In the morning, it was time to say goodbye to Kishangarh before a long drive to the village of Bhadrajun. On the way, we stopped at "Sesame Street", a street lined with vendors selling sesame sweets. The sweets were paper-thin discs of sesame seed yumminess, mixed with things like pistachios and cardamom. Also, they had these biscuit-like treats that tasted just like the inside of a Butterfinger. They came wrapped in colorfully patterned paper and were SUPER CHEAP, so of course we all had to buy a bunch to share in the States. Being sugar-deprived for those two weeks must have made me slightly desperate, because when I got back in the U.S., the sesame treats didn't taste nearly as good as they did that day.
street scene on the way to bhadrajun [joel kraut]
all of the trucks encourage honking; indian drivers use their horn as a serious driving tool [joel kraut]
huge & flashy jain temple statue of hanuman
the lucky sesame sweets shop chosen by us
the beautiful carrying boxes & wrapped sesame treats [jennifer turner]
singhji ordering [jennifer turner]
We continued on into the desert mountains until we reached our destination, the
Bhadrajun Fort. Here, we were guests of the Raja [Lord] of the village. As we walked through the fort walls, we were greeted by Sudarshna [the Raja's niece] and all of the Raja's assistant boys. The boys were so adorable, all wearing these burgundy-colored berets. Apparently, the boys and their mothers had been taken in and employed by the palace because they needed to escape alcoholic husbands/fathers or the husbands/fathers couldn't provide for their families. The boys are provided housing, food and an education and the mothers are given jobs at the fort. Just one example of the Raja and Bhadrajun's kindness and generosity. Kundan, the Raja's right-hand-man, was super sexy. Like a hot Cuban drug lord. Joe traded his fedora for Kundan's beret and it somehow upped Kundan's hotness a lot. Anyway, I'm not quite sure what his actual title or role was, I just know that throughout our trip, Kundan was always there, making sure we were all being taken care of and things were running smoothly; he was a man of many talents, whether it was serving us tea, driving our truck into the desert, playing the drums at the aarthi ceremony, joining in our game of sitolia or hitting on the women. Too bad he has a wife. Although he did sneak a yellow flower to me, hidden behind one of those big paper hearts, on Valentine's Day. Such charm! But enough about my Indian crush.
After being bindi-ed and lei-ed, we got our room keys and got to explore each other's rooms and the rest of the fort. As rustic yet utilitarian as the fort appeared, it was set in a picturesque valley in the dusty red desert mountains and it had some astounding rooftop views of the village below. Much of the fort was covered in ivy and flowers and the rooms were amazing. I LOVED me and Blair's room. It was very colorful, with lots of beautiful red [my favorite color!] fabrics and a spacious bathroom. I really like the Indian style of leaving the walls white but painting the window frames and doors in a nice, bright shade. I am making this happen in my bedroom when I redecorate this summer. Also, the view outside of our shuttered windows was perfect. We didn't notice until the day we were leaving, but our room even had its own private rooftop balcony. I opened the shutters to what I thought was a large window, and it ended up being a door to the balcony. We missed out on that. But we did have an iguana come try to live in our room with us. It freaked us out for a little bit, with visions of it falling off the ceiling and onto our sleeping bodies later that night. So Landin caught it and returned it safely outside.
village life in bhadrajun [joel kraut]
hipster indian girl in bhadrajun [blair stirek]
my first glimpse upon walking inside the fort
my second glimpse; the raja's helpers [blair stirek]
and my third glimpse; sudarshna welcoming us
close up; isn't she so pretty [jennifer turner]
joe gave the guys photos from the last vegnews tour
waiting for our room assignments [blair stirek]
me & blair's room
LOVED these shuttered windows, curtains & the view!
view of the fort from our bedroom staircase
view of the boys from the courtyard window
view of my room from the other rooftop
the braytons won the "upgraded room" raffle & got to stay in this amazing stained glass room [jennifer turner]
colorful bhadrajun fort doors [rik ahlberg]
view of the village of bhadrajun from a fort rooftop
