Day 97 - City Trousers

My guidebook writes "Camel farts and sore bums aside, the camel treks are generally great fun". It is true. Camels are gassy, our bums are a little sore, but we are having a great time.

This morning we woke up early enough to catch the sunrise over the dunes. The camels were also waking up, and rolling in the sand like huge, ungaingly horses, farting and grunting with pleasure.

In short order, the camels were packed with the beds, bedding, and dinner supplies. We were loaded up in front of the packs, and headed back into the village where a breakfast of tea, fruit and toast was waiting for us. We had lovely time visiting with an international family currently living in Australia, but had to cut our chat short in order to head out to Jodhpur.

On the way, we drove through yet more desert scenery. The road was a virtual river of brightly-dressed people carrying banners on their way to toadside temples and festivals. We stopped at a pure tourist restaurant where the waitstaff was all young Indians wearing Jodhpurs and turbans. It felt terribly colonial and insulting, and I was glad to be away from there.

The outskirts of Jodhpur are dusty and seem particularly dirty. The old city, however is known as "The Blue City", and is very nice. It gets its name from the blue colour on all the buildings of the quarter. Orginally only Brahmins could paint their buildings blue, but now anyone can. Aside from looking nice, the colour is cooling in the summer, and acts like a natural insect repellent.

Above the town lie the city's two main attractions. The white Cenotaph of the kings, and yet another fort. The cenotaph is done in white marble with loads of delicate carving. It is said that it was one of the models for the Taj Mahal. Whether this is true or not is anyone's guess, but it is a very nice piece of architecture.

This fort is particularly well-preserved as a museum with an audio guide and several interesting exhibits. It also affords very good views over the city. By the time we finished exploring the fort and cenotaph, it was getting dark, so we headed back to our hotel for dinner on the roof and a cold shower.

Most places we have been staying claim to have both hot and cold water, but in reality, the water is just cold, or at the most lukewarm. That said, even when hot water is available, we rarely use it. It has been so hot that our nightly cold shower is one of the highlights of the day. Many of the hotels offer the option of bucket shower, or a western showerhead. Depending on the position and state of the drain, sometimes we use the bucket, sometimes the showerhead. In either case, we have had very good luck with our laundry.

You may remember that we packed only a few shirts and trousers. With as much sweating as we are doing now, we are doing laundry pretty much daily. Having a bucket is a great convenience. After everything is washed, we usually string our clothesline across the bathroom, open the window, and shut the door. The result is a veritable sauna when we need to use the toilet, but the clothes dry in record time!