupees in exchange, but also blessed me and my family a hundred times. I figure he can pay it forward some day. He was a gem of a man and I am so happy we made his day.



After we left the money man, we made it maybe another thirty steps before we were summoned in by a friendly man to come enjoy the view of the city from his home and have some chai with him. Sure...why the hell not. He snapped some photos for us and told us about his family. His son is 28 and is studying at the local university and his wife was at the market buying vegetables for dinner. He told us he was some sort of doctor who works on people with cysts. What happened next is still a mystery to us. He asked us if we wanted a massage, and then started rubbing his "breastal" region. I nearly spit out my chai, Maire looked stunned, and Missy laughed at him and said "uhhh no we are ok...time to go to the fort now". I really think he meant well by his proposition, but it did make for a good laugh afterward. Only Missy would be proposition with a boob massage in India.



Finally after a few more pit stops to explain to various passersby why we were in India, we made it to the top of the fort. Another gorgeous view as the sun is falling on an Indian city. The pictures never do it justice. They call Jodphur the "Blue City" because half of the buildings in town are painted a beautiful blue color as a tribute to one of the many Hindu gods. Original...I know. In Rajasthan so far we have visited the pink city, the white city, the blue city, and the following day we were off to the golden city. That's a lot of color in two weeks.

After playtime at the fort, Missy and I meandered around an old Indian flea market. It was chaotic, packed, and vibrant; but we held our own. What fun we had digging through old jewelry, CDs, clothing, and other knick-knacks. I picked myself up a gold snake bracelet for $1. I LOVE INDIA! Flea market shopping was followed by a makhani lassi break. We sat at the juice stand and drank the lime mixture and watched young toddlers with lassi mustaches run around in the dirt. Ahhhh...to be young and reckless again.






Our day ended with a nice dinner at a restaurant with other foreigners, followed by the dirtiest overnight train ride imaginable. Truly, it was a horrendous experience. Sand and dust blew into the train windows for five hours. As we tried to sleep, the dirt collected in our lungs, clothes, luggage, etc. When we finally arrived to Jaisalmer, you could have made a miniature Egyptian sphinx out of the sand in my hair. It was 5am when we arrived, and I was dirty, cranky, and my throat was on fire. Turns out that I am just as big of a pansy as Missy when it comes to being sick in the desert. Not fun. Just get me on a camel pronto!