Indian stories - part 2- Jaipur

The bus was beeping all the way from Delhi to Jaipur. I was happy. I was getting into the real thing.

Having heard so much about tourist hassling, I got to experience it first hand. As we were approaching the city center my face became more puzzled as to where to get out. On one of the stops the experienced rickshaw driver read my mind, he jumped into the bus and started waving at me – "Yes, city center, city center, ma'am, get off." It was suspicious, so I decided to get off later (a good rule of thumb – get off when the driver kicks you out, he knows 99% of the time where tourists go). As the bus was turning into the bus station, I saw the crowd of rickshaw drivers running behind the bus. The quick ones managed to jump up and knock on my window to get the attention. There was no way to escape - I honestly got scared, but I survived.

My small guest house with an adorable owner was my safety heaven. He told me how to book train tickets, what to see in Jaipur, where to eat, where to buy jewelry. I slowly felt acclimatized.

Jaipur is one the cities of the Golden triangle (Agra, Varanasi and Jaipur), which means the city center revolves around tourism. Infinite number of rickshaws are fighting for tourists and driving the rates down. I was going around with a rickshaw for the whole day for 400 rs ($8) - the cheapest day rate (I could have negotiated it further down) I came across in India.

Jaipur is known as Pink City as it got painted in pink in honor of the Prince of Wales' visit in 1853. The most impressive architectural complex is outside Jaipur - the Amber Fort, built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh in 1727.

Amber Fort:



The Jal Mahal:



The old town enclosed by pink walls buzzes with everyday life, to watch which is a fascinating but very tiring experience. I have never seen anything more crowed. Each bazaar street consists of 6-7 "layers" of activities - shops, shopping alley, another line of sellers, people cleaning anything from plates to themselves, parking for rickshaws, more pedestrians walking, street food, washing facilities, cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, occasional camel or elephant on the way to Amber Fort, cars, buses, mopeds, bikes. Everything that can make noise makes noise, everything that can beep - beeps. The city catches you and never lets you go. Not many people like Jaipur, but I was amazed at the intensity. Never visiting a city was more tiring.

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur:


First lesson learned:

As we were taught in rafting - let the river take care of you, do not fight it - the same with India, learning to go with the flow was essential to enjoy the trip.

Some pictures from the City Palace where the current Maharaja of Jaipur lives - His Highness Sawai Bhawani Singh Bahadur.






The rest of the pictures on flickr [link].