Jodhpur, the Blue City

After another 6 hour harrowing ride -- passing slow trucks and buses on a narrow 2-lane road, we arrived in Jodhpur just in time to meet our guide for our next palace tour. In this case, we were taken to the 16th century Jodhpur Palace and fort high up on a hilltop on multiple levels that was built for another Maharaja King. It looked down on a courtyard where many events were staged and the women could look down to see what the men were doing without being seen through a lattice work of windows. Much of the history of these palaces and forts had rooms exclusively for their harems of wives.

We could see that most of the town homes and buildings were painted blue. That was how you could tell the Brahmins from other castes and the Muslims. This ritual apparently occurs once a year to maintain the tradition.

We then went into the old city village centered around a clocktower that was built by the British. This area brimming with hundreds of bazaars was crowded and dirty, but had an energy that made Lauren very excited to shop as well as many bargains. We got several shawls from one vendor who told us his brother had a store in Santa Monica called Indian Textiles and Crafts that sold for more than three times what we paid. We'll have to check that out when we get home.