I enjoyed my free breakfast at the hotel's rooftop restaurant, then headed to Mehrangarh Fort to see the inside.
View from afar.
I'll just touch on the fort's highlights.
Cannonball battle scars.
Sati handprints. When a princess lost her husband in battle, the town would have a ceremony/celebration. On her way out of the fort/palace to perform sati, where she would walk into the fire that contained her husband's remains in order to join her husband in a celestial union, she would make a hand impression on the fort's wall.
This metal plaque commemorates a human sacrifice. Someone cursed the fort with a drought. A holy man said the only way to undo the curse was to perform a human sacrifice. A man volunteered and his body was buried within the fort's wall.
View from the inner courtyard.
The women upheld the tradition of hijab. These decorative window screens allowed the women to look out but prevented men from seeing the women who lived inside.
The "pleasure room." I'm told a lot of dancing occurred here.
Jaswant Thada, a temple for the remains of royalty, is a short drive from the fort.
They say the finest transparent marble was used to make it. I think someone got ripped off, because I didn't see any transparent marble.
Nonetheless, it was still a gorgeous temple.
I loved the green shudders surrounding the inner windows.
I can't get enough of their unique instruments. It cost me 10 rupees to take this picture, so I hope it was worth it.
We swung by an art gallery on the way to the palace. Jodhpur is famous for its miniature paintings. This one is surrounded by carved camel bone.
This is the entrance to Umaid Bhawan palace, one of the largest palaces in the world. For 50 rupees, about a dollar, you can enter the museum housed in one of the wings. I forked over the rupees and saw lots of old and expensive things. For $10,000, you can stay in its finest hotel room, which is housed in another wing. The best deal going is the $40 fee to enter the main palace and dine in the restaurant. It was the best $40 lunch I ever had. The royal family lives in the palace, but in a different wing than the restaurant. I heard the Prince stops by the restaurant every once in awhile. I would have dressed more appropriately had I known I would be dining in the royal palace.
It felt just like walking up the driveway to my house in NJ.
They knew I was coming and rolled out the red carpet. They parked my Jaguar with all the others.
I tortured the bellboy by asking him to take pictures of me in the main entranceway.
My camera wasn't cooperating, but we still managed to get a few decent pictures.
The stairways (there is another identical one on the other side) were impressive.
The photo shoot continued from the top of the entranceway.
It was easy to see why Elizabeth Hurley chose to marry her Indian textile tycoon here.
Inside the Trophy Bar.
I asked the bartender to pose too. He was very friendly and seemed accustomed to crazy tourists.
Not a bad view of the gardens from the restaurant.... I kept checking the menu to make sure I wasn't missing an extra zero on the price.
Inside the restaurant.
I would have paid the $40 just to use a clean bathroom. It was like heaven in those stalls. I even got to use a western toilet.
I ordered the shiitake mushroom cappuccino as an appetizer. They also brought me warm rolls with butter, garlic toast, a pea puree and a papaya spread. I didn't even perform my usual bug inspection.
Palace made ravioli stuffed with mushrooms in a creamy pine nut sauce. They called it "homemade" but I think "palacemade" sounds much better.
I didn't want to leave, but I knew Ranakpur was waiting for me. Next time I am wearing my sari and making a whole-hearted attempt to sneak into the other wing....
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Location:Jodphur, India
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