Jodhpur

Jodhpur the blue city and our last stop in one of the Maharaja's former kingdoms, even though there are many more around India..with we could see them all. Jodhpur is called the "blue" city because many of the houses in the old town have been painted blue. When you stand up on the hill where the fort is, it is like many blue dots staring at you from the city below. It was a refreshing stop for us after the crazyness and crowds of the streets of Jaipur.
Jodhpur is characterized by a very impressive fort, in size and architecture. We spent lots of time discovering it and didn't seem enough. It appears that the Maharaja rulers of Jaipur had the strongest kingdom and cooperated well with all rulers who came on their way (Mogols, British) and after Indian independence, to keep up their great castle and fort properties. However it was a bit frustrating experience to see the newest, and if the local information were correct, the biggest new castle in the world, which was build in 1947. Knowing how large population in India lives in poverty, it made us unpleasantly surprised to see that such castles were still being built in 20th century, from the money from Indian poor tax payers. Irregardless that the size of this new Maharaja's residence, the architecture taste was lacking.
Jodhpur gave us few pleasant surprises, including Mandore gardens (not very much maintained, but still impressive complex of Temples), very lively market area, where we could observe the local handicrafts being made in the same little shop where they were sold, and the best of all of Jaipur (for Sanja :-)... there was a swimming pool in the place we stayed. It was very much needed luxury :-)