Adventure activities in Rajasthan (Part 4): Ziplining in Mehrangarh Fort (Jodhpur)

ACTIVITY #4: Ziplining

The Place: Jodhpur
The Date: Jan. 13, 2012
The Cost: 1,350 rupees (but try to get a discount by booking early)
Thrill Level, from 1 to 10: 7.5 (don’t do it if you’re afraid of heights!)

The Mehrangarh Fort is already one of the coolest things to see in Rajasthan (the upcoming Batman movie was partly filmed there). It has tons of history, and a kickass audio tour that’s included with admission. But on top of that, Flying Fox Asia, a British company, built six zip lines into the outer part of the fort. You can ZIPLINE across a historical fort, from one layer to some of the outer defensive walls. It. Was. SO. Cool. The views and the rush are amazing, prompting the two French women in my tour to keep proclaiming, “Fantastique!”

Note: The first zip line is the one that will give you the best view of Jodhpur’s famous Blue City view, so take some time to enjoy that view instead of being freaked out that you’re ziplining over a deep valley. One of the later zip lines is freaking 300 meters long! (984 feet) On the last zip line, be prepared to get stuck at the end. I almost made it and so pulled myself the rest of the way, but the guide had to come out to get the two French women.

It’s better if you come early. I didn’t have an appointment, but was there in time for the first tour of the day. Our group of three quickly zipped along (pun intended). Later as I toured the fort, I saw that the second group had more than a dozen people, so getting through each zip line took much longer.  

What You Should Know: Ziplining costs 1,350 rupees, but you can get the discounted rate of 999 rupees if you’re a student, or if you book 72 hours ahead of time at the Flying Fox website.

Impression of Jodhpur: Well, there was the good and the bad. The bad is that I chose to walk from the fort down to Sadar Market instead of taking a rickshaw, so I walked through a part of town that travelers rarely go to and got a ton of uncomfortable stares. Not leers—just stares from people unaccustomed to seeing someone like me (at one point two teens on a motorcycle aimed for me and then veered away at the last second. I almost threw my snack at them). I asked two guys for directions and they laughed condescendingly, which is bad enough, but also followed me to make comments as I tried asking others for help. When they followed me to yet a third person I said, “PLEASE GO AWAY!”, which worked.

The good: Jodhpur must have a decently high Muslim population, because you can hear the Muslim call to prayer throughout the whole city, and there's something hauntingly beautiful about it. When you hear the low intonation taken up by so many men in unison, the sound just washes over you. I first heard it at dawn while sitting in a rooftop restaurant waiting for the world to wake up, and then again around noon from my perch high in the hills at Mehrangarh Fort, while I looked down on the Blue City. Both times I felt like something unique was happening in Jodhpur.

(For more on adventure activities to do in Rajasthan, see Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3).