Of all my Indian adventures, I was perhaps most smitten with the city of Jodhpur in the state of Rajasthan. As my devoted blog followers know, I am simply mad for color and treat purple and orange and lime green as neutrals when I put on my other hat as an interior designer. The late, famed Vogue editor Diana Vreeland once proclaimed that “pink is the navy blue of India,” and in Jodhpur rosy shades can be found almost everywhere.
As you wander about Jodhpur, you’ll be accosted, bombarded and assaulted with/by a Technicolor assortment of vibrant hues, from mustard and acid yellow to teal and persimmon. And that’s just the saris and balloon-like turbans. There are entire neighborhoods painted a rich Brahmin blue. Arresting interiors in the city’s stunning, towering Mehrangarh Fort are a fantasy of mirrors inlaid against confetti-like green, yellow and red murals.
Home base for my Jodhpur adventure was the boutique-styled hostelry Mihirgarh, aka the Sun Fortress, plunked in the middle of the Thar desert. Situated atop a sand dune, this crenellated and turreted sublime confection rises from the desert like some mystical mirage. If you seek a wildly romantic, yet completely removed escape, Mihirgarh would make the perfect retreat from the world. As I lazed about my private plunge pool and sipped a cool glass of white wine, I watched a trio of women in rainbow colors wander down the road past the hotel and off into the desert, their cerulean and lemon-yellow saris providing a stunning contrast to the dusty, savannah-like landscape.
But enough on Jodhpur for now: I don’t want to divulge too much about my Rajasthani sojourn as my feature on my Indian adventures appears in the February issue of Delta Sky.