Another big day for the travellers, First I need to comment that I have had a cold that has developed into a nasty asthmatic cough that is not only driving me mad but also everyone around me. In fact a number of people on the bus are coughing and spluttering. A cold has ripped through the bus but in my case, and I’m sure in other cases it has become really asthmatic due to the poor air quality.
We set off at 7am to head to Jodhpur. Nothing much to report. We arrived in Jodhpur at around 12.30 and came straight to our hotel. Some of us got our room keys straight away and some of us had to wait until the rooms were cleaned. No prizes for guessing which group we were in!! But it was all sorted out and we were ready to hit the bus for sightseeing at 2.30pm.
Our first destination was Jaswant Thada, a C19 royal cenotaph built in honour of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. It was, of course absolutely beautiful. Climb steps up and up!!
Then we set off for Mehrangarh Fort. Now, steps up and up just doesn’t cut it. We ploughed up a very steep slope and some of the group stayed behind as you look up and see people miles above you in the palaces within the Fort. It is magnificent.
The blurb says that the palaces of Moti Mahal, Phool Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, the Sileh Khana and the Daulat Khana…noteworthy for the splendour and glamour of a bygone era…to quote. It was indeed splendid but the walk up was daunting, steep and overwhelming. Then you saw people way, way above you, even when you got to the first courtyard. I thought that there was no way I could do this, some stayed behind but I didn’t want to give up so up I went…and I made it, and felt very pleased that I had. The guide has given me a bit of a reputation for persevering that I have now to live up to.
Back down we came, and I confess I was exhausted. We were then to go to a fruit and veggie market, I was very underwhelmed by this, I mean how many fruit and veggie markets have I seen in my day??? But it was too late and was therefore ditched. Thank god!!
Back to the hotel. Had to sort out a few blimps with Sally, have a G&T with my NBFs and then I skipped dinner. Had washing to do, washing to sort for the hotel to do, emails to write and get ready for bed.