Wonderful Indian Hospitality

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We took our first bus trip of India from Agra to Jaipur and it was quite the experience. After these few months of travelling I have decided that the horn is the worst creation EVER made. Out here they put their hand on it and maybe keep it on for 20 kms! WHY!? It leaves me everyday with a constant headache. Besides the horn they are suicide drivers! Racing down the highway on the wrong side while vehicles are heading straight for us with cows, goats and camels strutting in between. I like the peaceful train journeys so much more when you can just go to sleep and then wake up in the morning and be at your destination. Although seeing the way of life on the bus rides is good too. It is crazy to see the poverty in this country. I knew it would be bad, but not this bad. As we drove the 5 hours from Agra to Jaipur there were constant views of homes in ruins, garbage piles, street side toilets(in open) and people with no clothes because they cant afford them. It is so sad to see all this and not see any sort of nice place or any sign of even middle class through the whole drive.
We are definatly lucky to live in such a beautiful country.

Our first night in Jaipur was spent in one of the nicest hotels we have stayed in on the trip. It was beautiful and there was lots of artwork and character put into it rather than just a plain room. It also had a really nice rooftop restaurant that had great views over the city. The other nights were spent at Panks house. We discovered a really cool website called couch surfing where we met Panks. It is basically how it sounds..everyone makes a profile then offers either a couch or room for travellers. Each person has comments and references from all the people that have stayed with them or they have stayed with. It is actually quite effective. We have used it 2 times in India so far and plan to some more. It is an excellent way to meet people and see Indian culture the untouristic ways. His house was a great place to settle down for a few days. It was really nice and he made us feel right at home. We had movies to watch and a great bed to sleep in. It was a nice getaway from the craziness.

The first day we spent in Jaipur we went and explored the city as usual and did the tourist things around the city. Went to the Hawa Mahal, the city palace and around the old city. It was very hectic in the old city so we basically went in and out as fast as possible. During the night we went to a Rajastani culture performance had some drinks and hung out with panks and his girlfriend. The next day we went to a couple different forts and the monkey palace. The monkey palace had some bathing pools and was set in the mountains of the dessert. There was one bathing pool for the monkeys and one for the men and women. It was scary walking around because the monkeys looked like they would attack at any time. The Amber fort was also really nice. You can just go and get lost in the labrinyths for hours. The second night Panks took us out for another great dinner. It is supposed to be us taking him out for dinner because we are staying at his house but he never let us pay until the third night. It was the same way when we stayed at Biplobs house in Kolkata. Indian people are extremly hospitable. We had a great stay with Panks in Jaipur and hopefully will meet up again in Mumbai and he plans to come to Vancouver fairly soon also. Not much more to update only 2 more months till I come home!Sorry if you guys get a bunch of emails each time i publish a blog it automatically does it for osme reason 😞

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Photos

Indian Dosa
Dave and I each ordered one but never knew it would be this big! It was only about 50 cents! yum!

Cows in traffic
a typical street scene

Comments

[Mom]

Hey there weary travellers!! Great update of your trip. The pictures are fabulous! I can't tell you how envious I am that you get to see all this. I only wish I could be there just for one day. Miss you all very much and can't wait until you are all home safely on BC ground. Love mom