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Shelley Seale
Return to India - 2006

Jaipur - The Pink City

Wednesday - 8 Mar 2006
Jaipur , Rajasthan - India


The Pink City

We are lucky to be staying in Jas Vilas, which is a beautiful oasis of calm in the busy city of Jaipur. Jas Vilas is a gorgeous 18th century villa run by Mr. and Mrs. Singh, and has been in their family for generations. There are about 12 guest rooms, each with a balcony overlooking the courtyard and pool, and climbing bougainvilla everywhere.

Jaipur is an old fort city, called the Pink City because many of the old buildings and palaces were built with a pinkish sandstone. At dusk when the sun sets over the city, it almost glows.

Across from the City Palace which we visit first is an ancient observatory, built in the mid 1700s by Maharajah Singh II, and is really an incredible feat. It is far more fascinating than I had expected - we almost skipped it, and I'm glad we came. There are dozens of huge stone sundials and astronomy instruments for measuring the stars and planets - and they are all accurate to within a millionth of a millimeter of the instruments used today.





From the observatory, a rickshaw takes us to the Wind Palace. Our driver is a brash young guy wearing a Ferrari racing shirt - and it's appropriate. He drives his rickshaw as if it were a Ferrari, pushing his way in front of other drivers and grinning back at us with each victory. His name is Raja ("little king") and we learn he is married with a baby son, whose pictures he proudly shows. Raja is a good-looking, cocky guy who cracks jokes and shows off for us.

At the Hawa Mahal, the Wind Palace, we agree to meet Raja in 45 minutes. The Wind Palace is very unusual and distinct from anything else I've ever seen. It is about five stories high and pink, as the other original buildings inside the old city wall. But the Hawa Mahal is only 1 room wide. Imagine a building five stories high but only 20 feet wide. Hundreds of small windows align the front facing the street. the palace was a vantage point from which the royal ladies could sit and watch parades, processions and other entertainment, with the cool breezes passing through the windows as they observed. It is truly one of a kind.





Exiting, there is Raja waving excitedly at us. He peddles off with us while alternating between telling us more about himself and all the best shops he can take us to. He passes every other rickshaw on the road, and even a few mopeds and cars. We see one shop, Anokhi, which we do stop at because Mr. Singh has told us it is the best place for textiles and clothing.

Walking into the very traditional shop, the ritual begins. First we are perched on small stools while the shopkeeper sits on the floor mat before us, in front of floor to ceiling shelves full of material. We begin with the small talk - where we are from, how long in India, how we are related, what we do at home, how we like Jaipur. Only after fifteen minutes of getting to know each other can we move on to business. He begins bringing out the merchandise, showing us different types of garments: salwars, short and long shirts, skirts. Dozens of pieces are unwrapped and spread before us, and we set aside the ones we like best. Sodas are brought to us, and Raja sits waiting and watching.

After a while we narrow down to a small pile to try, just as another customer enters the shop. Chandler and I go behind a curtain and are trying on our choices when we hear the shopkeeper tell the other customer, "That looks smashing!"

After try-on, we sit down again and talk prices for the first time. We go back and forth for a bit, finally agreeing and shaking hands on the deal. Our items are wrapped, money changes hands.

On our way back to our inn, Raja asks if he can drive us tomorrow. But we have plans to visit the Amber Fort, which is not only several kilometers away but also up a very high and steep hill, overlooking the city. Raja insists that he can take us in his bicycle rickshaw. We try not to laugh - he's going to pedal us all that way and up that mountain? "I could take people to Agra," he claims, which is really pushing the boasting even for Raja, as that journey took us five hours by train.




March 9

The next day we start off at Rambagh Palace for tea. Once a royal residence, it has been converted to a luxury heritage hotel by the Taj Group. Stepping through the gates is like stepping into another world altogether. Acres of lush, manicured English gardens with peacocks strutting around and green parrots flying from tree to tree. Polo fields, squash courts and swimming pools dot the grounds, and the palace hotel itself...stunning and exorbitantly luxurious. We sit at an outside table of the back courtyard for tea, where the waiters wear crisp white punjabis and traditional orange and red scarves wrapped around their heads. They are magnificent. Beautifully dressed Indians and Europeans walk about the palace. It's as if this is another India entirely, as far removed from the streets outside as if I'd stepped onto another planet. A tale of two cities...a tale of two Indias.




From Rambagh Palace we need to return to our inn to meet the driver that Mr. Singh has arranged to take us to the Amber Fort. I flag a tuk-tuk driver - does he know where Jas Vilas is? Yes, of course, he assures me - then promptly stops to get directions from another driver. The tuk-tuk keeps dying, and he keeps restarting it, at every light.

After meeting up with our driver and leaving the city of Jaipur behind to climb the hill, we find the Amber Fort and Palace. It is, as Chandler puts it, way cool. Unlike other maharajah palaces we've seen, this one has been abandoned and lies in a certain state of ruin and disrepair. It is a slice of history, perched high atop the mountain overlooking Jaipur. From the vantage point we can see temples, lakes, camels, elephants, wild pigs, and the city. The palace itself is a literal maze of little nooks, secret rooms, and hallways that lead off from each other. The only thing that has been tended is a lovely garden and fountain in the center courtyard.





After leaving the Amber Fort we do the most touristy thing we'll do on the entire trip - we take an elephant ride. Chandler has seen others doing it and really wanted to, and I have to admit it's something to ride an elephant along the streets of Jaipur. Our driver warns that it's very expensive - 450 rupees, about $12, for the both of us - but we decide to indulge the tourist whim. It is highly entertaining; not just the elephant, but the dogs who chase us nipping at its heels, the tuk-tuks and rickshaws who swerve around us, and the Indians on the street who laugh at us, paying to ride on an elephant. The amusement is worth the price of admission alone. This is our last look at Jaipur, from the back of an elephant.

As we head back to the inn, rain crashes down in earnest. At Jas Vilas, the lights have all gone out. We sit and wait, drinking chai with Mr. and Mrs. Singh's son in the sitting area. By the time we need to leave to catch our overnight train south, the electricity has still not come back on, which means the credit card machine cannot operate for my payment. I dig through my bag for cash, where I still have an assortment of various currency. I end up paying Mr. Singh 30 English pounds, 10 Euros, 5 dollars, and 200 rupees.



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Welcome to India: The Taj Mahal
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Udaipur - City of Lakes
  Shelley Seale - Bio and Journals
  Return to India - 2006 - Intro Average Rating of 5 Viewers
Chapters of Return to India - 2006
  Welcome to India: The Taj Mahal
  Jaipur - The Pink City
  Udaipur - City of Lakes
  Back to Papa's Home
  First Day
  Tuesday
  Happy Holi!
  Thursday
  Last Day

       

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