Jodhpur

Jodhpur is the blue city, and a lot more blue than Jaipur pink is. Up till now this is our favourite city, mostly because there is a lot less hassling of tourist than anywhere else. We stayed just outside of the fort at lonely planet nr 1 recommendation for €15,- for the two of us per night. Lovely athmosphere :) This time we decided we really needed some time without Rickshaw man, so we went into town ourselves. We tried the most famous samosa and the most famous lassi, the latter being far too sweet for our teeth. We booked a cooking class and had just enough time to visit another tomb of maharadja Jaswant. 

He brought the irrigation system to India and is still beloved for this. The marmer of the tomb is so thin the light can shine through. Then we went to one of our best experiences, the cooking class of Rika at spice paradise. They make and sell their own masala's and they teach how to cook traditional indian disches with them. We made the best fry dahl ever! , really good Biryani rice, but also lassi, chai, paneer curry and diferent types of breads. It is good fun to blow chapatis in the open fire, but they will never be as good as the garlic and coriander naan :)

 It took us about 5 hours in total and we got to eat all our dishes. Meanwhile she told us about all the remarkable qualities of the different spices. Red chili for instance would cure rabies if you aplly it immediately after being bitten, and green Cardemom is good for your memory, gloves will protect you from muscito bites.  She taught us how to peal a pomgrannate and how to make a nice round shape out of your dough.... it was a super good night and we left with a bag full of spices and some great plans to prepare an indian dinner for friends :) You can reply to this post if you like to be invited :)

The following day we visited the Mehrangarth fort, and yet again this was the prettiest fort so far.... Kipling decribed it as the creation of angels, elfs and giants.... we did an audio tour which explained a lot about the fort and indian history and traditions. 

Many maharadja's used to live here, and quite a few rooms are in perfect condition with many, many decorations and mirrors. They also have a great collection of cribs, paintings from the 18th century, armour and jewelery. 

The current Maharadja spoke to us on the audio tour :) It took us quite a few hours to get through this fort, and afterwards we treated ourselves to the most expensive restaurant so far.  The curries were about 4-5 euro each, twice as much as normally :) They were very good, especially the aubergine one, but we preferred out own cooked food from the day before..... 

 the following day we had our first train that was in time! The train to Jaisalmer.