Mandi i'm off: Udaipur to Jodhpur

Have left the rains of Udaipur behind as I hoped we would after clearing the surrounding hills.The journey to Ranakpur was very scenic especially the looping horseshoe bends down to the plain.The temple stands alone in an idyllic setting of woodland,there is no town of Ranakpur just a 600 year old marble temple of domes and pillars.The Jain religion is a peaceful one dating back to 500 BC.It seems to me to be a sort of amalgam of Hinduism and Buddhism,they believe in the Hindu gods but they also have prophets and they worship a Buddha style being but who is human but has not attained Godhood but nirvana.

There are custodians who are mostly young men who dress like monks and act as guides,they are descendants of the 15 th century Jains that built the temple,and once again as happened at the Brahma temple in Pushkar I was blessed and prayed for and pretty much absolved . Arrived late afternoon at Jodhpur,visited the current Maharajah's palace called the Umaid Palace and after checking in at my 1826 Havelli,I went for a walk to the market square where I just people watched for an hour or so .Jodhpur sits on the edge of the Thar desert and tonight sitting on the rooftop over a couple of beers and a Mutton Masala the sounds of the haunting chant and musical wail from the nearby Mosque,the gentle cool breeze blowing off the desert and the smell uniquely India reminded me why I am here,you wouldn't be dead for quids.

Tomorrow after first visiting the magnificent fort that stands like a sentinel over the old town where I am,we will drive 300 ks through the desert to the town of Jaisalmer.