Advertisement
Published: June 15th 2008
Edit Blog Post
12th and 13th of May
My driver picked me up on the 12th at my hotel in Delhi & we drove only a few hours to Jaipur. After spending a day in the heart of Delhi near connaught circle, i thought the area was quite clean and the tree-lined boulevards didn't seem to be that much different from strolling through similar ones back home.
on our way out it became quite clear how spread-out the capital city really is by how long it took to get out of the busy-ness of Delhi & into Rajasthan. I was born in a country with a shortage of humans at 30 million people. the largest city in my province is sitting at around 3 milion. the coastal community where i currently live in hoovers at about 30,000. So, trying to seem unaffected by it all as i sit in the back seat, avoiding that eyes-bulging-out-of-my-face type of look, i wondered to myself for the first time in almost two-weeks in india, "WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING DOING THIS BY MYSELF?!?"
From the moment i met my driver, (who i called Fomu the first three days) to the day he dropped
me at the airport 17-days later, we listened to Hindi music. Sonu is passionate about the classics from old bollywood movies, and there was a day or two that i was quite desirous to hear some Queen or Pink Flloyd, both classic road tunes for me. I'm glad in the end that i didn't actually find any western cds in the markets though, and believe my journey was enhanced by learning how to enjoy the sounds of india. i even started singing along with Sonu by the end of my trip and, once translated, the songs really are indicative of thier lovely culture.
along the way we stopped at a western-style restaurant and, to be completely honest, i was really disappointed that it wasn't a roadside chai stall with all that yummy street food i've heard so much about. while i ate my bland food, i wondered how i should break it to my driver that i didn't want to go western on this trip, and how to tell him that i was looking forward to learning as much as i could about that culture i was seeing from my window. I decided to wait a day or two
before i said anything to see how it would unfold on its own. I hopped back into the car looking forward to picking out my first room in Rajasthan on the fly.
I should admit now that i really don't like driving trips. its not that i get sick or anything, its just that it usually bores me half to death driving from point A to point B. No such problems in India. Looking out the windows of my Tata Indico, EVERYTHING i saw was so incredibly different than what i'd been used to seeing all my life. Its hard to put the correct words to it all.
it was all that i expected with way more. there were so many places i wanted to stop along that road to Jaipur. it was amazing to be able to see so many camel carts loaded with goods for the market. it was like living in a video game, watching the overloaded vehicles swerving to miss so many cows, all the while honking thier horns at so many pedestrians, who are darting in and out of traffic from everywhere. I loved the contrasting colours of Rajasthan's people who were so
bright against the dullness of the arid landscape. i caught the harsh light of the Indian sun casting its shadowy beauty onto the ancient stone buildings. it was a bit frustrating watching all of the photographs going off in my mind instead of my camera. I realized that we needed to actually GET to Jaipur and held back on my requests to stop.
A few hours in and i started feeling a little overwhelmed and was pleased that i was cleaver enough to bring a little travel blanket with me from home. My driver had a couple of nice soft pillows in the back seat too, so i took a short nap. However, the combination of noise from the horns, the bouncy-bounce of the road, and being slightly afraid i'd miss something, it was a light snooze at best.
We did make it safely to jaipur and shortly after we arrived i checked into my haveli. it started sprinkling out and as i headed to my room that night, a nice little thunder & lightning storm accompanied the sound of the rain. I slept very well.
Enjoy the pictures.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.099s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0455s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb