Jaipur traffic jam, huge fort, cinema, 3 & 4 Feb 2019

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Lazy day at hostel as late in last night on the train around 2 am. Washing two loads, which take an hour each, with the hostel having to buy more detergent between loads, so nothing happens fast. A$4 per load for small machine so surprisingly expensive at hostel, but per piece rates would have been more. Alan unwell, but much improved. Jamie and Becky talked about doing a walk around the hostel but didn’t.

In the photos today is the “Unicornetto” for Lexie, and the toilet roll comparison – the rolls provided in the rooms are tiny, and even the ones Alan bought at the shops are much smaller than Australia – don’t know why!

Dinner at local restaurant for A$13. I had vegetable biryani as still unwell.

Now at movies at historic large theatre “Rajima Madir” to see a Hindi film “Manikarina” about the war between English and Indian emperor. We’ve been told that it is a cultural sensation to see an Indian movie, so there is much anticipation. Interestingly we usually have to queue by sex – and the box office here is no exception with males to the left and women to the right. So the show was good and Becky wants it translated so she knows what happens, although the basic plot was understandable. The large crowd cheered as the heroine appeared, and at several critical points in the movie, and clapped at times, so it was very different to Australia. The theatre itself reminds me of Her Majesties in the mall, and has a capacity of 1200. There were all in the foyer, until the many doors opened and then everyone surged in, and the same at the end, where we spilled straight out into a back alley, thence walked onto the street stopping all the traffic. Another iconic Indian experience is that they use whistles, eg for traffic and again in the theatre to direct people to the exit. The kids ate chocolate and soft drinks during the intermission. The movie was 3 hours, so after queuing for 30 minutes for the tickets (only Indian credit cards accepted for online bookings, as is typical here), it was 10 pm before we got home.

The hostel has great beds, curtains, and lights, but the kitchen is only a microwave and even getting two cups is a challenge. The in house cafe is expensive. as most are.

Jaipur day 2. Traffic jam city.

Dogs, cows, rickshaws, bikes are common in streets, but today we added elephants and camels (near the fort, so 8 km from city) and a bullock dray. The smog was so bad in two traffic jams that I felt sick. Becky is sicker today, but I’m a bit better but still on porridge and rice.

Over breakfast, as I again was first up at the cafe at 8 am opening time, I met two English girls, Grace, a midwife and Emma, a financial planner, that were touring for 5 months after quitting their jobs. One had an inheritance from a grandfather that encouraged her travels, but her parents thought she should settle down and save for a house. They had travelled last year through SE Asia, and loved Philippines so much that they want to go back due to friendly people and beautiful locations. Grace interestingly said that some London boroughs don’t tell parents their foetus’s sex at 20 weeks due to concerns about terminating girls in the Indian community. They also used the micro filter water bottles and saved buying bottled water, which is interesting, as there are lots of places offering drinking water for free (most cafes, train stations, on the street), but we’ve avoided as the quality is unknown, but they’ve been drinking OK.

Took a Tuk-tuk for the day for A$12, as that saves negotiating each time, etc. and he probably saved us that by telling us the first sight was not worth the admission price, so just view from the outside. That first sight was Hawa Mahal. A very tall imposing dying in the cities signature pink sandstone.

Then to Amer (Amber) fort, a truly huge complex with surrounding walls on the hill, a sister fort and a tunnel between the forts. Becky was quite unwell here, but Jamie went ahead to explore, whilst she and Alan just took 100 meters at a time with a sit and rest and then she felt better and we saw it all.

Then the first of two traffic jams just after stopping for a photo near the water palace, which would have been a cool respite in the scorching summer here.

On to the city palace, built in the 19th century, with an interesting armoury, clothes collection and fancy reception hall.

Went back to last night’s restaurant for lunch. Becky had plain rice, I had a very plain vegetable biryani, but Jamie’s appetite is good and he had half a chicken, fried, which he reports as very nice.

Quick turnaround at the hostel for toilet, bags and water, then 5 minutes to the train station, where the Tuk-tuk finally stopped, after stalling many times today.

Train is late, first 30 minutes, but eventually 2 hours, so our hoped for midnight bedtime is a forlorn dream. It’s our last train ride in India and we are trying “chair class” tonight, which is like airline seats, with a 3+2 configuration. Next one bus and one flight. Kids are keen to get home now.

New today. People were taking photos of us whilst we were sitting in our Tuk-tuk in the traffic jam.

I wouldn’t come back to Jaipur due to the traffic, as it was sickening. The fort was impressive, but the Agra fort was also very impressive, and how many forts do you need to see?