Thursday 21 October Hawa Mahal and Jantar Mantar

Out early again armed with information regarding the Hawa Mahal - The Palace of Winds - we fully intend to get to our destination today. The rickshaw driver took us straight there through an archway and to the back.


We were approached by a quitely spoken young man Surendra who offered to take us round for 100rs which sounded a bargain, he was knowledgeable and interesting and did not rush, during the tour we learnt he had taught himself to speak and read English over the last five years, mainly by speaking to tourists, his English was excellent some of his reading was pretty interesting - Conrad for instance.

This lovely place built in a pyramid shape to give the appearance of Krishnas crown is five stories high, was built in 1799. It overlooks the main street (where we were first taken), and was built so that the royal ladies could watch the city life from behind 953 tiny, beautifully carved lattice screens over the windows, which meant because they were in purdah they could not be seen, these windows also allowed air to be circulated and the rooms to be kept cool. From the top the views over Jodhpur, the Jantar Mantar, the City Palace, bazaar and temples is great. It's a lovely place to wander around with tiny rooms, screened balconies, corridors, no stairs but ramps to each floor for the palanquins to be carried. Even in those days it seems women liked 'people watching'. So glad we have seen this lovely place like no other.

Surendra then offered to take us to the Jantar Mantar for another 100rs and we were very glad to have him with us.This enormous astronomical observatory built by Maharaja Jai Singh II somewhere between 1727 and 1734 - he actually built five here and in Delhi. There are fourteen devices built in stone and marble, these large architectural instruments certainly needed explaining but I still didn't understand what some did.

Among these devices are two huge sundials, one of which is an amazing structure of about 90 ft high which tells the time by casting shadow on the arms at either side, we watched the seconds move by. Some can tell the date of the expected monsoon and others are used for astrology. It was very hot at this time and there was very little shade, I think our charming guide was glad when we decided to move on, we paid him extra and wished him good fortune. (He said I sounded like the queen)!!




We chose to go to the nearby City Palace Cafe for a late lunch, it was very good and once again
we were entertained by musicians and a boy dancing. We then walked around various street markets but were probably in the wrong area to see real artisans, it was enjoyable except unfortunately there was a lot of traffic and pollution, things were pretty busy as all the ladies were out buying houshold items, particularly pots and pans for Diwali.





We eventually hired a rickshaw to take us back to the hotel, the driver didn't speak English and kept getting lost, we had quite a tour before we got back. We had decided to keep the hotel room as our train to Jaisalmer wasn't due to leave until 11.55pm, so we ate in the hotel and had a bit of a sleep as we weren't sure what the train would be like.


We hadn't been able to book onto this train for the previous day which was what we wanted, and the best we could book on this train was AC3, this is a carriage with three tiers of bunks for six people. The hotel booked our a/c taxi which cost only 35rs - and off we went on our way to Jaisalmer.