Thursday we spent the morning driving from Ranthambhore to Jaipur, “The Pink City”. It is called the Pink City because the local maharaja decided to have everyone paint it pink in honor of a visit by Prince Albert. Why this makes sense is beyond me but it did remind me of High Plains Drifter where a ghostly Clint Eastwood makes the local citizenry paint a town pink. All very strange. It took us about 4 hours to travel the 90 miles to Jaipur. The road was good at times but more often very crowded and/or bumpy. We passed many villages, mostly very poor and run down, dusty and ramshackled. Kids everywhere would wave to us and shout “hello”, excited like we were royalty or movie stars. They were looking for a wave and “hello” back kind of like when we were kids and tried to get the truck drivers to toot their horns. We saw lots of camels, geese, chickens, wooly goats and finally our first elephants.
Once we got to Jaipur and settled into our hotel it was off to Samode a little village with a “small” palace and camels. We rode the camels down through town and it was fun. They are more comfortable than a horse, the only scary part is when they first get up and finally kneel down to let you off. This tilts you way forward or way back so you have to hang on tight. Again the kids were all wild for the visitors. Some angling for a few rupees for pictures but mostly just excited to see the Americans. On our way back to town we stopped by a walled enclosure on a dusty country road and were astounded by the beautiful garden and fountains hidden behind the wall. It was a kind of camping resort with “tents” that were really little cabins with tent roofs. Shawne asked if the locals ever went there, it was such a beautiful setting, but no, they are not allowed. It makes you wonder if they resent the privileged travelers. In the evening we went to a diner and “cultural even” with our local host. It was rather strange. Two dancers and a three piece Rajasthani band came and entertained us for about 10 minutes. We enjoyed it but it was over and they were gone practically before it started.
Today, Friday, was touring Jaipur. We started out by riding an elephant up a hill to the Amber Palace. Elephants aren’t as comfortable as camels but are still better than horses. Their big strides are jarring but at least your butt doesn’t get sore. One of the striking thing about royal living quarters in India is how separate the lives of men and women are. They all have some sort of balconies and peeking holes for one sex to look down on the activities of the other without actually mixing in. One of the maharajas here was an avid astronomer and astrologer. He built a sundial that is accurately calibrated to 2 second increments (!!). It is several stories high to get that kind of precision. We learned lots about making carpets and various other local handicrafts. Beautiful and tempting but good sense mostly prevailed. Tomorrow and Sunday will be in Udaipur, a city of lakes.
3 comments:
I've been on the phone to India today with a Belkin tech about my wireless router. In lulls in what we were doing I was telling him that you are in India right now and about some of your adventures. He seemed very pleased that you were visiting, encouraged me to do so too-have you found a place where Americans are actually welcome??!
OX
Heidi
Love that camel pic!! By the way from personal experience I can say these travel blogs are a great way to go back long after a trip is over the re-live it, having text is far better than just pictures alone, so keep 'em coming and you'll be glad you did.
Heidi you might be surprised by how many places in the world like Americans. In my experience if you don't act like an "ugly American" most people in most countries are very friendly towards Americans ... it's our politicians they tend to not like, but they often don't like their own politicians any better.
We've encountered no hostility at all. Mostly curiosity and surprise with kids being excited to see us and get a wave of the hand.
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