The normally unimpeachable Rough Guide to India recommends the Fort View cafe in Jodhpur as having a roof top cafe with, get this, a view of the fort.

Alas that's one piece of info that's slightly out of date...


How horrendous is that? Capitalism is great isn't it!? Those billboards are completely invisible from the road and it would make you weep if the image itself wasn't so grimly funny. I had a chat with the manager and commiserated with him. He was stoic in the face of adversity. He says that a local law has been passed limiting the height of billboards and he's optimistic that they may get taken down. But householders get paid Rs1500 a month for the use of their roof so it's hard to turn down.

But one thing the guide book is spot on about (as well as the accommodation which was great) is the audio tour of the fort. Both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet big it up and while normally avoiding these things like the plague I thought I ought to give it a go. Indeed it was a delight with the glorious fruity tones of a posh Indian voice explaining the history of the fort. The current Maharajah (sounding considerably less posh than the narrator) would chip in with his own observations as well. Good stuff.