The saga of Sunday February 9, 2025 to Tuesday February 11, 2025 moving from Jodhpur, India to Udaipur, India
The morning we were supposed to drive from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur , I awoke feeling sick and irritable. I had slept terribly the previous night. One might think it was because of the noise from the night wedding festivities, but no. I had ended up sleeping between Matanel and Shai in the smallest possible space between them with no pillow. Moreover, I spent the night being jabbed by pointy elbows, knees, and chins. Ah, to be a mom. I wouldn’t change it for anything, but a good night’s sleep would have been nice.
After breakfast, we drove to Jodhpur. Jodhpur is known as the Blue City because many of the buildings in the old city and the doors in the newer parts of town are painted blue as a sign of Brahman priests. The blue paint signals to others that the people living there live a life of pure vegetarianism.
When we arrived, our driver Ajay ended up lost in the mind-boggling, narrow streets that function as two-way roads more out of sheer will than logic. Imagine a road, wide enough for one small car, filled with pedestrians, motorcycles, rickshaws, cars, and trucks all trying to get by. We searched for our hotel twenty minutes before finding out that we were searching for a hotel that we still couldn’t find, and in the end in which we weren’t even going to be staying. Apparently, our accommodation had been changed to another location and no one had informed Ajay or us. As we drove around, I was struck by the numerous banners and billboards advertising nursery schools and student achievements, as well as the large military presence. Ajay explained the former is because Jodhpur is a bigger city with more children and the latter is because it is close to the Pakistan border.
Our new hotel was lovely and came with a pet pug that followed us everywhere. After dinner, Eitan and Amichai went to sleep early in order to wake up early to watch the Superbowl with Chaim. However, Shai and Matanel went to sleep late because Amichai had just reintroduced them to the world of Harry Potter and they were hooked.
The next morning, Amichai, Eitan, and Chaim did, indeed, wake up at 5:00AM to watch the Superbowl. However, Eitan, who was still getting over whatever virus was going around, looked pale and miserable, and his cough sounded terrible. Again, he stayed behind with Chaim while Amichai, Matanel, Shai, and I visited the Jaswant Thada, a memorial to the maharajas of Jodhpur. There, we learned that the people of Jodhpur believe their maharajas are direct descendants of the sun god Surya and the warrior Rama. Afterward, we explored Mehrangarh Fort, which was built in the 15th century by Rao Jodha. Mehrangarth Fort was the sixth fort we had visited in less than two weeks. The boys, and I admit I, were exhausted and a feeling ready to be done visiting forts and palace after palace. To our tour guide’s dismay, I cut our tour short so that we could return to our hotel by 12:00PM. That afternoon we watched Superbowl highlights and did some schoolwork. I texted our tour coordinator to find out if we could do something different and a bit more kid friendly when we reached Udaipur. It was a long shot, but I figured it was worth a try.
As we were gathering our belongings to leave, the pug jumped on Shai and Matanel and nibbled. This completely freaked out the boys. Outwardly, I focused on demanding that the dog be kept somewhere else because it kept trying to nip at the boys. Inwardly, I silent prayed that this dog was fully vaccinated. Thankfully, everything was fine in the end, but one never knows.
By 10:00AM we were on our way to Udaipur. The drive to Udaipur is beautiful as the desert morphs into greener pastures, mountains rise in the distance, multicolor sandstone appears, and houses are seen tucked into the trees. Along the way, we stopped at a rest stop that clearly catered to westerners. I know, because one can always tell by the bathroom situation. There, the boys enjoyed fresh pomegranate juice, ice cream, and a taste of home in the form of Twix bars.
As we arrived at our hotel, I questioned our choices. The streets seemed like backstreets with nothing happening. It turned out I was mistaken. We were tucked into a small neighborhood just 500m from the center of town, which was great for us because it was quieter and still walkable. We finally had a chance to take a walk through a city, find our own food, and determine our exploration pace on our own.
Before going to sleep, it dawned on me that I was growing severely dehydrated. I felt sick, looked pale, and felt malnourished. I put on a brave face for a work meeting I had and then promptly passed out right afterward. Upon reflection, I believe I was subconsciously avoiding drinking so that I wouldn’t have to use the toilets as often because they were not pleasant. To be honest, I think I’d rather have a catheter.
