Jodhpur, the Blue City

We squeezed one more Rajasthani city into our travel itinerary over Thanksgiving weekend- this time we explored Jodhpur, the Blue City. Jodhpur was founded in 1459 and grew out of the profits of opium, sandalwood, dates and copper.

We stayed at a really cool hotel, the Ajit Bhawan. It's a Heritage hotel, meaning it's historically preserved and has tons of nooks and crannies all over the place. In fact, we spent quite a bit of time exploring the hotel! We had a super-cool room overlooking the pool, with our own private patio.

Once we'd arrived, gotten settled and explored the hotel a bit, we headed over to the Clock Tower and the surrounding Sardar Market. It was an incredibly loud, dirty, busy, crazy place...we were a bit overwhelmed especially since we had the kids. We lasted about 1.5 hours before we headed back to the hotel for dinner.

The buffet dinner was served alfresco (outside) with live entertainment- a group of men playing Rajasthani music, singing and dancing. There was one particular little boy who's footwork was just incredible! Ryan was especially curious.

The next day was dedicated to the Meherangarh Fort and the Umaid Bhawan Palace. The Fort was a pretty good one- great views of the Blue City (the Brahmin caste is predominant in this city, and they paint their homes/shops blue) and interesting architecture. There was a big collection of howdahs (seats for carrying people on an elephant's back) and royal infant bassinets. One thing I'll say is the the FLIES at the Fort were unbearable- there were millions! We lasted till early afternoon then headed over to the Palace, where the current Maharaja still lives. It was an interesting little tour, showing the Royal Family's world-over collections of glassware, furniture and clocks. A nice, quiet (and fly-less) end to the day.

Sunday was spent over a leisurely breakfast, a bit of window shopping and our flight home. Overall, it was a worthwhile trip, and we enjoyed having some family time outside of Mumbai.

Here's a glimpse!