The small and tranquil village of…
The small and tranquil village of…Tordi Sagar is a reasonably short drive out of the city of Jaipur and a haven away from the craziness of the crowds. After exploring the cities in the North it’s a welcome break to come across a quiet village, away from busy city life.
As part of my tour we stayed here for 1 night in a huge old house that’s been converted onto a guesthouse, complete with a gorgeous balcony and 2 double beds in our room (not having a bunk bed is luxury!). After settling in, a local women gives us henna tattoos at the guesthouse and we relax in the sun as they dry out.
Me and Liz (my roommate on the tour) then head out for a quick walk. Although the village does see tourists, it’s still not hugely visited by westerners so the locals greet us with a friendly curiosity. Lots of smiles, waves and children running up makes us feel instantly welcome here.
Tordi Sagar, although clearly a rather poor town, the locals will always have smile on their face and the children thrilled for someone to practice their English on. It’s a relaxed way of life here and I feel perfectly comfortable wandering around.
In the evening we are driven to a beautiful lake, where the tops of the trees are only just showing above the water. Then it’s onto nearby sand dunes to watch the sun go down. We sit, chat and admire another beautiful Indian sunset whilst enjoying tea and biscuits (oh so English).
Meeting the locals…
After a peaceful nights rest the group is lead around the village, meeting the locals, visiting markets and pottery makers. The children again are excited to see us and keep asking us to take their picture. They all seem to do this formal pose when ever you take their photo. They will be running around laughing then when you take the photo will suddenly stand upright with hands to the sides in a formal pose. Our guide explained they often do this in family photos.
Later on I went out again with Liz and we chatted to a few locals. I enjoyed going out without the main group as you get to take your time a bit more and sit and chat with them. Some of the children experimented with our cameras, fascinated with the technology and seeing their faces on the screen.
It’s quite a surreal experience having people run up to you wanting a photo, or just touching your hair and clothes and being completely fascinated by you. You are a novelty to them and it can feel like you’re somewhat of a celebrity. I loved being able to sit down with them, explaining things in English as they love to show you what words they know! You can’t really do this in the big cities, everyone is always running around in every direction.
This tiny village was definitely the highlight of my trip and that’s saying a lot! The people are so friendly and un-intimidating which allowed me to venture further and see this village in a far more in-depth way than I did with other places.
I enjoyed the slower pace of life and exploring the houses, markets, local temple and the many different animals wandering around, from piglets to cows and chickens. The infectious smiles of the locals continued as they waved us off as we were driving out and I left Tordi Sagar with a smile on my face and a warmth in my heart.
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