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Published: December 22nd 2008
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The move from Pushkar to Jaipur was pretty much uneventful even though we were on a public bus, apart from the overbooking that takes place causing Carolyn to be wedged in at the back of the bus with 5 other group members. As Gary had been part of the baggage loading party on top of the roof, he had missed his opportunity to be near Carolyn, and had to settle next to lovely Indian man who hogged the seat and dribbled. Within 30 mins we had stopped to repair a puncture and within an another hour we were enroute to Jaipur (The PInk City). Our hotel was a little bit away from most things and therefore a small group of cyclo and auto rickshaws were permanently camped outside just on the off chance they can give someone a ride anywhere. During our two night stay here we had the opportunity to go to see a Bollywood movie. We were lucky to get 11 seats together as it was opening night of the latest Shah Rukh Khan movie Lab Ne Bana Di Jodi. On the basis that it was a "chick flick" we were very surprised to find that the vast majority
of people there were blokes. As the stars came on there were screams and cheers from all in the auditorium, there was laughing all around when the hIndi jokes were told. Obviously that bit was not so good for us Westerners but, hey, we went with the flow. We were trying to get "in movie translation" of the main plot from our tour leader. The basic plot was that a bride to be's fiance was killed early in the film. Her father (on his deathbed) then suggested (forced) she marry a geeky guy (glasses and 'tash) who was a wedding guest. She goes to city with him where they live in separate rooms She goes to dance lessons alone but he secretly shaves off his moustach and wears sunglasses and becomes her "very hip" but annoying dance partner. (But she doe not recognise him) Obviously there is more to the plot, but we do not want to ruin it for you when it comes out on DVD. Basically it is as ridiculous as the Superman films in the fact that Lois Lane cannot recognise that Clark Kent is Superman wearing a suit and glasses. Overall the whole Bollywood experience was
amazing. The cinema / theatre held around 2000 people and the noise levels were very incredibly high, so that they can drown out peoples mobile phones which are constantly going off and the snoring from the guy behind!
On the second day we took an Auto Rickshaw to the Amber Fort which was about 10km out of town, unfortunatley for our driver we specifically stated that we did not want to visit any emporiums on the way there or back, and that seemed to upset him, as we had none of the usual where are you from chit chat on the way. The fort is massive, perched on a hill way above the town and a very impressive sight. A quick one and half hours getting lost inside enhanced the experience. We had decided not to take a local guide and therefore do not really know much about it. Flying at high speed back to Jaipur in our auto rickshaw brought us to the central pink area. We decided that pink was not the best way to describe the colour of the buildings and salmon / rust would be more appropriate.
Our hotel was in the middle of an area
very popular for wedding receptions and there were huge numbers of intoxicated wedding guests on the street, along with highly decorated elephants, camels and horses. The explosive fireworks made it difficult to get an early night.
A 4hr bus ride to Bharatpur took us to a "Resort" Hotel with a swimming pool and the girls on the trip were really looking forward to a dip. The shimmering water in the bright sunshine made it very inviting, but the fact that it was near freezing stopped the yearning short. The stop here was really for one reason only, to visit a local bird park (world heritage site). Only 6 of the group took the trip out to it by cyclo rickshaw as it was a little pricey, but we had a good time and saw owls, eagles, storks etc. We also saw a big python basking in the sun under a bush. Bharatpur was also used as a stopover before making the short hop to Agra and the Taj Mahal. Our hotel in Agra could not be closer to the East Gate, although it could have been cleaner. That aside it was to be a highlight of the trip, seeing the
Taj Mahal at both sunrise, inside the main complex and sunset from the other side by the river. It is an absolutely amazing sight. In all we took about 125 photos of the place in various positions. A lot of the shot locations were given to us by a very enthusiastic gentlemen who had us running around the site before others could get there. Obviously he did it for a fee, but he was good fun.
It was a long day as we were queuing from 0600hrs in the dark and cold to be the first few onto the site. Once the crowds turned up it was time for us to get breakfast and then prepare for the next tourist trap in Agra, The Red Fort. This is also an impressive building but over the last couple of weeks we had seen so many forts through Rajasthan that this was one too many. We managed to take more shots of the Taj Mahal from the fort which was a bonus. (Obviously not for those poor souls that will be subjected to the photos back in UK).
An overnight train took us to Varanasi for another spirtual encounter with Hinduism.
Our
first impressions of Varanassi were clouded in 'mistery' - really we couldn't see for mist. It was ok because you could locate the Ganges by the aroma. It was not the cleanest. All the same it was an interesting city. A walk along the ghats would reveal 100s of people doing their laundry, groups of lads playing cricket and, because of the weather, goats in an array of stylish tops! A highlight of Varanasi was a "sunset" boat ride along the river where we again blessed our family and friends by putting offerings into the river and witnessed a beautiful Puga ceremony taking place on the riverbank by young "monks". From here we took another overnight train to our last destination on this part of the trip - Kolkata.
As this is our last blog before Christmas we wish everyone a fantastic festive period and alcoholic New Year.
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