Jaipur 01/02 – 01/03

Ornate Mirror at the City Palace,

Here I am at Galta with the tank beyond.

Looking out to the tank.

We arrived in Jaipur early in the morning and checked in to a very clean and pleasant hotel...hot water AND heat this time. We sure are getting spoiled. It was still an Indian budget hotel, so of course there were annoyances like outlets not working and the tv being locked into one channel while black bars floated on the screen. But, we really can't complain about those kinds of details when basic necessities are provided and there are people sleeping outside under thin blankets, roaming around without shoes, and making little bonfires of garbage on the street for warmth. These are very typical sights in India.

We were both tired and in a daze while visiting Jaipur. At this point, we had both suffered from diarrhea and were both already in the throes of our second cold. We have both been sick with one thing or another for the last two weeks. But, of course, we carried on....roaming the streets of the “Pink City”. We visited the bazaars, the City Palace, and a strange park full of astronomical and astrological instruments called Jantar Mantar. That was pretty cool. Overall, though, the Pink City was just ok. It wasn't really Pink, it was kind of salmon colored. And, it was mostly just full of shops. The main excitement of the day was when we found a restaurant with butter chicken. We haven't eaten meat for weeks.

The next day we visited “Monkey Palace”, also known as Galta, which contains several ancient temples squeezed into a rocky ravine. There is a freshwater spring that keeps the tank full there as well and is where people as well as monkeys bathe. We accessed this area by climbing over a hill at the end of the Pink City. We passed many, many monkeys on the way there. It was a bit of a hike, but very pleasant, beautiful scenery, and great views of the city. Afterwards, we went to visit Nahargarth Fort perched atop the hills surrounding the city. This one was not even close to being as spectacular as the one in Agra....there was really nothing there except for a really awesome wall and more beautiful city views We wandered around a bit looking for the main path to the fort and then once we found it we embarked on another, even bigger hike.

We boarded our train to Jodhpur after an early dinner of Kachori and a panicky search for our train. There was no indication at the station of which platform our train would arrive on...or even any acknowledgement that our train existed. But, by some miracle it was there. When we arrived at Jodhpur I was immediately approached by two rickshaw-wallahs as I stepped off the train. “Where are you going? Where are you going?” they repeated over and over as they circled me like flies. I just stared at them with wide eyes and shook my head slowly until the repetitious phrase slowed and they started shuffling away. Ahah! That is the key. Just look and act crazy and they will be confused and tire eventually.

This is the way to Galta....inviting no?

Descent down to the tank and temples after a long hike uphill.

"Pink City" rooftop view from the walk to the fort.

Cool fort wall.

As we left the platform, we noticed that there was someone waiting to pick us up from the guesthouse we had booked. Having the fancy internet stick, all the recent bad experiences with hotels, being sick and just needing a comfortable place to relax for a few days and recover, we researched well and chose a place with the best reviews on tripadvisor - 98% thumbs up from 60 reviews. You would think that this one would be a winner for sure. Also, now this pickup that we didn't expect? We must have done good. Nope. The rickshaw brought us to the guesthouse called “Heaven” where we were told that all the rooms were booked but that they have another room in another house somewhere and we could get a better room the next day. This after Peter called to confirm from the train and we were told that yes they have several different rooms available. We were taken through a maze of dark alleyways, a good five minute walk from “Heaven” to another guesthouse. The room was tiny at best...only fit one double bed, no sheets, no bathroom. But, again, arriving in a new city late at night what could we do? Start calling around for other hotels? Walk the streets hoping to find something better? We had, after all, just come from the train station where small barefoot children were sleeping on the ground in the chilly night. Yes, we would take the room and sleep on the cardboard-like beds. We were lucky to be sleeping indoors anyway and at least it seemed clean. I wondered if they would mind if I made a little bonfire out of the garbage in my bag to keep us warm. Silly me, of course it would be fine. Anything goes in India, after all.