India and Maldives Vacation Index:

1. Introduction
2. Overview and Statistics
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Dehli and Agra
5. Jaipur
6. Hyderabad
7. Aurangabad/Mumbai
8. Making Peace with the Poverty
9. Quotes
10. Top 10 Favorite Things About India
11. Maldives & 11.5 Maldives with the Meyers
12. Top 10 Favorite Things About the Maldives
13. Paris
14. What We Would Have Done Differently & What We Did Right
15. Meanwhile, Back At Home…..

Waking up in Jaipur

After our much needed night’s rest and a refreshing shower we ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel around 8AM.  The hotels we stayed at had fabulous breakfasts!  The Four Points Sheraton was the second best hotel for breakfasts.  We ate little deep fried pancake balls soaked in syrup called Gulab jamun.  I ate what I thought was green beans.  After the 2nd or 3rd I said to everyone, “Boy these green beans really have a kick to them!”  After the 5th or 6th I realized I was eating skinny sauteed jalapeno peppers.  They were tasty but 6 jalapeno peppers was enough for one breakfast so I stopped there.  We had freshly made chocolate croissants that could have competed with a genuine French equivalent.  We loved the fresh squeezed juices – orange, grape, watermelon, lemon, carrot, and/or mango.  It was all exceptional.  Also, the service was spectacular.  We always joked in each restaurant that we felt like we each had a personal waiter.  Everyone is so helpful, so pleasant, and so willing to go the extra mile.  The service in all of India was the same.

After breakfast we met Tara.  We were happy to see his smiling face again!

He gave us a brief tour of the city on our drive to Hawa Mahal which is where we met up with our guide Pareek, aka BK.

HAWA MAHAL

Hawa Mahal is a beautiful pink sandstone five-story building overlooking the a busy area in Jaipur.  It was built for the wives and concubines of the royal household as a way for them to watch everyday life in the city while still veiled in comfort and modesty.  Pareek gave us a brief historical background on it and then we took a few  pictures.  This was our first time crossing one of the busy streets in India.  We needed to cross for a better picture so Pareek slowly helped us across.  It was pretty exciting.  I discovered that it’s best to go very slowly. You just take small steps and everyone goes around you, getting quite close at times, until at last you are across.  It works for them.  Very well, actually.

AMBER FORT

After that adrenaline rush we went to Amber (pronounced Amer) Fort which is the ancient citadel of the the royals of that area in the 1600s.

It’s a steep path up to the Fort so they use elephants to transport the tourists.  We stood in line for 20 minutes and were attacked by hawkers/merchants.  Actually, after the first day’s experience at Agra Fort I quickly learned how to manage them and they mostly left me alone.  I think Michael had the hardest time with them.  He would always ask them the prices and that is the absolute worst thing to say to the guys!  My technique was to shake my head no, not make eye contact, and turn my back to them.  Worked every time.  If I did want something I just told Ben or the guide privately and then they would talk to the hawkers and negotiate a price.  While waiting at this location we did buy hats for the guys and umbrellas for the girls because it was a hot day and we hadn’t worn sunscreen.  Michael also bought pens because he was tired of being pecked to death by the salesman.  Even standing in line is an adventure in India!

After watching Michael get pecked to death for a while by the hawkers, at last, it was our turn to get on an elephant.  Michael and Sarah ended up with one speedy elephant.  They were holding on for dear life because their elephant galloped up that hill.  He didn’t get the memo that it wasn’t a race.  Our elephant, on the other hand, was in no hurry at all.  She thought she was just out for a leisurely stroll in the park.  We had a funny driver who kept putting his turban on my head and offering to take pictures.  It made me nervous enough to hand my $4,000 camera to the skilled guides while standing on solid ground.  Well, imagine how I held my breath as the elephant driver swung the camera down to his friend on the ground who snapped a few pictures and then tossed it back to our driver. Actually, I had Mike and Sarah’s camera at that point 🙂  Sorry guys!  Nothing bad happened, though.

The elephants had built in air conditioning.  Every 2 minutes the elephants would spew out some water/spit which would provide a lovely mist all over us.  With a sweaty turban on my head and elephant saliva covering my legs – it was a memorable ride!

 

It was hard to see that some of the drivers had sticks and would poke their elephants to get them to go.  Luckily we had a nice, gentle driver who seemed to really love the animal. He told us how they would take them swimming and give them treats.  I wish we had brought something to feed to the elephant.  I would have felt less guilty.  In the end, I actually questioned whether I would do the elephant ride again for fear the animals were sometimes mistreated.

Amber Fort is located in the foresty hills above Jaipur and looks out onto a beautiful lake with artistic gardens.  It’s made of red sandstone and marble with beautiful 400 year old hand paintings and a stunning Hall of Mirrors, which is what I thought was the most impressive.  The entire wing of that area is covered with millions of tiny mirrors and jewels.  When the royal families lived there they would light candles and put them in each corner and the reflections would make the entire room light up.  They could also position the candles so the ceiling would look like stars.  It was impressively done!  Another ingenuous part of the Palace was the way it was aligned created a very cooling breeze, it was at least 10 degrees cooler. In the summer time, drops of water would fall from well aligned copper pipes onto silk drapes.  As the wind blew the drapes, it created natural air conditioning.  We were also impressed with the steam bath and saunas rooms.  Clever, clever designs.  Those people were so smart!

CAMEL RIDES

After Amber Fort we went for camel rides down the street overlooking the beautiful Jal Mahal – a beautiful palace set in the middle of a lake.  Michael’s camel kept stepping away each time he attempted a mount.  We (I) got a good chuckle watching his multiple attempts.

Our camel was named Raja and our driver/guide told us his name was Sharu Khan, who is a famous Indian actor.  It’s like the guy said, “Hey, my name’s Tom Cruise.”  Ben knew the actor and he told me later about his choice of names.  Anyways, Sharu Khan, or whatever his real name is, kept us pretty entertained.  He was probably 16 or 18 years old and had a lot to say.  He also kept offering to take our pictures so I was, again, passing my $4000 camera off of animal’s back and hoping it wouldn’t get dropped.  Tom Cruise decided he would just keep it around his neck so he could snap some more as he saw fit.  Good thing I have insurance on it 🙂  We had a nice stroll on a camel’s back walking down a busy street in the city.  It was kind of a crazy experience!  I enjoyed it all very much!

When we left a few women approached Sarah begging for money.  Two of them had babies.  I think it made Sarah cry.  We didn’t have any snacks to give them but Sarah had Mike give them some money, I think.  Right, Sarah?  I can’t remember how that played out.  I forgot about it until I saw a picture of Sarah’s:

HERITAGE TEXTILES AND HANDICRAFTS

Next Tara and Pareek took us to Heritage Textiles and Handicrafts.  They gave us a demonstration about how they create their fabrics.  Fascinating!  (Christy – you would have loved it!)  The demonstration was on how they make prints on fabric using block prints.  When they were done they showed us the factory downstairs.  There were 6 – 8 workers busily creating clothing to be shipped out.  We went upstairs to their store.  Sarah and I decided to order shirts.  We picked out the fabric we liked and they measured us and ran downstairs and their friends went to work making it.  Very cool!  Michael decided to order a cashmere suit, vest, and business shirt.  He got a tie thrown in for “free”.  They must have loved us!  Michael’s total bill came to $420 and my shirt was $30.  That’s dollars, not rupees.  They delivered the clothes to us that night at our hotel.

LUNCH

It was 2:30 by the time we finished there and we were getting hungry so Tara took us to Maharaja Haveli for lunch. We ordered butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, naan, and mango lassis.  It was a heavenly experience!

THE OBSERVATORY AND CITY PALACE

After that Pareek took us to Jantar Mantar (aka The Observatory) which is collection of outdoor astrological instruments built by a Maharaja in the 1700s.  It consists of 14 geometric devices used for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars’ and planets locations, and determining horoscopes.  Again, I was blown away by the intelligence of these people and their accuracy in building such complex structures without the use of modern machinery.  Most of the instruments and their usages were too complicated for me.  I just nodded as Pareek talked and pretended like I knew what he was talking about.

We walked across the street to City Palace as the sun was starting to get heavy in the sky.  The royal family still lives there.  We saw weapons, clothing, and art used by the royals over the last centuries.  We also saw demonstrations by a painter and metal in-lay worker whose creations are used by the royals.

At City Palace Pareek arranged for Sarah and I to get mehndi (henna tattoos).  The artist chose each of our designs and did a beautiful job!  I loved mine so much.  It’s just about gone now.  I’m very sad to see it go.

We found Ben in the courtyard/dancing area taking pictures of a cute little Indian child and chatting with the boy’s parents.  By this point the sun had set so we took a few more pictures and then headed to the exit.

*WARNING: Mom, skip this part!  I repeat, SKIP THIS PART!

While exiting the Palace we were startled by a snake charmer just outside the door.  He was about to leave but the second he saw us he sat down, started playing his instrument, and out popped his cobra snake.  He insisted we sit so I obediently did so.  He then instructed Ben to sit – he obeyed.  Then he told me to pet it.  I did.  It all happened so quickly.  I don’t mind snakes so it wasn’t too big of a deal.  I was mostly surprised by the speed in which it all happened and how compliant I was.

Michael and Sarah then sat, too.  When Sarah went to touch it the snake snapped and hissed at her.  We caught it on video.

From there Pareek and Tara took us to a carpet factory.  “Oh my goodness,” was repeated over and over again by me.  I had no idea the complexity of creating a rug by hand. They were also stain resistant and flame resistant.

Next we went to a jewelry shop but we didn’t stay long as it was getting late and the jewelry cost thousands of dollars.

We’d spent most of our money at the textiles store, but we needed to pay Pareek for everything.  So, Tara found an ATM – only problem….Michael had to cross a busy street to get to it. And it was dark out.  Tara sweetly helped Michael cross the street. Michael says it was the equivalent of crossing US19 at night with no street lights during rush hour.  Tara held his hand and had to physically push him back a few times to keep him from getting hit.  Well, I don’t think he would have been hit, but Michael thinks he would have been hit.  It was very entertaining to watch.  Equally entertaining was the fact the ATM was out of money!  Tara came back to the car and said to Pareek, “ATM not working.  You did a good job.  Thank you.  Bye-bye!”  We all, except Pareek, roared with laughter.  We were able to find another ATM and that one did have cash.  🙂  We paid Pareek and dropped him off.

Tara took us to a little souvenir shop.  We found some elephant ornaments.  The henna had totally set by that point so Sarah and I started scraping it off.  It was more challenging than I expected.

EVENING ADVENTURES

We headed back to our hotel and made arrangements to meet Tara at 4:30AM the next morning to catch our early morning flight to Hyderabad.  You would think we would have been exhausted, but I still had plenty of stamina to keep going.  I’m sure Tara was tired and needed to get home to his family though so I reluctantly agreed to call it a day.  It was past 9PM at this point anyways.  We did walk to a store by the hotel and bought a few snacks and two shirts.

Actually this is kind of a funny story.  Michael had bought a shirt at the store the night before and it was XL.  Well, Indian’s extra large is a lot smaller than American’s extra large.  So, he needed to return the shirt.  In order to return an item, you must first visit the little man outside the shop that takes people’s personal items while they go inside to shop.  This man checks the receipt and fills out the slip.  You must then take the item and slip inside the store to the service counter, and they take the slip and fill out another slip at which time store credit is given.  I found two shirts I liked, so we proceeded to check out at the register with our store credit.  Well, the cashier didn’t know what to do with the store credit slip.  They wanted Ben to fill out a form.  They said they needed a phone number but Ben said he didn’t have one in India.  They said, “Well, make one up.”  Ben said, “11111111111.”  They said, “Wonderful.  You are now authorized to use the store credit.”  This was all done on paper – not computers.  It was pretty funny.  The checkout clerk joked that he would call us up one day.  We were all quite entertained, including the store employees.

After that we went to our hotel.  We had been given free drink coupons to use and since we were leaving the next morning we decided to go up to the restaurant/bar to use them.  Michael and Sarah were skyping with their babysitters, the Hodges, when I knocked on their door and said, “Hey!  You guys ready to go get drinks?”  Mike says to Matt Hodges, “Um…Matt, it’s not what you think.”  I said, “No, no, we’re just going to the bar….”  I was about to finish by saying, …” to use a free coupon to get non-alcoholic drinks”, but both Mike and Matt were laughing too hard so I couldn’t finish my explanation.

Ben, Sarah, and I headed up while Michael tried to smooth things over with Matt.  We ordered milkshakes and virgin kiwi delights and strawberry daiquiris.  They were all great.

We went to bed around 10:30, woke up at 4 am, and reluctantly left Tara at 5:30 am.  Ben had been sitting in the front seat on the way to the airport, and he was a little pre-occupied preparing the money so we could pay Tara his well deserved fare and be on our way.   When we pulled into the airport, Ben said, “Wow, we are here already? Tara, you drive fast.”  Tara responded, “You count the money!”  It was very sad to say goodbye.  We really fell in love with our driver, Tara.  We had really bonded through some crazy experiences and wonderful conversations.  It was sad to think we’d probably never see him again.  Each time we left a city I had a heavy heart.  We loved our time with Tara in Agra and Jaipur.

It was time to head to the South, though.  Great things were still to come…..