From March 18-19, Jaipur, Ragasthan. Figured out my picture loading problem! So, done with Delhi, and off early this morning to Jaipur, which I had thought was the Blue City. Ha, turns out Jodhpur is the Blue City, and I am in the Pink City. Okay... The bus ride is uneventful, smooth, and we stop halfway where I get a cup of coffee. Yikes! Forgot to say no sugar! Had some wonderful tea from this guys stand at the bus stop this morning- really good tea, for 6 rupees a cup. Had two! I digress... Land in Jaipur, get to my hotel, and they have hot water! This was one of the best (and most sorely needed, I might add) showers I have had in days! Delhi, no hot water; Amritsar, no hot water... I had just assumed it would be the same here. Refreshed, I am off to see the city! Let me mention that while we were stopped on the way to Jaipur, there were these people carrying flags and singing. I had seen somewhat similar stuff in Delhi, but that was for the upcoming election. This was different. When I started touring the city, I saw many, many more. Turns out theyre pilgrims, and this is a holy month. I think it will all culminate with the Holi festival of color, near the end of the month. Ill find out later. First place I go is into the Pink City itself, which is the original, old part of Jaipur. There is a massive celebration on the other side of the street, and this is when I find out about all the religious activity and the pilgrims. This goes on for miles! We stop at a very tall Minaret, and I go in. Now, never in my life did I ever imagine my being in a minaret, much less being able to go to the top of it and check out the city below! The parades look pretty good from up here. What an experience, and what a great view! Then, thats right, another temple. The world famous monkey temple. A LONG walk to the top, a very below average temple with two or three monkeys. A nice view, thats about all. On the way down, I want to take a picture of the pathway, and these two kids jump into the picture. Thats nice, so I take the shot, and the whole way down one of the kids keeps bugging me for money. Im not about to give him anything, and he keeps following me, tries weakly to grab my camera, fails, and runs off. What a pain. Then, I get to go to a textile factory, a thinly veiled attempt to sell me some very overpriced merchandise. VERY overpriced. I tolerate this for a few minutes, because Im being nice to my driver. They get a liter of gas for every foreigner they drag in. I learned this some time ago. I let my driver know I would help him get gas one time, but no more. Instead, he takes me to another place. I refuse to get out of the car. He promised me a museum, and instead I get another craft store. He gives up and takes me to the museum. That was very pleasant. Some really nice stuff, but the lighting was so bad that I could not shoot anything that was behind glass, which was most of the cool stuff. On our way to the floating palace, I see an elephant, and then a whole bunch of them. There is an elephant attraction in town, and they were on their way home from work! And camels! A bunch of them. They use them as beasts of burden, much like the bulls, buffalo, horses, and ponies I have seen in other areas of India. Have yet to get a picture, except for the two in the parade, but I will! Slept in, wandered over to the local store for necessities (shampoo, etc.), then took an auto rickshaw to the Pink City to wander around. Entertaining part of town, enjoyed myself for a couple of hours there. The back to the hotel for a nap. Refreshed, and off to the Amber Fort. While not a World Heritage Site like the Red Fort in Delhi, it is still quite a remarkable place, and I am really glad I took the time to come here. A long walk up a steep grade, and then youre in. What a grand place. This place was where the king stayed; his soldiers (thousands of them) stayed in living quarters on the wall that surrounded the perimeter. While not the Great Wall in scope, certainly in design and height. I was very impressed, and apparently it worked- at least until the British came. The fort itself, and the palace within, are all about 400 years old. Again, the stone work was magnificent, and the kings greeting area, the Hall of Mirrors, was spectacular. I was wandering alone when one of the Indian policeman who patrol the place struck up a conversation, and decided to give me a private tour of the place. That was pretty cool. He opened a few doors that the tourists normally dont get into, and gave me a pretty interesting story about the place. When it was time for me to go, I asked him if I could give him some money. He smiled, and that smile said, Of course you can give an Indian policeman money. It was expected. And I had no problem giving him some money. He was a great guide. The road to the Amber fort takes you outside of the city limits of Jaipur and into the hills. Fairly long ride for an auto rickshaw, so imagine my surprise when Im hunting up a ride home, and theres the guy who took me! Sweet. I knew he knew where to go, and I already knew his price, so that was cool indeed. On the drive up we went through a lot of little back alleys, and I saw a dead cow on the way. Tried to get a shot of it, but missed it, and didnt think to ask the driver to stop. However, on the way back, it was still there. We stopped briefly, I took a picture, and wished the driver spoke better English. This cow had been killed, by the look of it, not died a natural death. What would happen to the body? What would happen to whoever killed the cow, if he or she was ever found? Honestly, the way the cows wander and the people drive around here, I am surprised there is not much more of this in the streets. I have only seen one dead dog in the roads, and that was in Mumbai, and this cow. There must be more, and that is a question that I may never know the answer to. While I was in Pink City, I found a small turban shop, but they wanted 800 rupees for one, and I didnt want to pay even half that. And they were all dirty and dusty. On the way in to the Amber Fort, theres a guy selling them as well. Same price, 800. No way, I say. How much then? I say 200, thinking hell walk away from that terrible offer, but he keeps following me up, and his price keeps dropping. Guess what? I got a turban for 200. And Im thinking to myself, I probably overpaid at that. On the way down is a small shop, and the owner sees me walking down with the turban. How much did I pay for that? 200. Do you want another for 200? No. 150, no, all right, 100. If I had room in my backpack I probably would have picked up a couple more at that price, but space kept me from blowing money. Just as well. Anyway, up early tomorrow, have a 6:00 am train to Agra. I am going to see the Taj Mahal! How cool is that?
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 00:10:19 +0000
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