Day 15 – Jodhpur City Part 2
Day 15 – Sunday, 10th Nov 2013
It’s 6 am and I excitedly nudge Khyati to share something. With dreary eyes, she questions my sudden burst? I tell her my dream last night where I was zip lining across mountains and was going endlessly. I felt exhilarated and was on cloud nine. What a wonderful dream! I wake up soon and catch up on my writing while Khyati dozes off for another 10 minutes only, listen for the 10!
It’s 8:30 am and we are finishing breakfast and we plan to head out soon. Similar to car rental concepts in Western countries, most cities in India offer bike rentals. We were interested in exploring this. The prices were Rs 300 for the day and they give you an empty tank of petrol and you bring it back empty. We checked out the bike and everything looked good but when we asked if they provide us with 2 helmets, they didn’t have any. I didn’t feel that comfortable without helmets in a new city. For me, wearing a seat belt or an helmet is an absolute must. We chose to take the traditional Rickshaw route again.
First stop was Umaid Bhawan Palace. It was the royal residence until 1950s or so. Later that decade, the royals sold part of the palace to hospitality groups and today, the palace as it stands is 80% sold to Taj group of companies and it’s a popular 5 Star hotel. The remaining 20% has been converted into a museum and it contains portraits of the kings. For us, Umaid Bhawan Palace felt brand new. Taj group had given it a modern look and feel. The ruggedness, old and historic feel of forts and palaces was missing here. Oh well, we take a tour of this place and take few pictures.
There was a vintage car collection in the palace arena, cars as old as 1930s were kept in mint condition. These cars were stored behind glassed walls and my efforts to take a good picture failed as the glass reflection posed a hurdle.
Umaid Bhawan Palace
Khyati and the vintage car collection at the back
in the palace
It’s 1 pm and we are relishing some mango kulfi and chocolate ice cream. Next stop is Mandore gardens and fort. The rickshaw wallahs were charging exorbitantly and giving false information. One of the rickshaw wallahs I haggled with told me that the distance is 21 km while Google Maps showed it to be 10 km. There is no point arguing with them because they just choose to ignore you at this point and are just interested in your counter offer if any.
We take the rickshaw to the local bus stand and take the bus to Mandore. The buses are small 15 seater ones and privately owned and operated.
We reach Mandore around 3 pm and walk across the entire fort and garden area. The complex has a Shiv Mandir and we see people praying, enjoying and loitering in the park.
AIr Jump
AIr Jump
Views from Mandore Fort – oasis in desert
We head back to Govind Hotel by 6 pm. Tomorrow, we have a 5:30 am train and we go back to the railway station to familiarize ourselves with its surroundings. Jodhpur railway station is a huge junction and has a well marked sign along the clock tower.
Clock Tower
Post dinner, It’s 9 pm and we call it an early night.
Thank you everyone for your comments so far and enjoy the reading.
Best,
Paras