For the second stop on the tour, we drove another four or so not as nice hours (less road, more cows) to Jaipur. It was interesting to watch the landscape change anyhow as we approached Jaipur - the capital of the state of Rajasthan and gateway to the Thar desert. The ruins of the fomer palatial walled city greet you as you enter the mountains - a vastly different scene from anything I'd seen.
On arrival, dusty and hot from the drive, we spent the afternoon by the pool (in the shade of the 110 degree heat) and ate really good, rapidly melting ice cream. It was nice to relax and read, a bit away from the sensory overload of touring. Rajasthan is known for its color and vibrancy, from jewelry to mirrorwork fabrics to puppet shows. Sarah and I saw a puppet show that was pretty fun, with the puppeteer as colorful as the puppets! Oh, and we also stopped by the palmist on the way to dinner. He said I travel too much, have a "butterfly heart" and a temper. Oh and that I'll have three kids. What does he know!?
The palaces and fomer glory of Jaipur were really impressive. Unfortunately, our tour guide was not... and most of the "tour" seemed designed to sell us stuff at a series of demonstrations, conventiently staged in front of overpriced shops. Still, we saw the Amber Palace/Fort after riding there up the face of the mountain on top of an elephant - pretty cool.
Of our stops though, this was the most tiring. I've mentioned before that India can be sensory overload, and between the heat and our feeble attempt at shopping and the people, Jaipur was no exception. Our waiter even commented "the glory of our past is more than our present." As with the Taj, the contrast in Jaipur was astounding. On the same page of my guide book as discussion on the Observatory and the Palace of Winds is a note that one third of the population live without sewage (I'd never seen the Palace of Winds, or anyone poop along the side of the road before).
Not to forget that it is over 110 outside and not exactly paved freeway... I tried to be thankful as I fussed and crabbed that my Treo wasn't synching data properly...
On arrival, dusty and hot from the drive, we spent the afternoon by the pool (in the shade of the 110 degree heat) and ate really good, rapidly melting ice cream. It was nice to relax and read, a bit away from the sensory overload of touring. Rajasthan is known for its color and vibrancy, from jewelry to mirrorwork fabrics to puppet shows. Sarah and I saw a puppet show that was pretty fun, with the puppeteer as colorful as the puppets! Oh, and we also stopped by the palmist on the way to dinner. He said I travel too much, have a "butterfly heart" and a temper. Oh and that I'll have three kids. What does he know!?
The palaces and fomer glory of Jaipur were really impressive. Unfortunately, our tour guide was not... and most of the "tour" seemed designed to sell us stuff at a series of demonstrations, conventiently staged in front of overpriced shops. Still, we saw the Amber Palace/Fort after riding there up the face of the mountain on top of an elephant - pretty cool.
Of our stops though, this was the most tiring. I've mentioned before that India can be sensory overload, and between the heat and our feeble attempt at shopping and the people, Jaipur was no exception. Our waiter even commented "the glory of our past is more than our present." As with the Taj, the contrast in Jaipur was astounding. On the same page of my guide book as discussion on the Observatory and the Palace of Winds is a note that one third of the population live without sewage (I'd never seen the Palace of Winds, or anyone poop along the side of the road before).The North of India is also quite conservative, and startling in Jaipur was the lack of women outside - anywhere. I bet the ratio of male to female was easily 40 to 1. And 38 of the 40 appeared hostile. This made shopping quite uncomfortable despite our head to toe dress in the 110 degree heat, and although I went with the "I'm from Canada" approach, we didn't buy much of anything on account of silly pricing and cranky shopkeepers. The road to Jaipur was closed with rioting and burning busses the week before we traveled there, and it didn't appear to have exactly re-rolled out the red "welcome American tourist" carpet.
So in startling self-absorbed self-indulgence, we enjoyed the sights, our nice Hilton hotel, some great meals and headed out of town toward Delhi. Also, since I'm getting accustomed to people taking my picture (or Caden's anyhow) like some crazy novelty, I figured I could take some shameless pictures as well. As much as the heat and dust and mean (or pooping) people offended my spoiled sensitivities, I'd have to be COMPLETELY oblivious to not note that most of our fellow travelers were not traveling in a spacious air-conditioned van. It's incredible in fact how many people a moving vehicle could accomodate. In Bangalore, I'm always amazed at how many people fit on a motor bike (up to a family of five). On the five hour stretch to Delhi, that's nothing! 
But at least those guys were sharing a jeep...
But at least those guys were sharing a jeep... Not to forget that it is over 110 outside and not exactly paved freeway... I tried to be thankful as I fussed and crabbed that my Treo wasn't synching data properly...
No comments:
Post a Comment