Last night I arrived in the city of Jodhpur rather late due to a delayed train. This morning when I woke up I was pleasantly surprised by my surroundings - It looked rather promising. Today my obsession with openings led me to this special spot. After stopping to innocently photograph this doorway I was invited in by the owner. I was a bit hesitant at first, but after striking up some small talk I decided that the situation seemed safe, so I stepped in. I'm starting to get pretty good at this 'fair-trade' stuff...that is to say we make a deal, in this instance 'you' do henna on my hand, I give you a few rupees, and in return you give me a tour of your house and let me photograph and sketch it. Well, I guess it's not totally fair, but close enough.
Once I stepped in we ascended the staircase to the upper level of the home. The view of the the city was fantastic. The fabric of the buildings created this wonderful blue texture. There's something spectacularly cinematic about this city. I was a total voyeur as I stood on the rooftop looking down on the city. From this position I was able to watch people go about their daily activities, from eating, to bathing, to sleeping. It was rather intriguing.
From this level there is a view back down toward the outdoor common space at the entry level as well as the interior 'living' space.
The interior space on the second level serves as a 'summer kitchen'.
Next we descended the stair to check out the ground level spaces.
In the living space I found some typical furnishings.
Then we entered the opposite space, where the winter kitchen and winter bedroom is (in the summer the owners sleep outside under the stars!).
This space holds the water storage. Large local clay pots are used to store water. They are then placed on this stone depression in the wall which keeps the water remarkably cold without the use of any energy.
It's not only effetive and efficient, but beautiful too!
After saying my goodbyes I continued to roam around the charming streets of Jodhpur. I continued to find some fascinating things...
Everywhere I turned I saw a new compelling urban collage.
I can't complete a post about Jodhpur without including the kids. There were so many and they loved the camera.
After my full-day adventure in Jodhpur (definitely not long enough, I need to come back) I got in a car and took a 6 hour drive south to Udaipur. The landscape was incredible (unfortunately the sun set halfway through so visability was an issue, although it seemed spectacular even in the dark). Along the way there were several rivers that had seemed to have withered away over the course of the dry season. In some cases people had started to infiltrate the riverbed, making use of the land for agricultural growth. Unfortunately I was not able to get any photographs, but I plan to do more investigations into the topic with time...
In general I thoroughly enjoyed Jodhpur for some reason, I can't really explain why. t's definitely not the cleanest or calmest of cities in India, but there is something special about it...I just can't put my finger on it...
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