The Golden Triangle (Day 3)

May 22nd

City Visiting: Delhi & Jaipur
Today's High: 106 Degrees

Today we left Delhi and headed to Jaipur. India has 29 states, Delhi was in Haryana so it was time for us to leave that state and head to Rajasthan where Jaipur is located. Between each state, you go through a check point and certain people have to pay a fee to come into each state.

Even though going from Delhi to Jaipur is only 164 miles, it took about 6 hours. Roads in India are a lot different then what we are use to. I read a book called Enjoying India: The Essential Handbook to get prepared for the trip and I think they described driving & traffic best.


"Traffic is intense and chaotic and will test your defensive driving skills and reflexes to the maximum. Lane driving is the exception rather than the rule. Traffic lights are frequently ignored, as are one-way signs. The number one rule of the road is that smaller vehicles move out of the way for bigger vehicles. Actually, cows have the ultimate right of way. They are often found wandering in the middle of the road, so you occasionally run into a cow jam where traffic comes to a standstill until the cows move over.
There is no ban on any form of transportation on most highways, so you will see elephants, camel carts, horsedrawn carts, bullock carts, auto-rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws, pushcarts, pedestrians, motor scooters, tractors, horses, donkeys and bicycles-not to mention herds of buffaloes, cows, goats, yaks and camels-moving down the roads along with the cars and trucks and buses. Monkeys and dogs often join in as well."

When I read this, just like you, I thought "that is ridiculous", but then we started off on our drive and we saw everyone of those things on the road! We even saw a tree growing in the middle of the road. Not in a median. IN THE LANE!

 

Our first stop was a "photo op" but really it was just a bathroom break. We stopped at Qutab Minar, the World's tallest brick minaret. It was fun to check it out and walk around for a few minutes but we were back on the road pretty quickly.

Brandon, Jed, Me, Jess & Ciby

A few hours later we stopped at a midway point for lunch at Char Bizzare. Unfortunately, this little place left a lot to be desired. We were all pretty disappointed in most things about this place. It took a really, really, really long time to order, they would tell you they were out of one thing but then allow the next person to order it. The food took even longer to get, was pretty disappointing in taste and we had to beg them to let us pay for the food so we could leave. Apparently they are the only game in town so they could have poor service and subpar food since there was no other options. But even though the food was disappointing, it was a great time with people and making friends, telling stories and enjoying the landscape and the fact that we were in India.

 

Us with Bhanu

Samosa's & Lassi

The last half of the trip was pretty similar to the first half. Bhanu would teach us about the country and as we were listen and learn, we continued to watch out the window of amazing views and mind boggling traffic.

 

We made it to Jaipur by late afternoon and we had about an hour to get checked in and get ready to go out for a tour and shopping.

Downtown Jaipur, the view from our room.

Today our tour was at a jewelry shop. It was very interesting to learn how they make jewelry in India and very interesting to see the working conditions. It is so different then what we used to seeing.

After the demonstration, they took us into a big show room for us to check out all the finished products.

Twinsies - Jed & Capt Dan

Once everyone was done shopping, it was time to REALLY shop. On our way we passed by the Palace of Winds or Hawa Mahal. It was beautiful and fascinating to learn about. It was right in the middle of town so we were not able to stop, we just took a bunch of pictures from the road and kept on moving.

Bhanu took us to the local bazaar that had a million shops. It was right on the inside of the Pink Palace. For the next few hours, we just got lost exploring the area. The gateways were beautiful, all the shops were so colorful and there were people and animals everywhere.

Shopping was a little intimidating but we did walk away with a few gems. This one might have been the best. Jed bought it "communicating" with a hawker through our bus window. They are persistent salesmen. Even after we bought one, he came back to our window to try and sell us another one!

We finished the evening at dinner in the hotel. In the states, we would be disappointed in just eating at a hotel but that is where all the big to-do restaurants are in India. The food was great and we had a great time with new friends. We even moved our party into the back bar with Cassandra, Ciby and Jess after dinner. We were the only ones in there, we were super loud and I would like to think, entertained the staff that was working that night but I am pretty sure they would tell a different story. But we had a very memorable evening and a very fun way to end our day.