These images are from a recent two-week business trip to India. I grabbed a few hours to visit the beach in Chennai and the Mehrauli Archaeological Park in Delhi, but a two-day holiday in Jodhpur at the end of the trip was my main opportunity to explore with a camera.
I’ve visited Chennai several times in the past and have never really got to grips with it. This time I visited Edward Elliot’s Beach and the area around Besant Nagar. Elliot’s Beach is smaller and cleaner than the better-known Marina Beach and has more of a fairground atmosphere. There is a cluster of stalls in the centre of the beach where vendors sell seafood and roast corn on miniature furnaces, and people wander through the crowds selling candyfloss, bubble wands and offering horse rides through the surf.
In Delhi, I started an early-morning visit to Mehrauli Archaeological Park at the Azim Khan Tomb, which rises on a hill above the city and has stunning views at surise. The main park is a patchwork of more than 100 historical monuments including Jamali Kamali Mosque and a stepwell, Rajon Ki Baoli. This was a great place to explore and watch local people enjoying the early morning sun.
The highlight was definitely a two-day trip to Jodhpur. I stayed in a very friendly haveli in the old town, so was well-placed to explore the maze of little streets including the famous “blue city”. The area around the clock tower (Ghanta Ghar) was great to hang around in the early morning as the city woke up. People were setting up stalls, sweeping the streets, boiling up chai, and feeding the street dogs.
The street dogs actually became a bit of a theme. The dogs in Jodhpur seemed more comforable around people than those in Delhi, and would sometimes jump up beside me or follow me down the street. I realised after a while that I probably had the smell of dog treats on my trousers since they were the same ones I use for walking my own dog!
I travelled light on this trip, just taking a Fuji X-E5 and a 18-55mm lens. I definitely want to see more of Rajasthan. The colours are incredible, it has an astonishing history and the people are very friendly.
