Happy Halloween! There are no ghosts or goblins running around here, but I did wake up to a beautiful desert sunrise.
It was a little cold, but we all survived our night in the desert.
We packed up and headed to the camp for some warm coffee and breakfast. Over breakfast, we had a deep conversation about international toilets. Turns out, I was using the squat toilet wrong. I knew something wasn't right! Instead of facing the door, like we do in the US, you keep your back to the door. Using them properly makes a world of difference--trust me. Martina said that she has encountered a few squat toilets that make you spread your feet so far she had to take off her pants to use them. I suppose wearing a sari has a few extra benefits I didn't initially realize. Men have it easy--they can and do go anywhere at anytime. There are also urinals along the street, but don't expect to find one that has a front wall. A cow or motorbike may bump into you while you are using it. And around here, toilet paper is like gold.
After breakfast, we drove from Jaisalmer to Jodphur, about a 5 hour ride. We stopped along the way for some lunch--more tandoori chicken and some dal. I ran into a few people I met at the desert camp. We were all on the same route to Jodphur.
Jodhpur is nicknamed the Blue City because there are many blue houses located outside the city's fort.
The city is famous for its spices. MV Spices is recommended in all the tourist books and Lalit recommended it as well.
They sell just about any kind of spice you can think of and have a good selection of teas as well.
I had a sniff of their most popular spices and teas. The owner will email recipes upon request.
She also schooled me on how to distinguish real saffron. Many of the markets here sell chemically treated newspaper claiming it is saffron. The fake saffron, above, breaks up into a mush and doesn't distribute its red/orange color evenly.
I walked around the city's markets before heading to dinner.
Jodphur loves the bangle!
You can buy just about any color or design. The glass ones are the most popular with tourists. Married Indian women wear only red bangles on their left arm whereas single women wear different colors. Widows wear white bangles. I hope I never need to buy white ones....
This clock tower sits in the center of the old city.
I sported my sari while I walked around the old city, which is why i didn't take many pictures. I am usually a pretty good at multi tasking, but taking pictures, keeping my sari in the right position, avoiding cow dung, and navigating through the market was enough to keep me busy. The numerous comments I received telling me I looked Indian made it pretty clear that I didn't look Indian. The women mostly smiled at me a little friendlier than they usually do; the men made comments ranging from "where is your bindi" to "you look like the prime minister" (my favorite).
I dined at On the Rocks. It was a little more romantic than I wanted for dining solo, but they had a large outdoor screen broadcasting WWF. So while drinking my kingfisher beer and eating my chicken dish with onions, tomatoes and red peppers, I brushed up on my wrestling moves.
I discovered that my sari doubles well as a mosquito net.
My hotel was down this street on the left hand side.
The room was pretty clean.
The hotel's rooftop restaurant had a very good view of Mehrangarh Fort.
Tomorrow I will spend the afternoon in Jodphur then head to Ranakpur in the afternoon.
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Location:Jodphur, India
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