Namashkar India (Part 9: Majestic Fort)

Like I've told you in the previous post, we were going to Jodhpur by bus. So lepas makan sedap sedap, one of the staffs from Abu Safari then took us to the bus station and he even made sure that we get to our seat safely.

And the price he charged for sending to the bus station in town? NONE. FREE OF CHARGE!

One thing about the bus, in my case, tiket kitorang tu takde tulis pun seat kitorang nombor berapa. So, bila kitorang naik bus tu, the driver looked at us, and asked us where we want to sit? And since we're both girls, he advised us to sit in front, like the first seat just behind his. For protection. And I'm like, awhhh thank you!

I told you, I was really grateful for the trip. Banyak jumpa orang baik baik okay.

Oh just FYI, bus yang kitorang naik ni offered beds too. So, kalau perjalanan jauh and taknak duduk lama lama takut sakit belakang, you can buy bus tickets for beds, different price lah of course. I think the price is twice the price of our seats. I can't really remember.

After dah settle with everything, bus pun memulakan perjalanan at around 3.30 pm or so. Destinasi, Jodhpur. The journey supposedly took around 5 hours plus. Well, ideal case lah.

Eh, sebelum apa apa, let me make it clear, bus yang kitorang naik ni memang lah murah, sebab dia TAKDE AIRCOND! So, kena lah bukak tingkap kalau nak angin, or kalau tak nak angin pun boleh, tutup je lah tingkap tu kan. Also, bus ni bukan macam tipikal bus express yang you naik dekat TBS tu okeh? Bus ni macam bus lompat lompat, maksudnya dia akan berhenti sepanjang jalan and there always be people yang turun naik bus tu ALL THE TIME. Jadi, mohon bertabah lah ye.

Tapi seriously, kalau korang jenis semput or tak tahan habuk, better jangan naik bus. Pergi lah naik flight ke, or naik train ke sebab serious habuk dia teruk gilaaaaa and banyak gilaa kena tutup muka dengan tudung okay or better, pakai mask lah kalau dah desperate tu.

Sepanjang perjalanan, kitorang disajikan dengan pemandangan padang pasir, pekan pekan kecil, dan juga tanah lapang. Interesting thing is, we actually saw a few kereta kebal on the road. A FEW okay, so maknanya bukan satu je. Tetibe rasa macam dalam war zone which is quite thrilling tapi macam takut pun ada jugak lah.

Well, like I said before, this is because, Jaisalmer is very near to the border between India and Pakistan, that's why lah it looks like military zone.

Since perjalanan masih jauh, we both sempat lah tertidur kan. After some time, bus berhenti kat satu station minyak ni and it was almost 9 pm waktu tu. Then (thank God) Farah asked around about where was our location and then we were told that we have already arrived in Jodhpur!

Yeay!

But, tahu tak kalau kitorang tak terjaga, and Farah tak tanya orang kan, kitorang maybe akan terlajak sampai ke Jaipur! Tahu tak sebab apa? Kitorang ingat kan final destination for the bus was Jodhpur, but we were not told that actually the bus was going to Jaipur too! Nasib baik laah kalau kitorang buta buta je percaya yang final destination kat Jodhpur tapi lepas tu bus berhenti kat Jaipur tak ke naya namanya?

But Alhamdulillah, all is well.

So, we unload our bags from the bus and guess what? Bag kitorang BERHABUK GILAA! My bag yang warna merah tu dah jadi warna kelabu dah punya lah banyak debu yang dia kumpul!

Puas gak lah ketuk ketuk bag tu nak bagi hilang habuk.

After that, kitorang pun pergi cari autorickshaw untuk pergi ke our homestay which is the KK Family Homestay.

The thing is, Farah called the homestay owner and asked about the usual price from Jodhpur town to the homestay and it was around Rs 80, but when we asked all the autos, they cited price at Rs 200! Mahal gila okay, sama mahal dengan harga tiket bus kitorang!

So we agree to refused the autos and started looking for another autos. We tried for Uber too, but to no avail. But there's this one rickshaw driver who insisted that the cheapest he can gave us is Rs 150 and still we don't agree.

It was almost 9.30 pm, and we still haven't found our auto and there were a bunch of guys started cat calling us. Time tu I dah cuak dah terus teringat semua rape cases and all okay sorry jahat tapi serius I dah takut time tu.

The auto driver keep coming back to us and he finally agree for the fees to the homestay to be Rs 120. Itu pun lepas we made him talk to the homestay owner! Hahaha faham tak kitorang pun time tu sebenarnya dah takde duit sangat, that's why lah kena berkeras.

So, we took the auto and went to the homestay. Sampai je at the homestay, our host, Kuku has waited for us outside the house.

He then did talked to the driver, and told us, that Rs 120 was too cheap because our location was actually very far from the homestay but we really don't care sebab tengah cheapskate and just paid the auto driver Rs 120, as promised! LOL

So sampai je kat bilik, Kuku showed us our room and asked us to settle the payment tomorrow as it was very late at night and we should get our rest first.

But before that, kitorang sempat lah demand macam macam because we're basically starving! Also, Farah tak berapa sihat sangat sebab exposed to too much habuk atas bas tadi. So we asked for hot water and salt for the sore throat.

And thank God lah Farah ada extra bubur, so we both makan bubur je and I makan nestum jugak because too hungry and after that we just rest and can't wait for our next exploration!

So, the next morning, we woke up and we ate our breakfast at the rooftop of KK Homestay. For your information, dekat Jodhpur ni, most of the homestays memang ada rooftop restaurant, because Jodhpur is known as the blue city and the view from the top is seriously very beautiful and you can see the whole Jodhpur city too. Tapi, in KK Homestay ni, we could see the beautiful Mehrangarh Fort tersergam indah depan mata.

The majestic Mehrangarh Fort

By the way, we actually have packed everything and check out from the homestay before we went to have our own adventure and as usual, KK Homestay offered locker for us to keep our bags so yeay!

Lepas breakfast, we went to Sardhar market which located only 5 minutes from the homestay. Sardhar market ni famous dengan spices, clothes, and accessories. Also, dekat sini lah for the first time ever, I baru tau macam mana rupa saffron tu.

Macam ni lah ghopenye saffron tu

Nampak saffron tu kecik je kan? Tahu tak harga dia mahal gila? I rasa ni dalam Rs 1000 kot. Dalam, RM70 gak lah. So I senyum je tengok. Baru ingat nak beli, tapi I dah sengkek time tu.

Kalau tak silap I, this thing is gula. Tapi I tak ingat apa nama dia

Gula/manisan, same like above

Bahan bahan untuk masak lemak! 

SPICES!

Okay, I have one funny story. Waktu dekat Sardhar market ni, kitorang jumpa this one guy yang approached us and introduced us to the spices here. Cara dia approach tu sangat lah common, like he asked us if we are Muslims and then he said he's a Muslim too, and Muslims should take care of each other so he'll take care of us. Katanya. After a while, Farah went to another shop, and I stuck with this guy. So, he took me to his shop, which is sebelah je dengan kedai yang Farah masuk and showed me all the spices, and tea.

Lepas tu kan, he said something bad about the shop owner (the one that Farah went to). He said that the owner is a mafia and he likes to forced people to buy from him. Also, yang paling kelakar, he said that if you went to his shop, he'll offer you chai, and he advised me not to drink the chai sebab katanya tuan kedai tu dah ludah dalam chai tu.

And then he proceeded to sell me his chai and spices.

I politely backed off and said I better go to 'save' Farah.

Then, when I arrived to the shop, I saw Farah was happily drinking some flower tea and I joined her too because, hey bila lagi nak minum flower tea for free?

LOL. The survival in places like this. Terpaksa burukkan competitors kan.

Also, dekat Sardhar Market ni ada banyak leather products. Sama macam dekat Jaisalmer.

One of the shop selling pretty leather bags and capal

Sardhar market ada jual accessories too, and I can't help but buy myself bindis! Haha saje lah nak feeling like a local.

Pretty churiyas!

Gelang kat sini pun banyak yang lawa and very bright colors too.

Also, based on our observation kan, people in Jodhpur likes to accessorized themselves, especially the women. Women here wears big nose rings, bangles, pretty bindis, big necklaces, and their saree pun very heavy with ornament but still very pretty!

So after puas jalan jalan kat Sardhar Market, we went to our most desired location, which is the Mehrangarh Fort!

Farah menyusuri the Blue city

Untuk pergi Mehrangarh Fort ni actually you can go two ways, but we went using the easiest way sebab tak tahu jalan lagi satu tu kat celah mana and this easiest way is usually used by the local and people yang jalan kaki to the Fort.

By the way, nak pergi Fort ni basically you kena 'hike' for about 5-8 minutes and for someone like me yang sangatlah tak pernah exercise agak menderita jugak lah untuk I panjat ye.

So, sampai je kat atas, kitorang pun pergi lah beli tiket and also audio tour guide to help us understand the fort.

Total untuk tiket and all, is around Rs 600 so let's take a tour!

Oh lagi satu, untuk masuk Mehrangarh Fort ni kan, you kena bayar extra for camera okay nanti dia bagi pass for you to wear.

The gate inside the fort

One of the palaces inside the fort

Basically, you boleh baca sendiri lah the history of Mehrangarh fort ni, or kalau you malas nak google, let me tell you a bit about the fort.

The fort is among the largest fort in India and was built in 1460 by Rao Jodha. Dalam fort ni ada a few palaces but now the fort is converted as museum and ada banyak palaces, and palanquins museum, and also period rooms dalam ni for you to see.

Audio guide yang kitorang pakai tu kan, the voice is actually the Maharaja of Jodhpur himself.And for your info, Maharaja of Jodhpur own the LARGEST private residence in the WORLD! and if I'm not mistaken, it can be seen from the top of the fort too.

You can see the intricate details of the palace 

The guard inside the palace

Fun fact, semua guard dekat dalam fort ni ada misai lentik!

Pakcik Misai!

So dalam ni like I said, ada banyak museum and period rooms, so here are some of them:

Sheesh Mahal of Palace of Mirror

This is my favorite. Bila tengok ni, terus I teringat scene dalam cerita Bajirao Mastani. Lawa gila okay.

Oh, also, dalam ni ada Opium museum. You know, India is actually very famous with opium and it was one of the entertainment in the palace too. So dekat sini, ada tunjuk the bongs they used for smoking opium. They even have the opium master here!

The opium master/expert

One of the palanquins in the museum

The ceiling in the peeping hall (Jhanki Mahal)

The royal ladies watched the official proceedings, going on in the courtyard, from the Jhanki Mahal. It houses a rich collection of the royal cradles, decorated with gilt mirrors and figures of fairies, elephant and birds. (Taken from website)

Moti Mahal

Moti Mahal is the largest period room of the Mehrangarh Museum. It was built by Raja Sur Singh. Moti Mahal was where the king used to sit on his throne and meet all his subjects. The palace has the Sringar Chowki, The Royal Throne of Jodhpur. The Moti Mahal has five alcoves leading to hidden balconies. It is believed that the balconies were built for the five queens of the Maharaja to enable them to listen in on court proceeding.
(Taken from the website)

Palaces only for women

Okay, kan I cerita I beli Bindi kan? So, sempat lah I feeling feeling macam Aishwarya Rai dalam Devdas kat sini. Gigih okay pakai nose ring and bindi kat sini.

Takde kening

One thing about bindi kan, rupanya bindi ni only dipakai oleh wanita yang dah berkahwin so sepanjang I kat sini, bila I pakai bindi ni, a few people asked me, are you married? So when I said no, the proceed to explain it to me.

Feeling feeling lagi

Farah enjoying the music

Bye you majestic thing!

Nasihat I, kalau you into architecture, history, and art, you datang lah sini. Setiap kali I enter the palaces and the museum kan, mesti I jaw dropped sebab in awe with the beauty of fort itself. Memang lawa gila!

So lepas habis jalan jalan around 4 plus macam tu, we all pun decided to balik and go for makan sebab last makan tadi time breakfast pukul 9 tadi kot. Hungry!

We went for lunch at a rooftop restaurant that was located betul betul bawah Mehrangarh Fort tu which is the first rooftop restaurant you'll see when you turun kat jalan tu. And the view is...SPECTACULAR!

Feeling uols

Blue city view for you

Kitorang stay dekat rooftop restaurant ni sampai Maghrib. And for your info, Jodhpur ni located inside Rajasthan and in Jodhpur also is mostly populated by Muslims, so bila masuk waktu je kan, you boleh dengar azan bersahut sahut and bergema di bumi Jodhpur ni.

So after sun sets, we went back to KK Homestay to collect our bags and head back to train station for our final stop, Delhi.

But before that, kitorang have a ligh dinner first and then tapau some food for breakfast in train for tomorrow.

Mehrangarh fort at night

Lawa gila view fort ni waktu malam!

Rasa macam taknak balik boleh tak?

After makan, Kuku called the auto for us and we head straight to the train station. Our train is departing at around 10 pm, and we are expected to arrive in Delhi at around 8 am or so.

Okay, itu je lah for now, see you in next, or probably my last post for India!



Namashkar India (Part 1: Preparation)
Namashkar India (Part 2: Kolkata Here We Come!)
Namashkar India (Part 3: Mystical Varanasi)
Namashkar India (Part 4: Magical Varanasi)
Namashkar India (Part 5: Agra, The City of Love)
Namashkar India (Part 6: A Night Under The Sky, Jaisalmer)
Namashkar India (Part 7: A Night Under The Stars, Jaisalmer)
Namashkar India (Part 8: Starry Starry Night)
Namashkar India (Part 9: Majestic Fort)
Namashkar India (Part 10: Delhi, You Crazy!)