Jodhpur, India

Jodhpur is the way that I envisioned India to be.  It's chaotic, filthy, and smelly.  There is also a strange, exotic beauty about the place that made me feel like Indiana Jones. 

Jodhpur is known as the "Blue City" and from atop Meherangargh Fort (pictured above) it's not hard to see why...

A trip to Jodhpur is not complete without a visit to Sadar Bazaar, the historical center of Jodhpur.  It has a lovely clock tower and many eager vendors.  I'm sorry Seattle, but Pike's Place Market is not even in the same league as Sadar Bazaar.

We capped the day off at Mandore Gardens (below), where we were serenaded by people playing Mary Had a Little Lamb and Frère Jacques on some sort of musical instrument that I'd never seen before (maybe it was a mandore).

In Jodhpur, I realized that I felt smaller and less significant than I'd ever felt before.  The crowdedness and the dirtiness of India had somehow blurred the lines between me and the people around me.  Not only was I smaller and less significant than I'd imagined, but I realized that I was just a piece of the puzzle, a small part of the collective whole...no better or worse than anyone else. 

Hierarchies and classifications are human-made. 

We are all equal.

"For the warrior, there is no 'better' or 'worse.'  Everyone has the necessary gifts for his particular path."

~Paulo Coelho