Jaipur & Lucknow

The train to Jaipur is very comfortable and we spend the trip chatting with a very jovial Indian businessman who seems very impressed with our beautifully behaved children and their ability to entertain themselves for such a long time. Lucky he wasn’t in the bathroom at Udaipur!

We arrive at 10.30pm only to find that Jasper has left his carry bag of most precious things on the train. He is beside himself as he is pedantically careful and organised with all of his little things. We seem to be out of luck until Roger shouts to the people cleaning the train, that he’ll offer a 1000 rupee reward. Suddenly, the bag materialises and we go on our way.

The Pearl Palace Heritage in Jaipur, is our top end stay in India but still just over $100 a night for two rooms.

Each room is themed with an area of India.

From the moment we arrive, it’s obvious that this will be a much different experience.

We use the four most recognisable words that all Indians know, to work our way into the affections of the hotel staff:

1. Brendon

2. McCullum

3. Daniel

4. Vettori.

We are immediately friends, despite the fact that Roger and I know nothing about cricket.

Our rooms are amazing. Ours is like the Jaiselmer desert with stone walls and detailed carvings and the kids’ is an English Viceroy suite.

Despite its heritage title, the hotel is actually fairly new but the most characterful place we have stayed so far.

Every room is like a work of art and in the six days that we stay there, we make our way around a number of the rooms.

There are many things to see in Jaipur and, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the heat and the crazy road conditions, we decide that we have a lesser chance of meeting with a sticky end if we take a tour in an air-conditioned vehicle.
Our guide is dressed like Michael Jackson which is a bonus. It’s beyond me how he keeps his socks so clean.
It’s the feet that take the biggest hammering in the heat and dirt of India. Mine are perpetually black and my heels are bleeding but at least I own shoes.

We visit 5 places in one day and as I explain to the kids, think yourselves lucky because if I was in charge, we’d be spending twice as much time in each place.

Java Mahal:    Built by the Maharaja for his many wives to view the street below without being seen.

Janitor Mantar:  A collection of 300 year old Astronomy instruments of large proportions. Almost like a museum of modern art. The largest sun dial in the world is built here.

City Palace

Amber Fort: We’d like to explore the corridors and hidden rooms for hours, but our guide has a schedule.

Lake Palace: We stop here for an ice-cream and a magic show, delivered by a child Jasper’s age, who jumps into the van and conducts a series of tricks on the floor.

Textile Shop

The monkey temple, where people come to feed the monkeys to increase their karma levels. While we’re there, a tuk tuk drives up the rickety path, laden with bananas.

We see a very strange cow with extra legs and hooves growing out of it’s bottom. I’m not sure whether it’s been kept alive because it is a sacred cow, or whether it is because it has earning power as a tourist attraction. The photo costs us 50 rupees!

Jaipur, despite being a large city of over 3 million, is very beautiful in parts. The locals are much more tourist-savvy than they were in Jodhpur and we have to keep our wits about us when we leave the hotel.

The biggest problem is having a clear idea of where you want to go, then being taken somewhere completely different by the tuk tuk driver who has plans to take you to a shop where he might get a commission.

We don’t really intend to visit carpet and textile shops but we get free soft drinks when we do, so the kids are quite keen.

Louie and I spend an afternoon choosing the best place to have a silk robe tailored. I never realised he was so into fabric!

On our last day, we insist on the services of a taxi driver as we have many places to go and it is too hot for a tuk tuk.

Having decided to all have silk dressing gowns made, the fabric choices take some time, as does arguing over the aggressive selling techniques of a carpet shop owner who starts sweating and shaking when it looks as if we might not go ahead with a purchase. I try to explain that shouting is not the way to encourage customers to feel at ease in the shop, despite the free drinks.

When we do finally buy a carpet from somewhere else where I have already done some shrewd negotiating the day before, we have to keep our purchase a secret from the taxi driver who will apparently demand a commission, despite my independent discovery of the shop and a fairly generous day rate for his taxi services.

Luckily we’re not carrying the carpet as that would be quite difficult to hide!

Louie spends some time alone in the car with the driver who interrogates him as to whether we purchased anything at the carpet shop. Luckily Louie is becoming very savvy in India and makes up an elaborate story as to how we spent two hours in the shop and came away with nothing.

We finish the day at Jaigarh Fort which  is a nice way to end our time in Jaipur, after a busy and stressful day of harassment. It boasts the worlds largest canon which is reason enough to  visit.  In the setting sun it is beautiful here.

 

Mr and Mrs Singh from the Pearl Palace

Our new friend Paresh who works at the Pearl Palace. Our favourite phrase of his is “Oh My God Mr Roger” and the new silk robes delivered 6 hours after our order.

The next day we reluctantly leave the Pearl Palace Heritage. We’ve had a lovely time and it’s important to have a week here and there where we feel at home in a place.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Lucknow where our Agra friend has booked us into a filthy hotel where one look at the food might make us all sick. Luckily, food was served on the train which was a nice surprise, so we have potato chips for dinner.

Luckily, this is only a two night stop-over before we catch another train to Varanasi.