Jodhpur

I was very intrigued by the idea of visiting the "Blue City". It looked extremely photogenic in the travel videos I'd watched. We started our visit to Jodhpur visiting Jaswant Thada and then Mehrangarh Fort. Mehrangarh Fort is the most impressive fort we saw in Rajasthan. The fort is massive and impressive. The Shringar Chowk courtyard has some most impressive and ornate building exteriors we saw on the trip.

The following morning we visited the Blue City otherwise known as the Old City portion of Jodhpur. The Blue City is warren of tiny steep streets that not even an auto rikshaw can navigate. And, while Blue City is photogenic, it is not a pleasant place to visit. It's full of stray dogs and there's dog feces everywhere. Worse, many of the street gutters appear to be open sewers with the expected stench.

Our final stop in Jodhpur was Umaid Bhawan Palace. Umaid Palace was the last royal palace built in India. It is the only one built in Art Deco style. There's only a small portion of the palace open to visitors but it's worth visiting. The art deco murals are particularly impressive. If I visit Jodhpur again, I'll seriously consider staying in the Taj Hotel that is in the palace as it would be wonderful to experience more of the palace.