Blogs from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 68

Here we are in India! Quite a culture shock - we don't know anything - but we're managing and getting wiser by the day. Our hotel reservation was cancelled with an apology in Delhi, forcing us to replan and leave immediately for Jaipur! Travel by road is harrowing but has a strange flow involving heavy use fo the horn and intimidation. It's quite dry and rocky in this region with scrub vegetation. After a good night's rest we feel more like ourselves today. Some pictures of the Amer fort and other sights attached, the fort is just huge.... read more

The desert state of Rajastahn is the India of legend and folklore, with towering forts, ornate palaces, bustling markets and remote camel safaris. Men wear turbans and knee length cotton tunics over their trousers, while the women favor brightly embroidered saris. Fresh from the drizzling rain of Paris, the heat, noise and color were definitely a shock when we arrived in the provincial capital of Jaipur! Cars, motorcycles, autorickshaws (something like a golf cart with two seats and open sides) and bicycles compete for space on the crowded roads, weaving forward to occupy any available place regardless of lane lines or traffic signals. Just crossing the street was an adventure at first, but we followed the locals and learned to negotiate gaps in the traffic. Jaipur has been known as the “Pink City” since 1876 when ... read more

my blog is now over a month behind, i've actually left india, arrived in nepal, and have gone on to thailand now. but the internet connections here aren't painfully slow, so I hope to get a chance to catch up. sorry. The last part of my India trip was to check out the "golden triangle," which is a series of three tourist attractions in Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. I actually cheated a little bit and did Delhi separately, but when I returned from southern India, I met up with two other RUCHI volunteers, Gail and Richard. Gail and Richard are a couple who are affiliated with RUCHI through its connection with the rotary club in New Zealand. They were a great couple to travel with because they always found something positive to say about whatever we ... read more

HEY - really nice to keep hearing from everyone - keeps us going I think! Katie, the sick thing was being sick in the car - in bag - on phone. Glad to hear everyone is getting on ok. Been left by the taxi man today, i wasnt too good today either, so we didnt set foot from outside the hotel tday until about 12pm. Not quite as hot today, about 36 degrees? Still, the humidity and heat is mental. We had lunch in a nice place and have since been walking around jaipur to find an internet cafe, found one - taken a step back to the 1990's. Its the overnight train journey tonight, 12 hour long journey to the place where we can ride camels through the desert and sleep there just out on ... read more

After a 'brief' overnight train from Jaisalmer ('brief' being just the 6 hours) I arrived in the city of Jodphur to the more familiar sights and sounds of incessant traffic, vehicle horns and the general hubbub which characterises most Indian cities. That said I think Jodhpur is about 20 times the size of Jai so it was probably to be expected. With an unusual lack of hassle I managed to get a rickshaw straight to my guesthouse of choice from the station at 6am. However I arrived to find that my room would not be ready for another 4 hours. So off I trudged up to the rooftop restaurant to hang about for a few hours. On the roof I was greeted by one of the most magnificent views that more than compensated for my temporary ... read more