Jodhpur looks pretty much like every other Indian city. There are really nice places next door to slums and filth. Our hotel was closer to shops and restaurants than the last couple so we went out to local restaurants rather than eat at the hotel. For lunch we got a Thali, which is kind of like a little personal Indian buffet. It has rice, and naan, and a raita (yogurt dish) and a veggie and usually a Dal (yellow lentils) and a sweet. Some have more and some have less. Buzz and I split a Thali and could not eat it all and with a large bottle of water, the meal cost $3.74.

The Jaswant Thada Memorial is kind of like a cemetery (which they do not have in India because they cremate). This was built by a maharajah to honor his father and serves as the cremation ground of the royal family. One of the coolest things here was the sun was hitting the marble walls just right. Some of the marble was translucent so they looked like they were glowing with the sun peeking through.

The Mehrangarth Fort is the largest fort in Rajastan and considered the most well preserved. Built in 1459, it rises 400 feet above the city and is gargantuan! . We have seen a number of forts and they have a few things in common: narrow, twisty roads going in to slow down an invasion, an armory, and living quarters. The men and women lived separately and the women were not allowed to join in any public displays or celebrations. They had “screened” or latticed windows that they could see out and be a part of the public life but no one could see them. Forts were built to protect their wealth and their women from potential invaders. The forts were usually several stories high (this one was 100 feet high) and most of the living quarters did not even start for several stories. The views of the surrounding city or countryside are expansive. Jophpur is called the Blue City and many of the houses in the old city are still painted a deep blue.

One more very cool thing about this fort was the portable stairs that they could move with them as needed. Not sure why they would need to move stairs but they were awesome!

We saw a turban wrapping demonstration while at the fort. The amount of material was astounding.

Hundreds of years ago, if a soldier was going into battle and the odds did not look in their favor of returning, their wives would throw themselves onto a pyre so they could join their husbands in heaven. I totally agree with this concept. (Have you stopped laughing yet?) Here is a plaque in the fort honoring some of those women:

Our hotel in Jodphur was once a palace and we had a ground floor suite that was vey cool. Too bad we were only there one night. At the restaurant, they were featuring a special Thali for the Mother Goddess festival. So Buzz and I ordered one to share. They said “no, one Thali, one person.” We didn’t understand but did not want that much food so we ended up ordering a dish that was 1/4 of the price but they let us split it. We found out the next morning from our guide, that some Thali’s are refillable so that is why they would not let us split it.

We were only in Jodphur for less than 24 hours so since this is a short post, I will take this opportunity to tell you about 3 more interesting tidbits about India: catfish, electricity and male domination.

We noticed the catfish in a couple of places in Thailand, too. Unbelievable how they actually climb on top of one another to get to the food people throw for them.

We have lost electricity every day in India, at least for a few minutes, sometimes hours. Mostly it has not been a problem except in Jaisalmer where we lost it for hours in 107 degree heat. But most large hotels and restaurants have back up generators and they kick on quickly. More interesting to us than that is the electrical switches. They make no sense. One hotel room we were in had 23 electric switches!!! We have yet to be in a room and been able to figure out what each switch controls. Many of the sets of switches have their own switch to actually power on the switches. And all the hotels have a major switch which turns on the power to the whole room and cannot be activated unless the key is in the switch. So it is almost impossible to charge computers while you are out (except for the one time we took the metal key off the plastic card and left the card in the power switch while away.) These switches are all from the same hotel room and there was one more set of 8 or so in the bathroom. Another thing we cannot understand is that in many places half of the light switches for the bathroom are outside of the bathroom and half are inside.

So now for male domination. So no surprise that this is a male dominated society but I did not dream it would be to this extent. Every where you see groups of boys and men, hanging out, drinking tea, eating in restaurants. I have yet to see a group of women doing the same. It is simply not done; women do not go to restaurants or tea shops. Almost every store, across the whole country, is attended by men. Women shopkeepers are almost non-existent except for some fruit stands in small towns. I have seen one woman tuk tuk driver in a land of billions of tuk tuks. We have seen some women scooter drivers (more in Kerala which you will read about later than anywhere else.) Ok, so all this does not really affect me. But what does affect me is the way every man addresses Buzz for everything: how was the meal, sir? Do you need anything else, sir? Good morning, sir. One of our drivers who was with us for 4 days did not address or look at me for almost a day and a half! So, you all who know me, know that I purposely interject when they address Buzz just because I can!!! Women’s liberation has made few inroads in this country. That’s it for now.