Jaipur (J-eye-poor), Elephants and Bollywood!

The journey to Jaipur started with the arrival of our tour bus. Not a full size one like we’re used to in Canada but a surprisingly comfy mini bus about ½ the length of a regular one and only wide enough to fit three people across instead of the usual four.

Because of Indian traffic the 270km drive to Jaipur was slated for 6 hours. Including short stops for “Fine Dining” and photos of the statues of Rama, his wife Sita and other attendant gods.



Arriving at our hotel, the “Fort Chandragupt” we were greeted with garland necklaces and “teeka’ marks on our foreheads, which are considered a mark of good omen upon greeting.

After dropping our bags, Perry arranged a fleet of bicycle rickshaws to take us to see the moon temple. Somehow I got seated with another big guy and a 12-year-old boy as the driver. That obviously wasn’t going to work so after a little switching around we were off.

Jaipur is the Pink City, the City of Victory, home to the Amber Fort and the Palace of Winds, a big draw for tourists and just as crazy busy as Delhi.
To get to the Moon Temple we had to get into the walled off, old part of town known as the “Pink City” by passing through the Moon Gate. The name comes simply from the rusty pink stone that the entire old town is made of. The temple itself sits on a roof over a row of shops overlooking a central Jaipur square.

The rest of the evening consisted of a leisurely dinner at a fairly fancy and place that featured after dinner performances of puppetry and Indian dancers. One dancer worked with an ever-increasing number of pots on her head. It felt a bit gimmicky but it was entertaining nonetheless.



The next day, after a breakfast on our hotels incredible terrace we went to see Jaipur’s main sights, starting with the Hawa Mahal. The name means Palace of Winds and it’s called his because of the cooling breeze generated inside by screens of it’s hundreds of windows.

It was constructed this way so that the many wives and concubines of Akbar the great could each have their own view of the many parades that occurred below. Heaven forbid these women should actually be allowed outside! Ironically we weren’t allowed inside but I think the facade is the main draw anyway.
In just the few minutes we were there we were swarmed with store owners and beggars wanting our attention. When I was warned of culture shock on this trip I expected to feel it right away or not at all. I’m finding it’s the ongoing havoc of every person on the street wanting my attention and in turn my money that creeps up on you and starts to jangle your nerves. But I think there will come a point where it just starts to slide off my back as par for the course.

Next it was the Amber Fort, an immense yellow stone hilltop fortification. We had a choice to take a jeep, walk, or ride an elephant to the top. You can guess what I chose. It was a little silly and in hindsight I realized it would have been a short walk but how often do you get to ride an elephant into a fort?

Of course the one thing that took some air out of it was that once again, the elephant driver hit me with a surprise demand for a tip before we got to the end. As cheap as he rupee is I couldn’t begrudge him something but not double what I initially paid for the ride. Luckily I’ve learned everything here is a negotiation.



The fort itself overlooks a majestic expanse and the interior is filled with intricate gardens and is decorated with bits of inlaid mirror to lighten the dark corners.

On the way out we saw a real traditional snake charmer. I took lots of pictures for my mom who can’t get through the opening scene of Raiders without leaving the room.

On the way back into town we made a quick stop at the Floating Palace, which is inaccessible by any means but boat. Apparently it has a restaurant but it’s not open at this time of year.

The last stop on our scheduled tour was the City Palace Museum. As you’d expect it was the ruling seat of Jaipur and is now preserved as a historical building with artifacts on display. I was particularly fond of the peacock gate.

With our free afternoon a group of us attempted to go shopping back by the Palace of Winds with only minor success. The constant hard sell made it difficult to appreciate anything and more often than not I just walked away. Every store had some guy racing out of it to tell us to come in. The amazing part was that once I had made it know I was looking for a T-Shirt with an Ohm symbol in my size the word went out all up and down the street. Every shop along the road had someone come running out at me holding a shirt trying to convince me that this shirt was better than the one I had wanted. In the end I did end up with a shirt but I think it will shrink too much. Either way it was an adventure.

On the other hand the tuktuk ride back was a better adventure. We bargained a driver down to 100rps to take the four of us back to our hotel, which was pretty good because it was rush hour and rates tend to rise. As we were zipping along, starting and stopping abruptly in the usual Indian way, I realized the tuktuk ahead of us had just stopped and was getting closer, quickly! Bang! Bu-Bang! We bounced bumpers and the motorcycle behind us hit our side, leaving his handlebar jammed in our wheel well. It was all very minor really because the crowded traffic can’t really get moving that fast.
But it didn’t end there. After quick words between our driver and the motorcyclist we were moving again. Just 5 minutes later a cop (the first one we’d seen take an active role in traffic) pulled us over. We couldn’t understand exactly what the discussion was about but I did recognize the word “permit.” So the driver got out of the tuktuk and walked off with the cop, just leaving us in a running vehicle in traffic.
That’s when the vehicle started, almost imperceptibly at first, to roll backwards! Thankfully Andre, a very tall Belgian, leaned over the front seat to grab the steering bar and hit what we think was the break, or possibly the clutch. Either way the roll stopped for a bit. As we wondered if the driver was coming back we had one more little backward roll before he returned. I feel pretty sure he paid off the cop.

Happily we didn’t miss out on our evening entertainment, a Bollywood movie at the Raj Mandir cinema. It was similar in many ways to movie theatres from home but only the one screen and a capacity for 1200, which actually isn’t that much more than some of the bigger ones, back home. Surprisingly though, the snacks were not overpriced or oversized. One odd the thing was the disturbingly stern bust of the theatres founder sternly overlooking the grand lobby.

Bollywood films average about 3 hours and include an intermission. This one was called De Dand Dan, which basically means, “it goes on and on.” It was a hoot but we didn’t feel the need to stay past the intermission of a film we couldn’t fully understand.
It was an excellent way to punctuate time in the city just before our foray into the Indian country side.