Today is State of Origin II in Oz and we want to see it. For that reason we are departing from Gordangh Palace early (0700) because we have 7 hours of road tripping to our next night’s destination, Jodhpur (founded in 1459). We were barely out of town, not far past the War Museum, when we had an unscheduled stop at a local school where we were presented to the children and we sang our national anthem to them. They in turn replied with theirs. After 30 minutes we moved on again.
Built in 1899, the Maharajah Jaswant Singh II Memorial (otherwise known as Jaswant Thada) is a site that holds several memorial cenotaphs for the royals. These white marble shrines are impressive to say the least. The memorial sits within the walls of the fort and offers magnificent views of the town below.
We then visited the big fort on the hill. Mehrangarh Fort is 5 kms long and sits atop a 125 mtr hill overlooking the township. Shane & I took one look at the terrain and decided there was no way we would handle all the steps but Pia insisted there were lifts and we could do it. Well there were lifts but sadly to get to them, and site seeing in between them, stuffed my knees even more. I really am in trouble as now BOTH knees are buggered but with only a few days left I am determined to hang in and see the Taj Mahal. That’s the reason we’re on this trip. Anyway the fort was magnificent as have been all before it. I saw a terrific pair of camel sandals for only $10 AUD but we didn’t have time to stop so I missed the opportunity. Its a pity I can’t post all of the pics we took but there are almost 200 for the fort alone so you’ll have to be satisfied with these below.
Tonight we were booked into another ‘Palace’ hotel called the Indana Hotel. This place was right across the road from an India Air Force Base and we were thrilled when a squadron of fighter jets flew very low over us on approach to landing. Again this accommodation was unbelievable. the lobby was huge as was the room. There was an inside courtyard of manicured gardens the size of a footy field and the facilities were brilliant. The room was well appointed with an emerald green marble floor and a huge bathroom. Oh yeah, that reminds me. We missed the State of Origin Match (boo Qld!).
So here’s to another day.
Cheers all
Garry