jaipur.

so i haven't officially made a post from my own account in awhile or ever (too lazy to go back and check). i think every time i've been behind the scenes of the creative genius that is bryndia.blogspot.com or posting on india's blogspot account... so here it goes.

bryndia arrived to jaipur early in the morning around 5:30 or 6am but the early hour didn't stop the natives from flooding the streets of the overpopulated capital of rajasthan. bryn & india were attacked by rickshaw drivers all of whom shouted their price...."do you even know where we're going?". after some (always) much needed haggling, the two got their price down to 50 rupees for a ride to their lonely planet hotel pick which would have been reached easier walking, only 2 minutes away.

after finding their #1 pick was full, the two crossed the street to bargain for the same price at two more upscale spots. finding the first (another lonely planet pick) would not budge on price, they walked five steps next door to find air conditioning and multiple english movie channels for a few hundred rupee less. boom.

(note: you will find new hotels that aren't in the lonely planet guide opening up near or in bryndia's case next too posted hotels for considerably cheaper.)

showers & naps were necessary before attacking the "pink city" & once rested, the two jumped out of the AC and into the desert heat. early on in the walk they were approached by an english speaking indian who seemed to be harmless & nice but took a turn for the worse by asking, boarderline harassing, bryn numerous times if he could touch india's feet ('a custom of good luck!') or kiss her hand, upon which bryn turned to ask india, "you wanna let him?" "hell no," india explained with her eyes. the two walked away quickly, repeating, 'nice to meet you, too.'

bryn & india trekked all the way to the old city & checked out the market & the small back allyways filled with trash & treasures. bryn got cleaned up at a fresh little barbershop which ended with a face massage that was very aggressive and, after, the two even found a goat attempting to drive a rickshaw. after being surrounded by young children, shoved at with handshakes, and greeted with hello literally 100+ times, as this was the only word the youngsters knew, the two headed back to the hotel, fullfilled but drained, by the four hours they had spent cruising the capital.

india and bryn plopped down at the hotel restaurant and ordered anything and everything on the menu, attempting to refuel their tanks. once they regained their consciousness, bryndia realized that a couple of other foreigners were situated at a nearby table in the outdoor dining area. an introductory conversation began & shortly after india, bryn, foo chee chang (singapore), & matijs (holland) had created the jaipur crew. the crew planned to meet up around seven, after a rest, to embark on a walkabout to a lonely planet recommendation for dinner called "little italy".

once downstairs bryndia met a third member of their group yusuf (also from singapore) while the fourth, yan liang lim stayed in his room recovering from a stomach bug that had previously plagued the rest of the group.

after going in circles for a minute or two the group found little italy which was far fancier than lonely planet made it out to be, but very good none the less, & had filtered drinking water, which is always a plus in a third world country. the walk back was much easier and bryn realized to himself that you get harassed much less being in a group of guys then when walking just as a couple.

once back at the hotel the group crammed in bryndia's nicely ac'd room & chilled out watching whatever they could find on hbo or star movies while passing to the left. the night ended with the group agreeing to meet bright and early at 8 am to jump the city before it got to hot out.

the group exited the hotel on a beautiful sunday morning with everyone in attendance, all having recovered from the stomach bug that had plagued them days before. it was early, a much earlier hour then bryndia had grown accustom to waking, but they soon realized that it was necessary when dealing with the rajasthan heat.

the best part of meeting new people is that you pick up tricks, tendencies, and different ways of dealing with situations & people that you encounter on a daily basis in india. the first tip bryndia took away from their new travel buddies was to bargin harder, much harder. once on the street, the six were greeted by the usual rickshaw drivers quoting their prices & before bryn or india had a chance to jump in the bartering circle, Chang shook his head very sternly & stated to the drivers, "give me a better price". when the group of drivers laughed and responded with similarly ludicris price, he shook his head once again, turned around, and motioned for the group to walk away, telling the driver while leaving that the group of six would pay only 30 rupee per rickshaw to reach the old city about 10 minutes away. they laughed at the price as the group slowly walked & only when the group was far enough away for the drivers to take the threat of no business seriously, they conceeded from 150 per rickshaw to 30. (that's from about three us dollars to about 60 cents.)


the rest of the day was much more relaxing, very little haggling by street vendors, & the streets seemed baron compared to the day before when bryndia had traveled through old town. after all it was a sunday & it was very early. the sole life on the streets was a large pack of tiny, tough talking boys pitching cricket in an empty corner lot. bryn, ever the athlete, stepped up to the plate for his first try at the national sport of india. his first swing sent the bat flying out of his sweaty palms, over the heads of his fans, and into the empty street. once reclaimed, the bat held firmly this time, bryn knocked the fast pitch out of the park, and the dozens of boys went wild with screams of support. 'i'll quit while i'm ahead, i think,' bryn said.

the first stop on the groups tour of jaipur's famous architecture was the hawa mahal, the "palace of the breeze", or the beehive, as it was built with a intricate honeycomb design around all the windows, not only for obvious ascetics, but also so the royal women could look out on the main road to view everyday life, or, sometimes, fancy royal processions, as they passed by, thus avoiding having to wear a face cover, which was strictly inforced when women went out in public. the group peaked through these holes trying to imagine what it must feel being a woman of such high social stature and having to resort to peeking out a hole onto daily events.


after the tour and photo shoots, the group was parched and all decided to grab a drink on the way to jaipur city palace and were excited to run into a snake charmer/magician on the walk. the group stopped and gathered around the circle to watch the man & his son as they toyed with the snake, but didn't really do any charming. after not doing much, the man lead the little guy back into a bag, (the snake, not the son), and the show was over. in an attempt to keep his audience, the older man quickly proceeded to do terrible magic tricks, all of which he either gave away or messed up. the gang carried on.

after missing the city palace the first time on foot, the group all hopped onto bicycle-rickshaws and were peddled to the front door. bryn was amazed at how hard these drivers work for a few rupee. anyone who is looking for a good calf routine should just hit india as a rickshaw peddler.

the city palace was overwhelming, so much indian culture stuffed in to one royal area. the mubarak mahal, chandra mahal, the pitam niwas chowk, maharani palace, & bhaggi khana are amongst the many that interested the group.

bryn's favorites: the pitam niwas chowk, which are four small gates facing a tiled courtyard. each gate represents one of the four seasons and are painted with gold leaf, bright blues and yellows, giant images of ganesh and other good luck gods. and the maharani palace, where weapons used by royalty are housed, including a scissor action dagger that after being plunged into an enemy is said to disembowel as it is pulled out. sick. cannons that would rest on camels back. t.i. seriously needs to hit up india for some artillery.

out in the center courtyard, the team saw two giant silver jugs taller than bryn, cited in the guiness book of world records as the largest objects ever made out of pure silver. these jugs were created for a ballin' king who feared the unholy waters of europe during his first visit westward. he had the giant jugs built to be carried overland filled with water from the ganges for his baths.

after hours of circling the palace grounds in the hot sun, bryndia and their four friends, exhausted, exited the giant gate and searched for a rickshaw. as each driver requested more and more money, and bryndia's new friends became more and more insistant on how little they would pay, a scrawny barefooted man pulled up in his horse drawn two wheeled wooden cart and offered them a ride. bumpy as it was, the group enjoyed their farmer's journey back into the center of the city. it quickly became clear the driver had no idea where he was going, and the group abandoned ship, or, cart, and walked the rest of the way back to their hotel, where they sat in the shaded garden and ate fruit salad and milky chai.

their last night in the capital was spent in a circle again, learning about singapour, about oregon, and about holland, their differences and similarities. a cultural fusion, six new friends brought together by the rajasthani desert.

the next morning, breakfast was eaten, newspapers were read, the group parted with hugs and promises of future contact, and bryn & india boarded a hot and sticky bus for agra that was practicially empty. apparently, they were the only people in jaipur interested in going to see the taj mahal.