Our first stop on our trip to
Rajasthan is Jodhpur, also known as the Blue City. The Brahmin houses used to
be identified by their blue color, but now anyone can paint their houses blue.
At the top of the city is a giant fort that has never been conquered (if you
see pictures of it you’ll understand why) and off in the distance is a huge
palace where the king of Jodhpur still lives. Ben P and I befriended an art
professor at BHU who used to be the museum director at the fort and is also a
personal friend of the king. With this connection we were able to get a free
tour of the fort, a tour of the conservation lab there, and be invited to the
finals of the Royal Salute Maharaja’s Golden Jubilee Cup polo tournament. After
the match, we got to see the King’s collection of vintage cars and even meet
the king himself! Although we didn’t talk for long, he invited us to also come
and see the water conservation lab that he funds here in Jodhpur. The whole day
was a pretty surreal experience and now I understand how the game of polo
works! Interesting fact: the riding pants worn in polo are named after the city
of Jodhpur.
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