The Decaying Grandeur of Lovely Jaipur

Heather has a plan. We're going to Jaipur to do re-con and get the lay of the land...oh, and to shop.

We took off from Gurgaon after work on Friday and caught a bus to Jaipur. We actually got on the bus in Gurgaon, which was super convenient, but a little scary. Apparently, there is an alcohol shop just next to the bus stop, so the normal 'let's stare at the white girls' routine was a little more pronounced than normal. However, we were blessed in that Heba and Pallavi, one of the girls from the office, were also headed to Jaipur, so we looked out for one another and had a local to help negotiate all of the details. The bus ride to Jaipur takes 5 hours, but is pretty comfortable; the bus is similar to a charter bus in the US, if a little dirtier. We mostly listened to music, watched episodes of Weeds on Heather's iPod, and snoozed our way into town at about 1am. Once we were in Jaipur, Heather and I headed to our hotel, the Umaid Bahwan. It looks pretty nice from the website, but was mostly just ok. But, for one night, or really just one morning, I wasn't complaining too much. Probably the funniest part is that we had these elaborate canopied beds that turned out to be a thin pad on wood slats,which was about 3-4 inches too short for yours truly. Luckily, I perfected sleeping on the bias a long time ago, so it was all good.

Saturday morning, we slept in a bit and then grabbed continental breakfast at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel. It was a beautiful day in Jaipur. Blue skies, warm sunshine and a nice breeze. I am to the point now where I marvel at truly blue skies. Gurgaon is a city of perpetual murk - I'm not sure if it's dust, exhaust, smoke, or just a lovely amalgam of the three, but it almost never lets up. Mostly, I kid myself that it's cool, downy tufts of Aptos fog, but I really know better so, the bright blue skies of Rajasthan were a joy to wake up to.

We grabbed an autorickshaw piloted by the valiant Manzoor and headed into town. I have to give this man an international shout out. When he initiated negotiations for taking us into town, Heather told him that we didn't want to pay more than 20 Rs. Manzoor, prince among men, immediately informed us that it shouldn't cost more than 10 Rs., and proceeded to ferry us into town for the same. At first, we were sure that we'd just bought a ticket around the block, and thank God he had the grace to only rip us off for 10 Rs. vs. the 20 that we offered, but no. . . it was a 'fur piece' as they say, a good 10 minute ride into town, which Manzoor embellished with color commentary on the local sights and what we should visit on our holiday in Jaipur. We have his card, and we'll be back, and may Manzoor have the best of fortunes until we meet again. He deserves it.

We began our day at City Palace, where the king of Jaipur still lives. The guards here are the biggest hams on 7 continents, and turning a good profit on it too. For two chicks who are morally opposed to paying for photos, we sure ended up with a lot of them. One gentleman insisted he didn't want a tip, but was a 'collector' of coins - I presented him with a Maine quarter and was rewarded with many photo ops. Cheesy, but fun. The textiles museum in City Palace has some beautiful things; it's not very big, but the exhibit is memorable; the colors and all of the hand embroidery are phenomenal, even after centuries.

After City Palace, Miss Pallavi and Miss Heba picked us up with the family driver and whisked us off to see Amer Palace and Jaigarh Fort. High in the hills above the new and old cities of Jaipur, these buildings are aging gracefully, especially given the centuries of almost perpetual use. I don't know how to describe it, but I loved this eagle's nest, perched high above the hubbub of the modern city. There is something clean and windswept in the air here, and yet it seems like history is lingering in the dust motes and sunbeams. It is easy to see how it once must have been, how these Rajasthani kings must have surveyed the horizon, masters of their domain, and large households of women and retainers lived out their lives almost entirely enclosed within these lush gardens and intricately decorated walls.

Traffic in Jaipur is the best I've seen so far. The car, human, motorcycle and rickshaw flood is broken by camels and elephants. After visiting Amer, we dodged these fellow travelers and headed back into town for a late lunch at Niro's. Even though they were mostly closed to get ready for dinner, they let us in and took good care of us - Heather's favorite palak paneer was in its best bright-green form, and we complimented it with lal maans, which is a traditional Rajasthani dish. We topped it off with lassi for dessert. Across the street from Niro's is Lassiwalla, which is renowned in Jaipur for having the best lassi in town. I made the mistake of not getting one and just having a sip of Heather's; it was amazing. They pour the lassi into an unfired clay cup - the original biodegradable to-go cup - and it's a race to see who can suck up the lassi the fastest, you or the clay cup. Rest assured that when and if I return to Jaipur, I will be making a beeline for Lassiwalla. Mmm mmm good.

Replete with sightseeing, Indian food, and lassi, we are prepared to power-shop. Now mind you, it's probably 6pm and we have to catch a 7:30pm bus. And the traffic is horrid. And yet, we shop. We drive back across town to some shops that Pallavi thinks will be good and commence with a speed round. Believe it or not, I'm still in the cultural groove and not really feeling the shopping, but Heather and Heba both negotiate some deals. We are entranced enough that we didn't quite allow enough time to get back to the bus station and are very soon madly whizzing around Jaipur trying to find the last bus stop in town so that we can catch the bus before it actually leaves town for Delhi. Thanks to fantastic navigational skills on the part of Pallavi, which included calling in favors from several friends and getting directions from her grandmother, we are safely delivered to the bus stop with time to spare. Heather and I pack into the bus, leaving Pallavi and Heba to enjoy the balance of their weekend without managerial interference, and hunker down for the 5-hour return trip to Delhi. Despite the departure stress, it was 24+ hours well spent. If I go back, I think I'll do Jaipur at a more reasonable pace, but I would definitely like to go back - it's too beautiful not to.

Jaipur - Feb

Adventures in Old Delhi

This last weekend was a close-to-home weekend. The Essel Posse was split to the four winds, with James lounging in luxury at the number one hotel in the world (The Oberoi, Udaipur), Scott and Heba on a tiger safari (they saw two), and me, Tim and Heather in Delhi. On Saturday, Heather and I decided to tackle a couple of things on our to-do lists: 1) Go shopping with Kapil, our house manager and 2) check out the sights in Old Delhi. This made for quite the interesting day - really, almost more adventure than a girl needs to have, but still a lot of fun....

Part One: Marketing in Gurgaon

So, since our spoiled selves usually travel by cab, we assumed our house staff did the same. Decidedly not. When we asked to go marketing with Kapil, it involved walking out to the corner and hailing a public autorickshaw. The price is right - 5 Rs. vs. 50 Rs. - but the experience, well it's priceless. Let's just say that the direct impact the air here has on your respiratory system is evident as soon as you blow your nose. And, rattling (or should I say careening?) along with 10 other people in a three-wheeled cart with canvas sides is something that can't quite be described to the uninitiated.

The market our guys shop at is not that different from the mercados you see in Mexico, but if I'm being honest, I think it's a bit dirtier. Also, because all manners of transport share the same path, foot, motorcycle, rickshaws, cars, carts, etc., it's quite congested. We went to the produce section and searched for sweet potatoes which Heather promises to cook. We also went to a dry-goods store and bought some almonds and walnuts to snack on. Kapil took us inside one of the shops and bought us Indian sweets: milk cake and a few different types of what I think were burfi - candies made from ground nutmeats, sugar, and reduced milk. All very sweet, but with my love of marzipan, right up my alley. Heather and I were also super proud of ourselves for learning to cross the streets without getting killed (think 2+ 'lanes' each way). Probably the most difficult part of the trip, other than the total chaos of the streets, was watching the tiny kids begging in the market. This wasn't the first place we'd seen people begging, but somehow people here seemed to be in even more dire straits and a lot of the kids appeared to be alone. In order to keep their coins from being stolen, several of the kids had peed in their buckets. You want to help, but it's hard to know how to have a positive impact. We've been told that giving money is a bad idea because most of the kids won't be allowed to keep it, and as soon as you give anything away, you get swarmed. There's a volunteer group at work that Heather and I are both getting involved in, so hopefully that's a step in the right direction.

Part Two: Lal Quila (The Red Fort)

After restorative grilled cheese sandwiches back at Essel Towers, Heather and I headed out to Old Delhi to see The Red Fort. I guess the hour we spent in the government office in Gurgaon worked, because we were able to buy Indian tickets with our residence permits. Aside from the fees we saved, the best part about this was getting "but these are Indian tickets..." at each gate we went through. Heather was so emboldened by this success that she told one of the cheeky boys who asked us where we were from that she is native to Gurgaon. Needless to say, they didn't quite believe us, but I'm convinced that with a little Hindi under our belts, we'll be leaving them guessing soon enough.

Lal Quila was the seat of Mughal power in Delhi during the reign of Shah Jahan. Although it's fairly run down now, due to neglect and the impacts of British occupation, you can still see many of the original pavilions that housed the royal court. The buildings are just beautiful and designed to impress visitors. You can imagine what they must have looked like, hung with velvet canopies and strewn with silk and wool rugs. There was a canal that ran through the royal apartments, from the Shah's private rooms to the hammam where the court ladies bathed. According to history, the water was scented with attar of roses - I can only imagine what it must have been like to live there. Within the walls of the fort, there is also a shopping gallery that was maintained for the ladies of the court, Chatta Chowk. 'When in Rome...,' so of course Heather and I went shopping! Heather bought a stunning tourquoise and red stone Tibetan collar, and I bought a filigree necklace carved from bone. I have to give my companion mad props - she is becoming quite the negotiator, though we're still getting taken by Indian standards. Guess we'll have to practice more.

After thoroughly exploring Lal Quila, we headed into Old Delhi to see what we could see. The shopping outside the fort, on Chadni Chowk, is supposed to be good, but the chaos and congestion on the streets was a bit much after a long day. We headed for Karim's, a famous local tandoori restaurant. On the way to dinner, we stumbled across a shoe store which carried curly-toed Punjabi slippers. Heather negotiated a pair for herself down to 'half price' and, miracle of miracles, they happened to have a pair that fit me too - pretty nifty. We celebrated Heather's negotiating success over tandoori chicken, palak paneer, butter chicken, and a pile of naan. So good, and all yours for 542 rupees. After sightseeing, shopping and stuffing ourselves, we were tuckered out, so we called Dhanjay and headed back to Gurgaon.

Lal Quila

Beating Retreat . . . On A Camel?

On Monday, we were fortunate enough to get "VIP" passes to Beating Retreat, which is one of the closing ceremonies for Republic Day in India. The bands for each of the three branches of the military service, Army, Navy, and Air Force, get together and put on a show, each one trying to out-do the others. The ceremony was quite the spectacle, though rather thinly attended, which surprised us. Apparently George Clooney was in the crowd and in the cheap seats, like us, but we didn't see him...quel dommage. I was sure that he was in Delhi just to celebrate my birthday, but perhaps not....

The Indian military did a bang-up job on the great band-off. There were three full brass marching bands and a huge group of bagpipers, complete with plaid uniforms. From a distance, it looked much like something you would see in the states, however, touches of the exotic definitely shone through - the camels lining the ramparts of the government buildings, leopard skins thrown over the shoulder of the drum corps, and regional costumes integrated with the marching band uniforms. On the whole, very impressive. I think my favorite part was when all three bands lined up together and played. Halfway through the tune, the conductor lowered the volume of the marching bands, and directed someone playing a carillon from the twin campaniles of the Indian government buildings. Just beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the Stanford Hymn, and I found myself humming "from the foothills to the Bay. . . ," as we left the performance. The finale was pretty good too - they lit up all of the government buildings as Heather said, "like Tivoli gardens." I said, "or like the Disneyland Electrical Parade," at which point she informed me that Disneyland's light show is based on Tivoli Gardens. "Ooohhhh. . . ."

'The Pool of the Nectar of Immortality'

This past weekend, the Essel Towers posse (Heba, Heather, Tim, James, and me), headed to Amritsar, which is in northern India, in the state of Punjab. Amritsar is the center of the Sikh faith, and home of several significant religious and historical sites, including the Golden Temple and the Jallianwala Bagh memorial park.

Heather and I splurged and stayed at the Ranjit Svaasa hotel, which I highly recommend. It's US prices per night, but is lovely, restful and calm, all of which we were in much need of.

To get to Amritsar, we took the Shatabti Express train from Delhi Station to Amritsar. The train ride was a pretty cool experience - we got to see a fair bit of the northern Indian countryside. They fed us three times, so we literally rolled into Amritsar station. The only slightly questionable part were the speedy little cucarachas that came out when we had our meals. Luckily, none of them decided to disembark at Amritsar along with us. Coming back, we were only able to get a flight, which was also an experience. The Amritsar Airport looks as though it has been thoroughly bombed, but in fact, it's just under construction. Some highlights:

• The list of forbidden items
• The subsequent, lengthy list, of persons exempt from following those rules (Prime Minister, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, various Ministers, etc.)
  
• The nameless name tags, which somehow play into security proceedings? (Think paper and elastic address tags that are usually at the check-in counter, sans any information...very odd)
• Heather's bag being disemboweled, all in search of a less than 10 ounce bottle of Oil of Olay, while my 32 ounce bottle of water went undiscovered
  
• The bus that drove us from the terminal in a very tight (less than 30ft. in diameter) circle, in order to drop us on the tarmac in front of our airplane
  
• The sign for "Turkmenistan Air" side by side with "Uzbekistan Air" (Really. Heather has a picture)
  

But I digress....

Have I mentioned that I love the Golden Temple? Hands down, one of the most beautiful and welcoming places of worship that I have ever visited. I think that just the colors even appealed to me - all turquoise, white and gold, interspersed with bright flashes of color from saris and turbans. The Sikhs have a particular cobalt blue fabric that they use for some of the men's turbans. I'm not sure of the significance, but it's a beautiful color, especially when paired with bright-gold kurtas. I think my favorite moment of the trip was when we were waiting in line to go into the Golden Temple and the crowd began singing the hymns softly with the cantor inside the temple. Just gorgeous. The temple itself is very 'come one come all.' People are free to sit inside and listen to the music, view the holy book, read scripture, etc. We sat for a while, listening to the music, before heading out to receive our blessed sweet, which was similar to a dense, sweetened rice porridge. Despite the number of people and tourists, there is deep reverence here. Many people prostrated themselves as they arrived on the banks of the sacred pool, or reached down to touch the threshold before crossing into the temple. Out of respect, it is required that you go barefoot and cover your head in the temple complex. They have pools of clean water that you walk through to wash your feet, prior to entry. Very surreal - I quite frankly didn't think I'd go barefoot anywhere in India, but it all worked out ok.

After visiting the Temple and the very gory Sikh museum, we had Punjabi food for lunch. My mushroom tikka masala was fabulous! Our next objective was to attend the border-closing ceremony at the Pakistani-Indian border, known as the Wagah Border. Apparently, in an attempt to foster good relations between the two countries, a very elaborate ceremony has been devised for the opening and closing of the border each day. Because we were there on Indian Republic Day, the crowd was pretty fired up. The ceremony is like a cross between a step show, a pep rally, and a military parade. There is much goose-stepping and some of the best high-kicks I've seen outside of Radio City Music Hall. The Indian soldiers are clearly picked for their height - each of the border guards was well over 6' tall, and crowned with a high, fan-shaped red hat, to boot. Just by virtue of being female and foreign, Heather and I were christened "VIPs" and escorted to front-and-center seats at the rally. Oh, and did I mention our conveyance to get to this auspicious event? We paid Rs. 100 per person to be crammed into an SUV with 11 other people and ride for 30 minutes or so to Wagah. Very interesting.

Back in Amritsar, we had Kingfishers at a somewhat shady local bar called the "Bottoms Up" and then headed to a restaurant called The Green Zone in a brand, spanking new hotel called the Khyber Continental. Dinner was excellent, and the hotel was so nice that Heba, James and Tim decided to upgrade from their somewhat less auspicious accommodations downtown. It wasn't quite as quaint as the Ranjit Svaasa, but by all accounts very nice and clean - altogether a solid option if you're visiting Amritsar.

On Sunday, everyone had a lazy day and slept in. Heather had a massage at the Ranjit Svaasa that was, shall we say, interesting. I'll let you read her blog once she gets it posted. After everyone rallied, we headed to Jallianwala Bagh to view the memorial. It was such a nice day that everyone was lounging on the grass and enjoying the sunshine. There were little kids flying kites, which must be a regular pastime, as the trees were littered with colorful kites gone astray. More Punjabi food and I discovered fruit beer, which tastes a lot like Martinelli's, then it's jump in an autorickshaw and head back to the hotel to catch a cab to the airport. I rode in several autorickshaws this weekend. Little by little, our barriers are breaking down. The next step is bicycle rickshaws, and then maybe scooters. After seeing the myriad types of conveyances on Indian roads, the autorickshaws begin to look downright safe, if not reputable. I don't think I'd want to try it at Gurgaon speeds, but for a smaller town such as Amritsar, it was de rigeur. The glories of the Amritsar airport, I have already described above. The whole weekend was quite the experience, but so much fun and well worth it. If ever you are in India, you must visit Amritsar. Heather and I joked that James and Tim are our India traveling training wheels - both guys are very well traveled, as is Heba, and as much as it kills my feminist heart to say so, it's just damn nice to have dudes around when you're traveling in the hinterlands. By the time you all come to visit, we'll have completed the re-con and be ready to lead the charge ourselves.

That's probably more than enough from me. I'll post again soon about our Monday evening adventures at Beating Retreat. My Amritsar photos (ad nauseum) can be found here:

Amritsar - 1/25-1/27/08

Qutub Minar and Humayun's Tomb

On Sunday, Heather and I repented for our shopping spree by doing some sightseeing in Delhi. Delhi is really a lovely city in many ways. There are long tree-lined streets and beautiful monuments and cultural sites right in the city proper. After working out at our very nice gym in Gurgaon, we set out to see two of the most notable sites, Qutub Minar, which is a mosque and minaret, and Humayun's Tomb.

At Qutub Minar, we were approached by a guide who offered to show us around the site for 200 Rupees (~$5). We decided this was a pretty good deal, and proceeded to have very enjoyable tour with A.G., who claimed to have been trained as an archaeologist. The complex consists of the minaret, a mosque and madrasah (Muslim school). The purpose for the minaret is much speculated upon. Our guide asserted that the tower was in fact used as a large sundial with 24 crenelated sides, each representing one of the 24 hours in a day. The monuments are an interesting mix of Muslim and Hindu artistry, being as it is a Muslim mosque, built by Hindu workers, and made from the pieces of Jain temples that had stood on the site previously. The carvings on the buildings are beautiful to look at, all done in red sandstone blocks and marble. There are bright green parrots nesting in the walls of the buildings, providing a startling contrast to the russet tones everywhere else. Apparently, Qutub Minar is the second most popular tourist destination for Indians, after the Taj Mahal, so there were lots of people walking the grounds and taking pictures. Still, it was quite peaceful, even with all of the hubbub; I would highly recommend going if you're ever in Delhi.

After our leisurely stroll through Qutub Minar, we set out for Humayun's tomb, which is also in Delhi. We must have serendipitously hit a lull in the crows, for the complex was not crowded when we arrived, nor throughout our visit. As we were leaving, however, four huge bus loads of Asian tourists rolled up, and the grounds were very quickly crowded. The buildings themselves are the attraction here, as well as the lovely gardens and waterways. Each structure is surprisingly empty. The characteristic red and white tomb, which you'll see in the pictures, is nearly empty inside, save three or four family sarcophagi. It seemed to me like a place that should have been lived in, or at least visited, for it is lovely. Heather and I were commenting that it would be nice to come back with a blanket and book, and read in the garden. Here again, there were chartreuse parrots swooping amongst the domes of the tomb and nesting in the walls. Waterways and a reflecting pool lead up to each of the main entrances, with delicate fountains casting droplets into the reflection of the sky - truly peaceful.

Sunday evening began setting in, and we were tuckered out. We headed to Connaught Place with the idea that we would do some shopping. However, the shops were mostly closed because of the day, so we just strolled around and eventually stopped in the N-block to have dinner at Banana Leaf, which offers South Indian food. We had to ask the waiter to define most of what was on the menu, but it was fun to try new things. We ordered dhosa, uthappam, and one other dish that I don't recall the name of, and topped it off with sweet-salt Lassi. Replete with fried goodness, we headed for home, only to get a guilt trip from our cook, Abdul, for delaying dinner with our flatmates - enter more snacks, just to compensate for our tardiness, of course.

All in all, a fun and fairly productive Sunday; definitely an enjoyable way to kick off our week. The roomies are planning a get-away for the weekend to Amritsar, which is the seat of the Sikh faith, so I should have many adventures to report shortly. Even with a concierge to help us in the office, just making reservations for Indian trains, hotels and flights is an adventure in and of itself. This weekend is Ms. Heather's birthday, so it's nice to have something to look forward to, for all of us. I am so lucky to have other ex-pats to spend time with, especially those who are so entertaining and such great conversationalists.

Humayun's Tomb

Qutub Minar