Travel-Trails

My safari at Ranthambhore National Park and day trip to Jaipur was good, but very exhausting. It is nice to be back in my 5 star hotel with soft bedding, marble bathroom, turn down service, etc. I am still very sleep deprived, but it was worth it.

I was really looking forward to Jaipur since so many people had told me how nice it was and how it was the best shopping in India. Although it had some really nice things to see, it is not a nice city. It looked just like the India I had been exposed to so far. Since it was Sunday the tour guide told me the markets I wanted to go to were closed. On the way back to the train station however, I saw that the markets were open. The guide pretended to be surprised, but he had lived in Jaipur for 40 years and these markets are very popular so I knew he had lied.
Fortunately the shops my guide took me to (that secretly give him commission for everything I buy there) were good. Jaipur is amazing for shopping. If you want to decorate your home with goods from India or if you like jewelry, go to Jaipur for a week. The prices are good and you can get some really neat things. I had a traditional Indian shirt made for me for about $10. I picked the fabric, they took my measurements, and made me the shirt right there.

The jewelry there is beautiful. They specialize in diamonds, emeralds, and rubies and the prices are great. I didn't have the budget to buy any of those items of course, but they were beautiful. There are also a lot of artists in Jaipur who do really detailed paintings on silk and rice paper that you need to use a magnifying glass to see all the detail.

I rode an elephant, which was neat but very rough. Each step the elephant takes moves your body a lot and after a ten minute ride I was very nauseous. There is a palace inside a fort near Jaipur that is called Amber Fort. It was very beautiful and you could tell that in its prime was an amazing palace. There was a lot of marble, as marble is mined in Jaipur, and the paintings on the walls were made of real gold, emeralds, and rubies. The palace was occupied by the king that invented Kama sutra, and the Kama sutra pictures are drawings of him and his wives. He was said to have over 300 mistresses in addition to his 6 wives. The palace had a natural air conditioning and heat system built into it.

My coworker from LA and I went to the train station directly from work on Friday. One of my trainees from work went to the train station with us to help us because I had heard that the station is very busy and that finding the train may be hard.

The station was so busy and all the writing and announcements were in Hindi. We would have been lost without his help, thanks to God for having him there to help us. Train stations in India are really dirty.

On the first and second train we were in a 4 person cabin, each person had their own bed bunk style twin bed. On the first train I had an upper bunk and on the second train we had the cabin to ourselves. It was first class Indian train travel, but not luxurious by American standards. The bed was hard, I doubt the sheets were clean, the train seemed very old, etc. But it was more than adequate, and it is nice to get to lie down and get some sleep.

Eventually we learned the system of how a foreigner survives a train station. There are men in red shirts called porters, you tell them your train and seat number and they carry your bags for you, take you to the right area on the platform (the trains are VERY long), stay with you till the train arrives and then show you to your seat. 50 rupees is a tip they are happy with, a little over $1. It is definitely worth it.

I do not recommend coming to India on vacation, but I guess it is for some people. If you do ever come here are some tips.