Rajasthan Road Trip | The Blue City

Six hours drive through leopard country from Udaipur lies the almost mythical city of Jodhpur, famed for its bright blue walls, winding streets just wide enough for rickshaws and a hilltop fort that resides proudly over it everything.

This was one of the places I was most excited for, having seen endless photos of those sapphire walls. Plus I loved the look of our hotel Raas, another I-Escape find. After lots of traditional abodes, I loved the idea of staying somewhere super clean and modern while still being right in the thick of the city. Raas married the two seamlessly, with sharp lines and contemporary design sitting side by side with heritage buildings and traditional gardens, all nestled right next to the frenetic clock tower market. It felt like the perfect homage to an ancient city while simultaneously pushing the boundaries for hotels in northern India. After a week of long-journeys and early starts, we were ready for some room-service and horizontal spa-time in between sight-seeing, and Raas was the perfect place to kick back and do just that.

The rooftop bar had one of the best views of the fort, the dreamily peaceful spa used Ila products (the Inner Peace body oil is a favourite at home) and the delicious pastas and bruschetta on the menu were actually a really welcome change after a week of curries.

Plus they have their own tuktuk complete with black and gold tinsel decorations…

Renewed and refreshed after a morning at Raas, we were ready to take on the city… Walk out of the hotel’s walls and you’re straight into the thick of things at the clock tower market. Buzzing with life, this is a proper local market (no mirrored harem pants here) filled with people hustling and hurrying between stalls and shops.

From here we got a tuktuk from Raas into the oldest part of the blue city, right beneath the fort. You’re driver won’t be able to get there as the streets are so narrow, so this is the only way to get to the heart of all that blueness…

The further into the old part of the city you get, the bluer it becomes, until every wall is painted in that saccharine bubblegum blue. We asked our rickshaw driver to come back and get us after an hour or so of wandering round and just set off my food, walking round the tiny streets as far as they’d take us and taking photo after photo of all that blue.

From old ladies combing their long hair to puppies, donkeys and herds of school girls with a thing for pig tails, there were plenty of friendly faces along the way…

After an afternoon of wandering, we met out tuktuk driver and headed back to our sanctuary in the city.

More from Jodhpur next time, including shopping tips and the magnificent fort…

Silk Dress | The Great 
Sandals | Palmaira Sandals 
Sunglasses | Ray-Ban
Scarf | Merci
Camera | Olympus Pen
Belt | Asos 
Bag | Celine via Vestiaire Collective
Jewellery | Lucy Williams X Missoma

Ph. by myself and James Wright on Olympus Pen & Olympus OM