Jaipur

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January 5th 2006

Published: February 14th 2006

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Jill and Roy

Pink City gate

First morning in Jaipur and the hotel we found happens to be very nice and clean. My stomach seems to have settled and I devoured eggs and toast for breakfast on our balcony. The weather is really nice when the sun is out so for the most part we're wearing summer clothes but after sun-down, the temperature drops fairly significantly. So while I'm wearing a tee-shirt and linen pants during the day, at night (to bed), I'm wearing socks, my linen pants under my cargos, an undershirt, t-shirt, long-sleeve tee and my fleece along with the provided wool blanket. As you might guessed, there is no heat in buildings. And since they are made mostly from marble to retain cold (for the harsh summer), it ends up being exceptionally cold.

We spent the day in the Bazaars where we bought two shawls (one for Jill and one for me - have no doubt that mine is manly) to help with the weather. I bargained him down from 1500 to 1000 but still think he got the best of me, but really what's a few hundred rupees. The salesman are pushy but its not as bad as I expected at all

Jill in Jaipur Street

Many Kite shops - it's really cool before sundown from our rooftop when you can see hundreds of kites over the city.

- I think our NYC life has helped us with our adjustment. Dinner was at an Indian Restaurant named Copper Chimney which catered exclusively to foreigners. Since this was a "higher" class restaurant we ventured, well I ventured; I had Chicken Tikka Masala, Cheese/Garlic Naan and Beer. It was real good. Jill had white rice and plain naan though she did dip into my sauce.

The second day we got a late start and got hooked up with a rickshaw driver for 5 hours for about $6. He took us to a few sights including the Cenotauphs, which are the Memorials for the various Maharjahs of Jaipur (and families) then we stopped at the Water Palace which is an old building sitting in the middle of a lake - this was a 5 minute stop for some pictures; and the lake really smelled bad, maybe its not a lake? But I couldn't take being there for longer than a couple of minutes. We finished the day at Amber Fort which is about 20km out of town. For dinner we went to another Indian Restaurant and it was Jill's first dabble with the local cuisine (post-script: no subsequent sickness)

Inside Pink City

It's finally nice to have spent a few days in the same place (3 nights) which has helped us get acclimated to the country and culture. The city which is large is congested, polluted and loud, was enjoyable and we met alot of locals who are extremely friendly and helpful. Shout-out to our hotel which was clean, comfortable, offered laundry and internet - Karni Niwas (right off of MI Road).

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