Tordi Gath and Jaipur in the state of Rajastan

We have a long bus and jeep drive today as we are going to visit a village in a remote part of the state of Rajastan. We take a bus for about four hours, then transfer to jeeps for the remaining three hour journey to Tordi. We were on the Agra-Jaipur highway for the majority of the time, which is two lanes in each direction and relatively smooth. Then, the roads changes to the usually bumpy and potholed ones we’ve become accustomed to. The terrain changes also, to high desert and palm trees, with some mountains. When we reach the village, we drive into a “heritage site” which is actually a former palace under the maharaja system with the owners being direct descendants. We took a camel cart ride to the dunes to see the sunset which was quite enjoyable and featured chai at the top! Then we were treated to a home-cooked meal by the owners, featuring many local delicious dishes including warm rice pudding. A roaring campfire and conversation rounded out the evening. A nice respite from dodging honking horns. We visit the village tomorrow. Tordi Gath part two The others woke at 5:30 am to take a sunrise hike to the fort high above the village. Hoyt and I opted to sleep in and take in essentially the same view from the hotel’s rooftop perch, giving us a panoramic view of the village. Smart move. We have breakfast at 8:30 followed by a village tour. About 3000 live in the village, where we saw various craftspeople at work including potters, cobblers and toolmakers. We enjoyed having our pictures taken with the local schoolchildren, who giggled when they saw their images in our cameras. There’s no printed directory for the shops; what they do instead is write their cell phone numbers on the walls of their business in charcoal. We return to the hotel and bask in the sunshine, returning to our rooftop perch where we could have easily spent the day. Two of our tourmates decide to get henna tattoos on their hands, and we are treated to a cooking demonstration by the landlady who fixed a tasty dish with curds, lentils and spices which we would have for lunch along with various other homemade treats. After lunch, we leave via jeep for Jaipur on the same bumpy road we took coming in. In about three hours we reach Jaipur, one of the first master planned cities in India and the location of one of the most impressive royal castles we’ve seen, with extensive inlaid marble and walls that seem to rival the Great Wall of China. At our hotel, we’re greeted with a flower garland and a mango lassi. The hotel is a former castle and it’s quite a journey just to reach our room, up and down various staircases and through beautiful courtyards. We try venturing out after dark for shopping and dinner, but it’s extremely chaotic so we decide to go back to the hotel, only to

find that their restaurant isn’t open for dinner, so we consult our guidebook for suggestions. We decide to take a tuk-tuk to a vegetarian restaurant and are on the way out the door when our guide Singh appears. We share our plans and he tells us about a restaurant just down the street featuring folk dancing, so off we go. The food is delicious so we’re quite happy.