Jodhpur | Pushkar Mela | November 2015
Tucked deep in the heart of the Northwestern state of Rajasthan lies Jodhpur, India's Blue City. Not easily accessed, the path to Jodhpur involved a flight to nearby Jaipur and then a four-hour van ride through the Thar Desert to its cerulean walls. Along the way my friends and I stopped at the oasis town Pushkar, which hosts one of the world's largest camel and livestock festivals around the full moon every November. We happened to time our trip perfectly and the festival was still going on, making for the most India of pit stops on our way through Rajasthan.
Looking out at Pushkar Lake and the thousands of pigeons that spend time there.
The streets of Pushkar that led to the festival grounds were narrow and enchanting, completely inaccessible to vehicles of any kind. Silver garland marked the way through the vendor-lined streets as we made our way through the city.
Pushkar Camel Fair is like a county or state fair with rides, vendors, games, and of course, camels galore.
A camel grins while sitting tied to a wagon in one of the main holding areas where the camels filled up the dunes stretching all the way to the horizon.
After spending the afternoon in Pushkar (and purchasing a turban) we loaded back into the van and our driver set the course for Jodhpur. Arriving by night, it was hard to take in the scale and beauty of the city. The muscular Mehrangarh Fort was lit up when we reached the Jodhpur, striking an intimidating pose over the small structures below. As we drove deeper into the old town where our hotel was located, the streets began to get narrower and narrower until they resembled nothing more than a scribble of an alley way. After multiple near-misses with people on motorbikes our driver stopped and told us the way so that we could get out and walk the rest. Where he ended up parking that night is still unclear. With our luggage in hand we made our way through the sloped streets until we found the hotel and settled in for the night, playing cards beneath shadow of the iconic fort.
The view from the rooftop dining area of our hotel the following morning. The base of Mehrangarh Fort can be seen in the top left of this picture.
After a quick breakfast we made our way up the street to Mehrangarh Fort where we took in the views and culture that the area is famous for (as seen in The Dark Knight Rises).
From atop the battlements you can clearly see how the blue walls of the city close in on the fort with white-dwarf-like density. After gazing down into Bane's Pit we made our way to the beautiful and peaceful Jaswant Thada, just down the road.
Looking back at Mehrangarh from Jaswant Thada it becomes apparent just how much the fort dominates over the city below.
A short car ride away was Rao Jodha Rock Park, a modern and gorgeously designed network of paths that took us along the old city walls. We hiked our way through the desert terrain, picked up a stalker in the form of a stray dog, and took in the setting sun as it bounced off of the fortress in the distance.
