We had intended to leave Jodhpur today and travel west to Jaisalmer but problems making payment for the train tickets on the internet meant that had we had to delay booking for a day, by which time today’s train was fully booked. So we will travel tomorrow instead. Why the card should be rejected one day and accepted the next for the same transaction we can only put down to the vagaries of the Indian banking system in the same way that getting cash from ATMs is pot luck too.
Our train tomorrow is at 5.15 am, so we are moving from Singhvi’s Haveli to the Govind Hotel as it is only a few minutes’ walk from the station and means that we don’t have to get up quite so early or rely on a rickshaw to get us there. It’s a hotel that’s good only for a night or two; the rooms are cramped and the bathroom is little more than a cupboard. But apart from its proximity to the station is has one other thing going for it – it’s cheap and what we save compared to Singhvi’s is equivalent to the cost of the train fares.
Indian trains are very cheap indeed, they are also incredibly slow, spend ages sitting at stations along the way, are old, not very clean and the seats are uncomfortable or at least I find them so. Apart from that they are not so bad and are probably more comfortable than the dilapidated buses, given the chaotic traffic and the state of the roads which are unbelievably awful much of the time.
Having checked-in, we head for the Sadar Market, a bustling walled square filled with stalls frequented by locals and a clock tower at its centre. Women in vibrant saris and men in richly colourful turbans come here to buy and sell local produce, clothes, household goods, mend shoes and generally go about their business. Rickshaws congregate around the arched gateway into the square, women balance pots and enormous enveloping bundles on their heads with perfet aplomb, the clamour of horns resonates all around and mopeds, weave their way in and out of the people and handcarts. This is India encapsulated. We have come here to swap some books at the secondhand book store which is to be found in one corner of the square according to Lonely Planet. It turns out to be a couple of racks of books on the pavement overseen by a rather pushy young women who tries very hard to help me select a book and then wants a ridiculously inflated price for it even though I’m giving her two books in exchange, particularly when it turns out, on later inspection, to be a counterfeit copy. But it’s too hot and too little money to stand and argue over so we hand over the 250 rupees (about 3 pounds) and make our way to a restaurant for some lunch.
We are left kicking our heels for the rest of the afternoon having seen all the main sights. With nothing much else to do we visit the Umaid Gardens which are home to a zoo and the Sardar Government museum. The gardens may have been lovely once upon a time, but now are sadly unkempt and in need of a competent gardener. The museum seems to suffer from a similar lack of attention from a curator. All the exhibits are smothered in dust and are being left to deteriorate; the stuffed birds and tigers, in particular, look distinctly moth-eaten. We don’t even make it inside the zoo as we are advised by an Indian passerby that it’s not worth the 10 rupees entrance fee – and for an Indian to say that, it must be bad!