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Published: December 20th 2023
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We woke up at the crack of dawn to get a four hour taxi journey to Jaipur. We said goodbye to our gracious hosts and fell into the hands of Iksha and her uncle, many journey snacks in tow. When we arrived to have a chai break at our first Indian service station, we breathed in our first full fresh air since landing in Delhi. In Wiltshire the air pollution is 3 but in Delhi it’s closer to 400 due to fires in the countryside and winds blowing it into the city - also the immensely heavy traffic. The Chai wallah gave us a cute clay no-handle mug which was meant to be one time use but Hattie took a liking to it and popped it in her handbag to have her morning coffees in back in London (thank you Stella.) Iksha’s uncle told us about a viral Indian video where a lady showing her clothes always says, ‘so elegant, so beautiful, just like a wow!’ and now we can’t stop saying it. Iksha’s uncle told us all about the textiles in Jaipur, about the block printing, hand looms and silk trade and tons of Jaipur recommendations. Grace slid into the
prince of Jaipur’s DM’s in the hope of getting a Royal Response - unfortunately she has been aired 😞
We arrived at our hostel - Moustache - which ironically we were starting to sprout after a week without waxing LOL. They were very accommodating and had lots of activities you could join in on during your stay. We headed out for lunch at a vegetarian Rajastani Thali place and had some top notch dahl, muttar paneer, raita, chapati and ice cream. We love how Indian meals have so many different sections to them so you never get tired of one flavour or texture. We’re also loving the fresh lime sodas that are available everywhere. You can also get them with salt instead of sugar but we’re building up to that one. We ordered a garlic naan (because Grace still wasn’t full - UNHEARD of!) and honestly it was the most raw garlicky thing we’d ever eaten - and we LOVE our garlic. With our tummies full and our breath HONKING we caught a pink tuktuk (no one here calls them that though, it’s an Auto) to The Albert Hall Museum.
Albert Hall museum was so beautiful, so elegant,
just like a wow- no, in all seriousness, it was a serene and grandiose monument imposing upon the middle of a hectic roundabout. An 18th century Mughal inspired building, it was commissioned by the British for an eerily similar purpose to the V&A museum in South Kensington- to show the country’s inhabitants excellent design to inspire industry and artisanal craft. The link deepened when we read that it was established by the same cohort that set up the Royal College of Art and V&A museum programme, that Hattie’s masters course is an ancestor of, and they also initiated the Bombay School of Art with the same principles and subject content! This was funded by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy in 1853, a shipping merchant. The museum was an artefact itself, rationally spaced with arches, niches, carvings and painted decoration, and the most gorgeous turquoise paint contrasting with the pure marble structure. A dirty painting near the entrance showed Prince Albert, of whom the museum had been dedicated to, and it appeared to have not been cleaned in years. Perhaps this was a subtle anti-colonial message by the keepers of the museum- that to preserve this controversial relic is not worth their time-
however there was no mention of “empire,” or colonisation throughout. With no disrespect to the incredible artefacts themselves, showcasing different region’s craft prowess- swords, instruments, pottery, textiles, paintings, and more, the museum seemed a little neglected and underfunded. There was no provenance to the objects, and the labels did often not match the artefact, not giving them the due diligence they were owed. Around half the museum centred around European art, there was a heavy presence of Wedgwood and Minton and Hollins strangely, the representation of so much of the west felt like a hang- on from a darker time- we wanted to see more of the products coming out of the incredible sub continent we were in.
On a less heavy note, Hattie exited first and stayed in the beautiful marble open topped courtyard whilst the other two culture vultures were culturing. Initially, the feeling was intimidation when she realised this was her fist solo outing anywhere really and there was a gaggle of smiling men approaching her. However, all prejudice entirely subsided within 2 minutes, when they put on a beautifully crafted puppet show including Michael Jackson and Shakira appearances. It was sick.
We tuk tukked back
to the hostel (which on the way our driver tried to reverse down a main road because he missed our turning!) He had no fear! We went up to the most beautiful rooftop terrace (there was a pool!) where they were playing Bollywood tunes until we arrived and they put on Harry Styles and Justin Bieber. Some guys were decorating a Christmas tree with fake snow and we felt a pang of Britishness! We got some fresh pineapple juices and another thali and a man Shikar from Gujarat chatted to us. When Grace told him her name he gasped and said ‘wow! yes I can see,’ which was very flattering after our long day unshowered and sweating around the city. He recommended lots of foods for us to try and like all the Indian people we’ve met so far, was very excited for us to visit their country and was full of suggestions. He also tried to get us to do a traditional Gujurat dance but we just didn’t have it in us that evening 🫨Another thing we noticed is people really want to make eye contact with us and they can look quite stern until you smile and say
hello and then their faces open up and they go all shy and bashful. We ordered Kingfisher beers - 2 pounds!!! which came in those red plastic cups that Americans use for beer pong and chatted for the rest of the evening under the twinkly terrace lights looking over Jaipur. The hostel itself was clean, cosy and friendly and we love Jaipur for its ease of getting around - much less daunting a city to navigate than Delhi! We headed to bed early for our early sunrise trek the next morning up the hill to the Sun and Monkey Temples.
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