The blue city

I skipped a proper breakfast and had just juice and crackers before walking to the Marwar bus station and buying my bus ticket early for Jodhpur.  I boarded the bus and waited.  Another backpacker boarded and was getting flustered as he couldn’t fit his “Kathmandu” brand backpack into the racks.  That is a New Zealand brand which more commonly used by Kiwis and Aussies.  I introduced myself.  His name was Lachlan from Melbourne.

The bus set off around 0900, about 30 minutes late.  Most people on the bus were locals, probably from the farming community.  It was mainly country roads and whatever buildings we saw, few had any English signage. There was no lunch stop but only pauses at intermediate stations.  So I was glad to have brought along some deep-fried snacks from the station this morning.

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We arrived in Jodhpur around 1400.  Lachlan came with me to my pre-booked accommodation at Haveli Guesthouse, which was just as well as I had no small change to pay for the auto-rickshaw.  The place had no cheap rooms but he found something suitable next door.

I had a nice room with bathroom.  Lachlan came back and we had lunch together upstairs before resting.  From our vantage point, we could see the blue houses below which has given Jodhpur the nickname, “The Blue City”.

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I explored Jodhpur a little, on foot going to the square with its clock tower.  I relaxed for the rest of the day before taking dinner inhouse on the roof, with a view of the fort.  The hot and sour soup had plenty of flavour while the pakhora curry had none, or perhaps my tastebuds had been numbed by the former.

As I finished, Lachlan turned up.  After dinner we shared a beer while enjoying the night view of Johdpur, the darkness and the lights from the houses below and the fort above.