billrider2013

It was good to have a bit of ‘luxury’ in the ‘resort’ hotel in Agra. I also used the hotel to book a bus to Jaipur. Apparently it is easier than going by train. In a fit of total decadence, I also took a taxis to the bus station rather than a Tuk Tuk.

Bus

The bus looked a bit dodgy. It was old and have a few dints. It also seemed to have a bit of rust which is bit old in such a dry part of the country.

The roads across to Jaipur were a mixture of toll ways and ‘normal roads’. The ‘normal roads’ were often crowded. The bus’s horn was often used and put me off my podcast listening. We able to get up to reasonable speeds on the toll roads.

Arriving Jaipur

I arrived in Jaipur in the evening. It was dark. I was given a bit of a bum steer by a local on the bus. He told me to get off the bus before the final stop in the city, because “it was closer to my hostel”. That turned out to be wrong. And it was a fairly long Tuk Tuk ride to the hostel.

Crashpad Hostel

The hostel was in a rather old location – City Lines. This a sort of gated community. The hostel is on the second floor on what seemed to be commercial building.
As it turned out I was very good. It only has two bunk rooms and two private rooms. There were about 12 people staying there.

There is a communal sitting room that encourages people to chat.

Trip to Monkey Temple

The next day I went out to the Monkey Temple with a South Africa bloke who now lives in England. He told me that he had just completed his Master’s degree in bio engineering at the University of Newcastle. He told me some interesting stuff about the use of 3D printing for making artificial limbs. He also said that it will not be long before 3D printing technology will used to make organs. Amazing stuff.

The Monkey Temple was a bit ho hum.

We were told that we had to pay to be able to take photographs. I am not sure to whom that fee went to. I suspect it went into the pocket of the bloke taking the money.

Watching the Rugby

In the evening the hostel staff cook a meal. It was very good.

After the meal we all sat down to watch the Rugby World Cup game between South Africa and Wales. It was a close game, however, in the end the South Africans prevailed with a short side try in the final minutes.

Amber Palace and Fort

In the evening I got into conversation with a Canadian girl who had arrived at the Hostel by car from Delhi. She asked me what I was doing the next day. I said I was going out to the Amber Fort and Palace. She asked me if I she could join me. I told her that that was fine with me.

The hostel arranged for a Tuk Tuk. They told us the price. I am not sure if they get a cut, but even if they do the cost is reasonable – 600 IRP for over 5 hours. The driver was really good and the Tuk Tuk was only a year old.

As we approached the lake near the palace traffic was amazing. There were cars, buses and Tuk Tuks everywhere. There is an Indian festival going on at this time of the year and the Amber Place is one of the places where the local people go during the festival. Our driver dropped us off some distance from the start of the path that leads up to the Palace.

Some Beggars

We picked our way through the crowds and headed up the path. As we walked we were accosted by a number of beggars – mainly small children. The prevalence of begging seems to be less that it was we I here in 1985, however, it is still disturbing.

There were hundreds of people in the rectangle in front of the main entrance into the palace. There was long line of local seemingly lining up to get in. We followed a group of school children that walk passed the queue and up some stair. There we found a ticket office selling ‘premium’ tickets including tickets for foreigners.

The inside of the palace is very interesting. On the features in the bathing area. It is very ingenious and had hot and cold running water when it was operational. There is also a tranquil garden in one of the courtyards

More Monkeys

We walked out on the balcony on the upper level. This seemed to be the preferred spot for a troop of Monkeys. These were a different species to ones at the Monkey Temple and they seemed be a lot healthier. A big guy, probably the leader of the troop, didn’t look too happy about our presence.

After leaving the Palace we continued on up the path to the Fort on the hill. We meet an Australian couple who told us that they had walked up the secret tunnels that head from the palace to the fort. They remained a ‘secret’ for us as we couldn’t find them.

Why the Canadian Girl was Heading Home

As we walked to the fort, the Canadian girl told me that she had booked flight home the next day. She had only arrived in Delhi two days ago, but had a ‘terrible experience.
She told me that when she got off the plane from Brussels in Delhi she decided to get a taxis into the city. This turned out to be “not a proper taxis”. The driver told her that because of the “festivals all of the accommodation in Delhi was full”. She had planned to go to Jaipur and had the address of the hostel we were staying at. The driver offered to drive her from Delhi to Jaipur. I didn’t feel if was appropriate to ask how much she paid.

She also told me that the driver constantly suggested that they should check into a hotel together. He said he knew that owner and there would be no charge.
Clearly the whole experience was very distressing for her and she decided to cut her stay in India short after less than 24 hours.

Top of the Hill

It is quite a climb to top of the fort. However it is one of those thing you have to do. The bloke selling the entrance ticket tried to short change me. Not satisfied trying once, he also tried to do the same with the Canadian girl.

As we looked at the view, we were approached by some teenage boys who were insistent that they have their photographs taken with us. Clearly they were more interested in the Canadian girl in the photo than me.

When we got back to the bottom of the path and on the road, the crowds of cars and Tuk Tuks that were there when we arrived had clear. Curiously that made it difficult to find our Tu Tuk as everything looked different.

We found our man in the end, and we headed back into town past a lake. There is a place in this lake which is not dissimilar to the one that I will be seeing in Udaipur in a few days.
We stopped briefly in the old town. I took another photo of a Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Time Stands Still in an Indian Railways Office

Later in the afternoon I walked to the Railway station to buy a ticket to Jodhpur. There is special window for Foreigners. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to make buying a ticket any easier. You have to complete a form. What for is anyone’s guess. As I was in the queue, I notice a bloke sitting in large office next to the ticket counter. He seemed to be the boss of the show. At various times younger bloke entered the office a large book was obvious some sort of manually kept record. The Boss Man opened the book and studied the contents. I sure that same records were being kept before WWII.

It was dark before I finally got my ticket.

I hailed a Tuk Tuk to go back to the hostel. When we go back to the City Line area, the driver clearly couldn’t find Gate 2 which the one we need to enter. The place is very confusing as it all looks the same. We spent ages driving around before we found the hostel.

Australia Play Scotland

In the evening the hostel gave a young English couple a cooking lesson. I am not sure what the couple actually did, but the result was excellent. A very tasty meal.

As we ate, we watched Argentina beat Ireland in the Rugby World Cup.

This was followed by Australia playing Scotland. The result of that game will go down in history at the controversial in the history of the RWC to date. The upshot is that Australia is through to the semi-finals. There are no northern hemisphere teams in the final four.

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Garmin Link
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