No woman, no cry, no chapati, no chai!!

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So i arrived in Jaipur, despite having to take a detour through Delhi which added an extra 6 hours on to my journey time, and it is a fantastic place. Known as the Pink City due to the colour of the buildings in the Old City which were daubed pink as a symbol of welcome in the 19 Century, the city is very hectic, with plenty of rickshaw wallahs attempting to get a fare, and an unbelievable number of market traders. It is a great, if blisteringly hot, place to walk around and soak in the atmosphere. There was a noticable lack in tourists, for a number of reasons, the time of year being one, but also the Gujjar tribal protests that were taking place and thus blocking many train and road routes into the area, and also the serial bomb blasts that occured a couple of weeks ago, scaring off potential visitors.
On my first afternoon there i met a textiles factory owner and we spent the afternoon chatting, drinking chai and eating samosas, before he drove me over to the factory on the back of his motorbike (helmetless of course!!). There i was shown the process of vegetable dying and block-printing, and village women stitching cushion covers and sheets etc. It was really interesting, and made even more enjoyable by the extreme hospitality and sincerity of the owner. When we were done he drove me back into the city and dropped me off at the City Palace, where i spent the afternoon perusing the beautiful architechture of the Maharaja's residence and its surroundings.

The following day i ventured out of the city by public bus to the Amber Fort, an incredible structure in the hills, and a sight that is definitely up there with other fantastic views i have been party to during my travelling. It is incredibly imposing, and it was instantly clear how incredibly hard it would have been to conquer. Once inside, it is a maze of corridors and flights of stairs, rounded off with an underground tunnel which gave great respite for me from the heat, and for the bats from the light.
When i returned to the city in the afternoon i met another Indian guy, who was intrigued by tourists and wanted to know a little about the culture of England. I felt that since i had time to kill i would chat to him, and as in the previous afternoon we supped chai and ate samosas. He introduced me to his friends, and we played a few games of Karom, and whiled away the afternoon chatting about Indian culture, politics, the recent bomb blasts in Jaipur, and of course, man's favourite subject, women. The guys name was Hari, and he, his friend Bali, and myself, went out for dinner that evening to a bustling, cheap, but incredible Muslim restaurant, where we of course ate the food with our right hand, and i managed to make a thorough mess! The evening ended shortly after, but i am staying in contact with them, as it was a wicked day, and really good fun.

I am now back in Delhi, watching the European Championship games and generally wasting time. India has been an incredible country to visit, and i am very excited to my next visit, which cant come soon enough (whenever it may be!!). Although a cliche, it is true that the people are the friendliest ive met, and despite some hassle from taxi-drivers and traders, or the horrible sight of street-children begging for just a cheap chapati to fill their stomachs, it has been a rich and fulfilling experience.
I would urge anybody and everybody to visit this colourful and awfully sensual country, for as long as possible, with a sense of humour and adventure, to be prepared for anything, and to allow oneself to be taken along with the winds to random delights that pop-up all the time.

I will miss India immensly, but home, here i come....!!!

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