A Christmas Story in Jodhpur

It was an inauspicious start to Christmas Day. We stepped off our overnight train into Jodhpur Railway Station at 5:00am, stashed our bags in the cloakroom and headed into the city to find a spot for breakfast.

Our rickshaw driver deposited us in the middle of a deserted market, supposedly the centre of the city. We searched for a place to have breakfast, but found nothing open. Instead, we came across a scary street dog. Street dogs usually ignore people, but at this time of morning they must be more territorial. The dog started barking loudly, which set off a chain reaction of nearby dogs, and before long we were surrounded. Not an ideal start to Christmas! We retreated and finally found a chai stand – an oasis of safety and warmth.

Thankfully, our day improved from then on. This is our Christmas story, told in the form of a photo essay.

This morning was the first time we saw cows eating grass rather than rubbish or roti. The cows’ owners put grass out on the street before sunrise.

We chatted to some locals (bemused to see us hanging around so early) who recommended a restaurant for breakfast. We weren’t disappointed, enjoying an enormous masala dosa!

Walking back to the (still empty) market, we got our first glimpse of the impressive Mehrangarh Fort.

The fort is one of the best preserved and presented tourist attractions we saw in India. It has a beautiful palace inside and affords an impressive view over the city. One nickname for Jodhpur is “the blue city” due to its many blue houses.

Just below the fort is a picturesque mausoleum for a past maharaja.

By the time we walked back down the hill, the market was bustling.

It turns out that even buying a shirt is a bit intense in India. A westerner buying clothes is apparently considered street theatre in Jodhpur. A bunch of about 12 people, an idle rickshaw and a cow crowded close to watch and call out suggestions as Craig tried on shirts. Sadly we didn’t get a photo.

Based on stories we’d heard from other travellers, we hadn’t expected much of our time in Jodhpur, but we actually ended up really enjoying our day in the city. It was time to leave for Delhi, so we caught a rickshaw to the train station.

Whoops, we forgot to do our teeth. Never mind, we’ll just do them on the platform (in India, this is not unusual behaviour!)

Wearing all of our warm clothes, we climbed into the upper bunks of the train. We were in sleeper class (which has no heating) so we were in for a long and freezing night. But oh well, we had had a really fun (if unconventional) Christmas Day.

Written by Craig Drayton and Sally Robertson