After Jaipur, we headed out to our next stop - the Blue City of Jodhpur. This city was once called Marwar, meaning "region of desert," but due to some translation and pronunciation issues back in the day, it somehow changed to mean "region of death." Ah, wonderful. Now we're REALLY going to sweat to death. The city is blue for several reasons. First, the Brahmin caste used to paint their houses blue to signify their status, but soon others followed suit, so there were more and more blue buildings. Second, the color blue helps the houses stay cooler. Lastly, blue apparently repels mosquitoes. Whatever the reason, it's freakin' awesome.
Jodhpur was one of our favorites. First, they have a fort called the Mehrangarh Fort which we feel was even more impressive than Amber Fort in Jaipur. Again, Amy exclaimed, "Helms Deep!" You could just imagine soldiers poised on the walls watching as an advancing army draws closer and closer. Man, times were rough. The fort was a maze of floors, courtyards, and rooms. Good thing they give you a map at the entrance! On one of the floors, we walked past a sign that said something about a music organization. This man came out and asked if we wanted to hear a little free traditional India music. We walked in, sat down, and he started to play the sitar. It was incredible, we felt transported to a different time and place. Afterward we got to talking, since Amy is a musician and had lots of questions. It turned out that he had started this organization to preserve traditional India music and there was a very famous sitar player coming to the fort that evening to give a private concert. The man invited us to come as special guests. He also asked if Amy would be willing to perform at a school in town for blind children where he does music therapy. Amy was very excited, but unfortunately, we couldn't get it arranged with the school in time, since we were only in town a few days.
We finished the tour of the fort, left and wondered around the city awhile, then made our way back to the fort that evening for the concert. It was held out on one of the larger balconies on the top of the fort. It was very elegant, with a white canopy, dimmed lights, and covered chairs. We sat down and waited for the show to begin. It turns out that the performer was none other than Ravi Shankar, a musical legend in India. Amy about lost it. As he played, the people around us would sing along and nod in approval of Mr. Shankar's intricate improvisations. Amy just closed her eyes, let the music fill the open space, felt the wind brush lightly across her face, and took in the sweet night air. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes. After the concert, it happened that there was some sort of religious celebration down in town and they started lighting fireworks. We stood at the balcony wall, left in awe of the evening's music and looked out at the city lights and the brilliant fireworks filling the sky. Incredible is an understatement. That was probably our best night out of the whole trip.
The next day, we heard about a festival going on called the Marwar Festival. It only runs only one weekend a year, and we just so happened to be there that weekend. The lady at our hotel had tickets, so we headed over. It was a bit strange. Picture a small football stadium at a local high school with covered bleachers. That wasn't the strange part. It was that there were only about 100-200 people there, instead of the 1000s we had grown used to. It was a welcome break! The festival was similar to a state fair, with competitions and presentations during the day, and a big show right before dusk. We arrived just in time for the "Beard Competition" where men lined up on stage and sported their facial creations. That was entertaining! Next came the "Turban Tying Competition" where men had one minute to tie a turban and they were judged on style. These men looked like they were in fast-forward! We've never seen anything quite like it. Rob had been wanting to learn how to tie a turban, so he was paying special attention, trying to figure out their technique. After they announced the winner, they then said that up next was the turban-tying competition for the foreigners and invited any foreigners on stage to give it a try. Rob looked at me and said, "Hell ya!" and ran up on stage. The tourists had five minutes to complete their turban and it was hilarious watching them try to figure it out. There were about 8 of them, a few Americans, a few Australians, some Israelis, a French girl...and all of them looked like they were wrapping bandages on their heads! Amy laughed and cheered Rob on from the bleachers. She was shocked to see that Rob's turban looked really good, especially for it being his first time tying a turban. I guess he really did pay attention when the experts were going! The judges debated and a little while later, announced the winners. Third place, this guy from Australia. Second place, the French lady. First place, Rob from the Unites States! Holy cow!! Rob won a freakin' turban-tying competition in India! He even got a trophy. We scratched our heads thinking, "We're traveling with backpacks! How are we going to get this trophy home?" It didn't matter though, we must figure it out. I told Rob he needs to put on his resume that he is an international turban-tying champion. How could anyone say no to that??
The last highlight in Jodhpur was that right across from the festival stadium was a small mall with a brand new movie theater in it. This was our chance to finally see a movie in India! There weren't any American movies playing, so we decided to go with the movie called "Rascals" in Hindi. The chairs were super comfy, the screen was big and the sound was good. Much different than our theater experience in the Philippines back when Rob was on deployment! The movie was a comic-action flick, so even though we didn't understand what they were saying, it was pretty easy to figure out what was going on. Our two favorite things about Bollywood movies: #1 - they break out in a mini-music video every 30 minutes or so. This is not your average scene, where something intense happens, an actor looks up tortured in thought, and does the only thing that any of us would do for a 2 million dollar movie deal - breaks out into song. No, these Bollywood movies don't need an excuse to get everyone singing and dancing. And the scene for the mini music video doesn't even have to be related to the story really at all. It was awesome. We were laughing and looking at each other like, "Is this for real?" #2 - they have intermissions! Halfway through the movie, the lights came on and everyone left. Time to hit the concession stands and use the facilities. It was only about 10 minutes, and people were used to the drill, because they quickly returned, arms full of soda, popcorn, samosas, and candy. This is about the time we swore that we would study up on our Bollywood knowledge once we got to Ohio and definitely have a Bollywood night. Ah, India, you are one of a kind!
We were only in Jodhpur for a few days, but had a blast. At this point, reality really started to sink in. We only had two more stops before we had to fly back to the The States - Jaisalmer and Delhi. Our trip was almost over. And we were not ready to leave! We had finally acclimated, really starting enjoying all the quirkiness of India, and now it was almost time to go. Two months. Two months? Has it really been that long? It seemed like such a long time when we were planning this trip, but now it's come and gone. Well, I guess we'll add India to the list of places we must go back to in the future. But, it's not over just yet...we have a few more memories to make. On to Jaisalmer!
Jodhpur was one of our favorites. First, they have a fort called the Mehrangarh Fort which we feel was even more impressive than Amber Fort in Jaipur. Again, Amy exclaimed, "Helms Deep!" You could just imagine soldiers poised on the walls watching as an advancing army draws closer and closer. Man, times were rough. The fort was a maze of floors, courtyards, and rooms. Good thing they give you a map at the entrance! On one of the floors, we walked past a sign that said something about a music organization. This man came out and asked if we wanted to hear a little free traditional India music. We walked in, sat down, and he started to play the sitar. It was incredible, we felt transported to a different time and place. Afterward we got to talking, since Amy is a musician and had lots of questions. It turned out that he had started this organization to preserve traditional India music and there was a very famous sitar player coming to the fort that evening to give a private concert. The man invited us to come as special guests. He also asked if Amy would be willing to perform at a school in town for blind children where he does music therapy. Amy was very excited, but unfortunately, we couldn't get it arranged with the school in time, since we were only in town a few days.
We finished the tour of the fort, left and wondered around the city awhile, then made our way back to the fort that evening for the concert. It was held out on one of the larger balconies on the top of the fort. It was very elegant, with a white canopy, dimmed lights, and covered chairs. We sat down and waited for the show to begin. It turns out that the performer was none other than Ravi Shankar, a musical legend in India. Amy about lost it. As he played, the people around us would sing along and nod in approval of Mr. Shankar's intricate improvisations. Amy just closed her eyes, let the music fill the open space, felt the wind brush lightly across her face, and took in the sweet night air. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes. After the concert, it happened that there was some sort of religious celebration down in town and they started lighting fireworks. We stood at the balcony wall, left in awe of the evening's music and looked out at the city lights and the brilliant fireworks filling the sky. Incredible is an understatement. That was probably our best night out of the whole trip.
The next day, we heard about a festival going on called the Marwar Festival. It only runs only one weekend a year, and we just so happened to be there that weekend. The lady at our hotel had tickets, so we headed over. It was a bit strange. Picture a small football stadium at a local high school with covered bleachers. That wasn't the strange part. It was that there were only about 100-200 people there, instead of the 1000s we had grown used to. It was a welcome break! The festival was similar to a state fair, with competitions and presentations during the day, and a big show right before dusk. We arrived just in time for the "Beard Competition" where men lined up on stage and sported their facial creations. That was entertaining! Next came the "Turban Tying Competition" where men had one minute to tie a turban and they were judged on style. These men looked like they were in fast-forward! We've never seen anything quite like it. Rob had been wanting to learn how to tie a turban, so he was paying special attention, trying to figure out their technique. After they announced the winner, they then said that up next was the turban-tying competition for the foreigners and invited any foreigners on stage to give it a try. Rob looked at me and said, "Hell ya!" and ran up on stage. The tourists had five minutes to complete their turban and it was hilarious watching them try to figure it out. There were about 8 of them, a few Americans, a few Australians, some Israelis, a French girl...and all of them looked like they were wrapping bandages on their heads! Amy laughed and cheered Rob on from the bleachers. She was shocked to see that Rob's turban looked really good, especially for it being his first time tying a turban. I guess he really did pay attention when the experts were going! The judges debated and a little while later, announced the winners. Third place, this guy from Australia. Second place, the French lady. First place, Rob from the Unites States! Holy cow!! Rob won a freakin' turban-tying competition in India! He even got a trophy. We scratched our heads thinking, "We're traveling with backpacks! How are we going to get this trophy home?" It didn't matter though, we must figure it out. I told Rob he needs to put on his resume that he is an international turban-tying champion. How could anyone say no to that??
The last highlight in Jodhpur was that right across from the festival stadium was a small mall with a brand new movie theater in it. This was our chance to finally see a movie in India! There weren't any American movies playing, so we decided to go with the movie called "Rascals" in Hindi. The chairs were super comfy, the screen was big and the sound was good. Much different than our theater experience in the Philippines back when Rob was on deployment! The movie was a comic-action flick, so even though we didn't understand what they were saying, it was pretty easy to figure out what was going on. Our two favorite things about Bollywood movies: #1 - they break out in a mini-music video every 30 minutes or so. This is not your average scene, where something intense happens, an actor looks up tortured in thought, and does the only thing that any of us would do for a 2 million dollar movie deal - breaks out into song. No, these Bollywood movies don't need an excuse to get everyone singing and dancing. And the scene for the mini music video doesn't even have to be related to the story really at all. It was awesome. We were laughing and looking at each other like, "Is this for real?" #2 - they have intermissions! Halfway through the movie, the lights came on and everyone left. Time to hit the concession stands and use the facilities. It was only about 10 minutes, and people were used to the drill, because they quickly returned, arms full of soda, popcorn, samosas, and candy. This is about the time we swore that we would study up on our Bollywood knowledge once we got to Ohio and definitely have a Bollywood night. Ah, India, you are one of a kind!
We were only in Jodhpur for a few days, but had a blast. At this point, reality really started to sink in. We only had two more stops before we had to fly back to the The States - Jaisalmer and Delhi. Our trip was almost over. And we were not ready to leave! We had finally acclimated, really starting enjoying all the quirkiness of India, and now it was almost time to go. Two months. Two months? Has it really been that long? It seemed like such a long time when we were planning this trip, but now it's come and gone. Well, I guess we'll add India to the list of places we must go back to in the future. But, it's not over just yet...we have a few more memories to make. On to Jaisalmer!
