The Fort and Palace at Judhpur stands high on a hill overlooking the town. With its steep assents and multiple walls and gates it presents a formidable image of power.
Again there are multiple luxurious rooms, ornate architecture, and possessions such as this collection of "salon chairs", and elephant 'saddles'. (The gate height in all these palaces is very high to allow entry by Ro
yalty on elephant back, and the steeper slopes of the assent are heavily groved to assist traction.) The gates also have large spikes from approx 2M above ground to discourage attacking elephants trying to push the gates in! Judhpur is a bustling town requiring great caution and vigilance in crossing roads. The clock tower in the centre of town is quite famous!
We saw a very large flock of cranes at a water hole, feeding on provided grain. They were being harassed by ibises and took flight. They were soon joined by more cranes who knew It was feeding time.
We also saw many blackbucks such as this one near the pond. The blackbuck is a species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent that has been classified as near threatened as their population has decreased sharply during the 20th century.
There were many birds in the area including this bluejay siting on a rock. The area was marginal for farming and the monsoon often delivers little rain. This camel herder was proud to have his photo taken!
One cottage industry is rug making. This weaver is quite famous and was proud that he had been visited by Rockerfeller and Greg Chappell with wife and daughter.
A couple of our party bought rugs.
Farmers in the area grow opium poppies (a Government license is required) and many farmers are users. This farmer said that he has an "opium tea" drink twice a day to give an energy lift. Possession of up to 10 grams for personal use is legal. The farmer gave a demo of grinding 1 gram of opium resin and making the tea, offered prayers to Shiva, and then offered to share his tea with visitors.
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