After all our fame and frolicks in Mumbai it was time to head North to a place I've always wanted to visit (well, ever since Liz Hurley married Arun Nayar there in a big pink palace) so we caught a 22 hour train to the Pink City of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, a.k.a. the land of the Rajput kings. Now Mumbai is congested but Jaipur is something else, with rampaging rickshaws, eye watering pollution and streets littered with cows and lots and lots of lots of rubbish. It's a shame because it detracts from the beautiful architecture in the city. Built around 1730 and painted entirely pink in 1876 by Maharaja Ram Singh to welcome the Prince of Wales, it's now a decadently decaying maze of bazaars, palaces, observatories and temples, topped off by Nahargarh, or Tiger Fort.
We spent our first night showering and sleeping off our train lag at the Krishna Palace hotel, before meeting up with a good friend of Danny's the next morning who has been travelling for the past three years. So after a reunion lunch over thali and sweet lassi the three of us set out to explore the city and it's bazaars - all packed with sparkling jewellery and saris, jootis, trinkets, perfumes and shawls, and stopping for frequent chai tea breaks when the hustle and bustle got too much. We watched the sunrise from the peace and quiet Tiger Fort, high above the city walls and pink rooftops, before heading to the Peacock Rooftop restaurant for more thali and Kingfisher beer. Little did I know India was going to make me fat, I've been here three weeks now and I just can't get enough of the food. And not even a hint of Delhi belly as yet... touch wood. TOUCH WOOD.
After Jaipur we took a white-knuckle bus journey to another Rajasthani landmark, the blue city of Jodphur (founded in 1439 by a Rajput chief), which by comparison made Jaipur look relaxed... Taking an autorickshaw up the tiny windy alleyways to the Navchokiya district is akin to a kamikaze mission, but the tangle of lanes which make up the beautiful old city of crumbling Brahmin-blue houses is worth every moment. Rather than battle our way back down to the central bazaars around the Clock Tower we whiled away the days wandering the medieval alleys and sitting on the roof terrace at the Cosy Guest House (we had 6 power cuts in two days and this was the only place with candles) drinking chai tea and gazing out at mighty Mehrangarh fort which towers over the city.
Our final stop in Rajasthan was the easy, laid back city of Udaipur (which had a lot more Western tourists than Jodphur), and is known as India's most romantic city. Framed by the Aravalli hills, Udaipur is dominated by the white City Palace which lines Lake Pichola, along with ghats where a rainbow of sparkly sari-clad women wash their clothes in the sunshine. Again, we spent a lot of our time on rooftops, drinking chai and watching the world go by, and it was on one of these days that we met an amazing tiny little and very well-groomed 75 year old lady who became a bit like my surrogate grandmother for a few days! She was from Toulouse in France, but living in Yemen (for some unexplained reason) and we had fascinating chats with her about her life and travels. She was travelling alone in India for two months. She even invited us to stay with her in Yemen. I said, 'I'm not sure we'd be safe in Yemen, would you look after us?' and she replied quite matter-of-factly 'No. But I think you'd be ok.' I don't think we'll take her up on that offer, but we have vowed to remain penpals from now on.
After that we headed to Agra in Uttar Pradesh to celebrate Holi festival and visit the Taj Mahal, and become even more famous, and I shall tell you all about that another day when I'm not in such an incredibly warm internet cafe... this is my only clean t-shirt. Until then!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment