Another ramble of what I've been up to so far the last week. It has been really nice to feel the sun in the daytime though the nights are still quite cold - I've found compared to South East Asia the travelling is a lot cheaper but the accommodation(sp?) is more expensive for what you get - for 10 US dollars in S E Asia I could sometimes get a hotel with a swimming pool and beer on tap - here sometimes you are paying nearly that and the rooms are really shabby in comparason (my spelling I know is terrible - its the heat and my laziness) and with a crap shower.
Jaipur itself was really hectic and the beggars much more in number than I had seen in India so far - the ones I found hardest to deal with were the people with malformed limbs which you know back home would have been treated when they were small - a couple of times I spoke to people and you could see in their eyes that they were going blind (think it was glaucoma - but I'm no expert) - and its another thing that for such a small amount of money can be treated.
Tuesday I went to the big tourist attraction in Jaipur - Hawa Mahal or Palace of the Winds which is a bit like a honeycomb with little windows where you could stick your head out to look out on to the street and watch the world go by (one of my favourite pastimes). In the afternoon continued my tour of all things starry by going to the Birla Planetarium - even though the show was in Hindi I could still get the gist of what was going on and I did find it more interesting than the show I went to in Delhi.
Wednesday I went out to the Amber Fort about 10k's outside the city - had to hire a tuk tuk as I bottled getting the local bus. It was really nice to get out of the noise of the incessant traffic as it can give you a headache - even in my hotel which is up a quiet street the noise still travels. Amber is built on a hill - you could get jeeps or elephants up to the entrance but I really hate the animal related stuff and felt really sorry for them as they trundled up the hill with families on their back and it wasn't even that hard a climb. The fort itself was undergoing restoration - parts of it were really pretty with mosaics and views over the hills - I found the hills quite fascinating as they all had walls reminicent of the Great wall of China (not as big) running up and down them. Next stop was the Water palace which was in the middle of a very dried up lake and you couldn't go across to as they were restoring - got hassled a bit by the 1 chapati crowd as I stopped to take a photo. I was a bit confused about the next bit as it was termed as the Moghul City which roughly translated meant shopping emporium of your choice - I was a bit of a disapointment (what's new!!) as after a small tour of the textile workshop all I came away with was 2 cushion covers - after he been bringing out pashminas and salwar chemises galore.
Shopping does bore me - but sometimes that works in my favour - as the more I um and arr in making a decision about something the more the price comes down - in the end the guy in the shop is practically begging me to take it away - it's not done consciously to get a better deal just there is so much here I like I really can't make my mind up - in a word it's "white shirt Heaven" for me.
Thursday was beauty parlour day - at home I'm lucky to go to the hairdressers twice a year as it is always a bit of an ordeal - they always make my hair tidy which I hate as essentially I'm a bit of a scruff. However it is nice to go and have your nails done as they were looking a bit shed like - but I do have guilt trips about indulging on stuff like this even about eating sometimes when there is so much poverty around the streets. Managed to sort out some train tickets as well (getting quite good down the station now with what to do) - so the aim now is to be in Mumbai by the 24th of Jan to catch an overnight train down to Goa for a nice beach and a few beers.
Friday I caught the train to Pushkar which I wasn't going to go to - there was some reason why I didn't have it on my original wish list - realised within a couple of hours why and I really should read my guidebook more and it does makes me sound like an alkie - quote from the Rough Guide " As Pushkar is sacred to Lord Brahma, all food within city limits is strictly veg (
okay I can live with that): meat,eggs and alcohol are banned" - never fear the hotel said they could get me a bottle of Kingfisher for a price.
Pushkar is south of Jaipur and I do like the story of how it came into existance so I will tell you - it all came about because Lord Brahma the Creator dropped his lotus flower to earth from his hand to kill a dragon. At the three spots where the petals landed water magically appeared in the midst of the desert to form three small blue lakes - not sure about the gist of the rest of the story as it goes on about pantheons and celestial beings - but the lake on which Pushkar is situated is today revered as one of Indias most sacred sites - and also extremely touristy.
As I got off the bus I was immediately surrounded by touts hassling me - I went into my mardy mare routine which got shot of most of them - but one guy hung around and because he was really polite I said okay I'll have a look at your guesthouse - he was called Sanjay and it was his parents place - a bed is a bed and it was clean and I'm hopeless with a choice - the only real problem was remembering the name of it had too many vowels in it as I do have a problem with vowel heavy words.
If there were a lot of beggars in Jaipur - here for the size of the town there were double - the 1 chapati crowd started on me - and I did tell them where to go a bit harsh I know but these kids aren't in rags. The town itself although small because of all the handicraft crafts selling the same stuff was really hard to find your way around as it all looked the same.
The 24 hour hot water as promised by Sanjay didn't materialise on Saturday morning - what he hadn't told me as the electric is off for most of the day - therefore the immersion heater is a bit a la chocolate teapot. In the end headed into town - there was a bit of an obsession in giving me a flower to throw in the late which I smelt a rat with - couldn't exactly remember the scam - involved dodgy priests and loss of rupees - this guy came up and said "I am a priest" ( well he didn't look very priestly) so I told him that I was the Queen of Sheba - strangely he left me alone after that.
Really nice at the other side of the lake - not too much hassle and nice views of the ghats dotted around - went for a massage in the afternoon and I am really glad it was woman - I can see why some of these shonky massage guys get a bit carried away. More problems with shower when I got back - water coming out of about 3 holes in the showerhead and it was a good ten minutes before I realised that they had put the taps in the wrong way round - H=cold, C=hot. Lovely illicit beer up on the roof where two Australians who I shall call Brad and Bruce were twittering "awesomely" about their German experience - I nearly went over when they said women shouldn't travel on their own but they did temper the comment with naive.
Sunday - yet another hot sunny day - the weather is so much warmer here in Rajastan - breakfast up on the roof where the waiter Raj I think was interviewing me as potential girlfriend material - bless he was only 23 but so many questions did my head in a bit - my average pole age is coming down now at about 28/29 but that's just the Indian guys.
I was going to climb the big mountain behind Pushakr so had a wander out into the desert - this old lady complained about the quality of the 5 rupee she hassled off me "well you don't have to have it!" - it was a bit deserted and I was mindful of wandering off too far on my own so headed back into town where there was a kite festival going on. Really brilliant - kids and adults on the roofs flying hundreds of kites - lots of them ended up tangled in trees and street cables all played along to thumping sound of techno music which was blasting all over town.
Still had the urge to climb a hill - it just gets to you sometimes - so I went for the little one above the bus station which is supposed to be good for sunrise - had a bit of a problem finding the path which is not unusual (first time I climbed Glastonbury Tor I did it without the aid of the pathway) - was a bit of a scramble and ended up covered in sticky bugs. Strange conversation at the top with this Indian family- for once not asked my marital status but heavier things like what is the ratio of men to women in your country, what are the economic problems.... bit heavy for a chill out session on a hill - amazing views down the desert that fair took your breath away.
Back to the hotel for a beer - I think Raj did take a bit of shine to me as he went out 4k's on his bike to find me beer - had my feet hennaed with weird and wonderful patterns by a really nice girl called Sunita her brother Deepak took me there on his motorbike so I had a lovely ride through the streets on the back of his motorbike - I do miss the bikes. Sunset by the lake and then back for last beer - chatted to a guy called Blair from New Zealand who was travelling on his own before Raj started getting a bit too familair with conversation - wrist slapping time from me so he got the message in the end - not interested.
Today - way hay - took the 7.00 o'clock morning bus from Pushkar to Jodphur - the bus naturally looked nothing like the picture in the travel agents - you do have to laugh and for the first hour we just flew along bouncing from side to side on the terrible roads. Was a bit worried about my bag being in the boot - in case it took off on holidays of its own and thankfully the road did get less bouncy but the number of people increased - they were hanging off the sides when we arrived in J around dinnertime.
TT driver naturally didn't take me to where I asked him to - what a surprise but luckily I wasn't too far from the place I had e-mailed - I keep calling it Yogi Bears place - but it called Yogi's and it is really nice - just the kind of place I like - the house itself is about 500 years old my room is small but overlooks the alleyways of the old town where all or most of the houses are painted the most gorgeous blue (hence the name Blue City) - the roof top is brill with views up to the fort and best of all the restaurant does egg and chips and Diet Coke.
Hopefully some photos on line tomorrow - had them put onto disc today - and there are loads not so many of me as it can be difficult getting them taken.
Meheurangarh Fort
Blue houses of Jodhpur
