Journey to Jaipur

Because our trip was so short, we decided to hire a car and driver to get us from Delhi to Agra and then into Jaipur. Vikram, our driver, did an amazing job. Somehow he knows the exact way to navigate the chaos of Indian traffic. And make no mistake, driving in India is unlike any other experience. It is pure chaos. In this chaos, however, is a respect for the other driver (or camel, horse, cow, motorcycle, bike, rickshaw, etc). Somehow it works, but it is not for the faint of heart or the foreigner.

After leaving Agra and bidding the Taj a fond farewell, we headed toward Jaipur, Rajasthan, which is in West-Central India. Rajasthan is the largest state in India and borders Pakistan to the West. There is a great deal of Muslim influence in both culture and architecture. The terrain becomes increasingly arid as you move west.

Vikram, who's English is pretty good, suggested our first stopping point. Unfortunately, we had no freakin' idea what he was saying. In true stupid American fashion, we just nodded our heads and said, "OK". Luckily for us, Vikram did not steer us astray. He arranged for our guide / rickshaw driver Beeru and away we went (into what, we weren't exactly sure).

A few minutes into our adventure, we figured out that we were in Keoladeo National Wildlife Park. This park has natural wetlands which make it a perfect breading grounds for storks and other waterfowl. It's a birdwatcher's paradise and we were fortunate to see several interesting birds (including a rare owl that was sleeping and two varieties of Kingfisher) as well as Sambar (HUGE Deer) and wild boar.

After a few hours in the park, we returned to the car and headed onward toward Jaipur. Vikram again steered us toward a nice place for lunch.

The restaurant, called the Rajasthan Midway, was inexpensive (less than $10 total) and tasty. We had a nice lunch of Palak Paneer, Veggie Byriani, and Naan. Sarah napped the rest of the way in true fly catcher fashion (head nodded back and mouth wide open)!

We arrived in Jaipur in late afternoon and headed toward a textile shop. Sarah's head started spinning with excitement as we saw MANY wonderful textiles. Two main types were displayed. The first is a block printed textile where someone cuts designs into teak wood blocks. This creates an outline and subsequent blocks are used to fill in specific areas with specific color. Up to 7 blocks can be used on just one 3"x3" area. They generally use natural plant dyes to give the items an earthy, wonderful color palate. The second type consisted of hand woven cottons and silks that were generally adorned with wools, glass beads, mirrors, etc.

We left the textile shop at dusk and noticed something interesting in the sky above the city. It took us a second to realize that what looked like birds were actually numerous kites flown from the rooftops of buildings throughout the city. Our driver mentioned that there is a kite festival/tournament in January and that this was prime practicing time. If you've ever read the book,

"The Kite Runner", it's a similar type of event.

Exhuasted yet again, we checked in at Hotel Megniwas. It's not the five star ITC Mughal, but what it lacks in stars, it makes up in character. The room is quaint, well appointed, and comfortable. The grounds are well manicured. Mrs. Singh, the owner, is incredibly nice and a wonderful hostess. We ate our dinner and decided to retire for the evening. Tomorrow we head to Amber Fort and hopefully we'll get to ride an elephant!