We are rather sad to leave Pushkar; it may be touristy, but it is an oasis of calm in the chaos that is < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /?>
India. No constant honking of horns, no traffic fumes, no crazy driving only the cows to side-step. But having re-charged our batteries we are heading further west to Jodhpur. The journey involves a taxi back to Ajmer to catch the train which takes six-and-a-quarter hours and numerous stops to cover the 244km to Jodhpur; trains don’t travel very fast in India but at least they are cheap. Even though it’s not an overnight train we are travelling in 3AC sleeper class which is one up from sleeper. Seating is arranged in groups of eight, six on one side of the aisle and two on the other which convert to 8 bunks for overnight travel and no curtains – but at least there is air conditioning. I shouldn’t think it is a pleasant overnight experience particularly if the carriage is full. There is a distinct shortage of luggage space, but today there are only two women and a child sharing our section so we have plenty of room to spread out and can stow our luggage on the top bunk.
The little girl is about two or three and is very interested in the laptop and Andy’s game of Heroes. The two women have taken up most of the available luggage space with several bags which it later transpires are mostly full of food. As the journey progresses various dishes are prepared included some peeled and salted cucumber, a plateful of which is generously shared with us.
The train, as seems to be the norm, arrives about 35 minutes late, but our pick-up waiting for us on the platform. We follow him to the rickshaw outside picking our way through the mass of people sitting or sleeping on mats on the station platform and on the concourse outside. The rickshaw wallah is forced to take a detour to avoid a brightly lit procession of decorated horse-drawn carts parading through the street and on arrival wants 100 rupees for the fare, which by Indian standards is a expensive even for a lengthy rickshaw ride. Besides the pickup is supposed to be free. When we mention to the hotel manager that the rickshaw wallah wants paying it turns out that the correct fare is 30 rupees.
We are staying at the Singhvi Haveli in the old town, in what they claim is their best ‘suite’ – the Maharanis Suite. It isn’t a suite, but it is quite stunning nonetheless with floor to ceiling murals in the traditional style and double aspect overhanging bay windows – shutters, no glass – with sills large enough to accommodate a chair. One window affords a superb view of the Meherangarh Fort perched on a rocky hill top 125m above us. The haveli was gifted to the current owners’ ancestors by the Maharaja of Jaipur 400 years ago and is currently run as a hotel by two brothers, the 10th generation of their family to live in this fabulous old Rajput building.