The first thing I do when I get to my hotel in Jodphur after the 4 hour drive is head up to the terrace and have a nice cold Kingfisher beer. The rooftop has spectacular views of the Mehrangarh Fort and the entire city, which is a sea of blue houses. Hence Jodphur being known as the blue city.
That evening I meet my guide for my penultimate food tour of the trip. There’s only so much street food you can eat quite frankly, and I’m reaching my limit with deep fried dishes. We start with a biryani at Vijay, which is full of different spices and flavours. We stop to watch the sunset with a chai tea before sampling some more street food snacks, including the best gulab jamun I’ve had so far. We end with a visit to Mohanlal Verhomal (MV) shop, one of the most successful spice businesses in India. It’s famous for its authentic hand-ground spices but also because it’s the first female-owned spice shop in Rajasthan. When MV died, his wife and 7 daughters took on the business, despite much resistance and abuse from the locals who viewed it as a break from tradition. They’re known throughout the region as the Spice Girls and people come from all over the world to buy spices here.
The next morning my guide picks me up at 730 for a walking tour of the old town. It turns out to be the same guide who did my food tour, Prabhat, who looks like the Indian Tom Selleck. Every few minutes he’d twiddle and reshape the ends of his moustache. He takes me around the narrow residential streets of Jodphur. Part of the tour includes a visit to one of the blue houses where we sit and enjoy a nice cup of homemade chai which is heavily spiced with cardamom. I’m obsessed. The masseuse actually told me after my massage that I was drinking too much chai and I should only have one or two a day. First of all, how did he know that?! It must’ve be emanating from my pores I’ve had so much of the stuff! And second, mind your own business pal, nobody asked for your opinion.
Once my tour ends I head to the famous omelette stall for breakfast. Its run by a father and son and has been operating since the 1970s. There’s one pan in the middle, with crates of eggs stacked high either side. Lord knows how many they get through on a daily basis. I asked, and even they don’t have a clue! I opted for the masala ucheese omelette which is served on toast. Delicious!
Next it’s time to visit the fort. Prabhat offered to be my guide as he had no other tours booked that day. I had planned on doing it alone, but he’s a nice guy, and it’s his livelihood at the end of the day, so I agreed. On my own I’d have spent about 30 minutes in the place not really taking anything in. This way I slowed down (as per the advice from my guru masseuse) and learnt a thing or two. For example, one of the kings here took 51 wives. He was so busy doing king stuff, that he wasn’t physically able to attend all of his weddings, so instead he sent his sword in his place. I think many women have married worse. Also, I learn that he wasn’t a total hussy, he married multiple women to make strategic alliances with as many families as he could, not because he was a serial shagger. Makes sense I guess.
After the tour finishes, I head to one of the many rooftop bars for an ice cold beer. I have two options at this point. Jump in a tuk tuk and head to some gardens, or do a little rooftop bar hop. Can you guess which option I chose?! Given I didn’t eat lunch, I was half cut by 5pm so went home for a little lie down before dinner.
The scent of curry is wafting through the air and I’m fucking starving! On the recommendation of my guide, I head to Gopal rooftop restaurant for dinner. It’s the highest rooftop in the city, so has unbeatable views of the fort which is romantically lit in the evening. I order the laal maas (mutton curry) which is a speciality of the region. I ask for it spicy, knowing fine well at this point that ‘spicy’ from the mouth of a white person means medium. It’s delicious! I know I still have two weeks left, but i can’t see me getting sick of this cuisine. Ever.
Jodphur has been my favourite city so far. In fact, the order that I’ve travelled is probably my order of preference. New Delhi being my least favourite. Next stop, Udaipur!
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