Yes – I opened Door No 1 and jumped on a plane to Jodhpur.
When folks think India, they have images of heat, dust, noise, colourful clothing, the shopping, palaces and forts. Jodhpur has that in spades!
Lucky me – my excuse for going to Jodhpur was to join my partner who is part of a film shooting there.
My first day, another member of the cast wanted to head out shopping. She had already sussed out a place that purports to do mostly bulk export trade with some local retail.
Now… I will admit… I’m not much of a shopper. Get me in and out quickly with whatever is needed and I’m a happy gal. Especially malls – shudder!
However there is something engaging about the more traditional trading banter… it was good fun joking, bargaining, swapping stories with the folks at this place.
Here goes a few photos from our shopping escapades…
Happy shop owner with all sorts of gorgeous shawl… even happier as about to be paid!
Anyone spot the incongruous machinery amidst the bric-a-brac?
Elephant shelves anyone?
Once upon a time these were part of elaborate kurtas… This piece belongs in a museum!
Piles and piles of tapestries, wall hangings, bed covers, shawls and more…
Wish I had taken a close-up… the work was remarkable
Not exactly modern day spinning classes…
Look round and round, wall hangings, tapestries, vests, fusion covers… oh my!
For once, it was fun to be a tourist in a land where I long since stopped being a regular tourist decades ago.
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Everyday Asia 
Well in case you don’t have enough books you still can fill up some shelves with those elephants 🙂
Hahaha! We are overflowing in books and CDs (so old school – I know!) 🙂
However the hotel gave me a camel as a momento and its perched on another shelf in our bedroom…
Shopping… I have to be in the mood. Not my preferred leisure activity. Can be fun with a friend. (Emphasis on *one* – it’s usually hellish in a group). Looks like you’ve had a good time 🙂
Yeah.. normally my idea of torture is shopping… however this was fun as it was short, sweet and with lots of conversations about the history of some of the museum piece (may have been slightly fabricated but made good stories!). 🙂
Also helped that our shopping companion is a veteran of the London stage – remarkable woman so any time in her company is enjoyable with her cracking good humour and crazy life experience!
How apt to add a tractor god to the pantheon. Keeping up with the Deities.
Lovely post. Easy to miss all the color when caught up in daily life. Often takes fresh eyes to drag us out of it.
Isn’t it just! Rather appreciate the juxtaposition of tractor & deities. 😉 And it was fun to be in “traveller mode” all open to the experience of just roaming around.
Jodhpur certainly has great atmosphere, but I still vote Jaipur as the shopping destination. My personal favorite is Jaisalmer and Udaipur.
Considering I’m really not much of a shopper… wouldn’t go somewhere for just that! This was purely for fun with other folks from the film my partner is part of!
Yes, you wrote about it. I personally love to bring back souvenirs to add it to my collection.
Lovely post. Jodhpur is a shoppers paradise. I came close to breaking my no shopping rule there.
Hahaha! I kept ours to a min – a pashmina scarf for a friends upcoming birthday and a small leather pouch for our shopping companion, myself and a yet to be determined recipient! 😉