Across The Dusty Plains
So eventually it was time for me to leave the Golden City of Jaisalmer. It was a beautiful place to be for awhile, but my guesthouse was booked out for the weekend, and that gave me the motivation to move on.
So I walked down to the local bus station, jumped on another bus, got stuck on the very back seat again (what is it with me and back seats?), and rattled and bounced my way to my new destination, Jodhpur.
The plains between the two cities were mostly vegetated for the whole distance of about 250km. And, as this is India, and road quality is generally pretty iffy, (and bus quality even iffier), it took nearly 6 hours to cover the distance.
We passed a few towns on the way.
I hope you don’t find these roadside snaps boring. It’s not that there’s anything particularly photo-grabbing in the pics, it’s just the scene. There’s always so much going on, I personally find it so interesting.
These flags are for the Congress Party, the second most popular political party in India, which is led by Rahul Gandhi, the son of Rajiv Gandhi, who was once Prime Minister.
Rajiv himself was the son of India Gandhi, who was also PM before him, until she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984, as revenge for a military action her army carried out inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the preeminent of all the Sikh temples anywhere in the world.
And just to complete the picture, India Gandhi was the daughter of the very first PM of India after independence, Jawaharlal Nehru.
India Gandhi’s dynasty is not related in any way to the most famous Indian Gandhi of all, Mahatma Gandhi, who led India to independence in the first place.
At the last election in 2019, Rahul Gandhi’s Congress Party only won 19% of the vote, with the party of the current PM Narendra Modi, the BJP, getting 31%. Due to the way the electoral system works, the BJP won 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, the Indian parliament, and Congress only 52.
The next federal general election is expected in April or May of next year.
However, there’s an election for the Rajasthan State Legislative Assembly, the Vidhan Sabha, on November 25th, and electioneering here is in full swing for that.
People are hugely involved in the process, there’s political rallies every single day, for various parties. The Congress Party currently rule Rajasthan, they won 108 seats at the last election, compared to the BJP’s 70.
Food wallahs outside our bus. It’s perfect, sometimes they’re there just at the right time, just when you’re hungry and thirsty.
And this is what they were selling. These are mirchibada, large green peppers stuffed with a spicy potato/veg mix, and then soaked in chickpea flour batter and deep fried. A Rajasthani specialty. Bloody delicious. Btw that thing sticking out the bottom is the stem of the pepper.
Mirchi means chilli, and bada (or wada), is just a deep fried snack made of lentil or chickpea flour. Wadas are a common snack everywhere, especially in South India.
The Blue City
By late arvo we finally made it to the outskirts of the large city of Jodhpur, and there just happened to be a small local bus going in my direction.
Google Maps is so bloody handy. Once my local bus got as close to my guest house district as it looked like it was going to get, I jumped out and strolled the last couple of clicks.
Animal Street
Including a horse-drawn carriage
And really bad parking
Eventually I passed through the ancient walls and entered the old city
More party politicking
I’ve seen a few burqas here already. This city is about 75% Hindu and around 20% Muslim.
Sweet men
Basket ladies
These shops are all over India. The sweets are delicious, and there’s so many varieties on offer. The dark brown squares in the middle are a Rajasthani specialty, gulab halwa, they’re delicious.
These are singoda, water chestnuts, the same ones as I tried in Bundi (the black ones), but these ones aren’t roasted, and tasted a little bitter. They’re great for rehydration, as they hold a lot of water. They’re also sold as powder, dried and ground, and are used as an Ayurvedic medicine which is apparently really good for your bone marrow. Of all things.
I made it to a guest house, this is the manager Raju on the rooftop. He’s really nice, as are all the multitudes of staff there. I’ve promised some of the girls I’ll help them with their English, and they said they’d teach me a bit of Hindi in return.
The view of the Blue City. Def not its bluest part.
View of the fort from another café rooftop.
Nowhere To Go
Awwww, it feels so good to be here, and I wanna stay for awhile.
For so many reasons.
This place is so interesting, and so beautiful.
The people are amazingly friendly, and willing to engage right off the bat, from young kids right through to old grandparents. I’ve been hanging out with the beautiful kids of a family who live across the lane.
I also have so many conversations on the streets during the course of every day. Sometimes people call out and ask me questions. Sometimes I’ll ask someone if I can take a pic, and twenty minutes later I’ll leave them, with chai, sweets and a warm feeling in my belly. So wonderful.
There’s loads of other reasons to stay too.
The food is so good.
I have a comfy, simple room, overlooking the city.
I have hot water! Now that’s a treat.
But, Jai Sri Ram! I do have a deadline of sorts. There’s an amazing festival going on in Pushkar now, the Pushkar Mela. It’s just started, and the climax of the celebrations will be happening over a few days, starting in a week or so. Unusually, I’ve booked myself a little room there, as the place gets totally packed out during the festival.
And I'm not gonna miss it. No way Vijay❤️
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