Rajasthan- Day 4- Journey to Jodhpur

The group was running late, as usual. We raced to catch our bus at the bus station, and just barely made it. The bus was half sleeper/half sitting. And crowded. The journey would take about 7 hours. The bus had a very obnoxious horn that grated on my nerves, but I simply sat there and listened to music and waited for the time to pass. We did sit at train tracks for a really long time waiting, for what I believed, a nonexistent train, when after about 45 minutes it finally passed through. But the sights along the way, as typical rural India is, were beautiful! There were all these mysterious walled enclosures, like wannabe secret gardens along the way that I am unsure their purpose. There were literally plots of land enclosed by a two foot high stone wall. I think perhaps they just have a surplus of wall builders and needed to give them something to do. I also noticed an abundance of hot pink turbans. Turbans tell you the region and occupation of a man. I wonder if the classified for a shepherd read “must be able to herd sheep, spend long hours alone, and carry off a pink turban.”

We finally arrived in Jodphur. As usual, met a lot of hassle, and finally made it to our guest house, Durag Niwas. This is a family run guest house and the people couldn’t be nicer! We checked in, and then sat down and enjoyed a meal with the owner, Govind. Jodhpur is a very polluted and dusty city, bustling with activity. We are on the outskirts of town and I am grateful for that! The rickshaws here are a class of their own, and embellished to the extreme! I’ll have to post some pictures of them. Rachel and I ventured to the clock tower to take in the Sadar Market. We stopped in Baba Art Emporium where we were shown beautiful bed spreads that are supposedly made for every top designer you can think of, I had a hard time believing every single fashion icon in the industry shops there, but they do have picture proof of Prince Charles and Richard Gere. Everyone who meets us tells us that Richard Gere was in their shop! Coming back to the guest house, empty handed, we faced a battle with rickshaw drivers. Luckily with fierce competition and 20 rickshaws waiting nearby, we usually win the bidding war. I read some of my new book, and then we headed out to dinner at Uncle Sam’s Pizza. Uncle Sam’s had some disappointing food and service, but the experience was worth it, and we were probably the only Americans to have ever eaten there, so they were pretty upset when a few of my travel mates left in a huff. We returned again to the guest house where I enjoyed some caramel custard and apples and curled up on the rock hard bed to go to sleep.