Yesterday afternoon, we saw a shadow pass the window of our room so we looked out. There was a peacock walking along the top of the wall of the building next door. We didn't get a good picture but it was a bit of a surprise. We're getting used to seeing peacocks, camels, elephants, monkeys, cows, pigs and other urban creatures.
This morning about 11 am, we went to the Albert Museum. Our tuktuk driver from yesterday probably already had a full day fare so he was nowhere to be seen. We had agreed yesterday that if we saw him we would use him but if he could get a full day with someone, he should take it. Another tuktuk came along that looked okay so we hopped in for 100 rupees to Albert Museum. On the way we negotiated that he would drive us to the museum, wait, then take us to LMB restaurant in the Old City, wait, then drive us back to the hotel, all for 300 rupees ($6 Cdn).
On the way to the museum we saw a couple of fancy old cars. Not everyone is poor.
The Albert Museum was designed by a British military engineer in the 1800s. Even though it's Sunday, there were a few school groups there. Anita had intended to take a photo of me on the front steps of the museum but all the schoolgirls started shouting "Hello, Hello" so she included them too. We're not sure if there are classes on Sunday or if the school kids go on field trips on their weekends. Inside, the schoolgirls swarmed Anita for selfie shots. Then the teacher wanted one. After a few more celebrity photo-ops with Indian tourists, we spent about 1 1/2 hours wandering the museum. Now we know why celebrities wear dark glasses and big hats. It's fun though.
Jaipur is famous for textiles, precious stone finishing and other arts. In India, very fine painting is practised with incredible skill. Weaving elaborate designs in rugs is also done with great artistry. Then there's woodcarving, tiny ivory inlay work in wood and block printing with wood blocks using vegetable dyes on textiles. It's unbelievable what some of the artists here can do. We also saw some musical instruments including a guitar type thing that must have been 8 or 10 feet long. Big sound, I guess.
The museum had a really nice, watered, fenced lawn. We seem to look longingly at green grass whenever we see a patch. Two ladies were raking leaves, Rajasthan style.
After the museum, our tuktuk took us to LMB restaurant where we had eaten a couple of days ago. The roof of any tuktuk is so low that I have trouble seeing out. Maybe that's a good thing. Anita can see easier. By the time we got to the restaurant, she was so stressed from the near death experiences that she had trouble focussing on the menu. On the way, we had hit a motorcycle with a man, woman and child on it but not hard enough to injure anyone.
Nevertheless, we eventually got some Malai Kofta (deep fried veggie balls in a creamy sauce), some tomato paneer (hunks of soft cheese in a tomato sauce), plain rice and water. Again we spent 1,000 rupees ($20), including tip and tax. In their delicatessen next door we bought another 6 big samosas for 20 rupees each (40 cents) that we'll have for a light supper in our room and again tomorrow morning for breakfast with our bananas and oranges. We have a fridge and kettle in our room so it's very convenient.
After another hair-raising ride back to our hotel during which we narrowly missed a woman and small child trying to get on a bus and a guy on a motorcycle, we're going to spend the rest of the afternoon reading in the sun on the 3rd floor terrace a few steps from our room. Every day we need time to decompress.
We're starting to feel like we've seen Jaipur.
This morning about 11 am, we went to the Albert Museum. Our tuktuk driver from yesterday probably already had a full day fare so he was nowhere to be seen. We had agreed yesterday that if we saw him we would use him but if he could get a full day with someone, he should take it. Another tuktuk came along that looked okay so we hopped in for 100 rupees to Albert Museum. On the way we negotiated that he would drive us to the museum, wait, then take us to LMB restaurant in the Old City, wait, then drive us back to the hotel, all for 300 rupees ($6 Cdn).
On the way to the museum we saw a couple of fancy old cars. Not everyone is poor.
The Albert Museum was designed by a British military engineer in the 1800s. Even though it's Sunday, there were a few school groups there. Anita had intended to take a photo of me on the front steps of the museum but all the schoolgirls started shouting "Hello, Hello" so she included them too. We're not sure if there are classes on Sunday or if the school kids go on field trips on their weekends. Inside, the schoolgirls swarmed Anita for selfie shots. Then the teacher wanted one. After a few more celebrity photo-ops with Indian tourists, we spent about 1 1/2 hours wandering the museum. Now we know why celebrities wear dark glasses and big hats. It's fun though.
Jaipur is famous for textiles, precious stone finishing and other arts. In India, very fine painting is practised with incredible skill. Weaving elaborate designs in rugs is also done with great artistry. Then there's woodcarving, tiny ivory inlay work in wood and block printing with wood blocks using vegetable dyes on textiles. It's unbelievable what some of the artists here can do. We also saw some musical instruments including a guitar type thing that must have been 8 or 10 feet long. Big sound, I guess.
The museum had a really nice, watered, fenced lawn. We seem to look longingly at green grass whenever we see a patch. Two ladies were raking leaves, Rajasthan style.
After the museum, our tuktuk took us to LMB restaurant where we had eaten a couple of days ago. The roof of any tuktuk is so low that I have trouble seeing out. Maybe that's a good thing. Anita can see easier. By the time we got to the restaurant, she was so stressed from the near death experiences that she had trouble focussing on the menu. On the way, we had hit a motorcycle with a man, woman and child on it but not hard enough to injure anyone.
Nevertheless, we eventually got some Malai Kofta (deep fried veggie balls in a creamy sauce), some tomato paneer (hunks of soft cheese in a tomato sauce), plain rice and water. Again we spent 1,000 rupees ($20), including tip and tax. In their delicatessen next door we bought another 6 big samosas for 20 rupees each (40 cents) that we'll have for a light supper in our room and again tomorrow morning for breakfast with our bananas and oranges. We have a fridge and kettle in our room so it's very convenient.
After another hair-raising ride back to our hotel during which we narrowly missed a woman and small child trying to get on a bus and a guy on a motorcycle, we're going to spend the rest of the afternoon reading in the sun on the 3rd floor terrace a few steps from our room. Every day we need time to decompress.
We're starting to feel like we've seen Jaipur.
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