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6/1/10 Delhi to Jaipur

We woke up and got dressed to be ready for the arrival of our driver at 9am. Girdhari, the driver, arrived on time and we got into the car for the five hour drive to Jaipur, his home town in Rajasthan. It took us one and a half hours just to get out of Delhi which was a mass of cars, bikes, rickshaws, auto rickshaws and other vehicles all going in which ever direction they fancied. At one point we were on a four laned motorway with eight cars across it !!! There were cars coming at us on the wrong side of the mortorway too as despite rules everyone does what they want !!! We were pulled over for the driver to have his documents checked then carried on out of Delhi. Once out of the city things quietened down alot but we still had some pretty funny sights to see. There were camels pulling loads, overloaded trucks, tuk tuks piled high with people and taxis with to many passengers. Our car was white with a big sign on the side saying tourists to let everyone know where we were. We got lots of smiles and stares, we have noticed that the Indians really stare hard at us without smiling which is quite unnerving at first. We crossed into Rajastan out of Delhi province and into open countryside. We stopped to get fuel but couldn't use the loo as it was locked so stopped at a tourist rest stop further down the road. It was really overpriced and there were only Western tourists there but we got some water and used their loo before setting off again. We passed more camels, cows and tractors along the main highway and the usual vehicles scooting along the wrong side of the carriageway. Using the horn is a way of life (and death) here so driving isn't in the least bit enjoyable. In fact all the lorries and trucks have "please blow horn" painted on the back of them so they know where other road users are !!! India is the poorest country we've been to in terms of the living conditions of the people. There are piles of human waste dotted around the living areas and piles of rotting rubbish all over too. People are living in makeshift canvas shelters even in the large cities and there are numerous deaths each night through winter from cold which is all quite shocking in what is a developed country. We passed through lots of rural areas, with villagers going about their daily lives. The countryside was at least a lot cleaner than in the city but the people were living in pretty poor conditions. As we got closer to Jaipur we got our first glimpse of Amber Fort, an impressive Mughal fort sitting high above us on the mountainside outside the main city. We were excited to see it on a tour the next day. We pulled over for Phil to take a photo of a passing elephant with the usual ask for some Rupees for the pleasure !! We drove into Jaipurs old city through an impressive gateway called Zorowar Singh gate. It was very chaotic and busy there but we could see the painted walls of the pink city, painted pink to celebrate a visit by Prince Charles (King Edward VII) in 1876. It has been law ever since that the houses and buildings lining the main city are coloured pink. The streets were bustling with activity as there are many bazaars and shops a plenty. We passed by a procession of camels, horses and an elephant followed by many holy men but Girdhari said there was no festival in the city , it was the day before...weird. We drove by the two main squares of Badi Chaupar and Choti Chaupar which were crazy with traffic in all directions as is the norm here. We finally made it to our hotel in a quiet back street not to far from the old town which we were told was the converted town house of some Indian aristocrats . It really wasn't half as posh as it sounds but was a step back in time into Indias colonial past with some old antique furniture and quaint little rooms round nice gardens. After a little chat to a travel rep who could hardly speak English we went off to explore and try and find the procession again. As soon as we emerged from our quiet street we were approached by a dozen tuk tuk drivers wanting to know where we were going. They were pretty pushy so we jumped not one and went to the area where we'd seen the procession and got out there. The procession was on the other side of the road so we decided to follow it but just as we'd reached the other side of the road they turned to go down a little side street where we'd just come from. Anyway we soon caught up and followed the activity down some back lanes where it was much quieter and we got much less hassles. We managed to run to the front where there were a load of holymen all painted up and wearing yellow robes. They were happy for us to take photos and a few came over to talk to us. They told us the celebrations were for the 715th Birthday of a holyman so there was a procession and ceremony. We walked along as they made their way around the back street area and we were as much of an attraction as the procession. The people were really lovely all smiling and really welcoming us to an area probably rarely visited by tourists. There were a few marching bands too who loved posing for us and they played some jazzy tunes which Phil got some tape of. There was a float carrying some young lads all painted and dressed up to look like yogis who looked great. We were the only tourists there so it was really nice and we felt quite privaleged to be included in the parade. When the parade came to a stop outside the Hindu temple we stayed and watched as they all lit some huge candelabras then made their way into the temple. We were about to leave when a man approached and beconned us inside so we followed him in. He took our shoes and locked them safely away then took us in to the prayer area full of the ladies who invited us to sit with them. After a short time we were called by the man to follow him and we were taken through a kitchen area and up some really narrow stairs. At the top we were treated to a rooftop sunset view of the city where the skies were full of hundreds of small paper kites been flown from rooves all across the city. It was an amazing sight and only topped off when we turned round to a view of hundreds of holy men stting on the roof getting ready for a feast....wow. We tried to stay out of the way while the meals were handed out and after about ten minutes we were directed back downstairs. The men put a blanket down for us in the kitchen area and then served us a meal too, curry, dahl, breads, sweet cakes and a cup of water. We loved the food and were very touched to have been included in such a celebration but were really worried about the cup of water. We both left it but a couple of men came along and said to us don't forget your water. We were both feeling nervous about the definate delhi belly it would cause when one of them gestured it was for washing your hands...hurrah...we breathed a sigh of relief and washed our hands. Then we got up and went out to collect our shoes thanking everyone very much for welcoming us in. What an amazing experience, thats what we wanted from our travels those kinds of special personal moments and it made up for the dishonesty and outright rudeness we'd been encountering. We walked back he way we'd came through the little back streets and stopped when we saw a barbers as Phil was desperate for a hair cut. Phil sat in the chair and Liz noticed that the comb and brushes were literally black with grease...euch!!! Phil closed his eyes and tried not to think about it as the man picked up what looked like old tailors scissors and started to hack his hair. Liz found it very amusing but it was actually a pretty good job in the end. He gave Phil a pretty violent head massage a couple of times which we decided was to kill any head lice transferred by the comb!!! He also squirted some very brown looking watr onto his hair and inot his face. The barber had to replace the light bulb half way through which was holding the wires for his main strip light, all very impressive electrics. We decided to make our way to a restaurant we had read about where we could get a cold beer after what had been a great day. We walked through the last of the little back lanes like walking through old medieval streets with sewage flowing, animals feeding from piles of rotting rubbish and filthy but smiling children running about. We walked to a much more modern area of the town outside of the old town to where the restaurant was and were shocked to see a man drop his trousers for a poo right in front of us...normal behaviour here though!!! When we got to the restaurant Copper Chimney and we went in , sat down and ordered a beer. It was a nice place but not the relaxed bar we had expected. We decided to eat there and so ordered and shared Tandoori Chicken and Phil had a pudding of course. When we left the restaurant we were jumped on by loads of locals, all charming and friendly on the face of it but all trying to scam us with something to sell. We managed to lose them eventually after buying the two "free gifts" given to us and then being told it was his birthday and would we give him money for a beer...likely story but a new one !! We walked back to the hotel dodging many tuk tuk drivers who don't seem to get that we can walk!!

7/1/10 Jaipur

We got up and had to switch on the archaic boiler for 20 minutes to get hot water for the shower. Liz braved it first and just about managed to wash her hair under barely a trickle of water as the pressure was so bad. We called reception who came along and turned the cold tap on which was great, but then asked him to lookat the hot and he realised the problem. The temporary solution was to fill a bucket with the slow trickle and use that until they had it looked at later. Phil wasn't impressed but he actually had a really lovely hot shower much better than Lizzie's. For breakfast we had options of curry, toast, eggs etc which was all very nice then we were met by Girdhari and a guide for the day called Vijay. He was very charming and we headed through the old town with some history explained by Vijay until we came to a stop at Hawa Mahal a five storey honeycombed structure that was built in 1799 to enable the ladies of the court to watch processions without being seen. It is alleged to be the most photographed building in India (more than the Taj Mahal). We saw sme snake charmers there but Vijay said we'd have time to get photos later on so we got back in the car to head towards Amber Fort. On thae way Phi ltook some photos of one of the old town gates then we stopped again below the Amber Fort with a great view of it. We took some photos there then went to see the Fort. You could go by elephant to the top but animal rights advise against it and also Vijay thought it was dangerous so we drove up. We walked into the fort then into a huge open courtyard area Jaleb Chowk, where the elephants were arriving with their passengers. It was huge and really impressive with great views beyond it. Vijay explained a few things to us about the Maharaja who built it, Maharaja Man Singh in 1592. He took us to see the area where the wives were housed in twelve identical apartments, the Hall of Public Audience, the mirror tiled Hall of Victory called Jai Mandir and the Hall of Pleasure, Sukh Niwas with an ivory inlaid sandelwood door with a waterway runnimg through the room. The fort was really interesting with loads of little rooms and corridors to explore and we were pretty disappointed when our guide told us we had no more time. We had thought and been told the day before that we would spend the morning at the fort then head to town to see a few other sites after some lunch. We went with his lead though presuming he knew more than us about the time we needed for the rest and so went back to meet the car. We travelled back towards town and stopped to see the Water Palace in the middle of a large lake used for duck shooting parties of the Maharajas. It was shrowded in a mist and looked very eerie when we saw it but we took a few photos anyway. Next we went to see some handicrafts in a large warehouse but the hard sell got a bit much so we left without buying anything. Our next stop was to see the Jantar Mantar (sanskrit for calculation) where Jai Singh built a series of huge astronomy and astrology tools. They look like a series of weird sculptures buitlt in a huge courtyard but are incredibly accurate tools still used today. The largest sun dials in the world are there and still read the correct time !! We spent a while looking at the various tools and seeing what they measured. It was about 1pm by this time and Vijay told us that there was not much to see in the royal palace, that it was just a museum and some crafts without much more to see. We had expected to get lunch in town and continue the tour in the afternoon but Vijay said that the tour had finished unless we wanted to see the palace. We decided we would like to look round as it looked nice from the outside and so we went in through a big gateway into the inner courtyard. We could see over some high walls to the current royal residence closed to visitors called Chandral Mahal. We saw the throne room which was really beautifully decorated with rich carpets and gold paintwork. We saw a collection of photographs of the Maharajahs including several with Lord Mountbatten. There was a small museum of the clothing of the royal family including some really opulent fabrics and a huge gown worn by one Maharaja at his wedding with meters and meters of fabric. We went round a craft workshop given to the artisans by the Maharaja to preserve Jaipurs traditional craft techniques of jewellery, painting, silk and marble work. We chatted to one of the painters for a while and he painted us an elephant using a single haired paint brush (are you impressed mum and Jayney ?). After walking around the palace Vijay told us the tour was finished as we had completed all the itinerary. We were told it was to be a full day tour but Vijay said that it didn't mean all day but just meant visiting all the places on the itinerary. We weren't very happy as we had wanted to spend more time at the Amber Fort but went with his advice and speed and had finished with hours to spare. We were pretty fed up as the Amber FOrt had been the trip highlight so far and if we'd known we would have so much more time we would have stayed there longer. We were back in the car to get dropped off near somewhere to eat when Vijay asked us to write a review of him for the office. He virtually tried to dictate the words "happy and satisfied" but Liz refused as we weren't too happy. He seemed aghast that we had a problem as he'd shown us all the things on the itinerary . He said he would be happy to stay with us all day but there was no point so we got dropped off at a restaurant called Niros where we had curries which were hotter than we expected but were very nice. The curries here are much hotter than at home and the locals all say a dish is not spicy which to us is really hot !! As we had such a nice meal we decided that was Lizzies Birthday dinner....better than McDonalds. We crossed the busy road to an internet cafe tucked down a side alley. There was an inner courtyard with washing hung out to dry and an obligatory cow lazing in the cool there. The internet place looked far from modern with really old PCs but it was suprisingly fast. We headed back on a rickshaw towards the city palace to try and find the snake charmers from earlier but when we got there they had all gone. We went through a few back alleys towards Badi Chaupar passing through a gate which the locals obviously all used as a toilet judging by the number of human turds we saw there !!!! We made it to a small market area but weren't sure exactly where we were until a local chap helped us. He then asked us to spare us 5 minutes to help him translate a letter to his English girlfriend. He walked us into a side street near the post office and we stood there writing the words he dictated. It was a pretty full on love letter to an English woman professing his love and his want to see her soon. It all seemed pretty genuine until he then said he would like to help us as we'd helped him, by going to a jewellery shop where we could get some discount. We made excuses and left not sure if he was scamming us or not. We haven't met anyone who has talked to us without an alterior motive yet. We crossed the road and went along the streets shops tryng to avoid salesmen all the way along. One young guy started talking to Phil about why Europeans wouldn't stop and talk to the locals. Phil said that we didn't like the sales tactics and that the locals needed to be more honest and direct with asking to sell goods. The guy said he thought it was to do with the colour of their skin which Phil obviously denied . The guy then started to say he had a silver shop where we could get 40% off...another scam to get us to buy...so annoying. Just when you think you have found someone genuine out comes the scam. We are feeling pretty rubbish as we can't trust anyone here at the momoent, they all start by being really charming and the the hard sell comes. If you then dont want to buy they really change which is horrible. We have heard that the south is more laid back and the people not so in your face so hopefully things will be better soon. We turned off the main road into a much quieter street where there were many marble shops all filled with amazing carvings. We have found that off the main roads is much less hassle for us and we really enjoy it then. There are no public toilets anywhere and most of the restaurants don't have them either so we made our way to McDonalds to use their toilets (thank goodness for McDonalds) . We had rwad about a bar called Reds and decided to find it and have a drink there . It was in a shopping centre which was like stepping into another world as it was clean and modern with a glass lift. We got to the bar which was really trendy with red and black furniture and a glass front with a great view onto the street below. We stayed for a beer which was all we could afford (8 pounds for two bottles!!) . It was nice there with free snacks, but maybe they took pity on us and thought we needed a feed !! We left there and walked back to our hotel . Phil was accosted by a man selling puppets but we didn't want them. The man dropped his price to a rediculous figure as he was so desperate for a sale but we really didn't want them. Phil had to put the puppets on the floor as he didn't want to take them back from us. He followed us all the way along the road for about fifteen minutes poor thing but we can't give to everyone that asks. Its such a horrid thing to have to say no to people desperate for a small bit of change but there are so many beggars its impossible to help them all. When we finally got back to the hotel we went for a quick bite in the hotel restaurant where loads of the other guests were eating. We don't think many tourists venture out of the organised tours or hotels here, we are the only brave ones!!! The menu said to order 2 hours before you needed your food as it was cooked fresh!!!! Phil just had a sandwich and then we went back to the room to write the diary then went to bed.