Day 47 Jaipur to Jodhpur 14th Aug 09

Would you want a Sand "WITCH" or wich?

Woke up about 1000hrs slowly got ready to check out and visit Hawa Mahal – The Palace of Winds. Got to the internet café to check if our train tickets from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is confirmed as we were put on waiting lists when we booked 2 days ago.

Got a auto rickshaw for Rp80 to the old City, Ramli was too lazy to haggle so we just took the ride. When we arrive at the gate there was police stopping vehicles from entering the old city. So the rickshaw driver said we can enter from another gate but have to pay a total Rp160 which is 8km away. So we decline the offer and decide to walk into the old city on our own. The traffic was very bad with so many people walking around. We guess it is already holiday as tomorrow is their Independence day that is why there is a big crowd. We walked about 15mins thru the crowded streets and decided we should find a rickshaw to get to Hawa Mahal as it is still a distance. It costs only Rp20 to get there so we hoped on and was amazed at how good and fast the man maneuvered thru the super traffic jam..

Inside Hawa Mahal

Arrived paid the entrance fee of Rp50/each and entered. Hmm first glance of the Palace wasn’t so Wow! Doesn’t look like the one we saw on postcards and on magazines.. hmmm we just walked around and up the palace.. Was amazed how they bothered to make the tiniest window out of wood. 3^rd level was the area where the ladies could look thru the tiny windows to watch the life and processions of the city during the Maharajah’s time.

the tinted windows

traffic is really bad in the old town

Blink

We finished touring the palace within 45mins and didn’t know what to do as it is still early. We sat at the ground floor just looking at the local and foreign tourists and we saw some familiar people… A young girl with a red floral print tudong stepped in with a young guy.. As we could see from the way she dresses, they should be from Malaysia. Eventhough we didn’t chat up we felt good to see some familiar people..

We sat down for about 15mins and was quite confuse to why the palace seems to be short of many windows as it is not like what we saw on the postcards… So we thought maybe we should go to the front of the palace and check out.. So we walked to the front and only saw the many windows as per the postcards.. Took some pictures and decided to head back to the hotel to rest and wait for our train at 1705hrs.

taking a breather in the hotel restaurant

paintings on the wall

bye bye Jaipur

Took the auto rickshaw thru the busy honking streets of Old city and arrived at our hotel about 15mins later which was only 1530hrs. Went to the rooftop restaurant to have some snack and drinks while waiting for the train. Time came for us to leave and the hotel guys told us it is only 2 mins walk to the train station so we walked over and the train came at 1710hrs and departed about 1730hrs. We took the AC Chair cabin and shared seats with a local lady in bright orange saree.

Nothing much happen thru the journey except that the lady kept fidgeting and putting her leg up on the chair and gently nudge me a few times.. Hmmmm The train arrived on time at Jodhpur station at 1110hrs.. This station is so crowded with people sleeping around the platforms, bridges, the main entrance hall and even outside… hmmmm

Headed out to get a rickshaw to get to the area where all the guesthouse are. Thought we wanted to walk as from the map it looks like 5 mins away, but the rickshaw driver approached us kept asking us where we wanted to go and said only Rp10 for the ride to the place we wanted to go. So we feel bad that he has been following us for so long thus agreed to take the ride instead of walking. Before we move off a man approach us and ask if we have already make reservations at Govind Guest house.. Ramli just replied yes yes… But still he insists on recommending us his hotel that he said is owned by him and his wife and kept saying is a very nice place and insisted that we will like it once we saw.. It is called Heaven’s Guest house.. So we thought okay maybe for once trust him and the rickshaw brought us over. Ramli check out the room while I look after the bags on the rickshaw.

He came out and said the room is very clean and costs Rp650 with ac but w/o Tv. Since it is about 2330hrs so we agreed to stay in this guesthouse for the night. The lady boss of the hotel was very nice and friendly. Welcomed us to the room and even asked us to go have something to eat at the rooftop restaurant. We went up and was impressed by the view … We could see the Meherangarh Fort from the roof.. We ordered a veg fried rice to share and it is cooked from scratch.. The chef have to cook the rice fresh and it took only about 20mins or less. The chef is from Chitwan, Nepal and came to Rajasthan to work for 6 months now. We saw fireworks about midnight and thought was for Independence day but the chef told us it is for some God’s birthday which they are celebrating at a nearby temple.

Chatted with him a another 5 mins and we got back to the room. The room is very clean and nice. The toilet bowl was elevated on a platform with 2 steps leading to it which looks like a pedestal.. Took a shower and rest for the night..