Heading into the blue: the city of Jodhpur

Wednesday 26th September: 

Rawla Narlai, Narlai to Ajit Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur

The highlight of the day: Marianne holding court in the rural village of Sar

Group photo with the be-turbanned staff at Rawla Narlai

Our meet up time was 9:30 this morning, so after an excellent breakfast at the Rawla Narlai, we started our 3 hour journey to blue city, Jodhpur. 
One of the staff showed us how they create these amazing red turbans from 10 metres of cloth: very impressive! 

The gardens of the lovely Rawla Narlai Hotel and the huge rocky outcrop that overlooks the town. There are steps to get to the ganesh which sits at the top but estimates went from 300 steps to 700 steps to 1000 steps (local boy on bicycle!)
so none of us tried it out!

One of the open patios for relaxing 

On the road to Jodhpur we came across
 a group of gypsies or 'nats' dressed in 
bright colours wandering along
 the side of the road. They are
 entertainers who do acrobatics, sing, 
dance etc

These two married women were deep in conversation as we drove past.
They cover their faces with their long headscarves, sometimes completely. This practice began when the Moguls invaded and brought Islamic customs with them so it is an Indian version of a burka.

The other feature of the rajput women's clothes are these huge traditional bracelets

Jodhpur is the biggest city we have driven to so far and is certainly the busiest to date. Known as the blue city, after the colour used on buildings by holy men, Jodhpur is comprised of predominantly pink buildings, built with the local pink sandstone.  Our stop for the next two nights is the Ajit Bhawan Palace Hotel in the middle of Jodhpur and to our surprise, we are glamping, right in the heart of Jodhpur! 

Woven beds

Our individual bungalows represent tents, built with cement sides and tarpaulin roofs. The rooms are large, comfortable, air conditioned, with pitched, fabric ceilings. Rather luxurious! 
Our evening excursion was another unique experience. We gathered in the lobby around 3pm and were bused to Sar, a small village about an hour south of Jodhpur. Here were were welcomed by the  our guide from Outback tours, the village elders and holy man of the village along with a gaggle of curious children. 

We visited the home of an extended family, 3 brothers and their wives and children, who live off the land and the home of a potter, whose family have thrown pots for over 400 years. 

Muslim and Hindu are living together in harmony in this village; however, we were told this is unlikely to last past this generation, due to the  current teachings of the village head / holy man. 
We were welcomed with the local traditional opium ceremony.

Whilst we only had one slurp of the opium mixture
this guy had 4! His daily fix I guess

Only the men participate in the ritual, held twice a day in the village and also when visitors arrive.  While opium usage is illegal, the government turns a blind eye to this practice.

Preparation of the opium

The opium is heavily diluted with molasses and further diluted with water and is taken by mouth.

Jenny trying out the opium

The original state of the opium before being mixed
with water and molasses

 

Children came from everywhere as we started our walk around the village. There was a clear fascination with our hair, skin colour and various shapes, but most of all with eye colour, blue in particular. One little girl covered her face when I took off my sunglasses and she saw my blue eyes. 

The village priest proudly holds his

granddaughter

This little girl had a mixture of ash and ghee
 smeared under her eyes to ward off evil spirits

We returned to the main house and, after thanking our host, climbed into Jeeps ready for our next journey. 
Although barely 25 miles from Jodhpur, we were driven past antelope, rabbits and other unseen creatures to what felt like a campsite in the heart of the desert.

G&T anyone?

Located on a small plateau, the site was the perfect place to sip on the odd G&T or beer while watching the spectacular sunset. 
Our guide shared his cooking secrets while preparing a delicious feast eaten by us as the full moon started to rise. 
Dinner over, we headed by Jeep back to the village and to our waiting bus for the hour trip to our hotel. Another amazing experience spent in excellent company.