India Part 5... Jaipur and Agra!

JAIPUR! Sung as though I am singing Jai Ho! :)

I really liked Jaipur! It was a larger city but not so big that I felt like I would get too lost in it.  It was not smoggy and did not have that in your face difference between wealthy and poor like Mumbai. I may have liked it so much because of how I felt about Mumbai, but I had a great time in Jaipur.  It also helped that our guest house that we stayed at was AWESOME! We stayed at the Krishna Palace Guest House and if you are every going to Jaipur, you MUST stay there!  The room is perfect, A/C, internets, hot and cold water, and a wonderful and delicious restaurant. The hotel staff has been some of the most helpful and kind staff we have interacted with. 

We saw quite a few things while in Jaipur- Jantar Mantar (my favorite), City Palace, and Amber Fort.  We just missed the Jaigher Fort but it was okay because we were spending a lot of money on entrance fees anyhow.  They were very cool and different from what we had been seeing.

Jantar Mantar is one of my favorite places so far because of its astronomical significance.  I saw a minute.  There were two sundials, one that is the world's largest but you could not get too close to and a smaller one where you could get really close to it and see the minute pass based on the sun shadow pass.  Pretty amazing if I say so myself.  Our guide was pretty interesting and kept making us stand awkwardly close to him before he would tell us about the instrument.  He would also say general facts, such as this is a sundial or this is the king of all the instruments without telling us exactly why it was so important... not quite worth the money for a guide but we did learn some things.

City Palace and Amber Fort were interesting but there wasnt a lot of sinage to inform us of what we were looking at. We kept taking the cheap tours, i.e. following other English speaking tours and awkwardly standing close to them while we pick up small facts. This isnt the most effective way and a lot of times we end up making up comments based on a few words that we picked up but it does make some of the sites more interesting. At least more fantastical stories come out that way.

So this portion of the blog is being written on Air Asia X. Not quite sure what the X is for but it’s on there. All I know is they nickel and dime you for everything in the hopes that it will make the ticket cheaper but it seems that once everything is all said and done, it is just an average price just like other airlines and other tickets.  Let’s just say it is not Jet Airways. 

However, I am sure it will do the job and really all we need to do is get to Malaysia! On that note, so plans have changed.  Originally I wasn’t planning on being in Malaysia until after January 4^th but as a group we decided to push up our tickets and head to Malaysia first.  This change is not a reflection of India or my feelings towards it.  Although I did not speak too highly of Mumbai or Anjuna, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time.  There is way too much to see in the short amount of time we have been here.  It also is a little overwhelming of a country to travel in.  It seems that although it is fairly easy to travel within and between places, with planes, trains, buses, and all kinds of automobiles, everything is a constant rush.  You have to buy your train tickets a few days in advance and then wait in a line where people are skipping you because people don’t wait in lines.  If you want to pay twice as much as the ticket is worth you can have someone else reserve it for you but then they are trying to get you for the most money that they can. Once your ticket is bought, you have to negotiate to get to the train station and then be hassled while you are there.  This doesn’t just happen to tourists but it is definitely elevated.  It can be exhausting and overwhelming if you are not in the mindset to deal with it.

Again, it is all part of the experience and for the most part I LOVED it and it can be exhilarating and exhausting! I love buying the tickets and figuring out the train schedule.  I love bargaining for a tuk tuk and getting what is a good tourist price.  I love finding a driver whose meter isn’t mysteriously broken.  I like the thrill of the crowds even though at times I can get a little claustrophobic. 

Speaking of train debacles, on our way to Agra what should have been a pleasant and easy 4 hour train journey turned in to a two hour journey going the wrong way from Jaipur, getting a unreserved ticket and keeping up a family as they so nicely shared their bunks on a two hour train journey back to Jaipur, then trying to figure out a train schedule that would work to get to Agra, not finding one and then figuring out a bus schedule.  Once we bought our bus tickets, we had a 10 minute wait before we took a nice A/C bus that was either freezing or hot and where we were knocked out of our seats at least three times while being groped by a drunk guy.  Arriving at 6:00 in the morning would have been a good thing because we could have gone straight to the Taj Mahal but we decided it probably would cloud the experience seeing as how we were tired and annoyed.  What should have been a 4 hour train ride turned in a 4 hour corrective train ride and a 6 hour annoying bus ride. 

But on the train with the nice family was an older gentleman that asked for my autograph.  I am not sure why but I wrote out my name for him and upon seeing the Singh part was really excited.  He kept telling me that I have Indian and Sikh in my family. I explained that my father is and he laughed and asked why I didn’t mention something sooner.  I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to introduce myself as Indian descent, but now I know.  A lot of my fun stories from India have stemmed from sharing that I have Indian background.  I have gotten a free tuk tuk ride, the actual “Indian” price of items (although I still have doubts on that one), to a marriage proposal. 

The marriage proposal came from a tuk tuk driver in Agra as we were leaving the fort and heading back to the hotel.  I was a little flustered with the thoughts of negotiating for a fair price and just walked up to this driver, demanded a 40 rupee price for the ride in a very take-it or leave-it fashion.  Startled by my boldness and with competition honking at us all around him he immediately accepted and ushered us in the tuk tuk.  He was extremely friendly in a very respectful way and kept saying how that price is better than even Indians or meters would have given. Who knows the truth but it was fun to hear.  He tells us all sorts of things and tells us how Indians don’t really care about the Taj Mahal and it is only foreigners.  His English wasn’t the clearest but it worked and was pretty funny.  He had us laughing on the 20 minute ride home.  He asked if I was Indian and almost had to pull over in astonishment.  Because he was so good, we booked him to take us to the train station the next day for our final train trip- Agra to Delhi. 

The next day, he showed up a little late but immediately threw all our bags in the back and ushered us in.  We paid 60 rupees which was better than any of the hawking tuk tuks that were disbelieving that we already booked a guy.  On the way to the train station, he proposed to me.  The day before he asked how old I was and guessed that I was 37! I asked him how old he was and I guessed around 87 (joking of course) but he turned out to be 28.  He was shocked I wasn’t married already so insisted that I marry him.  He promised to take care of me.  Oh, he also has a wife and two sons, 11 and 8, and has been married since he was 16, his wife 14.  But in India: no problem… ;)

So we left Agra, seeing the Taj Mahal was amazing.  It was everything it was supposed to be and I definitely want to return and see it again.  It was beautiful and awe inspiring.  That is really all I can say about it.

We kind of hibernated in Delhi and stayed in our hotel room.  None of us wanted to spend more money shopping or going out so we stayed in and soaked up the internet.  I have begun my applications for that three letter word that scares me (j-o-b) and thinking about the future.  While I love contemplating where I might be in 7 to 8 months, it is a little scary.  The world is so big and so small with so much to offer.  My teaching career can take me literally all over the world so it all depends on where I want to end up and which school accepts me.  Huh.

India has been great. I will travel here again, taking my time through the states and spending more time in areas.  Thank you for all of those who have been reading my blog and I hope you have enjoyed my stories.  Now we head to Malaysia to visit with family I haven’t seen in 15 plus years…

Happy Diwali! Happy Deepavali!