Jaipur, India

For being the third largest rail system in the world, behind Russia and China, I still think India could use a little instruction from the Germans! It has taken us about two weeks to figure out the trains in India.  How to book tickets, both online and at the counter, what class to ride in and how to figure out when and from what platform the train is arriving on and departing from.  We were scheduled to depart Amritsar on a 6am train south to Delhi.  Jeff had figured out how to check arrival/departure times online so we learned our train was running six hours late.  We arrived at the train station around 11 am and find out our train number has been changed as well.  We originally were scheduled to take an express train to Delhi that was supposed to take about 4-5 hours, but were rebooked on the slowest train EVER!  We boarded the train around noon, thinking we’d be into Delhi by 5 at the latest.  The hours rolled by, we bought chai and started to wonder where the tomato soup guy was.  Five o’clock came and went, then six, then seven; the tomato soup guy only made one appearance in our really empty train compartment.  We didn’t arrive into Delhi until 11pm and I got a migraine.  We found a hotel room and get a quick sleep before having to catch the 6am train south from Delhi to Jaipur.

We board the Express train to Jaipur; my headache is pretty much gone.  What a difference from the day/night before!  The train attendants hand out bottled water, then hot water and tea packets with biscuits, then a really good breakfast tray, and finally more tea.  All this and the train left on time and arrived to Jaipur on-time!

We stepped off the train and out into the chaos of the taxi stand.  A young guy named Sameer told us he would take us to the hotel we requested at a decent fare.  He drove us to the hotel and we discovered it was way out of our  price range.  So Sameer told us he’d take us to his brother’s hotel.  Jeff and I both were a little skeptical, but we were pleasantly surprised.  The hotel was very clean, had a wonderful rooftop restaurant, and was decently priced at 1100 rupees a night.  We took a little nap and then went out to explore.  We wander up to a crowded cinema and decide to catch a Bollywood flick.  There are hundreds of people hanging around outside and we can’t seem to locate the ticket window.  One guy tells us that it’s a new movie out today and tickets are sold out, but we could buy tickets for the next night.  As Jeff and I are still trying to figure out where the ticket window is, a young guy comes up to Jeff and says that he is here with a group of his friends.  Four of the friends didn’t show up so they have extra box seats.  Jeff and I follow the group into the theater and up to the balcony seats.  Seeing a movie in India, is nothing like seeing one in the States.  People cheer, clap, and whistle through the whole thing.  The show was mostly in Hindi, but we were able to follow most of the storyline and the Bollywood dance scenes were always great!

The next day we decided to do some sightseeing.  We walked out to the main street to catch an autoricksaw.   The driver who pulls over turns out to be Sameer’s older brother, Saddiq.  We hire Saddiq to drive us around for half the day.  The first stop was to Albert Hall, which turned out to be a fairly interesting museum.  Next we stop at Iswari Minar Swarga Sal (the Heaven Piercing Minaret).  We climb up to the top for some amazing views of the city.  Once we get down, we find Saddiq flying a kite.  It was the annual kite festival in Jaipur and there were hundreds of kites in the air.  Saddiq taught Jeff how to fly the kite and how to avoid getting your kite string cut by another kite.   We then visit the royal gaitor which are beautifully carved marble monuments for the Maharajas (kings) and their families.  Saddiq then takes us to a textile factory where we see a demonstration of block printing.  This factory also hand embellishes wedding costumes.  One mens' garment we saw took 6 people 6 hours a day for 10 days to finish.  The final cost for the costume was 50,000 rupees which means each worker was only getting paid about US$3 an hour for some amazing work.  In their showroom, we see all sorts of examples block print wall hangings, bedspreads and materials.  I ended purchasing a beautiful wall hanging made out of antique saris that have been embellished.  It kind looks like a crazy quilt.  We had Saddiq drop us next to this tandori place where we get some delicious grilled chicken for dinner.

Originally, we planned to sight-see with Saddiq’s brother Sameer the next day.  However, there was some negotiations about prices.  Sameer had a car and not an autoricksaw which was more money.  So a call was placed to Saddiq, and he became our tour guide once again.  We visit the Jantar Mantar. At first, this place looks like a bunch of strange sculptors, but they ‘re instruments used to track the sun and the stars across the zodiac.  The sun dial at the observatory is surprisingly accurate and our very patient guide answered all of our questions.  Next, we visited the Hawa Mahal.  This honeycombed building was built by one of the Maharajas, so his women could view main bazaar, parades, and other festivals without being seen.  Saddiq then drove us to the Monkey Temple.  This place is exactly what it sounds like.  Hundreds of monkeys line the paths and Jeff bought a bag of peanuts to feed the little monsters.  Most monkeys were pretty calm, but a few got pretty aggressive and would run up and hiss at you.  I tried to feed the monkeys, but they wouldn’t eat from my hand.  I’m secretly okay with that; I don’t need some strange monkey disease in India! 

For lunch, Saddiq took us to this wonderful family run restaurant.  Everything was bought fresh from the market everyday and it was delicious!  After being recharged with food, we continued unto the Amber Fort, about 10 km out of town.  This fort also served as a palace for the royal families hundreds of years ago.  We spent about an hour and half wandering around this huge structure before finding Saddiq.  The last place on our list to see was the Tiger Fort.  Sameer had told us in the morning that the autorickshaw wouldn’t be able to make it up the hill to the fort.  So we told him that we would walk the 2-3 km up the hill.  Well, Sameer wasn’t in the rickshaw with us and Saddiq took us up the hill for an extra 200 rupees.  We viewed the fort and then went to go find a place to watch the sunset.  We ended up talking to a group of young Indian guys.  They kept wanting us to sing an American song for them and despite warning them I had a terrible voice, they insisted.  So Jeff and I were going to “row, row, row your boat” in a round, but Jeff left me hanging and I had to do a solo performance.  It was quiet embarrassing.  We watched the sun go down and the city light up in the darkness.  Every once in a while you would see a few fireworks go off for a wedding celebration.  While driving back to the hotel, we saw a wedding parade with the groom in his elaborate wedding costume riding a decorated horse.  He was followed by a group of women carrying what looked like small electric lit crystal chandeliers. 

We say goodbye to Saddiq, order some room service for dinner, and fall asleep.  Its on to Pushkar, another Hindi holy city where there is no meat!

The 'line' outside the movie theater

Albert Hall Musuem

Jeff taking kite lessons from Saddiq

The royal gaitors

Inside the textile factory showroom

The theater we saw our Bolleywood flick at

The gaint sun dial at Jantar Matar

Backside of the Hawa Mahal

Jeff feeding the creepy monkeys on the way to the Monkey Temple

The sacred bathing pools at the Monkey Temple

Our tour guide Saddiq, with the Floating Temple in the background

Sunsetting over Jaipur