Pigeon-free English

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Up at 4:20AM. As no-one was going to be around to get me hot water, the owner had given me an immersion heater to heat my bucket with. I had to bridge the bucket with a hanger, then the heater slotted over the hanger and dangled in the water - it couldn't be hung on the side of the bucket because of the risk of melting the plastic. The whole contraption looked like a recipe for death by electrocution, but I avoided this fate and also managed to wash my hair.

According to the hotel owner, there was a rickshaw drivers' strike planned for today, in protest against government plans to force them to wear uniforms. Though it wasn't due to start until 8AM, I didn't want to run the risk of having to leg it to the station, so I left 45 minutes before my train was due to depart, to guarantee an adequate cushion. Of course, I found an auto within seconds, and let him get away with a Rs 40 sting simply for his foresight in being where I wanted him when I wanted him.

The station waiting room resembled a mortuary, with most of the floor covered by sleeping bodies shrouded in sheets and blankets. I don't know whether these people were in transit, or if that was their home. Either way, there was a refugee camp air to the place, so I decided to take my seat on the train rather than waiting there.

AC Chair Class did indeed turn out to look like the inside of a passenger plane, with a row consisting of 3 seats, then the aisle, then 2 more seats. As usual, the numbering was confusing - this time, all the seats had a number stencilled onto them in black pen, but most of them also had a (different) embossed metal number. For once, I guessed right.

I wasn't sorry to leave Jodhpur. Though the blueness of it was interesting, the hotel wasn't in the best location, the interaction with the local pigeons was much too frequent, and the mosquitos were most belligerent. Even though my room had window guards, the extractor fan didn't, so the mossies could get in easily enough. And despite me using more DEET than on the rest of the trip combined, I was still bitten on the ankles (a favourite spot) and the face (not had that before). And, without wishing to sound like a prima donna, I also have to confess that bucket baths are fine once or twice, but the novelty value does soon wear off.

The passenger next to me was constantly clearing his throat in a very phlegmy fashion, which didn't put me in the best of moods, and I took it out on the Jaipur touts when we finally arrived. I'd been warned by several other travellers that Jaipur was possibly even worse than Delhi for hassle, and that certainly proved to be the case. It was the worst kind of hassle too - the conversation didn't end after "Do you want a rickshaw sir?", "No", but progressed though the usual nationality/name questions, to "Where are you going?", to "Why do you not like Indian rickshaws?" I was able to fend off a few approaches by simply not answering and carrying on walking, but whenever I stopped to consult the map, I was targetted again. Unfortunately the hotel was a little bit hidden away from the road, so I had a final burst of unwanted offers of help, which I responded to with a slightly unhinged rant about them failing to understand that no really does mean no in the West, before eventually finding the entrance. More on this in a subsequent post. There is a fine line between being rude and ensuring your time isn't wasted.

The hotel itself (Hotel Atithi), though the most expensive I've stayed in so far (Rs 500 per night), is also the nicest in terms of facilities and location. Towels, toilet paper, and soap are provided, and it's only about 1km from the station, on a road on which several of the RG-recommended restaurants are situated. My room is on the roof terrace, making it the shortest of strolls from my bed to a chair in the sun.

RG was true to form by having the opening times for supposedly a good veg restaurant completely wrong, so I had to search out my own venue for lunch. I saw one place (Surya Mahal) that looked in good nick and, despite the doorman answering "Indian" when I asked him what sort of food it served, I entered and had a veg thali.

After lunch, I wandered along to Ram Niwas, a large expanse of grass and trees just south of the old city, and also home to the Central Museum aka the Albert Hall. I had read about a display of miniature clay sadhus demonstrating yoga poses, which sounded interesting, but they turned out to be in the first floor galleries, which were closed for reasons unknown.

Despite the fact that Jaipur is part of the "Golden Triangle", probably the most well-worn tourist trail in India, I had two meetings with people who were surprisingly excited simply to have contact with a foreigner. The first was with a man who only spoke a few words of English, but he dragged his (clearly unwilling) son over to me to shake my hand, then forced his (clearly even more unwilling) wife, sister, brother, and assorted nieces/nephews to exchange hellos with me. The second was with a man who addressed me in Hindi, seemed a little shocked that I was unable to converse fluently in the language, but all the same I appeared to have made his day by simply standing smiling at him.

During my wanderings, I also discovered that rarity in India - a set of traffic lights that not only exists, but works, and is obeyed by road users. Unfortunately there were still many crossings without lights, so I had to take the usual deep breath and head out there pretending I was immortal.

Despite feeling as though I was coming down with another cold, I decided to try out one of the best places in town for dinner - the Copper Chimney. The decor was pleasant and the wait staff smartly dressed, but there seemed to be a segregation policy, with foreigners at the front and Indians at the back. I had the (RG-recommended) rogan josh which, even with the aid of a Kingfisher, was a disappointment. The meat was served on the bone, which I'm prepared to believe is the traditional way as I've only ever had it in English curry houses where it has been off the bone, but there was very little of it, plus the sauce was bland. I finished off with some strawberry icecream, hoping to soothe my throat.

I've still to have a decent non-veg meal in India, though I've had many good veg ones. I'm not sure if I'm in the wrong part of the country for meat-based dishes, or if it will be the same story nationwide.

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Photos

Bring out your dead
Jodhpur railway station at about 5:15AM

A/C Chair Class
Before it filled up

The Albert Hall, Jaipur
Also known as the Central Museum

Birds on a wire
Wonder who they're looking for?

Comments

[John K.]

Dishes with Meat
You have to head south to find good food. I haven't had any good "meat" per say in India, but the seafood is soooo good down south.