Jodhpur

The alarm went off and we both ignored it! We both were exhausted but forced ourselves out of bed! The kitchen wasn’t even open so we left without breakfast in the hope we would find somewhere! No luck! We started walking down very small alleys to find a rickshaw to take us back to meet our driver! We passed a few and thought we had a little bit of time to kill so we kept walking…then we couldn’t find anymore! Eventually we stopped one and gave him the address our driver had written down for us but he said he did not know where that was…next one …same! Was beginning to look like we mite have to try and negotiate it on our own but then we found a rickshaw and he knew exactly where to take us! So we got to our carpark after a quick game of frogger and our driver was not there! We waited about 20 minutes and he turned up in a safari jeep with another driver who was going to take us on a safari out to see some rural villages just out of Jodhpur. We climbed in and it was very bumpy! When we stopped to drop off Sud we saw a stall selling fruit so Rudi jumped out and bought a bunch of bananas for about 40cents! That was breakfast! We headed out to our first stop on the village safari where we passed many children that would chase the Jeep waving and yelling hello and asking for a school pen! We just waved and said hello as we drove on by and one kid chased us for ages and when he couldn’t run anymore and we hadn’t given him a pen he got quite angry and gave us the finger! Was really quite funny as we have not experienced that here yet! Our first stop was a Muslim family that made pottery. They collected the clay from the lake and the lady did her thing with it and then the man had a stone wheel that spun on a wooden stick. He was so quick and very good at making all sorts of pots and vases! With some convincing Rudi got his hands dirty and had a go…I guess he did ok for a beginner! We bought a small souvenir and then headed on to the next stop. The next stop was another family way out in the middle of nowhere and here they offered us tea, and since we had no breakfast or no water on us and we needed to take our malaria tablet we hesitantly accepted! We watched the lady make us tea over the fire and then enjoyed our cup of chai! The younger girl of the family took me to the back of the hut and started to dress me up in traditional Indian clothing! Was pretty funny as the top was too small and I could hardly move but she was determined to make it fit! Rudi then got given the turban off the old mans head and we took a few photos. The old man then brought out a wooden apparatus and we were told to sit down and he got out a small stone from a bag. He gave it to us to have a look and told us it was opium. He then used a mortar and pestle to grind it up and mixed it with water and strained it through his apparatus. He then drank three sips from it. Rudi asked if this was a religious thing and he said no it is like an offering to a guest in his house, I guess a welcome. Opium is illegal but still widely used for medicinal purposes, relaxation, Viagra and it is often smoked during traditional wedding ceremonies. We left a small donation with the family and then headed on to the next destination. We arrived at another little village but this was a co operative where they wove Durry (carpet like rugs that look the same on both sides! He showed us how he makes them which was very interesting and told us they can take up to 7 months to finish one large piece. He then took us to his village show room ( a concrete room) and brought out his brag book! His work had appeared in magazines all over the world including Vogue Australia! He also had a signed letter from the Smashing Pumpkins who had made a purchase from him! He then brought out all of his work and did not push us to buy. I originally said no that I could not fit it in our bag and then almost instantly caved in and bought one! Rudi and I liked the same one so we thought why not! He got so excited when we said we would buy one it was really nice actually! His face lit up. He then came and shook our hands and thanked us for buying his work and told us we brought him good luck as two new people just walked in to see his work. He left us and a lady wrapped up our parcel and we headed on our way again! Last stop and most expensive stop was an embroidery and sewing factory. We were greeted by a young man who took us through to the factory. There was probably only about 6 men on very old sewing machines and about 4 women on the floor folding and sorting through hundreds of pieces of work. We then were taken through and dressed up in some traditional clothing, Rudi in some very attractive Jodhpur pants and a very glitz jacket and I was taken to a back room with the young man to get dressed in a Sari! A little bit of a weird situation as he stood and watched me get changed but all was ok and I was reunited with Rudi and we took some more photos! We then started looking at the beautiful products that were made in the factory and purchased ourselves a beautiful doona cover set and lots more bits and pieces! We bargained for awhile and were very happy with our purchase. Our young man Jamu tried to bargain us with a free scarf for Rudis watch. I snapped at him saying that he could not have it as it was a special gift from me to Rudi. He was very apologetic! He asked if we had any special Australian present we could give him and he did not like our offer of a pencil! I said I would send him something when we got home, thinking maybe a jar of vegemite but he said yes please maybe a watch, sunglasses or some perfume! They don’t want much really! Anyway once we collected all our purchases together it was rather large so we have decided at the end of India we are going to send a parcel back home as there is no way we can carry all we have bought! From there Jeep Man took us back to meet Sud who drove us to Jaswant Thada, Cenotaphs of the Rathore Rulers of Jodhpur-Marwar. It was in a beautiful location near a rather large lake on a hill right near the fort. From there Sud dropped us off at the Fort and told us it was a 10 min walk to the clock tower in town and then a short rickshaw ride home! We thought no problems and waved him goodbye! We spent the afternoon in the massive but completely beautiful Mehrangarh Fort/Museum. We had an audio guide with us so wandered around at our own pace. The size of the fort was massive and some rooms were exquisite. Lots of detailed lacing in the building where the women stood behind to look down into the courtyards to avoid the eyes of the staring men, beautiful stained glass windows and plenty of gold in the roof panels etc. After a few hours we found our way out of the fort and headed on the journey to walk back to town. We didn’t get far when a very lovely women sitting on the step of her house stopped us for a chat. Next minute we were inside her house and her husband was showing us around. He took us to his sitting room and told us to sit and relax! I was not relaxed! He then was talking to us about everything and anything and we got on to talking about my henna. He said since I only have it on my left hand it is just a fashion statement but that the right hand is good karma, for good life and good marriage etc. I stupidly said oh I will have to get the other hand done then, hahaha, and next minute his wife is there with the henna and painting my other hand! Lesson Learnt: Do not speak to anyone in India! It was very very cheap compared to what I paid in Delhi so we let her proceed and figured it was a donation. We sat there for what seemed like forever waiting for it to dry and making small talk with the husband. After about 30minutes of sitting doing nothing we realized he had been telling us for the last 20minutes that we could go! He must have been thinking when are these idiots going to get out of my house and we were thinking when the hell are they going to finish this henna so we can leave. Anyway we left and I just scraped off the henna when we got home as it was dry by the time we left! We got a little lost walking back though and ended up getting a rickshaw back to the hotel! It was more fun than our previous two rickshaw journeys as we had a young man who was a crazy driver and he was flying around like a mad man through these tiny alleys with pedestrians nearly being knocked over and motorbikes being bullied off the road! He was crazy but was fun! When he pulled up he asked us if we thought he was a good driver! We both agreed he was pretty good! Anyway so we are back at the hotel. Both starving as we hadn’t really eaten anything except a couple of bananas all day! We had a feast for dinner, a few soft drinks and just chilling on the rooftop again! Off to bed soon and then on to Ranakpur tomorrow!