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.
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.
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