hurry hurry, chicken curry!!!

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... or that's what the rickshaw driver told us, anyway...

So! Our uber-long train to Jaipur was... okay. There was an old man who wanted us to go to sleep at around nine, and a lot of screamy children. What many indian families here do is book 2 berths on a train for their entire crew. So, we were beside a family of about 12. There's no way they can fit on their own seats, so they allllways sit next to other people, and just squish on wherever. Cool... they're usually really nice... but the kids on this one woke up super-early to yell at eachother... headaches!

Anyways, Jaipur, known as the "pink city" was... interesting. Although it's a big city, there really is no "downtown"... it was planned by someone very long ago... and didn't make much sense to us. Our hotel was amazing. The "Hotel Pearl Palace" was a greaaaat place. Clean! Pretty! Room Service! And an owner who actually cared about his place! He was very cool, and designed a wicked roof-top restuarant, full of crazy cast-iron chairs, a wicked city and fort-view, and amazing food... Evan's stint as a vegetarian was quickly halted when he discovered that their tandoori chicken was clean and edible. I think about 5 or 6 whole chickens were sacrified in those few days on his request...

So! Our first day, we explored, and were hassled by a loooot of rickshaw drivers and salespeople... it isn't tourist season right now, so they're dying for some business... gah! Couldn't walk down the street without being blocked by some dude with a quilt... "very cheap! very nice... looking is free!". And the classic "Pashmina, 200 rupees!" (faaaake pashmina!!!). Also, there were quite a few shop-owners who would wave and holler from all the way accross the road... Aaaah!!! There's a lot of cool stuff to buy in Jaipur, but you have to have the patience to bargain like crazy, and deal with some really pushy salesmen. Not our cup of tea! or... chai, rather. The Pink Fort, however, was beautiful.. some very neat stuff in there... It was painted pink as a colour of hospitality to welcome some special visitor a long time ago... One wall (the Jal Mahal? cannot remember the name...) was made for the Maharajah's women to observe life on the streets below. It was rad. Lots of very cool buildings in the old fort.

On our second day, we walked around some more... tried to shop a bit, saw more of the really neat sights around Jaipur - city palace, places of worship, etc. The heat was a little crazy... 43 degrees! But at least it wasn't quite as hot as Varanassi!!! On our walk back, we were followed by a bunch of verrrry poor street kids (they lived in a pile of garbage with some goats). Things got a little unpleasant/scary when they started pulling on our clothes, and then began to throw things! Aiyye... usually beggars here are pretty persistent, but this was a tad creepy. So we walked verrrry quickly, and eventually lost them. The poverty in some places here is incredibly bad. A lot of people sleep just anywhere... on sidewalks, in parks... and own nothing at all... really strange. But then, a lot of people here are the exact opposite. Super-wealthy. And a lot of people are super-firendly. Just a lot of really different people, basically...

We signed up for a tour, which ended up being pretty cool. We were in a Jeep with two other Indian couples, and we saw many of the further-away sights in Jaipur... some monuments, temples, etc. We also drove to Amber, where we saw the huge and awesome Amber Fort. It was gorgeous... Oh, to be a Maharajah! It was a very big, very ornate complex... amazing what can be done when you have unlimited cheap labour. The marble carvings were really awesome. Got into a bit of a disagreement with a guard who didn't think we'd payed him... gah! But other than that, the day was pretty cool...

The next day we chilled on the rooftop, admiring the view (and the wicked-awesome indian cuisiiiiine), before we took the train to Jaisalmer.

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