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Published: July 27th 2008
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After a comfortable evening train journey, we made it safely to Jaipur. Our accommodation in comparison to the rest of our stay so far was absolute luxury and even included... a pool! Woohoo!
After our touring around, it was good to have half-day unwinding and relaxing by the pool. Well, as relaxing as much as possible in an Indian city! Unfortunately our hotel was next to a building that was undergoing a bit of construction and the workers made good use of their prime position overlooking the pool. Chris and I used the code word 'cat' to let each other know when one of the guys was having an eye full. As soon as the bikini came out, it was "cat on the roof!" "cat on the terrrace!" "cat hanging off the balcony rail!" "cat over there... er like... grooming himself!" - it made for an interesting swim and certainly shows the massive cultural difference. Western girls are still a bit of a rarity and the chance to have a good looksie at girls in a pool must have been like Christmas.
We spent an evening checking out the 'Pink City' which was just as hustle and bustle as
the rest of the places we have been. Our favourite roads were those off the tourist strip, each section dedicated to a different type of shop like bicycles, spices, chemists, wedding accessories and the like. Because they weren't selling tourist related things we were completly unhassled and able to watch everyday life in the Old Town.
The next day we made the journey with our great auto rickshaw driver who was a bundle of knowledge. He was a really honest guy and didn't once try to take us somewhere that we didn't want to go. I've got his card somewhere and will add his details at the end of this blog.
We went out to Galta to see some beautiful and peaceful gardens and then onto the 250 year old temples that have an amazing location up in the hills. There are two pools up here that men and woman come to swim in. But it's not only humans that have a dip here! There are hundreds of macaque monkeys that live around the temples and they are also partial to a bit of a swim! They weren't too keen on getting wet the day we visited (although
it was so hot we were almost tempted to jump into the stagnent green water) but they just sat on the edge of the pool, splashing their feet in the water. The monkeys were seriously well behaved too, polite even! I was terrified of feeding them but a young devotee at the temple convinced us that they were used to humans and would never bite unless you tried to stroke them. He was horrified that Chris refused to feed the monkeys "you are big powerful man, you afraid? why sir why?" Chris was unmoved by their cuteness. "RABIES, ANNA, REMEMBER RABIES!"
We were ushered into a little temple and given a talk about some of the gods. Before you know it, we were making a donation to the Monkey Temple, had orange markings on our forehead, sugar in our mouths, red string tired around our arms and were basically promised to each other in marriage before Hanuman the Monkey God. Just another India moment!
That wasn't about to be our only India moment that day. As we walked back down the hill, I spotted a big group of excited Indian ladies drying out around the ladies pool. Their
saris were absolutely stunning and I wanted to see if they would talk to me and let me photograph their clothes. As soon as I left Chris and entered the ladies domain, all hell broke lose as they began talking to me in Hindi and broken English. They were having a great day and were clambering all over each other in an attempt to have their photo taken. A baby was thrust into my arms, and the poor little thing burst into tears after seeing my white face. They were laughing (at me?) and I was wondering what exactly they were laughing at... after a few minutes it became clear... as one of the old ladies started grabbing my (lack of) boobs and guesturing... argh, this brings back memories, why am I always getting felt up by old ladies?!?! After shrieks of "where boyfriend?! where boyfriend?! hehehe!!!" I high-tailed it out of there and joined Chris who was in stitches.
After visiting the City Palace and the Astrology Musuem, we were absolutly knackered and drowing in sweat. Overall this day was one of the best we have had in India so far. It was great to get out of
the city where it was a few degrees cooler. If you are coming to Jaipur, then Galta is a nice little break out of the BUSY City.
Next stop, off to Bundi for a bit of 'down time'
PS- Oh yeah, just to enforce the warning that is covered in The Rough Guide and other guidebooks. Watch out for the smooth talking, smartly dressed young guys who have perfect English in Jaipur. They trawl the Old Town and find any creative excuse to start up a friendly conversation. After a while they invite you for tea or a visit to their jewellery shop where you get a 'big discount' because you are 'friends' and you are sold inferior gems or have your credit card details stolen. We had read about these guys so weren't about to be suckered into any of that rubbish. We have seen it in S.E Asia also, but they are very convincing! We met five of them in two hours and they are a bit tricky to deal with. So very nice and OF COURSE they have friends in New Zealand too! It's sad that you have to distrust people but it sounds like
these guys are highly organised and doing very well out of ripping people off and giving India a bad reputation as a desitnation. Don't trust them!
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