Shannon and I arrived in Jodhpur at 5.30am after our first night bus. It was an adventure to say the least. When we went to find our bus departure area in Jaipur it was 10pm and dark and we literally wandered around a main road for about 15 minutes looking for the bus. The location had been incorrect from google maps so the taxi dropped us off at the wrong place. We asked around but we figured out we were just being sent to different places and no one was sending us to the correct collection point which isn’t ideal for two female foreigners! Eventually we found our way and got on our bus. We had booked a double sleeper and were taking all our bags in with us. It was a very tight squeeze but sure we had such a laugh at the whole situation. Shannon’s limbs didn’t stand a chance of being comfortable in that bus. We tried sleeping, got woken at midnight for the stop so went for a pee and got back on. It really wasn’t very peaceful at all!

We landed safe and sound in Jodhpur and looked for the least dodgy looking tuk tuk man we could find (in all honesty they’re proving to be very nice but when it’s dark out and you get swarmed by a pack of tuk tuk drivers it’s a little daunting). We made it to our guest house and were led to our room which we were appalled by, pure delighted for an early check it but absolutely appalled at the state of the room. It was absolutely tiny and dirty and I’d no idea how we were actually going to fit two of us in the bed. We said we’d take off to Mehrangarh Fort and museum and do some sightseeing once we dropped some laundry off and chat to the lads working in the guest house later about the room.

I have to say, the laundry trip was the highlight of my time in Jodhpur. It sounds strange but the experience was so lovely! We found a laundry service which had some reviews on line. It was a 15 minute walk away but it was clearly down some small streets where no tourists ever ventured. As we walked we were stared at and I became a little cautious, but it turned out that everyone was just really curious and wanting to practise their English. As we walked up the street passing tuk tuks, food stalls, shops, cows and goats we were smiled at and greeted with hellos the whole way. It was so lovely and it wasn’t at all sinister. Shannon and I turned a corner, which looked like a road we shouldn’t go down but sure it was the way to the laundry spot so we went. We were greeted by loads of women smiling and kids following us to shake our hand and practise their dialogue:

Hello! How are you? What is your name? From which country?

There were different variations of this and it was so nice to be around them. I felt in June that I never wanted to teach again, but since doing my yoga, getting myself more balanced and meeting more kids in India, I know I want to go back to teaching. I don’t believe maths is my calling anymore but I adore being around young people and helping them. My Nana B always speaks of her mam who always said being around young people kept her young. I think nana B is the same and loves to be around young people for the chats and gossip. I seemed to have picked up whatever gene they have!

So we got to the laundry service, absolutely buzzing from all the warmth from the locals and the man who owned the laundry service was so sweet and he had good English. We left our laundry and were going to return at 5pm, when he said he’d have it ready for us. What a gem!

When we returned for 5pm we had the same warm welcomes with a few “you lost?” again proving how few tourists wandered down this street. This time we had a full gang of kids accompany us to the door of the laundry where we found our main man, his mother, his wife and his baby! Instantly I gravitated towards the gorgeous little chubby girl sitting in a basket on the floor. They let me hold her and sure didn’t we end up getting loads of pictures together. Myself and Shannon left on an absolute high from this encounter. 

Myself and Shannon were asked the same questions/comments in our respective countries:

Aren’t you scared of travelling india alone?

Rape capital of the world!

You’ll be murdered!

Aren’t you very brave?

Why would you want to go there?

Moments like this always remind me of how wonderful the people of India have been. I don’t want to jinx it but we have been blessed with the people we’ve encountered. We haven’t felt unsafe or in danger at any point. Yes, there are some creeps, yes there are some odd people, but no more than in London or Limerick, just way more stares. 

Some of the other highlights of Jodhpur:

Mehrangarh Fort and museum and Jaswant Thada

This was our first stop in our touristy things of Jodhpur. The fort was beautiful and although we had been to many forts along the way, this was different as it included a museum which allowed us to see what life was like in the fort. It was built in 1400s and is one of the biggest forts in all of India. Inside the fort and museum we were able to see the way the royals lived and the different rooms. The fort was beautifully decorated with stained glass, lattice windows and the most elaborate furnishings. We had an audio guide to accompany us as we went around and in all honesty, I enjoyed it but I’ve never been one to be able to regurgitate information, hence why I chose math, figure it out and get an answer. 

We walked about 10 minutes away from the fort to visit Jaswant Thada which is the royals tombs. It was built in 1899 and is made out of marble. It’s absolutely beautiful and I was delighted Shannon dragged me there. There was a man playing the sitar so I sat under the shade of a tree and did some meditation and it was pure bliss!

The Omelette Man

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This Omelette shop is a small street vendor with over 500 reviews and a rating of 4.5 on TripAdvisor. I was amazed! So we went to find him after our tour of the fort and tomb. He has a menu of loads of omelettes and drinks. If my mother and sister could see me now. They had to listen to me whinge on about my dodgy stomach for about 6 weeks and here I am eating eggs from the side of the street from a not so clean looking vendor, but with all those reviews surely I’d be safe? Indeed I was! Shannon and I became regulars at Siams shop (initially I thought he said his name was Sham and I nearly howled laughing hearing it in a Limerick accent). On day one I actually ate two but then calmed down and had 1 every day after. He sells about 1000 eggs every day and cooks 1000 eggs. His omelettes range from 50 rupees to 120 rupees so assuming the eggs are dirty cheap to buy he’s not doing too badly for himself.

Sewing experience

I’d managed to get a hole in the crotch of my new pants from Pushkar (maybe I should have trialled one pair before sending home 4 more pairs), had a hem fall down on some shorts and tore a button off a pair of trousers. All over India you see tailors working on sewing machines on the side of the street or a little hole in the wall. It was time for me to go get these fixed! I found a little shop down below our guest house. We managed to communicate the items that needed sewing and the cost with gestures and few words. I stood there while he worked on everything and he had it all done in about 4 minutes between using the sewing machine and hand sewing the button for me. A great success and all for about 60p. Thanks lads! 

Seeing all the lovely sewing machines makes me think of Nana B and how I’m an absolute dope for not learning any skills off her considering she’s a phenomenal dress maker!

Goat watching

I believe goats are the models of the animal kingdom. I had never watched goats so closely but everywhere we turned there were more and more gorgeous goats sitting on tuk tuks, against walls, roaming free and peeking out from behind corners. They are honestly so photogenic.

Stepwell prancing

So I’ve been to 2 other step wells while here in India, one being famous for appearing in a Batman movie. Step wells are little wells used throughout history for people to bath, wash and generally hang out. The most famous one we’d see was called Chand Baori (some of the building dating back to the 8th and 9th century) and was used in The Dark Knight Rises, but with a railing around it we weren’t able to go down the steps. The step well in Jodhpur, Toorji Ka Jhalra, was free to roam. The temperature can be up to 6 degrees cooler at the bottom (depending on the depth of step well) and has loads of steps to sit and chill. There were actually two groups of young locals sitting and relaxing on the steps with their chai and some other just sitting and relaxing. It was really lovely to see it in use. We got some nice pictures in the stepwell and were delighted to have pranced around it.

We left Jodhpur after 2 nights and 3 days. This was more than enough time for us to enjoy our time there. Our next stop is Udaipur and I’d be surprised if it was friendlier than Jodhpur. Gorgeous city with the most lovely people I’ve met so far in India.