We got to Jaipur on Day 10. We are staying at Madhu Singhs guest house aka apartment for her guests. She is the owner of the tour company we are traveling here in Rajasthan with, and is a good friend of Ajda's aunt. She is so so sweet and has made us feel right at home here in Jaipur, making sure we are comfortable and taking us out and giving us bangles and shawls and gifts. It's been really nice having a small taste of family life, especially during the holiday season when both of us are thinking lots about our own families.
The night we got in, her and her father took us along with them to an Indian wedding. We were told there were 3000 people attending. Mrs. Madhu Singh was the grandfathers employer, and it was his granddaughters wedding. It became clear that they were sort of guests of honor once we arrived. We were ushered around and many people kissed her feet and thanked her for coming. We went into a private room and got to meet the bride, who looked terrified and nervous and so miserable. They assured us she wasn't... But we didn't believe it. She was 18 and it was an arranged marriage, and the day after the wedding she was moving hours away to Bikaneer, where we had just come from. We at the food wearily (Madhu told us not to drink the water) and left shortly after. The wedding itself was "a humble village wedding".... But it was huge! There were streamers and decorations everywhere. Ajda took photos... I only snapped one or two on y iPhone.
The next day we went to the amber fort, the observatory, and the city palace. In order to go up the hill to the fort, we had to ride elephants! We were so excited for this because we hadnt really even seen elephants yet. Unfortunately, the experience wasn't exactly as we hoped. We were in a line that was 100% tourists, getting haggled and pushed and yelled at by Indian men shoving ticky tacky souvenirs in our faces.
We sat sideways on a rickety seat and proceeded up the hill, surrounded by other tourists on sad looking elephants, and still having people trying to sell us stuff not leaving us alone. It really tarnishe the experience. At the end our elephant driver demanded that we tip him. We said we would once we got off. He then demanded that we tip him 1000 rupees (more than the ride cost) or he wouldn't let us off. We got really pissed off and starting telling him to let us off now, raising our voices and getting pissed off. "Okay 500 rupee"... "300 rupee"... "Tip me now". I yelled out to our guide who was across te courtyard that he wouldn't let us off unless we tipped him a large sum. She went immediately over tore police, which I guess our guy saw cause he finally let us off. It really upset us and set a negative tone for the day. We were both in sort of a grumpy mood at the fort after that. Next we went to te observatory, which is a giant slab of rock with strange shales and weird looking objects. It turned out that all these cement blocks are actually devices to tell time, observe the stars, and figure out astrology. It was so cool! This observatory holds the Guinness book of world records for the largest sundial on earth (this is according to our guide.. I never have Internet so most of what I write here is based off of what I'm told!)
We ten went to the palace. It turns out tere was a king here who was 7 feet tall and 3 feet wide in the late 1700s. We got to see his robe, and his pants. AMAZING. I wish I was allowed I take photos because its probably the most unbelievable site ever. I didn't believe our guide when she told us his measurements, but the proof is in the pants.
After a full day we came back to our guest house and took a nap before going next door to Madhu's family home. Her father is so adorable... He's very happy and jolly. I helped him set up his new iPad with Internet and a few bits and pieces and he was so thankful. They fed us yummy appys and wine (oh how I've missed you!) before Madhu, Ajda and I went to Niro's for dinner. We were told that the butter chicken masala was amazing so we ordered that along with a few other curries. I trusted the restaurant since she would never bring us somewhere unhygienic, so I dove in. It was sooo good! A lot less greasy and buttery and more tomato sauce ish than I've ever had. And it was all white meat with no bones or wobbly bits... Just like this scaredy-cat likes her chicken! We also had a super weird desert. It was some chunky ice cream dish with noodles and rose syrup, called Kulfi with Faluda. Photo below.
We had nice conversation and a really nice evening. We crashed when we got back... Hard... India is exhausting!
No time to edit photos... Off to get henna and bindis with Madhu Singhs aunt! More to come in the next post.
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