Ari's Planet

I took a rickshaw to my two first choice budget hotels listed in the LP, but both were full. As it was late, I allowed the rickshaw toot to take me to another place. This ended up being, of course, expensive--300 INR--and really bad. The room was bearable, but the hotel was terribly noisy. The rooms are linked by a central column, a wonderful fire hazard and also a wonderful way to conduct all the TV watching and conversations going on in other rooms, including the delightful hacking and coughing and spitting of one resident early in the morning. Thus, my first task after another night of poor sleep was to find, yes, yet another hotel.

I checked out and started wandering around Jaipur. After about an hour I passed a little family guesthouse, but it look a bit too basic for me. After a good cheap Indian thali, the usualy 30 INR, I continued on. An Indian man, around 30, came up to me with what turned out to be a recurring pickup line "Why are Europeans so rude?" I said I had of course no way of knowing what he was referring to, but decided what the heck, I'll chat a bit. K claimed to be visiting his cousin or uncle from Mumbai, taking music lessons and generally just having a bit of a vacation in Jaipur. Reasonable enough. He seemed genuine, so I asked him where he was staying, and he took me to a guest house. It turned out to be right next to the guest house I had left an hour earlier! Anyway, this place was only 150 INR, had a better room, and I was tired. We made up to meet a bit later and I took a nap--not a common thing for me to do when traveling, that's how tired I was from not sleeping properly for several nights in a row.

In the evening K showed up with his friend. It was definitely looking like your typical gem scam, but K really had me a bit confused, as his story seemed plausible and he was a bit more modest. They gave me a ride to dinner but declined to eat. It was 60 INR for thali deal, a popular spot, but actually the thali was worse than the 30 INR meal. They wanted to take me to some cultural show out of town, but that was a bit too much trust to put in them so I politely declined.

Walking back to my hotel room, I was hailed by a young man sitting on a step outside an Indian hotel for locals. His pickup-line was something to do with my glasses, some really odd statement like "what are those for" or some such nonsense. Oh well, I stood to chat with him. Then he went into the "why are Europeans so rude", with a story of how he and his little cousin or nephew approached some European man at the beach to say hi and the man said "no, you're just going to want money" and the little boy was upset by his rudeness. I said I cannot speak to all Europeans or tell him what is in a man's heart. I said there are hundreds of millions of Europeans, there would be no way to generalize about what is within them, all I could say is, for instance, that a German would likely speak German, just as I could not generalize for the one-billion Indians. He then shifted tacks and told me about how he studies social work and volunteers in some kind of social welfare institution. He seemed to oscilate between being genuinely friendly and a total scammer. He invited me to his place, but this was more than I was willing to trust him. The thought of a little child thinking that Europeans were rude, though, was something I was willing to address (well, at least in so far as an American can do anything about this misconception). I agreed to walk with him to meet his cousin, provided we remained in a place with plenty of people. On the way we passed a kite shop and I bought a couple of kites for 3 rupees--in the process learning where kites come from. We came to his doorstep, he brought his little cousin down, and in the meantime I was talking to his older brother who was quite an ass as he made a big scene about me not wanting to go in. I kept a motorcycle between us. All I wanted to do was give the kite to the little boy, and here was this big oaf of a jerk lecturing me. I gave the kite and left that stupid spot. The young man who had approached me showed me the way back to my hotel, but like all such gem commisioners had completely lost interest in me as a prospect by now. That night I actually got some sleep in the quieter hotel room, disturbed only slightly by blowing of train horns passing in the night.

The next day was my first, and only, sight-seeing day in Jaipur. I started by walking down to the old city. This place is neatly laid out in a grid, which doesn't really help a newcomer like me much. Actually, it just makes it a bit more boring. Shops line the streets and people go about their daily business. Vendors sell locks and hand-made copies of keys, flowers, food, mobile phones, grains. Muslim and Hindi women walk along buying goods for the home. I climbed the tower to get a view of the town. Walked down to the city palace museum, really just another family museum for one of the past kings of Jaipur.

Next to the museum, however, is one of the remaining astronomical observatories built by Shah ??? in the 18th century. I hemmed and hawed about paying 100 INR to see the place, but it turned out to be wonderful. The instruments are built for nakjed-eye observation of celestial motions, dates, and times. I won't try to recall the various names, but they included a pair of matching gnomons, a giant sundial claimed to be the largest in the world, 12 specialiezed instruments for observing the 12 constelations of the zodiac, and more. The geometric shapes made for wonderful photographic opportunities, though arrival earlier or later in the day would have given better light. This short tour was the highlight of my visit to Jaipur.

From there, I tried walking to the royal cenotaphs but was defeated by a combination of the encircling wall of the old city, some winding streets, and contradictory information from the locals and my LP map, so I caught a rickshaw the rest of the way. Here are buried past rulers of Jaipur. It creates a quiet, interesting place. A dog sunned itself. A child flew a kite from the top of one cenotaph. I took some photographs of him, though later he turned whiney (after I gave him the extremely rare 1 rupee for being such a good sport) and wanted more. No more rupees, even for good sports. Other children were running along the wall leading up to the fort flying more kites. I walked out and went in search of a rickshaw to take me to the tiger fort, which being some distance ended up costing about 200 INR. While searching for the rickshaw I saw children running along the cliff below the fort flying kites--kites everywhere, in trees, in the air.

On the ride to the fort we passed a palace set in a small lake and saw, from a distance, another of the forts of Jaipur. The rickshaw ride was slow and bumpy as we climbed up the poorly maintained road to the fort. Fumes from the exhaust kept attacking my eyes. I do not recommend taking a rickshaw to the fort, better to hire a car or, best, find the trail leading up to the fort (my LP guide did not say where the trail started). I had just an hour to catch a quick tour of the Maharaja's palace, built in the 19th century. The palace is built with 9(?) identical apartments leading off a central space built for the ruler and his brothers. Fine paintaings cover the walls which are painted yellow. The hallways and rooms were eerily empty, lacking any furniture or decoration. From the rooftop, I watched the sunset over Jaipur which stretched out below the fort. Children ran below and along the walls of the fort after their kites. I imagined I was the Maharaja, leisurely strolling along the roof of my palace, watching my subjects below. Trouble was, I was due to entertain guests that evening and some jerk had removed all my furniture; what was I to do?

A group of men, Indian tourists, said hello. One was a friendly chap, a journalist from Rajasthan, though his English (and my Hindi) was too limited to permit a conversation to develop. Looking down on the city from one of the walls, I overheard a tour guide explaining how the part of the city we were observing was supposed to be empty as about 15 years earlier it had been badly flooded, but people moved back anyway. He said the new city had disorganized streets, as opposed to the old city which was laid out in a neat grid (an unusual reversal, I thought). I remarked that we have the same problem of people living in flood areas in the US: New Orleans two years ago. I rode the rickshaw back to the hotel, and the driver tried the usual BS about getting another 50 INR, to which I said tough luck, you agreed to a set price. They can be such scumbags.

That night I discovered one of my remaining wisdom teeth had developed a cavity. Oh fun, finding dental care in India. Jaipur is just a few hours south of Delhi, and I figured that Delhi, being the capital, would have some good dental and medical services. This would necesitate a detour from my planned route and use up precious days, but at least I could do some sightseeing in Delhi as well. The next day I spent on some housekeeping and some research on dental care. I sent promised photographs to people in India and a letter and a package of DVDs to the USA by registered air mail. The registered letter and package arrived in less than two weeks. Sending mail is so time consuming, it ate up about 2 hours, what with the waiting for the package to be sewn and waiting in line at the post office. At least the line at the PO was relatively orderly by Indian standards. A man was sitting on the floor sorting letters into a clear plastic sack labeled "US mail".

K showed up next to the hotel in the evening. I had nothing planned for a couple of hours, it being too late to head up to Delhi, and he invited me to meet his "cousins". I figured, well, if it's a gem scam, what the hell, at least I might get to meet a real Indian bunch of cousins. I left my camera and other valuables in the hotel--at least I'd be a bit less tempting in case it was a bad trap. We took a cycle rickshaw clear across town; he had said it was close! The rickshaw driver was not happy about the payment, this seems to happen to Indians too, or maybe K was really cheap. He said has "40 cousins", a recurring number for the gem scam. He has three cousins or uncles, one is a banker, one a musician, one works in gems--this part seemed plausible. We went up to the roof to meet one of his cousins. Kids were flying kites. The cousin had that air of a shithead--slimy, lacking in the proper attention to a guest. We went downstairs and K showed me how to play a billiards-like game played with polished plastic disks on a small plywood table. Then we went downstairs. Uh oh. The small back-room. The cheap jewlery. I'm in the room with the sleazy "uncle/cousin". He starts to smoke in his sleazy way, pretends to be busy with his cellphone. Wow, what a piece of shit. I'm just waiting for the "business proposition", though I almost walk as soon as we go to the little shop room. Ah, here it comes! Yes, I say "I'm afraid I have things to do" and get up and leave. In the next room a few other young tourists have been roped in, and as I walk down accompanied by K I see two more tourists being led in. What a sleezy piece of crap. I tell K he is getting very bad karma and catch a rickshaw back to my favorite Internet place. What a waste of time. To confirm the price of the ride, 15 INR, I actually show the rickshaw driver the money I will pay him before getting on. We get to the place and the driver gets cheeky and gives some BS about roads being closed and wanting more money--I was in no mood for this shit, shoved the 15 INR at him, swore loudly at him so he got the picture, and walked off.

In the process of wandering around Jaipur, I managed to discover a decent Internet shop. Most of the places on the main road (not MI road), e.g., those listed in the LP, are really aweful. They make a big show of getting your ID details--some sort of regulation in India--but have old computers that are not skype-capable. The good Internet shop is in the Gandap building, room 167A. This is very easy to find, rickshaw drivers will know it, and it's right off MI road, the main road in town, next to the fancy shopping mall (Rana or something like that, if I remember correctly). The building is surrounded by "Pizza Hut" signs. They have a skype-capable computer which gave me a chance to chat with my family. The building closes at 2200, so you need to finish up your Internet carousing by then.

In the morning I walked down to the bus station. This is the best place in Jaipur. It is neat, organized, and relatively quiet. Much better than Barahtpur. Police keep it clear of touts. I was told later about how a policeman beat and chased touts who were encroaching. I got a deluxe ticket leaving at 10:30 for 460 INR to Delhi, a five hour ride. The bus was like a Western tour bus. Comfortable seats, complementary water. We left on time. I met a Chinese lady working and living in Australia where she owns a few cafes. We chatted about travel and other topics on the ride up. The roads between Jaipur and Delhi are well paved. We stopped around 12:30 for a quick 20-minute lunch at a Western-styled road stop. The place was a bit sparse, but clean and quiet. The vegetable sandwich was not exactly what I expected but it tided me over till Delhi. We came to Delhi in the afternoon and I took a rickshaw to the tourist ghetto, Paharganj.