Jaipur, The Pink City: Last Frenetic Stop Before Amanbagh

We have arrived in Rajasthan. It's 6:15 AM on March 3, 2007. Yesterday we took an early morning flight from Delhi. Unfortunately there had been dense fog in the morning and when it cleared there was a backlog of airplanes trying to get clearances. We ended up waiting over 2 hours to get a clearance (to contact ground!) and our 30 minute flight ended up taking 3.5 hours. It's always something it seems.

After about an hour of waiting with the door closed, ready to taxi, the woman sitting next to Karin (I was by the window and she was in the middle seat), called a flight attendant over and sternly told her that she wanted to get off the plane because her meeting in Jaipur was going to be over by the time she got there. The FA was gracious and tried to calm her down but Karin's neighbor began getting really irate. The FA said she would work on it. From that point on, every time an FA came by, our neighbor would give her an earful. Finally, the pilot made an announcement over the PA and said that although he was sympathetic, it would be impossible to let people off because that would activate a bunch of security issues which would delay us significantly and might mean losing our place in the queue to get clearance (it had taken 2 hours to get from 35th to 2nd). The woman was incensed. She called over an FA and said that she would not allow the plane to take off if she was not permitted to exit immediately. The FA said they were working on it and eventually told her that security would be by to escort her off. Fifteen minutes later, the FA came by and whispered to our neighbor that she could leave. The woman was escorted off the plane and the door was closed. The pilot then came over the PA (in a thick Australian accent): Ladies and Gentlemen, We apologize for this delay. The passenger was allowed to deplane and we managed to keep our place in the queue. We will be taxiing in 2 minutes. Just so you know, that passenger did not advantage herself in any way. She was taken away by security and will be held until the plane lands in Jaipur and is cleared. It will be up to them how to handle her after that.

About 35 minutes later we were landing in Jaipur (note that driving or taking the train to Jaipur takes 5 to 6 hours on a clear day). Once in Jaipur we grabbed a cab (through the "government prepaid office") and headed to the Sheraton Rajputana. The hotel itself is nothing to blog home about but it was really hard to get anything so last-minute in Jaipur.

We had decided to do a walking tour of the old city that is laid out in Lonely Planet Rajasthan. I had a train ticket that I had to cancel and the concierge told us that the train station was just behind the hotel - "walking distance".

Karin, I apologize for that walk. While it only took 4 or 5 minutes, it was disgusting. When people, cows, dogs, monkeys, and goats use roads as lavatories, they require regular street cleaning. As street cleaning has apparently not yet come to Jaipur, pedestrian activity is to be avoided.

We arrived at the train station, and while there was not a word of English on any of the signs, a couple of people in line immediately offered to help me navigate and I quickly ended up in the correct line with the correct form and accurate instructions as to how to proceed. People here are are constantly offering assistance (not just the touts).

Once the ticket was canceled we grabbed a cab and headed to the New Gate of the Old City. We had lunch at Ganesh Restaurant, which was recommended by Lonely Planet. Tons of tourists use the Lonely Planet guide so the place was full of non-Indians - even though it did not even have an English menu. It was actually an open-air concept on top of the old city wall itself. Food was tasty but neither of us reacted well to it. I think that is going to be our last adventurous meal of the trip... particularly since we are soon heading to Amanbagh.

Following a tasty lunch, we headed into the bazaars of the Old City. There are hundreds and hundreds of tiny shops - most with someone outside trying to pull people inside. Karin was tiring of being constantly approached by shopkeepers and others trying to sell us silk and silver and saris and... sweets (had to find something that started with "s"). But I was getting into it. I was haggling over prices and kidding with them. It's fun to see how fast the prices plummet when walking away from a shop. The further into Jaipur we got, the fewer tourists we saw, and the less we were approached. I don't think Karin enjoyed that walk as much as I did.

As you might expect, cows are all over Jaipur... but so are monkeys. It's quite something to be surprised by a dozen monkeys that show up out of nowhere and sit down to take in the view.

The walking tour ended at what I am guessing is the only McDonald's in Jaipur. We checked out the menu (click on the pic to see Paneer Wrap and more) and used it as an emergency bathroom stop. We then crossed the street to negotiate for a ride back to the hotel. Our choices were a taxi-van or a tuk tuk type open motorized 3-wheeled vehicle. Since we had paid 50 Rupees for a taxi (Ambassador) coming to the Old City, we balked at the 150 Rupees that the taxi driver quoted us. He immediately went to 100 Rupees. We told him we would pay the 50 Rupees (~$1.15) that we had paid to get there. He balked at that. After a serious standoff he was at 80. We then turned to the tuk tuk driver who was offering to take us for 50 then 40. Karin took over this negotiation. She was really standing her ground. Eventually the tuk tuk went to 35 rupees ("lower than Indian price") and Karin had squeezed the taxi driver down to 60 Rupees. We agreed to the 60 and took the taxi. The tuk tuk driver, who had been negotiating hard to get our business shook my hand warmly and smiled after we told him we'd be taking the taxi instead. I think he had enjoyed the 3-way bargaining session.

As soon as we were back at the hotel, Karin hit the bed. I, on the other hand, hit the internet. For the third time since I arrived, we failed to muster enough of an appetite to actually have a real dinner.

Overall I really enjoyed Jaipur. The haggling was fun and I like interacting with the shopkeepers and Jaipurians, and especially with the cute kids that are always interested in talking to us. I could do without the begging and the touting and the horrendous smells (I'm gagging just mentioning them) but that is part of the cost of visiting these places and one learns how to minimize that exposure after a while.

Here is the blog plan: Since I neglected to post for a number of days, I have a backlog waiting to be added. I'm going to post about all that from Amanbagh over the next 3 days. This is going to be a welcome respite following the hectic pace at which our senses have been confronted over the past week and a bit.

The pictures posted here are of some of the shops we walked by, lunch in the Old City of Jaipur, the Jaipur McDonald's, and a busy Old City roundabout replete with vehicles speeding in every direction and cows.

Thoughts About Travel In India

Sorry about the delay in posting. We do not always have internet access and often when we do, we do not have time to sit and create a post. I have been writing on the planes but some of it needs editing. For now, here are some thoughts about travel in India:

It is now 12:00 PM on February 28^th. We are on a Spice Jet 737 at 35,000 feet heading for the Holy City of Varanasi. Spice Jet is one of the many new airlines in India. This one is rather similar to Southwest in that it uses only one type of plane to minimize training and maintenance costs, has no first class section, is quite inexpensive, and is ticketless.

Travel in India is at a watershed. The introduction of multiple low-cost competitors to Air India, coupled with the availability of online booking for air and train travel and the presence of very low-cost cellular service are about to transform this country into an easy country to navigate – the operative point being that it is “about to” transform travel… It’s not quite there yet. Right now there are many growing pains: the websites are often not working properly – both for train and air booking, and the airlines do not accept foreign-issued credit cards, making it extremely difficult for us to book flights. I ended up having to use an agent for some tickets and for others Eric graciously let us use his India-issued credit card (let me know if you are booking India travel and I'll pass on the number).

Rail travel is ubiquitous and inexpensive (16,000,000 passengers per DAY!) but there are many delays, its website needs considerable rethinking, and their booking system only works properly about 50% of the time.

Travel by road is a mess. Traffic is awful, conditions are poor, and road rules are either non-existent or largely ignored. Add to all of the above that there is corruption at every turn and you can see that there is room for improvement.

But it is changing incredibly quickly right now. I think in 5 to 7 years traveling here will be considerably easier and more efficient. That is the primary reason that we have cut Jaisalmer out of our itinerary. Air travel through Rajasthan will be ubiquitous soon enough and there will be no reason to endure 15-hour train rides. We’ll come back in 5 years to test that theory on Rajasthan.

I see two primary ways to travel in India while still avoiding the constant touting and tenacious begging: Probably the best way to do it is by knowing people who live here. If you travel with locals you will see a side of India that is wonderful while avoiding the pitfalls that otherwise cannot be completely controlled (true anywhere really but more so here). If that is not a possibility, joining a tour group that has a good reputation and decent itineraries would also work. These companies arrange all travel, take care of pick-ups and drop-offs that avoid the touts, and are ready with contingencies when things (inevitably) do not go as planned. I know National Geographic sponsors travel here but there are probably dozens of decent companies that do so.

The alternative is to be aware that your taxi windows will often be knocked on when you are stopped in traffic, you will be approached and sometimes followed through train stations (not in a menacing way – but it’s annoying), and someone will often be trying to sell you some product or service that you have no interest in. It is very inexpensive to do it this way but it does cost in other ways.

I will be posting about Delhi, Varanasi and Jaipur shortly. We've seen some amazing things. And some other things too. Our flight to Jaipur is boarding.

Taj Mahal And Complete Itinerary Change

I am sitting by the pool watching hundreds of Kites hovering effortlessly above Delhi, searching for prey. They are magnificent raptors and fill the entire Delhi sky. I also saw them hovering in Mumbai but they are ubiquitous here. They must be floating on thermals because they hover for hours and never flap their wings.

Yesterday (now 2 days ago) we went to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. The Taj makes it onto most wonder-of-the-world lists, although it is not an official one of the Canonical 7.

Let's start with what was wonderful about the trip to Agra. The Taj is stunning. The stark white marble structure is breathtaking. Walking onto the grounds and from a rather dismal town of Agra and being confronted by this heavenly structure is quite an ethereal experience.

The trip to Agra was also very pleasant. I had booked an express train (Shatabdi Express) that left at 6:00 AM. The train was very comfortable. The breakfast they served was quite good, and we left and arrived on time.

Also nice was visiting the Baby Taj. This is also a mausoleum. It's not nearly as grand as the Taj but it also does not attract crowds the way the Taj does. I think there were about 4 people there with us - as opposed to thousands at the Taj Majal.

But not everything was smooth sailing. My research had yielded the following: 1. Go with the "government pre-paid" taxis and drivers by making the arrangements at the government office in Agra. 2. Since the only express train back to Delhi is at 8:30 PM, do your Agra sightseeing and then get on whatever train is leaving for Delhi when you are done (there are about 10 over the course of the day). 3. Do not bother staying in Agra as there is not much to see beyond the Taj.

And this is how it actually worked out: We were accosted by touts as soon as we were off the train in Agra - on the platform. One guy latched on to us and even though I said "no" 10 times, he followed us to the government office. I spoke to the government "official" who sold me the official ticket for the official day-tour and gave me the official paper to give to the official driver. He then pointed to the tout that had accosted us on the platform. This did not please me. Obviously the touts and the officials work together now.

We went to the tout's car and told him what we wanted to see. He was nice enough and agreed to start with the Taj Majal and then to go from there. From the beginning we felt some resistance to just doing things the way we wanted them done. He had an idea of an itinerary and while he would agree to what we wanted he did so begrudgingly. As the day progressed, our itineraries diverged. He became quite adamant that we visit some "government shops" which we would love. We had told him no a number of times. Once we made it clear that we had no interest he started begging us to go because he gets paid by the shops and that just a few minutes of our time would make a huge difference in his life. In the end we did agree to go to one of the shops both because he was getting something out of it and to alleviate some of the tension that had built up in our taxi.

After visiting the Taj, the Fort, and Baby Taj, we were ready to get out of Agra. While the sites were nice, the constant harassment by touts made everything leading up to each site unpleasant. We were constantly saying no. And they do not accept no. Apparently they have learned that "no" really means "maybe" and they milk that maybe-disguised-as-a-no as far as humanly possible.

There is much more that I could write about the day and maybe I will later - but we are leaving soon for Varanasi and I have to wrap up this post so we can get going. I'm going to skip to the trip back.

We got to the train station and bought a ticket that could be used on any train (and upgraded according to availability and bribability). Unfortunately every train was significantly delayed - up to a few hours for some of them. We made our way to platform 2 where a 3:30 train was leaving at 4:40. Platform 2 must not see a lot of caucasians because we both became aware that we were being stared at. Eventually we moved to another part of the platform where there were fewer people. While we waited we were approached by shoe-shine people. Once again the word "no" was quite ineffective as one guy went so far as to start applying some cream even after my 5th adamant "no".

Once on the train we settled into a berth. When the conductor came by he told us it would be another 320 for us to sit in the 2AC class. I paid him and he wrote out a complicated receipt. As he was wrapping up, the guy that we had been chatting with across from us, told the conductor that he had made a mistake and had undercharged us. They went through the complicated fare-book together and came up with a way to demand another 200 Rupees from us. I thanked our neighbor profusely for his dedication to setting things in India straight. Must be the fist time in history that anyone ever paid the official upgrade rate on a train.

Upon arrival in Delhi we had another unpleasant tout experience - no time to tell - but it was enough to convince us to change the rest of our itinerary in India. We will now fly to Varanasi. Then we will train only to Jaipur. We are cutting out Jaisalmer altogether. Since air service is going to soon be ubiquitous in this country there is no reason to endure the long rides that are so vulnerable to delay, touting, and other unpleasantness.

The only problem with our sudden late-date change is that this is really really high season and hotels are astonishingly scarce. We have manged reservations but they're not ideal.

I'm out of time. Email us and let us know what is happening with you all. Will write when we have more time.

xoxo