We reached Jodhpur at 2200 hrs and got into two auto rickshaws at the station to show us a few places to stay in. After some searching, we found a beautiful hotel in the center of the Jodhpur clock tower (Ghanta Ghar) area. It is actually a temple called Tijamata Mandir, half of which has been converted into a hotel. The place was stunning with beautiful decor and was one of the best places we have ever stayed in as part of our group trips! It even had a rooftop restaurant with a wonderful view! Of course, it was more expensive than the Jaisalmer hotel, but at Rs. 1000 a night, it was actually a good bargain, considering that all 5 of us were in the same room. The room by itself was okay, but the hotel was wonderful.
But more about the hotel later. It was already 2300 hrs and we were hungry. There was only one restaurant open around and the rickshaw waalas dropped us there. It was an awesome Muslim joint (don't even need to specify. All Muslim restaurants are awesome!) and we chomped on a lot of liver masala and bheja fry among the equally tasty chicken curry and naans. We finished post midnight and this being a small town, there was no transport to take us back to the hotel. The owner of the restaurant was very helpful though and he told his sons to drop us on bikes. With 2 sons, 2 bikes and 5 of us, they had to make 3 trips to drop us to the hotel and the warmth of Rajasthani people continued. It really amazes me to see the difference between the people here compared to every idiot we were acquainted with during our North trip and especially in Delhi.
In Jodhpur, we continued with our laziness and watched TV for a good couple of hours at least. Chandu and I spoke through the night long after everyone was asleep. When I was finally tired of all the talking, I fell asleep and the day finally ended.
16 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
The next day we woke up to more TV with Mahabharat from our younger days. I wonder if kids watch it anymore. It used to be our staple Sunday morning for so many years! We got up from our beds and took a shower only when we were hungry for lunch and went to the rooftop restaurant. The view was beautiful and we were totally loving this hotel! Only drawback - since this is a temple, only vegan food is served here, and they do not serve alcohol.
Doorway to heaven!
Walk in the door and find the beautiful garden and restaurant beyond
Take a left and the hotel room corridor can be seen
Get into the corridor for the cleanest, whitest floor!
After entering the main door, take a right instead of the left and find the temple areaPost lunch, we left for Mehrangarh fort in an auto rickshaw for Rs. 100. I also called my friend Shubhra and told her that I was in town and we made dinner plans. Tickets to the fort cost Rs. 20 plus Rs. 50 per head if you want to take the elevator to the top. We wanted to go walking, but we had reached late and the guide advised us to take the elevator to save time. The guide costs another Rs. 200 and a camera costs Rs. 50. We had 2 cameras and it would be a waste of money to pay 100 bucks for cameras. So we told the guy at the counter that we would not use one camera so if it would be okay for us to pay for one. And true to the Rajasthani warmth, he said it was absolutely fine!
Our guide was a man with the traditional mustache and we had a great time listening to the history of the fort. When the tour was done, we were at the top of the fort looking at the blue city below. We sat at the edge and looked below. It's times like these when I feel like free falling into the depths! Vedant wanted to look at the other end of the fort-top and dragged me there. The fort was closing and we had to leave soon so we walked back towards the stairs where the rest of the gang had already left. Soon, we caught up with them and were looking for a rickshaw at the foot of the fort when a local told us he knew a shortcut we could walk through to the city below. It was just a 5 minute walk downhill and we couldn't believe that the fort was so close to where we were staying! And to think we wasted money on a rickshaw ride!
The real man!
As blue as a city can get!We wanted to buy some beer and while we asked the helpful man directions to a wine shop, we decided to show our thanks by offering him something to drink. To our surprise, he immediately accepted and so we bought him some alcohol to make his night!
As I sipped on some nicely chilled beer back at the hotel room, Shubhra called. It was time for me to leave. I was to take a rickshaw to her house, from where we would go out for dinner. But I was distracted. Over the days, Chandan and I had become close and I wanted to stay and spend more time with him. But this was Shubhra, my best friend from school, who I hadn't met in so long! Friendship had to come first and so hesitatingly, I left.
At Shubhra's place, I also met her husband Pankaj and beautiful 2 year old daughter, Trisha. We left for a suburban hotel - Bal Samand Gardens. It's a pretty place which used to be a bunch of stables in the king's time, which have now been converted to rooms. In the center is a large open area, which serves as a restaurant. It was really cold and the waiter will get you a personal hot coal container to keep your table warm.
I wasn't very hungry and I really just wanted to get back to the hotel. But as we drove back, Pankaj offered to show me the Umaid Bhavan Palace which I'm glad I said yes to. Because it was mind blowing at night, with the lights making it look more royal than ever! Pankaj and Shubhra have courtship stories around Umaid Bhavan and I couldn't help smiling at the romance the place brought.
Pankaj dropped me to the hotel (after I forgot the way) thanks to local passersby's help. Back at the hotel, the guys had just finished their dinner too and we were back to TV. I was showing Vedant my skills of removing hair from the root using just my nails and used Chandu as an unwilling volunteer. As I plucked a beard hair right through, he got really pissed and didn't talk to me at all after that! But I didn't even know! He just kept quiet and went off to sleep. After the rest of us watched some American Idol, I was finally ready to sleep.
17 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
The next morning, I was woken up at about 0530 hours by Chandan pulling my eyelids open! He was awake and, well, he just thought it appropriate to wake me up too! Somehow, I didn't mind. We spoke until everyone else got up - I told him how my dinner with Shubhra was and how much me and Debarati missed her not being in Bombay. And other general stuff. And while we were talking that morning, we had a moment. A moment where we both got quiet and there was what is popularly known as sexual tension. Lol. By now, people were awake and Fahim kinda figured that there was something brewing between Chandu and me and the rest of the trip, he would sing "Ringa Ringa" from Slumdog Millionaire to us, with a teasing face! I've never been embarrassed by all this teasing, and so I played along, smiling and saying "Aah, so now u know!".
I wanted the rest of the gang to also see Umaid Bhavan and so off we went. The Palace is up a steep road and the rickshaw was so slow that we could read messages written on the rocks at the edge of the road at least thrice each! Umaid Bhavan is truly majestic and we hung out for a good while. We didn't wanna do anything for the rest of the day as our laziness increased. Also we had a train to catch that evening and so we came back to the hotel.
Back at Ghanta Ghar, I set out to buy some salwaar-kameez material for my friend, Priti. She'd asked for pink bandhni material and I just hadn't found the right pink or the right combination of pink with another colour. While at the market, I found Chandan following me around, with nothing he wanted to buy himself. I knew the man was feeling just like I was :)
For lunch, the guys wanted to go back to the Muslim joint and eat, but I was pushing to try a new place. Why stick with the old, I urged. Eventually, we ate at a bad hygiene restaurant with okayish food. We were hungry and too far from the good restaurant and I was cursed a lot. My bad! We ate and did some shopping at a nearby market. I finally found the pink material I was looking for, and also picked up a kurta for Mhatre, which Manish had forgotten to pick up when he was in Rajasthan.
At 1845 hrs that evening, we got on to our train to Bombay. Our trip was ending! However, my travel days were not ending. I had received a call from office a few days earlier asking me if I was okay with traveling to the Philippines as soon as I came back from my vacation. I didn't have any problems and had said yes! As luck would have it, all my visa stamping was done in 3 days while I was vacationing and I was to leave on the 19th! And I was just starting to like Chandan! What timing! Damn!
We played more charades on the train and then all of us except Vedu went out to the door for a smoke. Now this is illegal and I should know better, but we were rightly punished for it. While we were smoking, this scene emerged:
Gayatri: "Koi pakadta nahi hai kya idhar?" ("Doesn't anybody ever get punished for this?")
Chandan: "Ab tak toh aisa hua nahi hai" ("It's never happened before.")
Alpana (with cigarette in mouth and spotted by a TC): "Uhh...I think we are caught!"
LOL. The TC didn't say much - just asked for a fine of Rs. 200 per head! And we were like whaaaaaa....that would be 800 bucks! Almost as much as room rent at Jodhpur! We negotiated, but the TC wouldn't relent. He asked us girls to get back to our seats while he spoke with the guys. When we came back, we told Vedu our story and he went off towards the TC, laughing! With the extremely amazing bargaining power that he has, he brought down the total fine to Rs. 200!
So we decided to hit the sack before anything else went wrong! Chandan and I weren't getting any sleep though, for obvious reasons. And we wanted to settle some stuff out. None of us were really sure about the other's love life status. If we were both really single or not even! So we talked about where we were in relationships and we were pretty much in the same place. Both had been through big breakups in the recent past and it was kinda putting things into perspective for us. Again, we slept really late after a whole lot of talking.
18 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.
We reached Bombay at 1200 hrs. At Borivali, we were picked up by Manish and Roopali and Chandu and I went over to their place for lunch while Gayatri and Fahim went back home. Vedant had already gotten off one station earlier. We saw Manish and Roopali's wedding and engagement pictures over some bread and chicken. I left soon after to reach home quickly. Catty was not well and I had to see her. But that's another blog post. The next one, in fact.
And with that, ended the Rajasthan trip. It'd been a good one. :)
