Forts, Palaces and a whole lot of Hassle

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And so it was on the 6th week that Thomas arrived in Rajasthan, home of the Rajputs, the be-turbaned, curly moustachio'd warrier race. I began my 'Rajers' experience in Jaipur, the noisy, polluted and hassle-loaded capital of this colourful state. Whilst there were many negatives to this city, I found more than enough to quench my cultural thirst for a day. The main downside to this city is the touting and unwanted attention one receives as a tourist. It is relentless and the aggression is noticably raised a few notches. It began as soon as I was dropped at my hotel (where I was accused by my rickshaw wallah of being a liar because I said I didn't need a rickshaw to look around Jaipur). Even ordinary citizens in the street (who claimed they weren't after something) had a go at me and westerners in general for not wanting to engage them in conversation. I told him normally it leads to attempts at selling - nothing personal. Anyway, enough of the negatives...on with the sights.

My day started with a trip to the SMS cricket stadium. I found out England are due to play there on October 15th so I attempted to procure myself an early ticket. Unfortunately they were not due to go on sale for a few days so I was denied. I did meet with some bloke who claimed he was a Mr Big in the Jaipur cricket world and if I could deposit to him some money maybe I could come back and get a ticket the next day. But this sounded like an all too familiar Indian promise so I politely declined.

After the cricket disappointment it was was already midday and time to start my whirlwind tour of Jaipur. First stop was the City Palace, home of the local maharaja, a polo-playing chum of our very own Prince Charlie. I wouldn't describe the Palace as magnificent or terribly picturesque but it was nice enough and housed a couple of decent museums, including an armoury containing some mighty impressive 'tools'.

Next was the Hawa Mahal, the tourist centrepiece in Jaipur. This is a fascinating honeycomb-shaped building where the women of the palace used to come and 'chill-out when it was well 'ot' (as Ali G would say). Best part about this place were the views from the top over Jaipur and to the hills beyond. And next stop on the trail was indeed those hills, about 11km away, where I briefly called in at Amber Fort before making the 2km climb up the hill (cue profuse sweating and dehydration) to the impressive Jaigargh Fort.

The views from Jaigargh were simply breathtaking (and so they should have been after that climb!). I even managed to catch some elephants washing themselves in a resevoir down below us. There wasn't too much to see inside the fort though. Allegedly it housed the world's largest cannon on wheels but I didn't manage to find it thanks to some typically inept indian signposting (or lack thereof).

By the time I made it back into Jaipur it was definitely tea-time and I headed for a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. It certainly didn't disappoint and will go down as my finest meal to date. It was one of those simple hole-in-the-wall cafe's and I had no idea what I was ordering but whatever it was certainly hit the spot. After the meal it was back to the hotel to pick up my bags and head to the train station for my overnight train to Jaisalmer.

And that is exactly where I am now. The journey went pretty quickly and was comfortable most of the way (until we got hit by sandstorms when we reached the Thar Desert and got covered in sand). Jaisalmer is much smaller than Jaipur, seems a little less hassle and is hopefully somewhere I can just kick back and relax for a few days. I may even treat myself to a little camel safari into the desert.

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