View of Jodphur from the fort

tourists but as many catering to the local population. The pressure from touts here was pretty bad, most of them young boys, who earned a hefty commission if they managed to persuade you to visit a shop – any shop! This sort of pressure can make wandering these areas wearing so after a while we sheltered in a cafe and had our first saffron lassi. Lassis are yogurt based drinks, flavoured with everything from salt to blended fruit. We love them and the saffron ones (yellow in colour of course) were no exception. It was so rich it was a meal in a glass!
Jodhpur is dominated by the immense fort which is set high up on a ridge behind the old town. It is really impressive and is the main tourist attraction. We were looking forward to visiting it and though we planned on doing it the following day somehow in the heat the swimming pool at the hotel was much more appealing! We did stir ourselves later in the day and find a supermarket somewhere in our area. Western style supermarkets are rare items here – the local people certainly don’t use them to buy vegetables from as

The immense fort which dominates the city skyline

most of the vegetables in them are old and withered! Late in the afternoon we headed back to the old town for some more exploring – this time starting from the main square and heading into the streets below the fort. Much more interesting and once away from the tourist areas no pressure from shopkeepers. We watched groups of ladies sitting on the steps of their houses hand rolling cigarettes and threading tiny pieces of charcoal onto threads (for what reason we could not find out!). Another group were sewing gardening gloves by hand. All to earn an extra few rupees for themselves. They were very friendly and were enjoying themselves, laughing and chatting together.
Next day we had booked a taxi tour of the surrounding district and though we went with a guide book recommended company we didn’t like the driver when he turned up. He was very arrogant and as we were leaving Jodpur informed us that he didn’t like driving tourists around! On the outskirts of the city we passed large groups of people all standing at a major crossroad. The women were dressed in amazing outfits with white bangles from their wrists up to their shoulders.

Aren’t the turbans amazing?

The driver said they were very poor and were waiting there for casual day work – all laboring work as that caste only did laboring jobs. A contractor would pick his group of workers, mainly for road construction, they would then be transported to the work site in the back of trucks.
On the way to the first village we started noticing peacocks everywhere – they are very common here but to us seem very exotic. They are considered royal birds and the local people love them. We stopped and watched one dance – waggling his rear end and fanning his beautiful feathers out in the courtship ritual – right in the middle of the road in front of our car. There were also a lot of small deer in the fields. The village we visited was a Bishnoi village. These people are legally allowed to take opium in the form of opium tea and we watched as a man made us some, which we drank. It tasted like muddy water and probably was! He did show us his lump of opium though and it certainly appeared to be the real thing – though I’ve only ever seen it in

Traditional bangles for sale in market

photos. The opium was pounded first and then added to water which was strained through cloth funnels a few times – the opium teapots are wooden with silver tips. Opium is grown in Rajasthan further south from Jodhpur and is highly controlled by the government. The Bishnoi people have special permission to buy a specific amount of opium each year. They drink opium tea daily for medicinal purposes. The ladies were wearing the bra style blouse which is worn with an overshirt which is cut away around the breast area to show off the bra underneath plus a long skirt and veil. They all wear large nose rings as well. We also visited a potters village and had lunch in another very pretty little group of houses where they were weaving durries. The colours were beautiful – I was tempted but didn’t have any where to put it so it’s really pointless buying one and having to post it home. The village huts were built of mud which was painted pale blue with patterns drawn all over them. Jerry has been interested to see how widely the swastika sign is used here – it is a religious symbol here which

Buying bangles!

represents the sun and energy and is associated with good fortune and luck. Another village we visited is renowned for it’s pit weaving where the weaver sits in a hole in the ground and uses a large loom to weave fabrAic. In this village they dressed us up in traditional costume and we looked totally ridiculous! It was a fun day though which was only spoilt slightly by the attitude of our driver. He certainly didn’t get a tip at the end of the day. Tipping is expected here and we’re happy to tip if the service and attitude deserves it.
Begging is a nuisance though – mainly from children who follow you around ‘ one pen sir, rupee sir’. The other total nuisance and it’s driving us crazy is ‘what country you from?’ If you say Australia then you get ‘Sydney, Melbourne, Ricky Ponting, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie – you come visit my shop?- I show you many things . Look is free.’ It is driving us mad and they can be so persistent that a couple of times we’ve lost our cool. That usually happens with the teenage boys who walk backwards in front of you and then pull

Jodphur blue.

at me – they don’t do it to Jerry. I will admit that after our initial wanting to feed the street kids after 11 weeks in India so far most of the time now I brush them off. Sounds cold but there are just so many of them.
The next day we visited Meherangarh Fort or Majestic Fort which is sprawled along a ridge above the city. The walls are 36 meters high and 21 meters thick and the building of it commenced in 1459. There is a fabulous view of the city and surrounding plains from the top. As the oldest part of the city was always traditionally painted blue and it is situated way down below at the base of the ridge upon which the fort sits you can really see why it is known as the ‘blue city’. From our viewpoint above we looked down on a sea of blue houses. You entered the fort through a series seven massive gates, all heavily studded with spikes to withstand enemies on elephants. The last gate has handprints (37 in total) of six wives and the more favoured of 57 concubines of a Maharajah who died in 1724. The

Ladies threading charcoal

prints were taken as they went through the gate for the last time enroute to throwing themselves onto the funeral pyres of the Maharajah. As in all these amazing palaces the stone work was intricately carved, particularly the window screens around the womens’ quarters. Once again there were lovely glass windows, Belgian Christmas balls hanging from the gilded and painted ceilings and mirrored walls. They certainly lived in style! The museum armory was full of nasty looking weapons including some which had two blades which opened up like scissors once inside the body. Charming!
We loved the fort – you can’t help but enjoy looking at the immense rooms, fine decorations and in this case the birds eye view of the surrounding area. Afterwards we visited the cremation grounds of the rulers which was set below the palace – again a marvel of white marble carving.
That evening after another swim in the gorgeous pool at the hotel and a great pizza from the restaurant next door, we explored the area around the hotel. It was full of expensive houses as we were staying in a government office area of Jodphur. Next day we found it hard to leave the

Making lac bangles

hotel grounds – it was hot – and swimming pool so didn’t! The manager arranged for a man to come and cut my hair – they set up a chair and mirror in the garden – all for $5 AUD. All the hairdressers here are men and the salons look a little sleazy (and dirty) for a woman to go into. Local ladies have long hair and I guess get it trimmed at home. Another man came and fixed our laptop – nothing major but another en site visit for $6! I love India as there is always somebody who will find somebody to do all these little jobs for you – obviously for a fee but not an excessive one. Our last evening in Jodpur was spent wandering around and getting totally lost again in the bazaars around the old town. It was great fun checking all the bags of spices out, the shops selling handmade shoes and lacquer bangles, and dozens of stalls selling red cord threaded with beads. They were very busy stalls and we found out a few days later that girls buy the cords to give to their brothers on the 5th August as a

These taste terrible!
They are hollow and are filled with raw onion etc plus a foul tasting fluid. they are almost used as a cup.

show of love and respect. The men give gifts, usually cash, in exchange. It’s a big family celebration here. I had fallen in love with the bangle shops and could watch the men make the lacquer bangles indefinitely. They are like the lolly shops we have in Australia except they roll out gaily coloured bangles and then decorate them by hand with sparkles and beads. They are very pretty shops and some of the bangles which are decorated with European crystals are very expensive. All Indian women, regardless of age or caste, wear bangles – an equal number on each arm. In the market I watched as the bangle seller forced the bangles over a ladies knuckles as she picked the ones she wanted. Once on they can only be cut off. I bought some and had them pushed up my arm as well. They are not indestructible though as I had only had mine on for an hour before they were scratched when a cow decided to butt me! I was rescued with my feet off the ground by a passing gentleman – my new bangle got dragged up the wall as the cow lifted me. We’ve both been

Bisnoi lady

very wary of the cows and bulls since – they seem to get quite aggressive later in the day.
We enjoyed Jodpur but admit it took a day or so to warm to it. our itinerary of this trip tailored by Destiny travel and Tours .The hotel (Inn Season – highly recommend it) we stayed in was fabulous – great staff who were very professional (fairly unusual here) and the best swimming pool and garden. It wasn’t in the old town but as we stayed 5 nights we felt there was no need to be in the centre of everything. And it only cost a dollar for a tempo (autorickhaw) to the old city. We left, once again by taxi, to drive to Udaipur. We were planning on spending a few hours on the way at the Jain temples in Ranakpur.

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First Visit Chehel Sotun Palace

You may wonder why I’ve started from this palace. Here’s the reason: Chehel Sotun Palace is just behind Imam Sq at Ostandari street. The best time of the day to visit this palace is early in the morning. So, depending on the location of your hotel, you can arrange to get there by car or on foot to start your day. Chehel Sotun means 40 columns. The name is chosen to indicate there are lots of them as 40 is the number of abundance in Iranian culture.

The decorations and motifs on the mural paintings inside the palace make you stared at them and fixate your eyes on each and every one of them. Even outside the palace, there are lots of awesome patterns and miniatures depicted on the walls.

Visit Isfahan’s Imam Square

The majority of tourists who travel to Iran, ask about this square, talk about it and read about the monuments around it. When the visit to Chehel Sotun palace is completed, you can take a walk through a park and get into the middle of Imam Square. If you’re lucky and it’s a sunny day, due to the cool weather of early morning Esfahan, you would enjoy the sunshine at your face mixed with fresh air across the park.

You will be overwhelmed by the awesome grandness and openness of this square. It’s two times larger than the Red Square in Moscow with hundreds of arches all around it. There are 3 universally known buildings and a bazaar in this square, which are fantastic and very attractive. Nobody gets tired of strolling in this square sooner than a day. As a tourist guide, I’ve shown various corners of this site to thousands of tourists. Some even love to see it over and over again. I should add that Imam Square is registered at UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites.

Visit Isfahan’s Imam Mosque

As your travel to Iran is based on a tight schedule packed with lots of sights in one or two weeks, you might not have time to come to this square the next day. So, the right way of visiting this square in the morning after you’ve visited Chehel Sotun is to go to Imam Khomeini Mosque (Originally Jame-e- Abbasy Mosque). As you enter, it will be on your right side.

This mosque with 4 minarets and a huge blue dome has got the best light in the morning for visitors due to its relatively high courtyard walls. Also, they close it to visitors at the time of noon prayer, because it’s both a functional mosque and a monument. The size, embellishment, precision in design and architecture and overall beauty of this building drive everyone into an inner feeling of appreciation.

Sheikh Lotfollah Mosue Is Next

Leaving Imam Mosque, you will get back to Imam Square again and walk toward Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, the one without minarets. This private mosque of royal family was mainly used by the royal family members. So, there was no need to call people for prayer, specially in the vicinity of Imam Mosque which is so close to this one. The buff color of the dome, the color combination, motifs, decoration and architecture of this and the previous buildings have convinced professor Arthur Upham Pope, the well-known Iranologist to admit that these two mosques are the examples of culmination of Islamic architecture in Iran.

By the time you finish visiting Sheikh Lotfollah mosque, it is more or less the middle of the day and some shops start closing down for prayer and siesta. So, you can take some rest and have something to eat in one of the restaurants in the square.

Strolling in the Arcade Bazaar Corridors

As you have planned to see as much as possible during your travel to Iran and this square is so nice and lively, you’d like to explore the culture even more at different times of the same day. So, all around the square, there are some shops and behind them you will find passageways and more shops inside the roofed arcade area. Some may have closed at this time and some may have kept their shops open. It will be a nice opportunity to sneak into these passageways.

Visit Ali Qapu Palace

When the Sun has moved a bit lower toward west in the sky, it will be your best time to visit Ali Qapu Palace, the high rise of Isfahan during the Safavids, when this square and many other captivating structures were built. There are lots of big steps leading you first to a balcony from which you will have a thrilling view of the square, the opposite dome reflecting the sunshine and even outside the square.

The palace itself has got plenty of beautiful patterns on its walls and architecturally fascinating top-floor design and decoration that used to be used by the royal family as their private sector of the building.

Qeisarieh Bazaar

When shopkeepers go back from siesta and reopen their shops, it will be the best time to go to the Qeisarieh Bazaar and walk around its corridors and passageways. This square and, in general, this city is where you can find lots of souvenirs and gifts to buy as Isfahan has got tons of different handicrafts to offer to both Iranian and non-Iranian visitors to the city.

Once you explore various corners of the bazaar, it will be the time to enjoy watching the Sun going down and casting orange color to the Eastern arches of the stores and the facade of the Eastern structures altogether. You will feel so relaxed and out of this world to sit somewhere and lean back while the Sunset adds to the beauty of this Iranian tourism hotspot.

This will be the end of your one-day walking tour of Imam Square in Isfahan and an incredible experience left with you for the rest of your life. You will remember this day any time you think of your travel to Iran.

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