Our last and only evening in Bundi, saw us dining at the rooftop restaurant of the Shivam Hotel. Here, we met a quite persistent man who tried to push his business our way, offering us bus tickets and recommending guest houses in Jodhpur. We sat and had a nice meal while their pet tortoise roamed the floors beneath us banging into low hanging objects as it went. Our aim was to leave Bundi and head straight for Jaisalmer which turned out to be impossible without a stop over in Jodhpur. We had liked our time in Bundi, but didn’t find anything particularly special about it, having wished we had stayed in Pushkar an extra day. Earlier that day before our outings, we booked a sleeper bus to Jodhpur which would leave at 10:30pm and arrive at 7:30am the next morning. We hadn’t taken a sleeper bus yet, apart from the time when we got leaked on and were subsequently moved to the bunk at the back of the bus. We presumed it would be something like this. Our day was spent, firstly, contemplating going into the Bundi Fort and dodging the many monkeys, having lunch in the cool rooftop restaurant of Tom and Jerry’s and then dinner at the Shivam, passing time until our bus’s departure. Prior to Tom and Jerry’s, we had taken a wander through the many winding roads of Bundi, exploring everything around us, until the rain thundered down heavily above and around us, leaving us with no choice but to take shelter in a nearby ledge of a shop, which barely protected us. Looking across the road, we saw two tourists also taking shelter and we glanced at each other in amusement. Saying something telepathically along the lines of ‘This Is India’. Having said seconds before he arrived, ‘God wouldn’t It be great If a rickshaw (in a place with barely any rickshaws around) came by and took us out of these floods, our luck dawned on us when all of a sudden none other than a rickshaw pulled right over to the ledge to take us on board. The rain had lashed so heavily that within minutes the streets were entirely flooded which meant that we would have had to swim to a shelter of safety. Taking, another woman with us, we headed off through the floods, passing the tourists, and got dropped at Tom and Jerry’s where we enjoyed some chill time having lunch and using wifi to complete our blogs and catch up with the news at home.
Shivam took up most of evening before It was time to return to the guest house and take our pre booked Rickshaw to the bus station. It was a long wait in the make shift station, where we sat with our feet up in a nearby shop, avoiding the rats on the floor and watching a very captivating Indian drama on the tv. After constantly asking ‘Is this our bus’ or ‘bus to Jodhpur?’ every time a bus came along, we were finally told when our bus had indeed come. Trudging through the muddy grounds to the bus, we dropped our bags in the back and were then shown to our seats ‘H & I’ which was a quaint little double bunk complete with curtains and shutters on both sides blocking out the light. Laying on the damp mattress, we realised it wasn’t going to be a pleasant journey, and with 9 hours of, the bumpiest journey I have EVER encountered (Thanks to Indian roads), we finally got woken up from our light slumber when we had arrived in Jodhpur. With a crazy head of hair and no time to fix it, I hopped down the ladder grabbing my things and got off the bus. Hounded by touts, I began to get annoyed (anyone who has tried to converse with me this early will know what I mean) at the constant offers ‘Rickshaw, Rickshaw’, ‘Where are you going madam’. We finally took a Rickshaw to the train station where we booked a sleeper train to Jaisalmer for that evening leaving at 11:45pm and getting there at 5:30am. Not so bad, and Not so bumpy we thought.
We took a rickshaw to ‘a cheap guest house’ where, we hoped to leave our bags, nap and shower before our train tonight. After two stop offs, I was lucky enough to haggle a good price for a room for the day. 200Rupees- Not bad! We handed in some well needed laundry and started our day In Jodphur- The Blue City, with breakfast at the nearby Ku Ku guest house, which turned out to be a charm. The owner offered us a room in his guesthouse in Jaiselmar for 200Rupees and a free pick up from the station at the oh so early time of arrival. We booked it through him and felt very relieved to know this was sorted. Our day In Jodhpur saw us taking in heaps of incredible sights such as the Mehrangargh Fort, The Umaid Bhawan Palace, The Clock Tower and the very quaint Jaswant Thada which took up the whole day and made us feel a bit like we had spent our day very wisely. After a very slow lunch in Anil Sunrise guest house, we wandered the bazar and made a few purchases in the Lonely Planet recommended ‘Spice Shop’ nearby before heading back to the hostel to take a well-deserved nap. After a two hour sleep, we packed up all our stuff, paid our bill and headed to Jharokha rooftop restaurant where we had a fabulous meal with a spectacular evening view of the fort. Very romantic ha ha! That was until, the a storm came and we were all rushed inside under the canopy complete with wicker chairs, hanging decorating’s and tropical plants. This place was truly remarkable and the staff were super friendly and genuine. Finishing our meal off, we were joined in the restaurant by a group of Chinese tourists and their technological gadgets at hand, who sat and had a few beers near us, while we all looked out and listened to the crazy hurricane like storm. In true Indian ‘this happens all the time’ style, one of the staff even stood out in the storm embracing the rain. Nothing like Ireland then eh!
It wasn’t long before we paid our bill and headed back to get our backs, and hopefully bag a rickshaw to take us to the station. Having been one of the easiest transits to transport we had witnessed so far, we were in our beds well before the time of departure. It seemed that once again, our carriage and nearby carriages where full of tourists, which always made us feel that bit safer and maybe a bit excited that we may actually make new friends in Jaiselmar. We were picked up promptly at the time of arrival and whisked away to Hotel Mirage, located inside the Jaisalmer Fort, where we dumped our bags and joined our host on the rooftop for some very delectable early morning Masala Chai. We filled out some standard forms, looked through his Camel Safari album and comment book before retreating to our bed for a long nap.
Our time in Jodhpur was very sort but very exciting and we were proud to have used the time we had wisely to see what It had to offer. The city seemed to have a different atmosphere to Jaipur and Delhi which was crazy busy and didn’t really appeal to me as much as Jodhpur did. Don’t get me wrong all the cities had incredible sights to see, but as in terms of atmosphere, we really liked the way Jodhpur was portrayed to us and could only have hoped to have stayed longer. At least we can say we’ve been to and explored India’s Blue City.
Shivam took up most of evening before It was time to return to the guest house and take our pre booked Rickshaw to the bus station. It was a long wait in the make shift station, where we sat with our feet up in a nearby shop, avoiding the rats on the floor and watching a very captivating Indian drama on the tv. After constantly asking ‘Is this our bus’ or ‘bus to Jodhpur?’ every time a bus came along, we were finally told when our bus had indeed come. Trudging through the muddy grounds to the bus, we dropped our bags in the back and were then shown to our seats ‘H & I’ which was a quaint little double bunk complete with curtains and shutters on both sides blocking out the light. Laying on the damp mattress, we realised it wasn’t going to be a pleasant journey, and with 9 hours of, the bumpiest journey I have EVER encountered (Thanks to Indian roads), we finally got woken up from our light slumber when we had arrived in Jodhpur. With a crazy head of hair and no time to fix it, I hopped down the ladder grabbing my things and got off the bus. Hounded by touts, I began to get annoyed (anyone who has tried to converse with me this early will know what I mean) at the constant offers ‘Rickshaw, Rickshaw’, ‘Where are you going madam’. We finally took a Rickshaw to the train station where we booked a sleeper train to Jaisalmer for that evening leaving at 11:45pm and getting there at 5:30am. Not so bad, and Not so bumpy we thought.
We took a rickshaw to ‘a cheap guest house’ where, we hoped to leave our bags, nap and shower before our train tonight. After two stop offs, I was lucky enough to haggle a good price for a room for the day. 200Rupees- Not bad! We handed in some well needed laundry and started our day In Jodphur- The Blue City, with breakfast at the nearby Ku Ku guest house, which turned out to be a charm. The owner offered us a room in his guesthouse in Jaiselmar for 200Rupees and a free pick up from the station at the oh so early time of arrival. We booked it through him and felt very relieved to know this was sorted. Our day In Jodhpur saw us taking in heaps of incredible sights such as the Mehrangargh Fort, The Umaid Bhawan Palace, The Clock Tower and the very quaint Jaswant Thada which took up the whole day and made us feel a bit like we had spent our day very wisely. After a very slow lunch in Anil Sunrise guest house, we wandered the bazar and made a few purchases in the Lonely Planet recommended ‘Spice Shop’ nearby before heading back to the hostel to take a well-deserved nap. After a two hour sleep, we packed up all our stuff, paid our bill and headed to Jharokha rooftop restaurant where we had a fabulous meal with a spectacular evening view of the fort. Very romantic ha ha! That was until, the a storm came and we were all rushed inside under the canopy complete with wicker chairs, hanging decorating’s and tropical plants. This place was truly remarkable and the staff were super friendly and genuine. Finishing our meal off, we were joined in the restaurant by a group of Chinese tourists and their technological gadgets at hand, who sat and had a few beers near us, while we all looked out and listened to the crazy hurricane like storm. In true Indian ‘this happens all the time’ style, one of the staff even stood out in the storm embracing the rain. Nothing like Ireland then eh!
It wasn’t long before we paid our bill and headed back to get our backs, and hopefully bag a rickshaw to take us to the station. Having been one of the easiest transits to transport we had witnessed so far, we were in our beds well before the time of departure. It seemed that once again, our carriage and nearby carriages where full of tourists, which always made us feel that bit safer and maybe a bit excited that we may actually make new friends in Jaiselmar. We were picked up promptly at the time of arrival and whisked away to Hotel Mirage, located inside the Jaisalmer Fort, where we dumped our bags and joined our host on the rooftop for some very delectable early morning Masala Chai. We filled out some standard forms, looked through his Camel Safari album and comment book before retreating to our bed for a long nap.
Our time in Jodhpur was very sort but very exciting and we were proud to have used the time we had wisely to see what It had to offer. The city seemed to have a different atmosphere to Jaipur and Delhi which was crazy busy and didn’t really appeal to me as much as Jodhpur did. Don’t get me wrong all the cities had incredible sights to see, but as in terms of atmosphere, we really liked the way Jodhpur was portrayed to us and could only have hoped to have stayed longer. At least we can say we’ve been to and explored India’s Blue City.
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