Jodhpur

It was hard to leave Mandawa. It was a beautiful town where you felt like you were home, no hassling, quieter than the big cities and just a nice change. Our next leg of the drive would be to Jodphur- the blue city. It is a bustling town home to the Mehrangarh Fort (built 1459)which overlooks the periwinkle blue city. The blue coated buildings were traditionally painted this colour as it signified the home of a Brahmin (meaning of the highest caste), but today many of the buildings have followed suit even if they are not Brahmins. 
I don't have a lot to say about Jodhpur, it was another bigger city with busy bazaars, traffic, people, cows, goats and every shop keeper wanting you to come look. It was also right before Diwali (the festival of lights- sort of similar to Christmas for us) so things were even that much more crowded. I didn't have big expectations about it and I have to say it was one of my least favorite places. With that being said, I'm glad we went cause if we didn't we would not have known and the little "what if" antenna would have been going off. When you travel on a time limit not knowing when you'll be back in India, it can sometimes push you to cram and see as many things possible. Its a struggle for me, but what I have learned is that there is way too much to see and do. For next time I am figuring out that a slower pace of travel and spending more time in the places I love will be better. Also coming to understand that you don't need to do every "tourist" thing in each city, some of my best times here so far have been just having chai with some of the shop owners and talking about life. It goes back to one of my original posts about interpersonal relationships and connection, it truly is enriching. It has built more compassion, patience and understanding in me. And this is what I am so PASSIONATE about-connecting with people, feeling part of a community, listening and talking.
India is a huge country with so much culture and richness that you could easily spend a year traveling the country and with each region so diverse I could never get sick of it. The gypsy in me has been unleashed again and I think will be hard to get rid of.
Next destination Udaipur- I've only heard amazing things looking very forward to our time there.