[ Jodhpur ]
Days 5-7:
My third day out of Jaipur, yet only the second on the motorcycle. Why? Because yesterday was spent locked in my hotel room sick, running a mild fever, and generally miserable. This MAY have something to do with the sunburn I didn’t realize I was getting until it was way too late. Or maybe it was something I ate. But nevertheless, the Rajasthan Rally is shaping up nicely.
Day 5:
Jaipur to Sikar, getting used to the bike and the (complete and utter lack of) Rules of the Road. Followed some kid’s advice and took a detour to Khatu–home of a famous temple. Not only did I encounter a 17km-long magic carpet, but I was stalked by a frisky bovine suitor.
Day 6:
Photo-free, sick, lived off of bad movie reruns and room service. Never once ventured out into the wild.
Day 7:
Sikar to Nagaur (a new city, only founded in the 4th Century B.C.), feeling much better than yesterday, though far from 100%, I decided to take some smaller back roads and wend my way slowly to Jodhpur. Nagaur is how far I made it. I left myself some time for a late afternoon walk, discovering an ancient Islamic shrine which (I think) is Sufi, and predates the Mongol invasion of the city in 1306. (Damned Mongols conquered, like, EVERYONE.) The time of day was perfect to grab some snaps of the shrine complex, and as usual I was accosted by many locals wanting their pics taken.
Also, my first–my one and (please, for goodness’ sake) only–CAT PIC.
Days 8-10:
After a day’s ride through increasingly arid terrain, I arrived in Jodhpur–my new favorite town in India (if you can call a city of 1.5 million “town”). I blindly rode through serious rush hour traffic (which is, in India, the same level of insanity as every other hour’s traffic) until I found the train station, asked a tuk-tuk driver to recommend a cheap, central guest house, and then–in a stunning act of brainless bravado–followed him through the aforementioned traffic to my destination.
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I spent the next 2.5 days wandering, riding, and otherwise exploring and photographing this coolest of the sub-continent’s mini-metropolises. Big Thums-Up (and no, I didn’t forget the ‘b’ ).
