Jodphur, Rajasthan: Why you need to visit this flamboyant Indian city now

The approach to Jodhpur is signalled by stony hills rising from the Thar Desert's crumbly edge.

Dust blows like a sigh across the road. Camels lurch and scraggy sheep nibble on thorns, neck bells tinkling. Then a great lump of rampart-crowned rock thrusts above a town of cubist blue buildings. I feel as if I've turned up in a mind-boggling old tale of honour, menace and flamboyant fantasy.

I'm touring Rajasthan with Abercrombie & Kent, and even my sedate, unflappable driver Rajendra seems rattled as we're sucked into tangled alleyways where cows and motorbikes jostle. We edge through a market of shimmering sari colours and squeeze through a sandstone archway into the forecourt of my hotel for the night, RAAS Jodhpur.

Fifteenth-century Hindu courtyards unfold, with metal lattices and a glass-boxed reception area adding contemporary chic. Jodhpur's fort looms above. Vultures circle on rising air and sunset turns the ramparts Uluru orange.

Next morning, my A&K guide Goldie wafts in like Jeeves, wearing a three-piece cream-coloured suit and Ascot tie. "There are a lot of Indians nicknamed Goldie because they're rich or have gold teeth, but I have a golden heart,'' he pronounces as we negotiate a street obstacle course of cows, carts, peanut sellers and shoe-shine urchins.

Goldie shows me through old-town markets. For centuries Jodhpur has been a trading centre for cattle and camels, salt and agricultural produce. We sniff pyramids of spices, chew on ginger-flavoured ladoo, stop to question moustachioed date vendors and women in pink saris shot with gold. This is why you want a good local guide in India: as a shield against tumult, a way into local life, an interpreter of questions.

"But my goodness me, Jodhpur isn't all raggedy markets and dishevelled glory," Goldie announces. "Now you're seeing some of its glorious old haveli mansions and later Art Deco buildings being amply restored!"

He takes me to a striking 1770s step well, submerged for decades and the latest revelation in ongoing urban regeneration projects. It plunges 60 metres into the ground in interlocking Escher steps carved from red sandstone decorated with cow-shaped waterspouts. Behind, the Stepwell Café is furnished by one of India's top designers, Krea. Surrounding old buildings house chic stores: fine pashminas by Andraab, homewares by Nicobar. India's first supermodel Kirat Young sells jewellery and accessories, another boutique offers upmarket jodhpurs.

Jodhpur is turning trendy. The rich come to play polo, music lovers to attend the RIFF folk festival, tourists to venture away from Jaipur. Hipster cafés and shops with names like Hot Pink appear in back streets. Even Meherangarh Fort has had an overhaul and is now a well-organised palace-museum replete with proper signage and lighting and an elevator to whisk visitors onto the ramparts.