Jodh-pause

Friday 2nd May

- enforced rest day, due to illness
- some orientation through Jodhpur's labyrinthine streets

the Mehrangarh Fort - 10/10 on the Come and Have A Go If You Think You're Hard Enough fortification scale.

after a hefty sleep and a good rest, Edd was raring to go today and climb up to the Mehrangarh Fort. fate had other ideas, however; Philippa had been up repeatedly overnight and nauseous. we delayed our start and rested a little longer to see if she would recover. since we both needed some more money, we thought that a quick trip to the clock tower area to find an ATM would be a good, short test of Philippa's health.


it was on this jaunt that we discovered that Jodhpur is the most difficult place we have yet been to find our way around. despite having an enormous Fort looming above the Old City, for most of the time you cannot see it due to buildings crowding in above the street, making directions somewhat problematic through its unplanned, winding, blue washed passageways. a route that we would later trace in 5 - 10 minutes took, on that first attempt, over half an hour.

by the time that cash had been withdrawn it was clear that Philippa was not only low on power but actually ill. the open drains we were now used to would hardly have helped, but matters worsened before we managed to get back to Yogi's, our hotel. the only sensible thing to do was for her to lie down, rest and go to sleep under the air conditioning unit to try and bring down her temperature.

that's a pretty specialised clientele

[Edd - with Phil out for the count, i ventured out to explore a little. the route to the Fort was far easier to locate than that to the clock tower and it certainly looked too steep for someone not feeling well. i bumped into a couple of English lads trying to find the clock tower and chatted with them as we all sought it out. they'd been in India for four months, and yet greeted no-one with 'Namaste,' made no attempt to smile or say hi to people and ignored all of the schoolkids asking to shake hands. they were nice, pleasant guys to speak with, but i wondered how you could not smile and say 'hello' to kids in India. then again, everyone's experiences will be different.

Clocktower and Mehrangarh Fort

on the way back to Yogi's, i discovered that our neighbourhood is excellent for sweets, bangles and pharmacies, but very little else. the streets were bustling as always, with many young kids, immaculately dressed in clean and pressed beige and red check uniforms, swinging their bags through the dirty blue streets.]


back home, Philippa seemed better but still wan and we both ended up falling asleep. India creeps up on you sometimes and knocks you out when you least expect it. by the time we were both awake once more Phil was beginning to power up again. we had a fruit salad and a drink on the roof and went for a local stroll, the heat still not inconsiderable in the late afternoon.

the streets of Jodhpur

the area around the clock tower is said to be a great market area, but most of it was closed, or maybe we'd gone on the wrong day. apart from a raucous vegetable and spice section doing a roaring trade with the locals and groaning with a multitude of unidentifiable coloured edibles, the area's main feature appeared to be limpet-like children.




we had a brief wander around and back up homeward, taking in the Gulab Sagar tank, another large artificial reservoir-like water source chock full of many different types of fish. we were also hailed by a fast talking man - also called Nandoo, as was our Pushkar puja priest - who we had met in the street in Jaisalmer. he claimed to be some sort of trader, using the same patter as he had in the Yellow City and even suggested we might see him in Udaipur. where is that tracking device?

pull the other one, mate

dinner was again taken at the rooftop restaurant, another fine meal, delivered swiftly and for a very low cost. the end of day two of our second month hastened in - after a couple of days of relative inactivity, tomorrow's village safari that we have decided on prior to the exploration of the Fort may prove quite a test, but it will be good to get back into the saddle again.

our very best to all

edd & philippa