A 6 hour train journey of around 200 miles in 2nd class took us to the Blue City – Jodhpur. A fairly uneventful trip with us both taking to our top bunks (not so easy for Debbie to climb the ladder with her still-dodgy arm), the Australian-Indian couple below managing to warm up a curry somehow, the wife telling everyone that she’d not liked Jaisalmer, the Austrian couple telling us (1) how awful Varanasi is – unfortunate as we are committed to going and (2) how they are traveling for 3 weeks with rucksacks weighing only 8Kg. We are ignoring point (1) given that we have train & flight tickets booked, and think that point (2) is a miracle!

We were due to arrive after 9pm, so the hotel sent the food menu by WhatsApp so we could order in advance. Given that our hotel was in the rabbit warren of tiny lanes in the old town, we got them to arrange a tuk tuk driver who knew where they were going. Deepak was in touch via WhatsApp to check on train progress and arrange meeting point, and on arrival came running towards us, holding his phone with Debbie’s WhatsApp profile picture on display to prove he was our driver. Two thoughts struck Debbie – (1) what the hell did we do before WhatsApp as the whole of India seems to run on it? and (2) that picture is over 10 years old, people may think she’s deliberately trying to hang on to a slightly less wrinkled appearance!

Pre-booked tuk tuks may cost a bit more – this was £3 with tip – but the ease of having someone meet you and whisk you through the chaos is worth every extra penny.

Our hotel, Geel Heritage, was a recently restored and family-run haveli, a small ‘palace’ set around central courtyard and a bit like a riad in Marrakech, in the heart of the old city. We were greeted with necklaces being placed over our heads and our bags were carried up 2 flights of stairs (thank god) to our room, a lovely big space with newly installed bathroom – clearly this was a very recent restoration. We’d paid quite a bit extra for the ‘mountain view’ room, but the window was so high up, and we were so close to the 100m high fort walls that we were straining out necks to see the fort and we realised we’d probably wasted our money on the upgrade, and anyway there was a magnificent and much better fort view from the rooftop restaurant. Literally just as we took our seats for our much needed Kingfishers and pre-ordered dinner, at after 10pm, India beat New Zealand in the cricket (2025 Champions Trophy) and all hell broke loose on the streets of Jodhpur – horns blaring, drums beating, fireworks exploding – they certainly know how to celebrate sporting victories in India.

A heatwave arrived in Jodhpur, and most of Northern India, the following day. With the mercury hitting 38 degrees (8-10 degrees above the seasonal norm), the combination of heat and tiredness saw us hit the wall – so we just had a gentle walk around the shaded parts of the old city, a mooch around the clocktower market and step well, considered a purchase from ‘The Omelette Shop’, visited a jeweler where Steve bought Debbie a beautiful turquoise necklace on a striking and unusual silver chain for her belated birthday present, and had dinner on another lovely rooftop with fort view.

Our relative laziness meant that we then needed to see the sights in a single day, and still feeling a bit lethargic and with the heatwave continuing we hired Deepak and his tuk tuk to show us the best of Jodhpur.

Stop 1 was the colossal Umaid Bhawan Palace a few miles out of town and towering over Jodhpur from its hilltop location. The 365 room pile was the 6th biggest private residence ever built, taking 3,000 workers more than 15 years to complete. Nowadays, presumably as he can’t afford the upkeep, the Maharaja has sold most of the palace to a luxury hotel operator and that establishment does not welcome casual visitors, most certainly not sweaty messes in their sandals. So instead we marveled at the outside, the scale of which is beyond belief, and took a look inside the wing that is available to those not prepared to pay over £600/night (cheapest room) for somewhere to lay their head. Just that small portion of the palace gave an insight to the magnificence of the building and the opulent lifestyle that was led there after its construction in 1929. This was very much the lavish way of living synonymous with the Indian privileged classes and aristocracy – polo, fast cars, fine art & furniture, a drinks menu with several champagnes and 5 types of sherry! Debbie purchased a beautiful scarf in the Palace shop – ridiculous as it was probably 3x the price that she could’ve got one for in town, but it was exactly the right colours and still only Rs 600. Another reminder of first world problems and the importance of keeping feet on the ground and things in perspective – at home something like this would cost £20+ and put it in a boutique then you are looking at double that or more, we really don’t need to quibble over a couple of quid – but remind us of that when we need to watch every last penny in Japan or Australia!

Stop 2 was the fort that we could see from our bedroom window. You can get to it on foot, via a 300m steep climb apparently – sod that at the best of times, and even less chance in 38 degree heat – or take a 3Km winding road by tuk tuk. Deepak dropped us at the gate and suggested we should purchase the elevator ticket. Do we look that old and unfit? Yes – and we were very grateful for his advice! The fort was more modern than Jaisalmer and Bikaner, but the visit only gave access to a very small part of the hilltop area and we weren’t sure whether it was the heat, but we felt a but ‘forted-out’. Rajasthan certainly has a good few of them. The most memorable part of the visit was the amazing views of the city walls, old blue city below, and the palace in the distance. We were staying in the old city, and our havelli and others buildings around us were blue, but the area on the opposite side of the fort was ‘blue-er’ and very striking. We planned to go there later in the day but didn’t quite make it.

Stop 3 was just a short distance from the fort – Jaswat Thada, the Taj Mahal of Mawar, a beautiful memorial in marble built in memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II of Jodhpur (1873-1895). Another very beautiful building – we were becoming rather blase about them – and full of French tourists.

For our final evening in Jodhpur we splurged on the highly rated Indique restaurant, on a roof top (aren’t they all?!) and obviously popular more with monied tourists than backpackers. We could tell this from the number of tables with ladies sharing bottles of wine (we still can’t bring ourselves to pay £30+ for Jacob’s Creek). We had some very expensive (and small) beers and a lovely meal, presented in beautiful modern tableware and served onto our plates. We were very excited to find lamb on the menu so both indulged – Steve on a Lamb Sagwala, Debbie on a Shami Kebab – beautiful. Interestingly we got 2 bills – one for the food and one for the beers, with each being processed through a different card machine and with different payees – the rules around booze in India still baffle us!

A very early start the next morning as tightwad Steve insisted on taking the bus to Udaipur (there are no trains) for ‘the experience’, even though we could’ve got a taxi for Rs 4,000 (around £36 at the rapidly improving exchange rate for a 4.5 hour trip) – so a 5am alarm it was, the boys in reception had slept on a mattress on the floor and were ready to take our bags, and Deepak arrived at 05.50 to get us to our 06.15 boarding for the 06.30 departure.

We liked Jodhpur – it had a very aristocratic feel to it – maybe next time we’ll blow some of Jonny’s inheritance and stay at the Umaid Bhawan Palace……