Chapter
1: CrashPad surprise
On a
warm & windy morning, I was sitting glued to my phone on an abandoned storage
trunk with a random name on it. Undeterred by chugs and some distant
announcements of arrival-departure of trains, I was busy calling different
hotels in Jodhpur. Ruffled hair with stubbles on uncouth dusky face, loose trek
pants falling over a sturdy trekking shoes, baggy polo t-shirt with a Ray-ban
aviator tucked in its placket and a huge rucksack on shoulders; I was piquing
interest of people strolling past me. A few local folks came asking if I want
some hotel in their broken English but were surprised when I replied “Bhaiya,
hindi aati hai mujhe”. Probably my get up got better of my desi
anatomy.
I was
looking at phone numbers on the website and reaching out to hotels to get the
best possible deal.
WikiTravels !!
What would have I done without you
J.
I wanted to strike a deal in which not only I get a cheap stay but the hotel
arrange for bishnoi village tour as well. I finally ended up with CrashPad
Hostotel. The guy offered me room at 500/- including breakfast and had agreed
to arrange for the tour. I took an auto-rickshaw and reached the location.
There
is no hotel here! Has the auto-rickshaw driver made some mistake or what! But then I saw a gentleman getting out of his white car, and reached out to me
in auto and greeted me with my name. It was the person who I talked to on
phone. He took me to a house nearby which went by the name CrashPad Hostotel.
 |
| CrashPad |
CrashPad is a hostel + hotel where they have
built-in dormitories in personal house. It’s sort of a rip-off of Airbnb, but
this is dirt cheap. When I saw the room they offered me, I was amazed. AC room,
nice mattress with clean bed sheets and duvets, well-maintained plush hygienic bathroom.
It was a 6 bed dormitory, but since I was the only tourist, so it was more of a
private room. All of this at 500/- per day which included breakfast. I patted
my back for this discovery
J.
Chapter
2: Jodhpur and its sobriquets
Jodhpur
was founded by Rao Jodha, a Rajput chief of Rathore clan, in 1459. He conquered
surrounding territories and formed the largest kingdom in Rajputana which came
to be known as Marwar (and its residents marwaris). It is called “The
Gateway to Thar” because it is on the edge of Thar desert. Jodhpur is also
known as “The Sun City” because sun shines bright and hot here throughout the
year. However, the most popular sobriquet of Jodhpur is “The Blue City”. This
is because of the blue tinge of whitewashed houses in the city of Brahmapuri
which can be seen from the top of Mehrangarh fort.
Chapter
3: Jaswanthada and Mehrangarh fort
In
Jodhpur there is no sightseeing arranged by state tourism department (like
Jaipur). But Ola cabs has a pretty good service here. After taking bath, I
booked an Ola cab and headed out to Jaswanthada which is 1 km from Mehrangarh.
Jaswanthada is a royal cenotaph built of white marble. A 1 km uphill walk and
you would reach Mehrangarh fort.
 |
| Jaswanthada |
Mehrangarh
fort was built around 1460 by Rao Jodha. Situated 120m above the city and
surrounded by thick imposing walls, it houses some of the most beautiful
palaces. Mehrangarh is a Rajasthani language version of Mihirgarh (Mihir means
sun, garh means fort; meaning Sun fort). Mehrangarh fort has 7 gates, the
prominent among them are Jaipol, Fatehpol and Loha pol. The museum inside
Mehrangarh fort is the most well-stocked museums in Rajasthan. It exhibits the
Rathore heritage in its full glory with an exalting collection arms, clothes,
paintings, palanquins and many other stuffs.
 |
| Mehrangarh fort with a statue of Rao Jodha |
There are many palaces inside the
fort complex –
Moti Mahal,
Sheesh Mahal,
Phool Mahal and
Zenana
deodi. Moti Mahal was the hall of public audience. Its walls are lustrously
polished and ceiling has gold embroidery. It has latticed windows for royal
women to see day to day proceedings of court without being noticed. It has a
beautiful eight-legged throne for the ruler with seats for noblemen on both the
sides. Sheesh Mahal was private hall with equally embellished ceilings and
walls embossed with tinted glasses.
 |
| Sheesh Mahal |
 |
| Top Left: Takht Vilas; Gold embroidered ceilings of Moti Mahal (Bottom Left) and Sheesh Mahal (Right) |
Takht Vilas, bed-chamber built by
Maharaja Takht Singh, is also great crowd puller. The lacquer paintings on
wooden ceiling and beautifully decorated floor which looks like a carpet speaks
volumes about the patronage the artists used to get from Rathore rulers. Once
you reach the top of Mehrangarh fort, you get to know why is this city called
the Blue City. One can see the city of Brahmapuri mantled by a blue shade. It
was beautiful. There are plenty of canons overlooking the entire city which
bolstered the security of Marwar kingdom.
 |
| The Blue City |
 |
| Left: Way to Chamundat Mata temple on top of Mehrangarh; Right: The Blue City |
I
came to know about ziplining tour conducted by Flying Fox out of Chokelao
garden within Mehrangarh fort. If you book online, you get a discount of 25%. I
did an online booking of the tour for a day later i.e. 1
st July. Instead
of actual price of 1800/-, I paid 1400/- as a result of that. After roaming a
bit around the fort, I came back to my room by evening.
I
took another bath and went on a walk through the city. I had read about mawa
kachori and makhaniya lassi of Mishrilal. So, I looked up the
location of the shop on map and went there. It was sumptuous, I must say J.
Chapter
4: Bishnoi Village Safari
I
woke up early in the morning (1st July) and got ready for the
Bishnoi village safari. The guide, Mr. Deepak, was right on time with his jeep.
We started from my hotel in his jeep at around 7.30 AM. After almost of half an
hour of drive, we were in city outskirts. The plan was to visit 3 families –
potter family, Bishnoi family and weaver family. There was something that I
noticed in these villages; anyone can enter these houses. No doors, no locks, no
permission required. These people were really forthcoming and a great host.
Despite being poor, they would never ask for any tip or so. For a second, a
thought did cross my mind; why are these guys being so friendly. But,
the people here (including Jodhpur city) have inherent quality of hospitality.
They don’t expect anything in return. I was smitten by this quality of these
people.
We
first reached potter family. There was an elderly Muslim man sitting on a cot
in the courtyard outside his hut. We greeted each other and had some random
chat about each other. Then came a young boy (probably his son) and he explained
me how pottery is done. Deepak used to interject our conversation with his
inputs whenever he thought necessary. The young boy, created the base material
which is a mixture of clay, gravel and saw dust. The saw dust is mixed so that,
when the pottery is put in kiln, it burns leaving behind minute pores which
causes the evaporation in clay pot leading to cool water. After rotating the
wheel he put a lump of clay (plus gravel and saw dust) on it and with his deft fingers
started giving it shape. Within a matter of few minutes, there was a beautiful
a
gullak (piggy bank) in his hands. Once he was done, he invited me to
try my hands. I had thought that it was easy task, but was humbled. A slight
mistake, and the clay will take a different shape. Only full concentration with
right amount of pressure from hand applied surgically will result in a nice
clay pot. What an amazing experience!!
 |
| Doing something creative with your hands is like healing !!! |
 |
| Top: My guide Deepakji; Bottom: A Bishnoi hut |
After
bidding adieu to potter family, we headed to meet Bishnoi family in Khejrali
village. Khejri is a tree that is considered sacred because it grows on its own
in this parched land. Bishnoi families follow 29 principles religiously most of
which promote environmental stewardship. In 1730, 363 members of Bishnoi
community laid their lives to save trees. They hugged trees to prevent its felling,
and were subsequently killed by the soldiers. The ruler, Maharaja Abhai Singh, then
apologized to Bishnoi community and ratified a law according to which no flora
and fauna was supposed to be harmed in Bishnoi area. One of the Bishnoi person
gave a demo of opium ceremony, which is a traditional ceremony of serving opium
to guests. However, it was not served to me
J.
It was just to showcase the rich cultural heritage of their community.
 |
| With a member of Bishnoi family |
From
there, we moved on to meet weaver family. Seeing them weaving a carpet so
meticulously was so exciting. When we see finished product, we usually don’t
realize the amount of effort put into it. Most of the time we think that it
must have been produced in a factory. But that is not always the case and it
really humbles you when you see the amount of manual effort put into creating
these items. This was the last lap of the safari/tour. We started our return
journey. I requested Deepak to drop me at Umaid Palace instead of my hotel.
 |
| Left: A weaver in action and his hut; Right: Inside Umaid Bhawan |
Umaid
Bhawan is the last palace to be built in India. The foundation was laid by
Maharaja Umaid Singh in 1929 which took 14 years to complete. The palace was
built to provide employment to thousands of people during famine. This palace is
one of the world’s largest private residence with present royal Jodhpur family
still residing there (Maharaja Gaj Singh). This palace is divided into 3 parts –
a luxury Taj palace hotel (since 1972), the residence of present royal family
and a museum depicting history of Jodhpur Royal family.
By
this time, it was already noon and I headed back to my hotel. Thanks to Ola, I had
a comfortable commute at a cheaper rates in hot sunny weather. I took bath and
checked out of hotel at around 1.30 PM. The owner was kind enough not to charge
for another day for staying extra 2-3 hours in the hotel. Once again Jodhpur’s
hospitality impressed me.
 |
| Beautiful Umaid Bhawan |
Chapter
5 – Ziplining
I
reached Chokelao garden in Mehrangarh fort at around 2.30PM. My ziplining slot
was at 4.30PM, so I had another 2 hours left. I struck a conversation with a
guard there and we talked for about an hour or so. He told me a lot about
Rajputana, Marwar and their history. We sat in the beautiful chokelao garden and
chewed the fat for almost an hour. Every day, at 3.30 PM in Mehrangarh fort,
there is an amazing spectacle. A man, named Latif, feeds eagles from the top of
the fort. This is an old tradition by Rathore rulers who believe that up until
they continue feeding these eagles, their kingdom will be safe. However, no one
is allowed to be near Latif when he performs this. I was in Chokelao garden at 3.30
PM when eagles started hovering above the fort. This according to that guard
was the best spot to see this activity. Latif came at 3.30 PM and started
throwing meat for eagles. Eagles somersaulted through the sky competing against
their fellow brethren to win the prized flesh. This continued for almost half
an hour. I was astonished to see the courage of that man. On one hand, I was
scared every time any eagle lowered its altitude to catch the piece of flesh
and on the other, there was this man, feeding eagles who were at an arm’s
distance from him. This, by the way, is the reason why the hill on which
Mehrangarh fort is built is called
Cheel ka teela (Mountain of eagles).
 |
| Latif making eagles do acrobatics |
It
was 4.30 now. My slot had 2 other folks joining me, Filipino and Walter. They
were from Italy and were pursuing Ph.D in economics. I struck a conversation
with them and we had a small discussion on Greece economy before we were
interjected by our instructor. A no-waiver form was signed and then we were taken
for a little practice to help us with a few do’s and don’ts. A few drills and
we were ready to zip. Our ziplining tour comprised of 6 ziplines, ending at the
original location. I had done ziplining in Dandeli, but this was different for
2 reasons. Firstly, this was shit scary. I was crossing hills which were almost
120m above the city level. Just looking at the zipline and then looking below
was throwing a chill down my spine. Secondly, I had my friends with me in
Dandeli; here I was alone, no one to lighten up the mood. When I reached the first
zipline spot for making that jump, thoughts of backing out crossed my mind.
Morbid thoughts were hovering like eagles I had seen an hour ago, trying to
hijack my courage. I was trying to palliate my heart by remembering my parasailing
experience in
Goa.
Finally after infinite self-assurances, reassurances, I made that jump.
Whoaaa……………….s.i.l.e.n.c.e…………………the
subsequent weightlessness made my stomach go upside-down, my heart stopped, my lungs
broke the ribs and reached my mouth………………… AAAAAAAA ………… I shouted my lungs
out; not once but multiple times.
 |
| Fil, Walt and I on our way to first zipline |
 |
| One of the longest ziplines |
The
second zipline was even scarier, at a higher altitude. But I was more confident
this time. The sixth or final zipline was the longest. But my now, I was a
veteran J.
Fil and I had each other’s photos. So, we took each other’s email ids and
promised to share once we reach home. Both of us maintained their part of deal
and kept the promise.
I
was done with ziplining by 6 PM and was craving for some food. I took an auto
and headed once again to Mishrilal’s shop to have yummy
mirchi bada,
mawa
kachori and lip-smacking
makhaniya lassi. After filing my stomach, I
walked down to railway station to head Jaisalmer.
 |
| I, Fil & Walt (Left to Right) |
 |
| Jodhpur treats - Mehrangarh fort, Ziplining and Makhaniya Lassi |
Next stop - Jaisalmer
Train - Jodhpur-Jaisalmer Express (14810)
