Arrival in Udaipur

This morning we woke up at 3 am when we had to be up at 5. Anita managed another hour of sleep but 3 was morning for me. Our taxi arrived at 6 and we got to the airport about 6:30. When we arrived, it was chaos of course and we made the mistake of standing inside the entrance trying to figure out where to go. We were approached by a young man in blue dress pants and blue sweater with an airline insignia and security badge. At the Jaipur airport, the checked bags go through an X-ray machine, are tagged and then you get them back. Then you take them to your airline check-in desk which is not that well marked. With little sleep, we were trying to figure out which baggage check to go to and when.
The man looked the way Air Canada or WestJet employees look when they're helping you at automated check-in kiosks. In addition, no-one gets in the door to the departure area of the airport unless they have a ticket and ID or they work there. He just started helping us get our bags through the x-ray, then to the right check-in desk. When he cut the line and accompanied us through security, we realized that we were going to have to pay for the VIP treatment and we had not negotiated a price ahead. In the end, it cost us 500 rupees ($10) which is an exorbitant amount here, probably at least 2 or 3 times what it's worth. We had made several mistakes because we were tired and confused so I guess $10 for being an unwary traveler isn't an expensive lesson.
However, it's just one more example of how the whole travel infrastructure here is confusing and allows scam artists to take advantage of tired, naive foreign tourists. We've met a few foreign tourists who are back in India for a second or third time but we've met many more who say it's interesting but they'll never come back. No doubt when they get home they'll tell other people to be wary in India. There are some unique breathtaking sights here and we're glad that we have been able to see them. However, there are a lot of nice places in the world that are a lot less hassle. The Indian government is probably losing a lot of tourist dollars by allowing dummies like us to be preyed upon.
At the Udaipur airport, we took a moment to use the washroom so we were a bit delayed getting to the right luggage carousel. My pack came along quickly but there was a moment of panic when we realized that the only other bag on the carousel was an Osprey pack very similar to Anita's but not exactly the same. We were the only ones left standing there. A few minutes later a foreign tourist came running in from the parking lot with Anita's pack, yelling, "Sorry, sorry". He got his pack and we got ours so all was well once again.
We had arranged a taxi through our hotel and he was waiting for us. Both the taxi in Jaipur to the airport and the one in Udaipur to our hotel didn't have functional seat belts in the back seat. When we complained to both drivers, they both said, "No problem, back side not compulsory". Apparently you don't need to wear a seat belt in the back seat here. However, our concern was dying in a traffic accident, not getting a ticket. Anyway, we made it.
On the way into Udaipur we got a good picture of the ubiquitous "Blow Horn" sign on the back of trucks. They want to know when you're passing. Also, we got a picture of one of the many ladies wearing a sari and riding side-saddle on the back of a motorbike. Then there was today's groom on a horse picture. From across the lake, in town, we took a picture of our hotel (the highest building) in the distance. We have a room on the 4th floor (walk-up) with a balcony big enough to sit on and look out on the lake. From our room we also took a picture of the city across the lake. Then we saw a group of ladies in saris singing while they paraded into a small Hindu temple across the street. We don't have any idea why this happened on a Tuesday afternoon.
Udaipur is a bit cleaner than Jaipur so it's the best city we've been in yet. That doesn't mean it's clean, just cleaner. We like our hotel (2000 rupees or $40 per night) and the fact that we have a nice, high quiet balcony where we can relax. We ate breakfast in the rooftop restaurant and it was really good and reasonably priced so we'll go there again for dinner. Today was all about orientation in our new surroundings. Tomorrow we'll probably tour the City Palace that we can see from our room.

Albert Museum, Jaipur

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.

Monkey Temples

There was a completely different wedding procession on the street in front of our hotel again last night. Same same but different - groom on a white horse, full band, helpers with lights hooked to a generator on the back of a truck, dancing relatives and fireworks. It's Saturday night so maybe there'll be another tonight.
At the wedding parade the night before, we had met a young Indian guy who has a tuktuk. He seemed reasonable and offered us a full day of being driven around for 500-600 rupees ($10-$12 CDN) - whatever we thought it was worth.
We took him up on it today. Our driver, Sunny, drove us out to a little valley on the outskirts of Jaipur where there are a number of small temples dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. Some of the temples are abandoned so they're occupied by a whole tribe of monkeys. On the way there, he asked to stop so he could buy some feed for the cows on the road. Cows will often stick their heads right into our tuktuk. So will beggars.
Later we stopped to spread seed for birds. Sunny, is a Hindu of the Brahmin caste and he does this for his karma - best described as "what goes around comes around", in this life or the next.
Just after the cow feeding stop, we realized the parking brake was sticking so there was a 15 minute delay while Sunny called a mechanic and got instructions on how to dis-engage it. Soon we were on our way again.
At the temples in the valley, we paid a "camera fee" of 50 rupees ($1) but there is no entry fee because these are temples and holy baths where people come for spiritual rejuvenation. However, at every little temple there are priests calling to visitors to come in, get a blessing and leave a donation. They were much like hawkers at a carnival. We learned that yesterday had been a big celebration there and we were glad that we had missed all the crowds.
Men and women were immersing themselves in separate baths from the sacred, stagnant water. We wouldn't have put a toe in it. Some people would just splash the holy water on their arms and face, as the woman is doing in the picture. It was an interesting experience to be there. Despite being a spiritual place we saw a woman cleaner scream and hit a man who had thrown garbage in the water, we think. We were shocked that a woman here would hit an Indian man who was a tourist or pilgrim to the shrine. She followed him out and even enlisted a young priest with a stick to get involved. Somehow it all ended peacefully.
On the way back down the road, Anita snapped a picture of cow patties drying on top of a wall. They will be used as fuel. Sunny called them "Indian chapatis".
At a little tea shop, Sunny bought us each a cup of chai. He lowered a little table in his tuktuk where we had a tea party while he showed us his "bible" or book in which some of his customers have written glowing references. He keeps the book wrapped in plastic and locked in a metal box in his tuktuk so another driver can't steal it, claim to be him and use the written references to get business.
We drove back into Jaipur where Sunny drove off to find his own lunch while we ate at the Copper Chimney, a recommended restaurant. They even had beer. That and a very good meal cost us 1100 rupees ($22). Expensive but it was worth it.
After lunch, Sunny drove us to a textile shop where the prices were much lower than in the touristy Old City. After long demonstrations of all the textiles and some bargaining, we bought a silk and cotton bedspread for $60 CDN. The price started at $90. We probably could have gotten a better deal but we were satisfied with our purchase. No doubt Sunny will get a little something from the shop but that's just how it works here.
Back at our hotel, we paid Sunny an extra 200 rupees over the 500 rupees originally quoted. For $14 CDN, we'd finally had a wonderful day with a funny, pleasant tuktuk driver and guide. Money well spent.

Jaipur City Palace

Last night we heard fireworks and loud music in the street in front of our hotel. It was the groom's procession, symbolizing his search for the bride. He rode a white mare while his family and friends danced to the hired band as they all paraded slowly down the street. There were bright lights held by hired helpers and powered through wires to a generator on a truck that followed. Apparently this was the 3rd night of a 5 day wedding being held in a hotel nearby. We were told that there might be 600-700 guests from the groom's side and the same from the bride's, with many festivities and meal courses. They spare no expense.
This morning, we took a tuktuk to the City Palace in the Old City for a tour. It cost 500 rupees each ($10) to get in and we hired a guide for 300 rupees ($6). We got a picture with the guard of the textile museum and one of an elephant carved from a single block of marble. We also got a picture of Anita beside one of the 2 900 gallon pure silver urns used by one of the devout kings of Rajasthan to take drinking water from the Ganges with him when he went to London in the early 20th century. In another picture, I'm standing by a representation of the sun made from rifles. In one other picture, Anita and I are standing in front of a gate decorated with peacocks, the symbol of India. Later we stood in front of the part of the City Palace where the current king of Rajasthan and his family still live. The family has lived there since 1727. He became king at 8, adopted by his grandfather who had no male heirs. He's 18 now and studies in London. Later we watched a short puppet show and bought a couple of puppets for 200 rupees ($4). At the gift shop, Anita bought a pashmina scarf made from the chest hair of a pashmina goat, soft and apparently very warm.
After we left the City Palace, we wandered down the Johari Bazaar street past many textile shops. When you enter a shop, you sit on a padded stool while the salesman takes off his shoes and walks down a long padded platform. He sits there and lays out all the clothes that you might want. Anita bought a top in one shop ($10) and a dress ($14) in another, after prolonged trial and negotiation. Eventually we got to LMB restaurant where the doorman looked a little different from the WalMart greeter. We ate some samosas and some other stuffed potato appetizer which were both very good.
A young woman from Bangalore in southern India sat beside us. She works in IT, of course. She was shocked to hear of the scams attempted on tourists. When we told her of the Greek and British ladies we met who are traveling alone, she couldn't believe that they would take such a risk. She also told us that whenever she's in a taxi, she follows the route on google maps to make sure she's being taken to the right location. Women are not safe anywhere but India seems particularly bad.
We're getting used to dealing with India, I think. We are not surprised at the little children begging and poking us sometimes when our tuktuk stops in traffic. We have some energy back and can handle the tuktuk negotiations without getting completely ripped off. We are now used to the garbage and filth everywhere so we don't notice it so much. There are always people sprawled out or begging anywhere. The traffic is still a bit scary but worse is the air pollution when you're in a tuktuk. Almost as many people die premature deaths from air pollution per year in India as in all of China.
We're on the 3rd floor of a hotel in a quiet area out of the main chaos but I can smell garbage burning as I write this. Despite India's IT industry, in general internet access is patchy. I had to go down to the front desk a few minutes ago to get them to re-connect us. Anita just asked for them to turn the boiler on for her bath and their response was to brag about the 42C temperature of their hot water. Things are different here.

Amber Fort

This morning we went by taxi to the Amber Fort, a few kilometres out of Jaipur. Construction was begun in 1592 and it was the capital of Rajasthan until 1727 when the growing population and lack of water forced the move down into the plain at Jaipur.
Soon after we entered at the bottom of the hill, we saw the step well, with a maze of steps down into it, where the royal family bathed. We drove to the top of the hill and the main gate. Many tourists choose to ride up there by elephant but it didn't look that comfortable.
There are several courtyards and many rooms in the palace. Mirrors were set into the stone for ornamentation. There were both ventilated summer and heated winter lodgings for the king and his wives. The gardens were also ornate and beautiful. It's common to see women in saris working in the gardens. It had cost us each 500 rupees ($10 CDN) to get in the gate (although listed as 200 rupees in Lonely Planet) and 300 rupees for a guide. He was very good and even gave us a new expression for the perpetual tourist ripoff. He said everyone looks for light skin so he referred to it as a "skin tax". Sounds about right.
On the way back to town we stopped for a photo-op at the Jal Mahal or Water Palace, a summer resort for the royal family where they would hunt ducks. Our picture was taken by a young Canadian from Winnipeg who was traveling by train through India with his wife and 4 sons all under the age of 5. They're either very adventurous or totally insane.
We also stopped at a liquor store to buy some Kingfisher beer in 650 ml bottles for 100 rupees each (about $2 CDN). Places to buy beer are not that prevalent in India. Most restaurants don't offer alcoholic drinks.
When we got back to our hotel, we took a tuktuk to Handi Restaurant on the MI Road. We enjoyed a smoky barbecue platter of various meats accompanied by naan freshly baked at the restaurant entrance. At a lot of meals we also get a side plate of sliced hot, not really sweet onions and a dish of dip to eat as an appetizer. We paid 790 rupees (about $16) including tip, and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. We haven't had a whole lot of meat lately. Even our tuktuk driver seemed happy with a fare of 100 rupees each way. His tuktuk was so old and rickety that he had to go behind it and start the engine with a pull rope, like starting a lawnmower. But it worked.
To get to the Amber Fort, we had to drive through the Old "Pink" City, so-called because in 1876 the Maharajah had the entrance painted pink, the colour of hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales. Today it's law to preserve the pink facade on all buildings. It sounds beautiful but all the paint is old and grimy. We were planning to do a walking tour (found in Lonely Planet) of the Old City tomorrow, stopping at the City Palace and a few other sites. However, inside the old city walls is just as chaotic, polluted and dirty as everywhere else so maybe we'll just take a tuktuk to the City Palace there sometime in the next few days.