To the west of Rajasthan, near the border with Pakistan, lies the Great Thar Desert; but, in the east, it is cloaked in a different, vibrant, swaying yellow, that of mustard fields. The Rajput – historically warrior clans - are not retiring violets and this is reflected in their dress: the mustachioed and turbaned men with gold studs in their ears; the headwear bearing little resemblance to sleek, sculpted, Sikh turbans, being great globular, Ali Baba, mounds in vivid colours. The women’s saris and ghungta shawls are un-patterned in block colours of shocking red, pink, yellow or sky-blue; their left nostril possibly adorned with a gold ring of bracelet dimensions. Eyes may be unnervingly beautiful pale shades of brown or feline green.
Without doubt – and not without good cause – Rajasthan is the most touristic Indian State. A sad consequence of this is that the most popular destinations (the majestic cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaisalmer [the latter so beloved to us that it would have been forced on a first daughter as a middle name]) are hardened towards visitors and money is often at the forefront of people’s minds: the touts are numerous, persistent and even, sometimes,
Locals ride on the back of a truck, Chittaurgarhdownright devious. Such receptions have been known to irreparably cloud travellers’ perceptions of India.
Pushkar was and is main-stream, but the welcome is – typically - more than just financial. And then we chanced upon Bundi. Compared to the rest of Rajasthan Bundi was a surprise, a very pleasant one; it isn’t totally off the beaten track (more popular with overnighting tour groups than backpackers), but it retains a certain tourist naïvety and has atmosphere in spades. The approach road hugs a hillside that looks down into the basin cradling Bundi’s old town, a patchwork of low story, flat-topped biblical dwellings in Brahmin blue, natural stone and shades of terracotta. Behind town, snaking along and down the parched hillside are fort walls and plastered to its side is a great citadel in bleached stone.
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