Jodhpur: The Blue City

The Blue City

After staying an unplanned extra night in Khuri writhing in pain, our time in Jaisalmer was curtailed to a mere afternoon—this was really a shame as it seemed worth at least a night’s stay. We had already bought train tickets though, so we chose to stay on schedule and move on to Jodhpur, the Blue City.
Note to prospective India travelers: don’t buy train tickets anymore than 2-3 days in advance if you can help it as shit will happen... quite literally sometimes, in India’s case.

Once in Jodhpur, we decided to slow down the pace of our schedule a bit to catch our breath, extending our planned 2-night stop into a whole 6 nights. Our first impressions were that, much unlike any place we had experienced to date (certainly in stark contrast to Delhi), some people here would actually just say “hello” without asking for anything or trying to drag you into their shop! In our time, we also ran across several people who were more than willing to treat you to a cup of chai or something and offer up advice, even if it didn’t benefit them. The touts for the most part also knew the meaning of the word “no,” another novelty to us at this point. You felt like you could actually trust people here.

In all honesty, you could probably see all the sights in both Jaisalmer and Jodhpur given a full day in each, but we found people in both that could justify staying longer. Jodhpur is a little bigger though, and had a little better variety in terms of restaurants from what we saw.

The Blue City 

First, some info on Jodhpur. It’s nicknamed the Blue City for a reason: half the houses are blue! Blue is the color of the Brahmin, the priest caste in the caste system. Once upon a time, the priests of Jodhpur all painted their houses blue to distinguish themselves, but then slowly others started to follow suit. Pretty soon, we had what you see today—a sea of blue houses with bits of pink, yellow and other colors spackled in between.

The indigo paint used to achieve this affect is also supposed to help keep the houses cool and fend off mosquitoes, but one look at my legs after a week here tell a different story. Either way, it makes for a truly spectacular view from the rooftops or the fort.

Many of the guest houses and hotels in town have their own rooftop restaurants, giving great views overlooking both the blue cityscape and Jodhpur’s iconic Mehrangarh Fort, coincidentally used in filming the Dark Knight Rises.

Now, without further ado, our highlights and recommendations.

Pushp Paying Guest House 

View from Pushp
rooftop restaurant

This small, family-owned establishment served as our base of operations for 6 nights. It currently has 5 rooms, but the owner did speak of possible future expansion given their recent success. Looking back on it, I would still say that this was our nicest room in our month’s time in India, even at a modest 400Rp/night (standard price of 450Rp, discounted for the extended stay).

Very clean, great facilities, and decorum matching the blue theme of the town. With a lounge area on the 3rd floor and a sizeable rooftop restaurant, there was plenty of space to relax and chat with other travelers, an activity which we did quite a bit of. And best of all, the owner is easy to talk to and honest to a fault; his whole family is rather down to earth as well. The restaurant menu is decent, and they’ll even serve up non-veg dishes or beer upon request.

You really can’t go wrong with this place—as long as they have a room open, that is. Pushp is not exactly the easiest place to find—if your rickshaw driver feigns ignorance, tell them to aim for the Discovery Guest House, then take the next left. From here, watch the walls for "Pushp" written in blue with arrows to direct you. When we were there, one of the signs only had a big “PU” with the rest smudged out—go right here.

If Pushp is full, another couple recommended the Blue House Guest House, although they warned that it was a bit pricey.

Jharokha Restaurant 

The fort at night from Jharokha

One of the many rooftop restaurants in town, Jharokha gets our nod of approval for offering more than just a great view. First, they have a Rajasthani specialty that we had been on the lookout for ever since hearing about it: dal baati churma. In place of naan or roti, this dish offers hard little wheat rolls called baati and a sweet concoction called churma to dip and mix with the standard dal (bean) curry. After 2 weeks of mostly curry, churma tasted enough like cornbread to put me into a gastronomical bliss.

Not on the menu is Jharokha’s great ambiance. The lighting is romantically dim, and they were the only place in town we saw to come with live entertainment, including a band and traditional dancers.

To find Jharokha, start at the clock tower and take a left from the north market exit, then a right at the first main street. You’ll see signs for Jharokha on the right.

On the Rocks

Meat!!

On the Rocks is well-known amongst locals as a bastion of meat and alcohol. While a little pricey and not the most convenient place in town—you’ll need to pay about 60Rp for an auto-rickshaw from the south of the clock tower halfway to the pink palace—a trip to On the Rocks will reward you with some delicious dishes and a good (for India) selection of beers and liquors.

Still, the draw to me has to be that this place also runs a bar and mini club! Show up on the weekends, and you’ll be given the chance to dance it up Indian style with some of the more well-to-do about town. I was mildly disappointed that there were no Bollywood-style line dances, but oh well.

Our guest house suggested getting a ride back by 11 pm, as this is about the time the auto-rickshaws for the ride back start getting scarce.

If you’re hankering for some classy meat and beer but don’t feel like taking a ride, you can head over to Indique, just north of the clock tower at the Hotel Pal Haveli instead.

Chouhan Omelette

Vicky, the omelette guy

Just north of the clock tower in the center of town, there are two dueling omelette shops. One is in Lonely Planet, while the other is listed in Chikyu no Arukikata, its Japanese counterpart. While I’m sure they’re both worth a visit, we stopped by the one on the west side of the north gate, run by one Vicky Chouhan.

Vicky’s meager stand can hardly be called a restaurant. Upon taking your order, he’ll give you plastic stools to sit on and serve as a table. The omelettes themselves, usually served up as sandwiches, make a great snack or breakfast.

Upon perusing the menu, however, the immediate oddball to me was his fried boiled egg. How can it be both, you ask? Well, first he boils the egg, then he cuts it in half and fries it, finally topping it with a generous serving of everyone’s favorite mystery spice: masala. Delish!

While I feel I must preface this statement by saying it might be a seasonal thing, there was one drawback of these stands for us: flies. They’re everywhere and don’t exactly make you want to stick around for very long. There are supposedly much fewer flies in the dry months, but during monsoon season it bears noting.

Mehrangarh Fort

Jaswant Thada from the fort

If you only have one day in Jodhpur, or even only a few hours, this is the one sight that can’t be missed—literally. Located up on a bluff towering some 400 feet (122 meters) above town, you can see it from just about any point in Jodhpur. I’d also go as far to say that if you only have the time to see one fort in India, this wouldn’t be a bad choice. A walk up the hill from town to the fort gates will serve to likely demonstrate why this is the only fort in India never to be taken by force.

While the fort provides the backdrop for all the rooftop restaurants—both night and day thanks to a bit of strategic lighting on the hill—the best view in town is without a doubt from the top of the fort itself. From this vantage point, you have panoramic views of the Blue City and Jaswant Thada—that white mausoleum off to the right that looks like a fairy tale palace.

Besides the view, the fort itself is worth a few hours to take in. I recommend getting the audio guide, which comes free with your entry pass and a deposit of either you passport, a credit card or 2000Rps. An affordable and informative alternative to paid guides, we found similar audio guides either for free or 100 rupees in Jaisalmer, Agra and Kajuraho. Keep an eye out for them at any main attraction.

Just a short 1 km walk down the road from the fort is the aforementioned Jaswant Thada. It’s close, cheap and worth a visit after seeing the fort if you have the time.

To get to Mehranghar Fort you have two options: by foot or by auto-rickshaw. By foot, just walk towards the fort, asking people along the way if you get lost. It’s a 1 km hike, but up a steep hill. The auto-rickshaw ride will wind around the hill on a 4-km road.


And there you have it! Jodhpur in a nutshell. While walking around town, do take the time to talk to the people. Talking to both locals and travelers alike was the real highlight of the town to us. From Jodhpur, we set off on yet another overnight train to Agra, home of the magnificent Taj Mahal.