So today we were up at 7am - no rest for the wicked / backpacker...
The Lonely Planet guide describes this city as having eye watering pollution and my eyes are already struggling in the blinding glare and smog whilst having breakfast on the roof terrace. I'm grateful that there is no curry in sight this morning and instead enjoy some toast & marmalade.
We are a man down (Michael) who has come down with some form of flu / virus so we have had to leave him behind and head out to explore the gateway to Rajasthan, Jaipur.
Our guide for today is called Rumi - jumping into yet another tuk tuk we make a quick stop for photos at Hawa Mahal. This is a large sandstone honeycomb building built for the ladies in the royal household to watch the city hustle & bustle in modesty.
As we drive out of the main city a huge defence wall, not too dissimilar to the Great Wall of China in architecture, appears in the hills and it's scale is phenomenal. We had no idea this was here. Perched high sits our destination - the old city & fort.
As we get closer, an Indian elephant stands on the side of the river with it's owner. She's beautiful and in apparent very good condition. She's a happy elephant as Laura & Michael would say (they only pet & ride happy elephants and rightly so). We stop for photos and as we do a snake charmer spies the action and rolls up trying to get his 10 rupees worth by revealing his music and black cobra. At this point Geoff nearly has a heart attack (he had to have hypnotherapy before starting his backpacking trip to cure his phobia and this is his first real test). Despite jumping like a girl and doing nothing for his masculinity (by his own admission) he tells us that this is real progress in terms of being able to stand within a few feet. Throughout the day he encounters a few more charmers and apart from nearly falling off a curb he does really well! I explained I'd be exactly the same if it were sharks, mice or rats.
It's festival time and Hindu devotees flock to the old city alongside us. They come as a family, wear bright saris, have the traditional red blessing marks on their foreheads and wear vivid orange holy necklaces made entirely from flowers.
The climb up to the top is gruelling, especially in the heat and coverings we are wearing. A man stands, falls down into a press up and caterpillars himself up the steep vertical path. Rumi explains that this is common practice and he is giving thanks to the gods for them making his prayer come true. Apparently devotees can start this activity from as far as over 2km away as a ritual of appreciation.
The old city fort has many beautiful buildings within it of various states and purposes. The place is buzzing with worshippers and Indian music blares from the speakers reverberating around the amber & sandstone walls.
After taking secret passages around the site and learning where court was held, we head back down the path, past the tens of beggars, some with terrible deformities, women with babies who already know how to hold their hands out and a girl covered entirely in purple coloured chalk, standing on one leg and recreating a position of one of the gods for money. We have been told to ignore the children as wider society doesn't want to encourage and a promote a generation of beggars. We are told we can give to the disabled should we wish as they are shunned from communities and unable to work. It's the children though - the pooling brown eyes, covered in mess, dirty faces and noses tapping you gently on the arm as you walk past asking "please lady please. 10 rupees...please". They continue for a while and ignoring them is a real test. I've found some stats on the poverty and it is thought that 220 million are living below the poverty line and a third of the world's global poor live in India. Despite knowing the government are trying to tackle this huge problem proactively and supporting begging is not best for them in the long term it's incredibly hard to explain / justify to myself in the short term and ignore them. I will be haunted by many desperate faces long after I leave here.
We head onto Jantar Mantar an observatory built in 1728 by the city's founder Jai Singh (Pur means city). The initial impression on arrival is that you've arrived at an outdoor modern art exhibition however the eighteen bizarre structures all the serve the purpose of telling the time and predicting horoscopes all using the sun. The accuracy is amazingly precise down to seconds.
Another part of today was spent admiring the floating palace sat majestically in the middle of a lake and where the Jaipur royal family (each state have their own Royal family) used to spend their summer holiday. Asking Rumi if it's still used today he replies yes - by Mosquitos, rats and other animals. While we are stood there a couple of children approach us - they say something in Hindi to Rumi who tells us they are magicians and want to show us a magic trick. We are told that given they are doing something it is acceptable to say yes.
Having been given the nod, one of the boys steps up into our circle, the other clearly assuming the role of manager hangs back. The little lad, no more than 7 or 8 performs a series of tricks that cause us all to whoop & cheer. He's a genuine mini Indian Dynamo! We hand over some cash and they run to the next bunch of tourists.
I am so impressed with their talent but more so by their ingenuity to make a living.
City Palace is also ticked off the list where my highlights include seeing Pitam Niwas Chowk a series of four gates representing spring, summer, autumn and winter. The winter gate is adorned with peacocks, the colours are vivid and it's beautiful.
Laura and I head out to the local markets where I pick up a beautifully embroidered purple & gold sari for 250 rupees (£3) and some bindis.
At 5:30pm we all meet downstairs to head to see a Bollywood movie called Student of the Year. The Bollywood film industry churns out 900 films a year here and is said to reach 1/6 of the population with tickets costing 150 rupees (£1.75).
Erin braves wearing her Sari for the occasion and all male attention shifts to a more respectful affair with locals very pleased to see a westerner in such clothes. I have created an Indian style outfit from a dress, linen trousers, my scarf and my recently purchased bindi. The cinema is an opulent structure in the heart of the city. They sell popcorn, drinks, samosas to film goers and we get involved.
The film starts and as the trailers roll, people start cheering and whooping as various Bollywood stars faces appear on the screen. Going to the cinema here is an interactive panto like experience and the next 2hrs is a seat bopping, toe tapping, laugh a minute party. Despite being in Hindi we all manage to keep up with the plot and leave with huge smiles on our faces. A definite highlight of the trip so far.
The day is rounded of at dinner at a nearby fine cuisine restaurant. It's not long before the beers are ordered and we are talking animatedly about our day when Geoff & Laura's legs jump suddenly up and they tell us a mouse has just ran by them by their feet. I spend the remainder of the meal with my legs either up vertically in front of me or tucked behind me. Just as I'm saying how glad I am that it wasn't my foot Geoff jumps and nearly flips the table up. Laura has accidentally brushed his leg which sends us all into hysterics, including Ricky, for the rest of the dinner.
I wonder if there is already a Bollywood version of 'Of Mice and Men?'...
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