Sometimes ya gotta grab a bull by the horns

After leaving rural farmland in the Rajasthani mountains, we headed for Jodhpur, to see yet another impressive fort. We drove a few hours into the increasingly warm day and immediately set out to see Jodhpur's main attraction. This fort, unlike the others we have seen already, rose out of the sheer cliffs affording it an imposing view over the blue city. Every major city in Rajasthan is designated a color, Jodhpur, being the blue city, was actually very blue. We climbed through the fort palace, another grandiose structure filled with ornate carvings and jeweled rooms.

We made our way back down to the city and started the process of finding our hotel in the old city, inaccessible by car (to our driver's dismay). After winding our way through tiny streets we found a parking place and trekked the rest of the way to our haveli hotel. Another great place to stay, we had a huge room, complete with a sitting room and arched entryways, and luckily the coolest spot in Jodhpur due to its shady location.

We quickly found out that Jodhpur is a dirty, dirty city. Due to its open sewers, its also the smelliest place we've been thus far. The compactness of the city amplifies the cow poop, human poop, motorcycle fumes, and litter. But as long as you are willing to overlook these things, the streets are full of character, animals, and little children - as well as angry cows. The cows here do not like Madeleine, first she got a nudge from behind, then she got corned between to horns of an angry bull (luckily Paul was around to literally grab the bull by its horns, long enough for Madeleine to jump away). Now she gives the cows a wide berth when passing.

We spent the next day browsing in a Sunday market and updating out blog, a daunting task when you are several stops behind. Now off to the real desert...sand dunes and all.