Jaipur, the Pink City

Leaving Bundi proved to be quite an adventure. After we realized it was only about another $10 US to hire a car to take us to Jaipur from Bundi, we decided to brave another road trip instead of battling buses, transfers and trains.  So we arose early on Thursday and after a quick breakfast went over to catch the colonial era car that was to transport us to the capital of Rajasthan. 

If you haven’t read Andrew’s version of the trip, I suggest you do.  After sitting in the front on our last two journeys (on night ride and the trip to Bundi), I chose to set behind the driver in hopes that he would at least try to protect that side of the car.  I quickly realized that the only option was to bury my head in my book if I didn’t want to see my life flash before my eyes with every pass and turn. 

Something else I’ve noticed in driving and really any activity that might require a queue, the concept seems to escape most of the locals.  I expect it now at the train station when I go to buy a ticket and even to get in to a toilet, but the reasoning behind lining up at a railroad crossing is beyond me.  Now when I say lining up I mean that a two line road will have both sides of the tracks lined with at least five vehicles, a few motorbikes and countless other animals and people that all surge when the railroad crossing bars come up. So instead of a nice easy two lanes crossing in the proper direction across the tracks, there is instead a madness of people, animals and vehicles trying to get through which only causes a bottleneck and takes ten times as long.  It has happened every time and I still have to ask myself, why?

Jaipur itself turns out to be a lovely city, though with all the same challenges as other towns.  We end up staying at the Madhuban and once again I feel like a colonial elite as they have staff there for our every move, plus tea is served in the garden.  We are interspersing a nice place with a traditional guesthouse, just to help keep out sanity as it gets tiring squating and/or dumping water in all the toilets (see Andrew’s Enter the Taj for more details on the plumbing challenges we have faced).

That afternoon we take in the Amber Fort, which is a little outside of town.  It is truly an amazing site and we spend a few hours just wondering around and enjoying the afternoon sun on the red sandstone and white marble structure.  Of course I love to watch the people, while Andrew marvels at the architecture.  I end up taking just as many photos of the people working on the restoration of the site, as Andrew does of the fort itself. 

After that our driver was disappointed to hear that we didn’t want to visit any shops, so he took us on the quick route back to our hotel through an older section of town.  I have to admit that I have never seen as many farm animals not on a farm.  I’m now used to the cattle, dogs and monkeys that abound, but the number of pigs and goats in this area amazed me.  I have to question the quality of the meat and milk when the animals are routing through the garbage piles every time I see them eating.  Of course, the food is fabulous here, so that might be the answer:-)

On our second day in Jaipur we decided to secure our train tickets for the rest of the trip and set off for the train station.  After stopping in almost every office and asking about booking tickets one nice man final pointed us to the tourist office which was not well marked and then they explained where the reservation desk was…in Delhi I would have been frustrated, but now I’m getting used to these challenges.

With train tickets in hand for the rest of the journey, we set off to enjoy a walk through the old city known as the Pink City. 

I have to admit it wasn’t what I expected. The facades were a dusty pink and as with so many older cities you can see the wear on the buildings.  Plus, with the storekeepers stopping you every few steps it made for a challenge to walk in the first part of the bazaar.  I did really enjoy our walk through the fruit/vegetable market and the spices market, as we were able to walk through without been accosted at every store.  I also loved the aromas of the fresh spices, a lovely change.

While in the bazaar, we found a little local place for masala chai and a tasty looking samosa and grabbed a seat.  As I looked at the table next to us I saw a very healthy rat walk by, I reached for my camera but he went into a hole in the wall before I could capture our friend.  Now at one time I would have screamed if I saw something like that next to where I was planning to eat, now I move to take a photo.  I’m starting to wonder if all my traveling is changing me.  Oh well, the chai and samosa was great.

While in the old city we looked at many sites, but my favorite was the Jantar Mantar.  It is an observatory built by Jai Singh in the 1700’s and is still used today.  The instruments were amazing and I must admit I was impressed with the area and how they work to keep the area clean.  It was interesting, while Andrew ran to the bathroom I was taking a few photos there and a group of teenage boys came up and wanted their picture with me.  Though I’ve threatened to start charging I decided to be nice and ended up being in about six photos, so if you see me on a website with a bunch of young Indian boys let me know. 

We ran into a couple at the Jantar Mantar that we had met while in Ranthambhore and they recommended a restaurant, so we set out to enjoy a little Italian cooking Indian style. The two pizzas were excellent and we had beer served in a teapot with mugs, not what I expected but it hit the spot.

Tummies full and minds relaxed we decided to head back to the hotel, as we knew the 2:30 am train ride was going to come too quickly.  We were able to finally find a liquor store and stock up on some medicinal whiskey to help us survive the remaining train rides (especially the 20 hour one from Jaisalmer to Delhi that is to come in a couple of days).

This morning early we set out for the train station to catch the 2:30 train to Jodphur.  It was only 30 minutes late at the station and we actually arrived in Jodphur this morning only about an hour and a half later than was planned.

The pink city was nice, but I must admit I think I’m already enjoying the blue city (Jodphur) a little more. Just a little smaller and we’ve already found a great place to eat! Have I mentioned how much I love the food?

That’s all for now, more to come after a few days in Jodhpur.

Posted on January 31, 2009 at 5:44 AM

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