Well, enough of New Delhi. It's off to a whirlwind tour of Rajasthan, the desert/oasis province of India, nestled against Pakistan, and land of the ancient Spice Route of caravans.
We pack up, check out of the hotel and get a hotel ride to the airport. They recommend that we get there in plenty of time, about three hours ahead of time, and it is a blessing that we do. The queue to get our boarding passes at Jet Airways is a bit chaotic, but we finally get our passes. Lindy watches carefully to be sure our checked bags are marked with our destination, Jodhpur. Next, we get in the security line and wait for our turn. At last, about to be securitized, they complain that we don't have airline tags attached to Lindy's purse or my backpack. Back again to the Jet Airways checkin desk to pick up tags and label them (sure wish they had mentioned our need for them while we were there the first time.) Back into the security line where we pass through with colors, and they stamp the airline tags and our boarding passes with security stamps.
We check the monitors for the gate of our flight. Seems good, and we have two hours, so Lindy is off to buy some toothpaste. My boarding pass lists a different gate, which seems odd. By the time Lindy is paying for the toothpaste, I have discovered my boarding pass is indeed issued to me, but I seem to headed to Mumbai instead of Jodhpur. Uh-oh.
We hotfoot it to the boarding gate to talk to the friendly Jet Airways personnel to fix this problem. Oops - no one is at the gate except a security guard. He looks at our situation, ponders a while, and takes us upstairs to a gate with a Jet Airways person. They can't help us! But finally an accommodating young problem-solver takes us in hand and fast steps through a back hallway toward the Jet Airways check-in desk. We ask if we have to go through security check again. He says no, and takes both our boarding passes with him after firmly asking us to "sit there and don't go anywhere!"
He comes back with a corrected boarding pass, shows it to me, and I confirm that this time I get to go to Jodhpur with Lindy. I only get to hold it for a second before he takes both passes again to a guard in a booth. My boarding pass does not have the essential security stamps and this guard is hard to convince that he should add them. We are pointed to while words are politely exchanged. Our problem-solver runs away, and comes back with another official or two. Still not good enough. Phone calls are made and the guard is shown a longish letter signed by two officials giving him permission to stamp my boarding pass.
We're off to the races. Our plane leaves in fifteen minutes, and everybody else has already boarded. Back down the back hallway while an airport bus is called to our gate. We hop in, are driven to the plane, board and fly off.
Moral: Always read your boarding pass carefully when you get it.
We arrive at the small airport in Jodhpur with no further ado. A driver, Mr. Singh, who we later get to know as Baba, drives us to Manvar Resort. This is a pleasant resort-like place where our lunch is paid for, but we are encouraged to eat quickly as the time is quickly approaching for a jeep safari to Manvar Camp.
The jeep, carrying one other couple and us, rides through sand dunes past primitive huts. We explore how some desert folk live. The jeep carries us onward, careening down sandy dunes, pausing to see a local kind of deer, on the way to our lodgings in a circle of tents in the midst of the desert. After we freshen up, the camels are waiting for our sunset ride. As we watch the red light spread, some local children come to watch and smile. Kalu, our friendly camel, walks us back, and we lean back for his herky-jerky descent to his knees before we dismount.
As evening falls, performers gather to dance and play music for us and the one other couple who are attending tonight - tourism has been slow, we will often hear, and this is their prime season. As we watch, we are fed so many treats that the subsequent dinner seems almost superfluous. But it is tasty. Rajasthani food is spicy and frequently has meat, particularly lamb.
We pack up, check out of the hotel and get a hotel ride to the airport. They recommend that we get there in plenty of time, about three hours ahead of time, and it is a blessing that we do. The queue to get our boarding passes at Jet Airways is a bit chaotic, but we finally get our passes. Lindy watches carefully to be sure our checked bags are marked with our destination, Jodhpur. Next, we get in the security line and wait for our turn. At last, about to be securitized, they complain that we don't have airline tags attached to Lindy's purse or my backpack. Back again to the Jet Airways checkin desk to pick up tags and label them (sure wish they had mentioned our need for them while we were there the first time.) Back into the security line where we pass through with colors, and they stamp the airline tags and our boarding passes with security stamps.
We check the monitors for the gate of our flight. Seems good, and we have two hours, so Lindy is off to buy some toothpaste. My boarding pass lists a different gate, which seems odd. By the time Lindy is paying for the toothpaste, I have discovered my boarding pass is indeed issued to me, but I seem to headed to Mumbai instead of Jodhpur. Uh-oh.
We hotfoot it to the boarding gate to talk to the friendly Jet Airways personnel to fix this problem. Oops - no one is at the gate except a security guard. He looks at our situation, ponders a while, and takes us upstairs to a gate with a Jet Airways person. They can't help us! But finally an accommodating young problem-solver takes us in hand and fast steps through a back hallway toward the Jet Airways check-in desk. We ask if we have to go through security check again. He says no, and takes both our boarding passes with him after firmly asking us to "sit there and don't go anywhere!"
He comes back with a corrected boarding pass, shows it to me, and I confirm that this time I get to go to Jodhpur with Lindy. I only get to hold it for a second before he takes both passes again to a guard in a booth. My boarding pass does not have the essential security stamps and this guard is hard to convince that he should add them. We are pointed to while words are politely exchanged. Our problem-solver runs away, and comes back with another official or two. Still not good enough. Phone calls are made and the guard is shown a longish letter signed by two officials giving him permission to stamp my boarding pass.
We're off to the races. Our plane leaves in fifteen minutes, and everybody else has already boarded. Back down the back hallway while an airport bus is called to our gate. We hop in, are driven to the plane, board and fly off.
Moral: Always read your boarding pass carefully when you get it.
We arrive at the small airport in Jodhpur with no further ado. A driver, Mr. Singh, who we later get to know as Baba, drives us to Manvar Resort. This is a pleasant resort-like place where our lunch is paid for, but we are encouraged to eat quickly as the time is quickly approaching for a jeep safari to Manvar Camp.
The jeep, carrying one other couple and us, rides through sand dunes past primitive huts. We explore how some desert folk live. The jeep carries us onward, careening down sandy dunes, pausing to see a local kind of deer, on the way to our lodgings in a circle of tents in the midst of the desert. After we freshen up, the camels are waiting for our sunset ride. As we watch the red light spread, some local children come to watch and smile. Kalu, our friendly camel, walks us back, and we lean back for his herky-jerky descent to his knees before we dismount.
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