An Englishman asked us to write more posts in English giving the very covincing reason that he never found it worth to learn any other language. Neither did any of his fellow countrymen so nobody can translate for him either. Well so be it, we switch again.

We immediately liked Jodhpur because the streets were lit a little better, noone was sleeping on the street and the heat was nicely dry. When we checked into the hotel Karin masterfully bartered for the price and the Hindugods were pleased with us so there was no room. No room, sounds awful you think? Luckily there was still a suite. The hotel also provided a pool, as I must say much to our delight.

The Meherangar as the fort is called is magnificent. It throwns above the city mighty as ever seeming absolutely invicible which indeed it was for 5 centuries. It dwarves any such construction I have ever see, mainly because of its superb location on a hill much like the acropolis in Athens but without the ugly city around it. Instead they opted for one in a nice blue color.

We adopted a rickshaw driver who waited for us at every stop and every morning in front of the hotel. He cheated us just as much as all the others but at least it became personal. Thank you Rana for picking us up at 5am. We paid 3 euros for this instead of the agreed upon two because I realized I wouldnt do this for 20 euros even. It didn't pay off because the train left two hours late but that's not his fault.

Karin went on a shopping spree while we were here and we can proudly say we overpaid at most three times. but for the big ticket items maybe only double. Karin now looks like a Rajasthai desert princess and is frequently compared to Bollywood actresses and tennis players apart from the routine praises of her beauty. Sometimes people also tell me that I am not very ugly.

The hotel was really awesome ad we used the pool extensively. The staff was very nice and gave us good tips. If you ever go to Jodhpur check out the Karni Bhawan and ask for the special rate for the Veer Durga Das Suite. :) Don't make the mistake and tell the driver to go to Umaid Bhawan. This 1929 palace monster was built because there was a severe drought. New Deal in India, the Maharaja gets a big palace and some poor sobs can work themselves to death. Long live the maharaja. He didnt ad his son also killed himself quickly and now this is a hotel with 300 rooms in gangsta art deco 70s style. We would have liked to take tea there but minimum consumption for us was 60 euros which is an average monthly salary here.

written by  karo on August 1, 2007 from Jodhpur, India
from the travel blog: India - Mumbai to Delhi with much in between
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...