A Trip to the Desert, Camels, and Monuments with Family on a Beast (CHAPTER-3: Ajmer and The Blue City)

18^th October, 7 AM: After a good night’s sleep, we got up from our beds to get ready for the next leg of our trip, namely Jodhpur via Ajmer. We had a sumptuous breakfast in an eatery similar to the one we had had our dinner the previous night, checked out from our hotel and started for Ajmer by 8.30 AM. Since the road from Jaipur to Ajmer is a National Highway, you will find smooth, wide, six-lane roads. It being a Sunday morning, there was little vehicular movement. Aided by the powerful 2.8 litre turbo diesel engine, our Fortuner was able to maintain a steady speed of 100 KMPH (and even more at times) even with a full load of 6 passengers with all their luggage.

We reached Ajmer at around 12 PM. We have a distant relative of ours who hails from Ajmer. She had arranged for a guided tour of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah with Mr. Gupta (we call him Gupta uncle henceforth). Upon our arrival in Ajmer, he guided us to a safe place to park our vehicle at the nearest Post Office complex as it was closed being a Sunday and answered nature’s calls! He then took us on a path that would open up at the back gate of Ajmer Sharif. It being a nearly 2 KM long walk, my mother got tired mid-way and we halted there. I offered to get a rickshaw, but she being the stubborn theist refused strongly. A couple of minutes later, she got up to resume the walk with renewed energy. So much for the love of God!

It being a week before Muharram, the dargah was choc-a-bloc with pilgrims. Gupta uncle rose up to the challenge of pushing and shoving to get all of us inside. I being the tallest in the group stood at the end of our queue while Gupta uncle cleared a way for us to move in. Once we were out into the courtyard, our parents asked for a photo. Since I left my camera in the car, they had to settle for a few cell phone snaps.

Apart from the dargah, Ajmer is also known for its Namkeens and bangles. So, we went to the market adjacent to the dargah for buying some snacks. In the same shop, thick lassi was also being made. Adding to it the fact that it was already 1 o’clock by then, we could not resist having a kulhad (Earthen glass) each. When we finally left Ajmer by 2 o’clock, we decided to have our lunch on the way outside Ajmer as we wanted to avoid the traffic. We found a dhaba around 30 KMS from Ajmer and pulled over.

At first upon entering, we did not find any staff. We thought that everyone must have left for the afternoon nap. Then we were greeted by the owner of the place, who rattled of the names of the dishes available, all of them PURE VEG. We ordered for a simple meal of roti and 2 curries. It is then that the cooking staff magically appeared, rising up from the kitchen floor and letting out their yawns. Giving us a presentation of a true “LIVE” cooking, they chopped up all the vegetables in a matter of a couple of minutes. Our interest was already piqued, when the owner came before us and asked us to try the food in ghee. Ghee being a high-on-calories ingredient, we at first declined the request. But then he insisted that the ghee used there was made in-house using the freshest buffalo milk, and that it dramatically improves the taste of any dish. We gave in to his request and he ordered the cook to make the food in their ghee. The entire place was engulfed in the delicious aroma of ghee, thus making us feel hungrier than we were. After the soulful explanation by the owner of the eatery, I was tempted to order for a paneer dish along with the other dishes. After a (seemingly) long wait of 20 minutes, lunch was served. Even though the dishes were simple, each one of them, including the roti, tasted heavenly! It’s been almost a year at the time of writing this blog, but its taste still makes my mouth water.

After a thoroughly satisfying meal, we headed out for Jodhpur with a tummy full of food. Jaipur onwards all the hotels were booked by me. The previous night, I had got a message from MakeMyTrip.com confirming our booking for our hotel in Jodhpur, the Mango Suites. I directly put in the hotel address in Google maps for a hassle-free navigation. One thing we could mark on this way was that the presence of defense forces increased steadily as we approached Jodhpur and most of the vehicular traffic was defense vehicles. Later we came to know from the locals that there was a major war exercise going on near Jaisalmer.

The roads to Jodhpur were single lane national highways and mostly in good condition, except for a few patches. While going through these bad patches, suddenly the “Engine Warning Light” and the “traction control light” got switched on. As I was very new to these kind of technologies and I usually drive a car with very basic safety features, I got scared. I stopped by the highway and dialed the Toyota road side assistance; they helped me turn that light off by switching off the traction control. Feeling relieved, we moved on and reached the outskirts of Jodhpur around 5 PM.

Google maps is a handy app. It knows where your destination is. It took us to the correct location, but after reaching the location we failed to locate the hotel. We could instead find two security guards guarding a rubble. Upon enquiring them we shockingly discovered that what Google maps calls the Mango Suites Jodhpur had become a deserted mass of concrete and bricks. The building which formerly used to be the Mango Suites Jodhpur had been demolished. What was remaining was a single wall, and two security guards (guarding the bricks I suppose) redirecting anyone and everyone to places they found suitable. And so, they told us to go another hotel a couple of buildings away. Upon inquiring further, they informed us that this building was a case of illegal encroachment and had been razed down a month back. When we went to the hotel which the guards had told us about, they simply shooed us off saying that they had no vacant rooms.

So there we were, luggage and all, parked somewhere by the road, in a new city, not knowing where to go. Our designated place of stay had been demolished, and we did not have a clue as to where it now was. I then called up the listed telephone numbers of the hotel. Nobody answered. It then occurred to me that I had tried calling up the hotel the previous night as well. Nobody had answered then too. I had then brushed off the matter since I had called up quite late in the night.

Then I remembered that I had got a confirmation message from MakeMyTrip.com. The message had stated that our rooms were in fact confirmed. I then called the MakeMyTrip.com helpdesk. Surprisingly, they seemed to be aware of this situation. I then asked them that if this was the case, why I had been sent the confirmation. They replied that it was by an error in the automated system and that they would not be able to prevent this message from being sent. I said that in that case, they should have at least informed us of this situation and let us know of alternate arrangements if any. From the response they provided, they seemed to be just washing their hands off. They were simply wishing away the fact that there was a family comprising of elder people out on the streets with nowhere to go. In fact they were not even ready to look for and arrange an alternative accommodation, even when we told them that we could pay for it.

After talking, cajoling, arguing and even shouting at them for about half an hour, I was utterly frustrated. I was aware of the anxious faces in the car. My wife asked me if there was anything else we could do, since MakeMyTrip.com was of no help. I asked her to start searching for other hotel listings in TripAdvisor.in, a rival travel site. She came across a handful and started calling them asking for any vacant rooms.

She came up with two hotels with three vacant rooms each. One of them was located within the city while the other was somewhat far and closer to the highway. The one outside had better ratings, so we decided to head there. We reached this hotel, namely Amargarh Resort, which is 13 KMS from the spot where we were parked at that time. Upon entering its perimeter, we found that the hotel had a very peaceful surrounding and ample parking space. I parked our vehicle and went to the reception with my father for room reservation. The front office and especially the resort GM Mr. Aaditya was very helpful and gave us the best possible deal instantly, which was way better than what was offered by MakeMyTrip.com. Once the deal got finalized, we were greeted with some tea and biscuits as complimentary. The check-in formalities were completed very quickly and we were allocated rooms on the first floor immediately.

After dinner, we spoke to the front office for details of places to visit in Jodhpur. We were directed to Mr. Prem Singh, a local who works in the resort on night shifts, graciously agreed to accompany us for our sight-seeing the next day. We woke up the next morning to discover a well-manicured garden with lot of big trees and a huge main lawn at the front of the resort. It was a joy to capture the abundance of greenery in the morning light.

After breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for sight-seeing with Mr. Prem Singh. He first took us to the Mehrangarh fort. This is one of the largest forts in India. In fact, one needs to use an elevator to reach the entrance of the fort, which travels nearly 100 feet up. The main entrance of the fort is called the “Jai Pol” i.e. the Victory Gate which was created when the king of Jodhpur won a battle against the king of Jaipur. This gate still bears cannon ball marks from the battle. There is another entrance called the “Loha Pol” i.e. the Iron Gate where one can see the hand prints of the ladies who committed sati on the funeral pyres of their husbands. The fort is one of the best preserved in India, hence one can find many special rooms which double up as museums. The collection in the museum consists of armory, paintings, jewellery, sculptures, costumes, furniture, musical instruments, royal cradles, palanquins, elephant seats and even turbans! Some of the items that caught my attention were a famous cannon called Kilkila cannon, a silver smoking filter, a small dancing doll that served exactly one peg of alcohol and a six-level hookah.

In fact, one can find people in the fort dressed up in the traditional Marwari costume.

 

To Follow, a few snaps of The Gigantic and The Magnificent, Mehrangarh Fort...

Jodhpur is also called the Blue City. The answer to why can be seen from the ramparts of the fort. The old portion of the town, which is painted in blue, can be seen and accessed from the fort. In fact, there are several adventure companies that offer paragliding/parasailing activities for you to take an aerial tour of the city. I have made a mental note to try this when I visit Jodhpur again.

We then moved to the Jaswant Thada which is hardly a couple of KMS away from the fort. This place is the cremation ground of the royal family of Jodhpur and the structure serves a memorial. Made of white marble and surrounded by a well maintained garden, it will remind you of the Taj Mahal. In fact, this place also houses a memorial structure of a peacock! This peacock had flown straight into the funeral pyre of the king of Jodhpur. When we were coming out, we saw a person playing Kamaicha (the traditional musical instrument of Rajasthan that looks like a small violin)

The Mehrangarh fort trip took us some 4-5 hours, so it was time for lunch when we finally made our way out. We stopped by the nearest restaurant to the Umaid Bhawan Palace, which in itself was another scenic spot. The restaurant, “On The Rock” which is owned by the incumbent Maharaja of Jodhpur, is made of stone and had a tree lined outdoor dining area. It made for some quirky snaps too.

Post lunch, we headed to the Umaid Bhawan Palace. Although majestic in its architecture and spread across several acres, only a small portion is open to public. The majority has been converted into the Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace. The portion open to public is a museum with exhibits from the royal family. Apart from the museum, there is another exhibit area that houses vintage cars. This section houses beauties from as back as 1930s and 1940s. All of the cars are in drivable condition even to this date and mostly used by the royals during royal functions!

After all this sight-seeing, the ladies felt exhausted. They needed another activity to refresh – SHOPPING! Mr. Prem Singh had to go back to the hotel for his shift of duty, so he dropped off at the main market. The market too has an architectural beauty serving as its focal point – the clock tower. Letting my wife go ahead with our parents, I stopped by the entrance of the market for a refreshment of my type – FOOD! There is a famous lassi shop named Mishra lassi point, which makes the best lassi in the city. You actually need a spoon to EAT this lassi! After a refreshing glass of deliciously thick lassi, I went in search of my family. It turned out that they hadn’t found anything interesting, and were just waiting for me to come so that they could head out.

Finally all 6 of us, full sized heavy built adults, hopped onto AN Auto Rickshaw… Yes!! Onto ONE auto rickshaw to go to the parking lot where we had parked our beast. The auto rickshaw maneuvered us through the narrow lanes and the highly congested main bazaar of Jodhpur for next 20 minutes to drop us near the parking lot. It must have been a hell of an experience… for the auto rickshaw!!

Completely exhausted, we could not think about any place other than the hotel to head to. After a brief evening tea and snacks near the reception along with a little chit chat, we went back to our respective rooms and had warm water shower. After the shower, we went for a relaxed dinner in the hotel’s restaurant post which we indulged in some family chat again. Finally we went off to bed at around 10.30 PM to get ready for the third leg of our tour – Jaisalmer.