A New Place and a New Look at Old Places: Jaisalmer, Jodphur and Udaipur

In my younger days, I was hungry to travel to new destinations. I savored every new stamp in my passport and “no backtracking” was my mantra.  Then I fell in love with a few destinations… London and Paris, India and Thailand…and realized that circling back was not such a bad idea.   Although I still enjoy visiting new places (Sri Lanka and Nepal are firsts for me on this trip for example), I have learned that repeat visits can offer new insights and experiences.

Last month, I traveled to Rajasthan for the second time in as many months, to spend time with my friend Elizabeth, a newcomer to India.  (She wrote a guest post on my blog about her experiences, if you want to check it out.)  Below are photos from Jodphur and Udaiput, two old favorites that I tried to see with new eyes, and from Jaisalmer, a city that was new to me and quickly won my heart.

Jodphur: We arrived during the celebration of Hanuman Jayanti, birthday of Hanuman, the monkey god who is a great favorite here in Rajasthan. The old city was barricaded off for a parade; throngs of people gathered along the curbs, and the vendors were out in full force.  Parades seem to be great equalizers in the countries I’ve visited.  They attract crowds of people from all walks of life, city folk and country folk,  rich and poor, young and old.  And, always, everybody seems to be having a good time.

This vendor moved through the crowd with ease, despite the loaded tray on his head.

These little girls asked to pose for me but put on their serious faces for the first photo. It just took a little bit of teasing to bring on the smiles.  Aren’t they adorable?

People camped out on the curb far in advance of the parade. I think they enjoyed the socializing at much as anything.

This handsome guy with the princely bearing was riding on one of the floats.

The next day, we visited Mandore Gardens where a few people were feeding the monkeys in honor of Hanuman’s birthday. This was a nice gesture, but caused the monkeys to get overexcited.  One of them went at a full run towards a group of people, knocking one man to his knees and bounding off of the head of a woman sitting nearby, no small thing as this monkey must have weighed at least 40 lbs.  Now, monkeys don’t need much encouragement to cause trouble – they wreak havoc almost everywhere they go. They snatch food from your hands. They pull laundry off clotheslines and eat it. They sneak up on you when you least expect it, baring their teeth if you are foolish enough to look them in the eye.  I try to avoid monkeys wherever I can but, despite their naughty behavior, they are cute little things and I could hardly blog about India without including an obligatory photo or two:

Thinking deep thoughts.

Artfully arranged tails, don’t you think?

One day, we went zip lining at the fort. It was fun and gave us a different perspective of the beautiful view from up top and over the river and gardens below.

This mom wanted me to hold her baby for a photo (first time that’s ever happened). Both mother and baby were so beautiful that I couldn’t resist asking them to pose for me afterwards.

Other photos taken in and around Jodphur:

As I gazed down at Jodphur from the roof of our hotel, it took on the look of an impressionist painting.

For some reason, barber shops bring out the voyeur in me and I love taking photos of the people inside. Baby’s first haircut is a big deal in India and the barber was being carefully supervised by this little cutie’s father, mother, and grandmother.

Hundreds of varieties of mango can be found in India.  This batch didn’t look ripe to me — maybe it was for mango pickle or a cooked dish of some kind.

Jaisalmer: There is a certain glow about Jaisalmer, the so-called “Golden City.” Built of golden sandstone, it rises from the dunes of the Thar Desert. The town of 80,000 is dominated by Sonar Qila, a “living fort,” where life goes on as it has done for centuries.  Down below are some of the most beautiful old havelis you’ll ever find (though many are in a sad state of disrepair), tiny shops and temples, and warrens of narrow streets winding through neighborhoods which are still identified by what people do there (“this is the cobbler’s area,” “jewelers live here,” and so forth).  Jaisalmer has no airport and, located so close to India’s western border with Pakistan, it is hours and hours from the nearest city.  You really have to want to go there and, when you finally make it, you are rewarded with a lovely and welcoming atmosphere. It’s a place that is definitely worth “circling back” around to visit again.

I just love the pop of color that you find in Rajasthani homes.

The cows in Jaisalmer were adept at climbing stairs.  They seemed to enjoy hanging out on porches and other high places.  Notice the beautiful carved arches on this house.

This photo was taken in the old fort. Notice the swastika over the doorway. This is a very old sign that has many auspicious meanings (including wealth and prosperity) to Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains.

Jaisalmer’s fort is a beautiful color of gold, as you can tell from this photo of the old doors.

The fort’s walls have several places where you can look into the valley below. This is one of them.

Hindu temples are usually lively places.  The gods themselves are brightly colored and they are often draped with brightly colored cloth and littered with candles and flowers.  There is chanting, and music with loud drumming and bells.  They were still celebrating Hanuman’s birthday when we got to Jaisalmer. The Hanuman temple was hopping with devotional music, prayers, offerings, and a puja ceremony.

This is a more traditional statue of Hanuman.

Out behind the main temple complex was another, more primitive, version of Hanuman.  You can see from the devotional offerings that this one is a favorite.

Unlike Hindu temples, Jain temples are bastions of serenity, as you might expect from the gentle Jains, who go so far as to wear face masks to avoid harming another living creature (so as not to accidentally inhale an insect).  There were some particularly beautiful Jain temples in the Jaisalmer Fort.

No visit to Jaisalmer is complete without a trip into the Thar Desert.  We opted for an afternoon camel trek followed by dinner in the dunes.

The camels were draped with padding and adorned with cloths. I call this photo, “Does this skirt make me look fat?”

The first thing our guides did when they made camp was fill a container with water for the birds and for the dogs.  Then the camels were cared for and, finally, they attended to us.  I’d say they took care of business in the proper order.

With the ripples and shifting shapes of the dunes, the desert becomes an art form.

We fell in love with this happy, self-reliant desert dog. He spent some time with us, then buried himself in the sand up to his armpits for a nap.

This budding young entrepreneur hiked in from the next village with a satchel full of beer. Needless to say, he was handsomely rewarded for his efforts.  He was interested in my camera, so we let him take a few shots of us.

Voting was under way for India’s next national Prime Minister.  This, the world’s largest election, has been carried out in stages, with different states voting at different times.  Jaisalmer’s polling place was right around the corner from our hotel and we strolled over for a look.

They look a bit bored, but these two guys were actually pretty excited about voting.

An indelible mark was made on each voters fingernail.

We have elephants and donkeys; why shouldn’t they have camels?

A few random shots taken while wandering through the streets of Jaisalmer watching people, my favorite activity.

One of my absolute favorite photos.

Every few days, I am struck by the beauty and grace of Indian women. These gals were headed to a wedding.

Rajasthani men make an effort with their appearance too, with their turbans, crisply ironed clothing, and waxed mustaches.

Indians are simply mad about cricket. Young and old alike, we see them playing everywhere we go.

A jeweler heats metal over a red hot fire that really glows against the turquoise wall. I love the colors in this photo.

Udaipur:  One of the highlights In Udaipur this time around was a folk dance performance at Bagore Ki Haveli, just down the street from our hotel.

One of the traditional Rajasthani dances involves spinning and swirling around a fire with a copper pot on your head.

Bagore Ki Haveli is beautiful.

A few random shots from Udaipur.

This woman is carrying grass for cows. She’ll sit on a blanket somewhere and sell it so that folks can get some good karma.

These young lovers looked so pensive sitting in the garden of a roadside cafe where we stopped for chai.

No visit to Udaipur is complete without a visit to the Jagdish Temple and resident sadhu.