Kites in Jaipur the Pink.
Trip Start
Jan 06, 2008
1
8
125
Trip End
Dec 20, 2008
Jaipur,
India
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Day 1:
I started the day so fed up with the rickshaw and shop keepers. You hear 10 "hello, where are you from?" per minute and they insist, seeing all white people as walking wallets.
Later I met a student and his friends and we spent 2h talking about Indian people, their obsession with money over good karma. We shared a couple of chais and went on a rooftop for some kite fight.
It was exactly like in the book "kite runner" and you could see thousands of kites in the sky, fighting each other, and kids running in the streets to catch the losers. It was fantastic to see and share this with the locals and I am also invited for tomorrow Kit festival (today was a training only).
I spent the rest of the day walking and visiting places, smilling and talking to people. It was a good lesson and I'll try to be more open.
Day 2:
The best so far and by far. They were all very nice with me, treating me like a king, offering me chais, food, setting up the kites for me (I finally finished at 3 victory against 4 losses), and the beers from 3pm until 6pm.
It was great and they gave me a lift car + 3 on a bike (as you do) to buy typical Indian clothing so I could feel more confortable. I look stupid but they say it's sexy... taking the p I suppose.
The evening finished with hundreds of fireworks from every rooftops and a diner all together, before they gave me a lift back to my hotel. Superb
Day 3:
The explanations: All this was in fact a try to use me!!
They picked me up at the hotel to go to have a breakfast together. We went to see Ze boss. He explained to me the tax situation in India to convince me that I could help them by transporting a lot of jewelery back to the UK. They'd pay for the flights (a return ticket 2 days only) and would give me a nice amount of cash. I obviously said NO and managed to get out of there as politely as possible but I was suddenly of no interest for them and since I did not want to buy any souvenirs or sponsor a charity, I could go back to my hotel.
I am definitely a walking wallet here and I will now follow the advice that all experienced travellers gave me: Never trust anybody.
It was still a great Kites festival but I am happy to leave Jaipur for Ranthambore in 2h.
