I was drowning. I knew I was on the deepest side of the pool, deeper than my height. Trying to be adventurous, I tried floating straight in the water. Adventure? No, it was foolishness. I panicked and I started drowning. This was in Jodhpur, the blue city of Rajasthan. Before I tell you how I got out of the pool situation, it is important to know what got me there.

Jodhpur Clock tower

A 5-hour bus journey from Jaisalmer got us to Jodhpur. We left our bags at the beautiful hostel of “King’s Retreat” and walked straight to the Jodhpur clock tower. Nights are really lovely around the tower with the colorful market, the lighting and sound of music in the distance. The one annoying part about this area is the complete negligence towards hygiene. It’s overwhelmingly dirty, to say the least.

With a quick walk through the market, we shopped for some souvenirs and dupattas. We stopped at a beautifully serene Krishna temple near Tripolia. Tripolia is the commercial street of Jodhpur. If you have ever been to Bangalore’s commercial street, you get the idea. Low priced trendy stuff available in many small shops. Not necessarily of top quality though.

The Mehrangarh Fort

We played the mandatory group games through the night. An unplanned birthday celebration of the trek lead, Moppy was such a highlight for this trip. Funnily enough, we cracked the bed where we all gathered to play our games. As they say in Hindi – “palangtod mazaa kiya”.

The next day we were off to the Jodhpur fort right away. The Mehrangarh fort of Jodhpur was mesmerizing. The entry to the fort is very cinematic. The curvy sloped approach to the gate was meant to prevent elephants and other weaponry from charging through the main gate. Every fort in Rajasthan had the mandatory last signs of handprints of the Sati queens.

You can see the whole from atop the fort. It includes the entirety of the fort walls too. It is definitely recommended to get a guide while touring the fort. It will be a tragedy if you miss all the history behind each wall, each piece of furniture, the rooms, the articles used in the kitchen or in war.

Peek at Jodhpur’s history

We headed to Jaswant Thada after the fort. Just like in Jaisalmer, this was the cenotaph of the Jodhpur royals who died. The memorial is built grand and could give some palaces a run for their money. Umaid Bhavan was another place we visited. A very small part of the palace(party hotel) is open for tourists. But the museum is certainly something not to be missed, especially to know the history of the various Jodhpur Raos (as the royals were addressed there). A vintage car exhibition is a bonus you can see outside this museum.

A day living royally

Shreya and I bid goodbye to the rest of the group at this point. We then headed to our luxury vintage suite booked in Ajit Bhawan. If there is one place where you can feel how royals are treated, it is Rajasthan. You ‘ll not pay too much but you can get the experience of Havelis and palaces in many stays and resorts.

There was a bit of rain overnight, which helped us get upgraded from luxury tent to a luxury vintage suite at Ajit Bhawan. We were of course not complaining. We couldn’t resist the beautifully set swimming pool in this Bhawan. We were accompanied by many airforce personnel in the Haveli and also french tourists. It was one of these french tourists saved my life in the pool episode. He raised me above the water and helped me swim back to the less deep side.

We got to see a puppet show in the Bhawan during the evening. We thoroughly enjoyed the setup and the performance by the artist. We stepped out for dinner heading to our favorite cafe back in the earlier hostel we were at – The King’s retreat.

If you spend it, it’s called shopping

I started the morning with an hour of rigorous workout at the Bhawan gym. At this point, I had started missing my daily morning runs and workouts. So, yes, I had a big grin coming out of the gym. Meanwhile, Shreya chose to take a bubble bath in the suite instead.

We ended our stay in Jodhpur with a visit to the old Stepwell. I have heard that bigger step-wells are found in Gujarat. This beautiful stepwell certainly probed my curiosity towards seeing more in Gujarat. Shreya and I were done with sightseeing by this time in Jodhpur. So we strolled around the rest of the day shopping near Stepwell, through the streets in Tripolia and at the famous Raju Silks.

What stood out for me in Jodhpur was certainly the Mehrangarh Fort and the unparalleled luxury experience at Ajit Bhawan. No wonder Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas chose Umaid Bhawan in this wonderful city for their extravagant wedding. Everything about Jodhpur just shouts extravagant.