Wed Jan 2, 7am
Exploring Jaipur:
We had new years day off from official programming, so Alex
and I took the opportunity to do some exploring in Jaipur’s Old City. We
started the day bright and early, studying Hindi in the sunlight for we were
not meeting for breakfast until 10, and neither of us are quite over jetlag.
When we were done we had a half hour before Vidiya Ji was expecting us so we
decided to walk around the area surrounding the hotel.
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| View of Jaipur from the Isarlat Tower |
This short excursion was our first time on foot in the city. It was both terrifying and incredibly interesting. Everyone wanted to
interact with us, even if it just was a smile or a happy new year. We were not
in a part of town where tourists hang out, so people were extra suprised to see
us. There were shops and hotels, people just standing the in streets, people
going through garbage looking for scrap metal, and a ton of kids flying kites.
It seemed to be their favorite past time. And a TON of garbage.
As we were heading back to our hotel there were two girls no
older than 14 walking right behind us. They were staring and whispering Hindi,
clearly talking about us, so Alex turned around and with a big smile used what
little Hindi we know to ask them their names. The broke out laughing, and we
had a short interaction that made all of our days. I have a feeling these girls
will never forget that moment.
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| Bike Rikshaw |
After breakfast we went out to head over to the Wind Palace.
It was relatively close, so we decided to try a bicycle rickshaw, which is kind
of like an adult sized version of those little children carriers that you can
attach to your bike so the kids can just ride along. We ended up with this
amazing driver, an older man who knew 6 languages and all about the city, We
asked to the Wind Palace, but when we were halfway there he turns around and
backtracks. We have no idea what was going on, but a few minutes later we were
at the bottom of a pre-colonial tower, the Isarlat Tower, with the best view of the city. It is a
place the tourists normally miss. The driver told us to go up, and he would
wait, so up we went. The stairs up were halfway between stairs and a ramp,
making it incredibly easy to climb the 7 stories. A few minutes and a few
pictures later we were back downstairs and in the rickshaw to head to the Wind
Palace.
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| Stairs in the Isarlat |
The Wind Palace was incredible structure full of intricate
paintings and stained glass, as well as hidden compartments, and more miniature
doors then reasonable. We had a great time exploring the place, then headed
over by foot to the Observatory, a pre-colonial enclosure what held all of the
contraptions that people used to map the sky before any modern technology. The
tools were enormous and they were accurate to something like a 1/30 of a
degree. Any engineer or physicist needs to make it to this place. It was
incredible.
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| Exterior of Wind Palace |
At the observatory we called our director and she told us to
meet her at a restaurant 20 min walk away. Because she was still at the hotel
and one of the slowest moving people I have ever met we decided to walk. We got
ourselves lost a few time, but through asking directions we were able to get
ourselves there. However, walking was a whole adventure in itself. The streets
were beyond terrifying, and every time we walked anywhere I felt as though we
were grandmother in Mulan trusting her lucky bug to make it across safely. But
we did, and the biggest danger we were in was not from the people in vehicles,
but the cow’s horns under a narrow bridge. Birds a shopkeeper was shooing attacked us, at one point. It was awesome.
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| Bird on on the streets |
We finally got to the restaurant, and even though we had
both walked for only a half hour we were exhausted from all of the
stimulation. However, we were justly rewarded with a feast from the cities most
popular restaurant, LMB. After lunch we headed into the bazaars to shop. We had
an eccentric shopping list, including, notebooks, shampoo, adaptors, and, of
course, clothes. With Vidiya Ji’s
help we were able to get all it, and Alex and I both got three kutras (long
tunics), and pair of leggings, and one long scarf to go with them. Even Vidiya
Ji got a new kurta, and today we are all wearing our new clothes.
One place we went for scarves made the mistake of asking for
500 rupees for a single scarf. I have never seen Vidiya Ji get so mad. They
started yelling at each other,
(she told us later that they were promising her a percentage of the profits,
thinking she was a tour guide) and Vidiya Ji stormed out. The man came running
after us bringing the scarf down to 150 rupees, but we did not take it. We found
another shop that started at 150 rupees, and we gave them a lot of business.
We headed back to the hotel beyond exhausted, I was asleep
by 10pm.
Fun Facts:
- Cows have horns
- Everything is backwards in India: light switches, door hinges, hot and cold faucets, and of course the driving. (India was colonized by the British)
- The dogs in India are like the cats in Israel. They are everywhere, sick, hurt, and hungry. You cannot spay or neuter one, so a female dog is almost never a house pet for the obvious reason.
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