The bus ride to Jaipur was quick ... perhaps a bit too quick. The bus drove in the oncoming traffic lane for most of the drive. My stomach was in knots by the time we reached the bus station. I was very thankful to get off the bus ... in one piece!
I stayed at a hotel called Sunder Palace. It was the best room I've stayed in so far at 500Rs per night. My hotel was about 2kms away from the Pink City and I spent my first day wandering the streets for hours. I'm sure I walked over 10kms that day.
Late afternoon, I made my way over to Tiger Fort and decided to walk up the hill. From far away it didn't look like much of a trek. About ten minutes up, I realized it was going to take a lot longer than I'd thought. I was low on water and in the heat of the day.
Thankfully two boys on a motorbike stopped and pointed to the small space behind them. I wasn't sure how the three of us would fair out on this small bike up the steep winding rocky roads. We did make it though and they let me out at the top. It seemed to me that I was then in the middle of nowhere.
I started my way up a road where I saw a tourist taxi pulled off to the side with two foreigners and a driver standing nearby. I'm sure they wondered where it was that I was coming from on foot.
Ends up that they were both from British Columbia. I told them how I got up to the fort and that I wasn't sure about how to get down. They kindly offered me a ride down. The three of us spent some time wandering the fort together and I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon and early evening with them. It was great!
The following day, I rented a rickshaw with a driver for the day. He took me to a place called Amber and it was fabulous. There was a palace and another huge fort. I spent a few hours wandering around the grounds in amazement.
I got a bit of harassment from some men in Jaipur. It wasn't overly pleasant, but nothing that I couldn't handle.
The people at my hotel were very nice. There was a beautiful rooftop garden restaurant and a veranda. I spent one day taking in the sun and the silence. I would be on a bus to Pushkar the following afternoon. Another quick jaunt of 3 hours. Hopefully it wouldn't be 3 hours facing oncoming traffic.
Fingers are crossed for a safe journey ...
2 comments :
Jenn
You are doing a great job keeping us informed...sounds like an amazing place.
I know Spring is following your daily blog, too, after all she is your future sister-in-law and that is important that we all know your are happy and well. I hope your photography is as fantastic as usual, we can't wait to see the pics.
The bus ride sounds like the over-crowded, porn movie van ride to Muine, Vietnam. Do they honk their horns every 3 seconds, too? Can't wait for more...love mom
It's a crazy place.
They honk their horns about each second ... SO noisy!
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