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Published: February 10th 2010
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The morning after my missed train I took a bus to Jaipur, the capital of the desert state of Rajasthan. This is the “gateway to Rajasthan,” and transfers to any of the places I was planning on going in the next 10 days are made from here with ease. It’s also home to the many, many palaces and Havelis of the old Maharajas that one sees in Indian brochures, and I determined that I wanted to unwind from my snazzy Taj Mahal adventure by booking a room in one of them.
I arrived at Khandela Haveli, a mansion built 300 years ago that once was an outpost for the Maharaja of Johdpur. The building was absolutely beautiful. Everything was immaculate and no expenses were spared to make sure that it had all the fixings of the finest modern hotels, albeit with a heritage twist that modern hotels can’t touch. I paid my $107 fee and was taken to my suite, which included a massive bathroom, separate seating area, 20 foot ceilings, a doorbell, two vanities and a flat screen TV. The service was impeccable; the guest-to-employee ratio worked out in my favor and I had someone there within an
instant to do everything for me. I opened my door and someone was there to close it; I ordered food and someone was there to scoop it onto my plate before I could reach for it myself; I needed an adapter for my computer and they sent someone shopping until they could find one for me. I hadn’t slept more than a few short hours each night that I’d been here, but not at this place!
I rose the next morning and, not having cemented plans for the next few days, decided to downgrade to a bit smaller room and stay another night. I spent the day lounging next to the rooftop pool in 75 degree weather while listening to my iPod and drinking freshly squeezed juices. At one point, a monkey ran across the roof and perched on a ledge overlooking the pool. Later, I decided it was time for a massage and strolled down the lanes of mansions and Havelis to an Ayurveda center that offers all the trappings included in the 5000 year old science of wellness and relaxation. I opted for the 3 aroma therapy full body massage, and certainly got what I paid for!
I walked into the back room where a girl stood over a hot plate that housed my different oil selections. “Take off your clothes,” she said. “Ooohkay,” I thought. “Here you are…still in the room…buuut I guess its time to get naked.” She then wrapped a piece of string around my waist that held a small tissue paper-like square of fabric to cover my front end. “Lay down please,” she said, before administering a full body massage like I didn’t know existed. In addition to hot and pungent oils being ground into my muscles, I’ve also never had a professional boob massage before. But what they hey…this is India!
On the walk to a nearby rooftop restaurant afterward I was hooted at by a number of passing men. “Heeeyy, Americahn!” they said. Or at least I hope so…It also sounded suspiciously like “Heeyy, you workin??” I’ve convinced myself of the former.
When I arrived back at my hotel at around 6:30 there was a father/son duo in the courtyard playing a sitar and dancing for guests. I fell down on my bed, swimming in satisfaction of the day, and was lulled to sleep by the sound of music
outside my door. I woke up a few hours later and was told that there was a puppet show on the roof, so I wandered up. It was a 17 year old boy and his cousin, both of whom came from generations of a puppeteer family. They talked with me for some time and asked questions about America, gave me a private puppet show, and insisted that we take pictures together. I don’t know if it was the toxins released in the massage or the hours of foreign sunlight, but by 10:00 I was ready for bed again and passed out into a deep sleep.
This morning I booked a train to Rathambore National Park to go on a tiger search safari. When he realized that my train didn’t come for a few hours, the owner offered me a late check out and sat outside with me for an hour or so and explained the complexities of Indian life. He seemed impressed that I came here alone. “Indian girls,” he said “don’t want to travel anywhere alone, not even in India.” He did seem confused as to how it was that my husband didn’t want to come with me.
“Hawaii is nice, but India has many nice things too,” he said (granted, this is a guy that comes from 300 years of Indian royalty and is a multimillionaire). He also gave me advice on all the places I’m going and made a number of phone calls to all over Rajasthan to ensure no information offered was incorrect. Then he called the hotel I wanted to stay at in Rathambore, gave the guy all of my information and made sure that he would be there to pick me up, and arranged for an english-speaking taxi to take me to the train station and walk me to the correct platform. And he had his restaurant make and pack me a free meal for my trip. The hospitality of this place was absolutely amazing, but my train is almost here and the time has come to depart from my dream world of luxury and get back to reality.
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Regina
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Hi
So good to see your smiling face!!!! I am so happy you are having a great time!! XOXOXOXO