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Published: November 8th 2008
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I'm all recovered. Two full days without alcohol and 1 1/2 days without food. A record on the food and unfortunately, probably on the alcohol, at least for the past several years. The three others on the trip that were "under the weather" or "over the toilet" are on the mend. Getting out of the camel fair was a good move.
We are attempting a new technique to avoid more of this plague. In addition to the steri pen that Richard provided. We bought a bottle of India's finest vodka. We don't drink it. We just soak our tooth brushes in a glass of vodka. It adds to the tooth paste flavor. You should try it at home.
Today was our only day in Jaipur, the "pink" city. Pink is another one of those optimistic Indian terms that we often hear when anticipating the wonders of a place. It's not really pink. Fran says it's more like a light coral. Richard says it looks like the ass of a baboon. This morning at 7:30 we headed into the old part of the city. I would love to see the new part. It's all old. Every city we've been to
is old. And run down and dilapidated. And the billion plus of people are everywhere. There is this crush. The noise. The horns. The garbage. The colors. The smells. All intense. All the time. But it was early and the shops were just opening up. It felt almost like a respite. We took some photos, and will attach just a few. Every day we are taking hundreds of photos and if you are lucky, you'll never ever have to look at a slide show or DVD of our work. But some have turned out better than I at least expected. As Fran refuses to write in the blog today, we'll attach only my photos.
We took the afternoon off. Fran worked on her photos and I napped a little but when I got antsy I found a new adventure. I went down to the lobby and asked if there was somewhere where I could get my hair cut. Fran says she had never seen my hair so long and I was beginning to look like Theo Folz' twin brother. Not that that is necessarily so awful, but it scared the crap out me. The guy at the front desk
told me there were barber shops down a couple of blocks and around the corner. The better one was upstairs. Would it be safe for me to walk alone? It's not like I don't stand out. He said certainly. So against one of the rules of the trip (Greg, where did you learn to break the rules?) I walked alone into the city. In the US you wouldn't walk into this area with a small army and I was nervous, but off I went. No threats. I had to ask where the barber shop was and was directed down a small alley and into a doorway that went up two flights of stairs without lights. The stairway was no more than 3 feet wide. Then I saw the barber shop, went in, and there were 5 men sitting around. I said, "haircut"? The older man nodded. They escorted me into the next room where there was an antique chair. But before I got into the chair he took me to another area where there was a shower head and drain. He washed my hair while I was standing, then took me to the chair, put a cape on, and gave
me a damn good haircut. He asked for 100 rupes ($2) but I gave him 200. I walked back and that's the end of my adventure. The only adventure was the fear of an adventure. That's sometimes the best kind.
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madeline
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I too am ever so glad that you recovered...good advise that i should have offered to you and fran before you left but may find its way to jeannie if she hasn't left yet is to bring plenty of probiotics...start taking them even before you leave and if you start to get the Delhi Belly, kick them up a notch every few hours...it keeps the good bacteria plentiful in your intestines and helps override any of those mean guys....sorry i didn't think to tell you before you left, but i know you are not big on the voodoo.....