Jaipur on a budget?
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2008
1
20
27
Trip End
Feb 06, 2009
Jaipur,
Rajasthan,
India
Thursday, January 15, 2009
So it was with this mentality that we arrived in Jaipur. Having done a bit of pre-reading in the LP, we'd found a couple of guest houses that we wanted to try, and took a rickshaw to the first one. As I am currently gimping along, Ted went in an inspected a room or two - 350 rupees, clean and tidy, but the bathroom was on a different floor; not suitable for old hop-a-long here. Back in the rickshaw, and the Sunder Palace Guest House beckoned - and bulleye. A ground floor room with it's own bathroom, internet in the building, laundry on site and a good location - for the princely sum of 450 rupees (thats's $10 or 7 quid). Our plan was in full effect.
Due to my gammy ankle, our plans for the walking tour were scuppered so Ali - the brother of the rickshaw driver we used last night - took us around the city. First stop, the Pink City gates. All the buildings within the old city are painted pink, thanks to one of the maharajas (which one escapes me right now). Unfortunately, it was not sunny today so it wasn't glowing as it usually does, but it was still pretty impressive. After a couple of photos of the gates, Ali took us to the City Palace which is the palace of the maharajah and is still used by the family today. There is a textile museum, an art gallery and an amoury within the palace - the item that caught our attention was the attire of one of the maharajahs who was 1.2 metres wide. His outfit was HUGEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
It was slow going, but a after a restorative cup of chai and a plate of vegetable pakoras, we headed across the street to the Observatory - which was fabulous. We broke our usual rule and took a guide, and we are very glad that we did. There were sundials and astronomy instruments aplenty, built in the 18th Century, some of which are accurate to within 2 seconds.
Ali then took us to the Gaitor Palace which is where many of the maharajahs and their various wives, concubines and children are 'buried' - well, their ashes at least. It's in the middle of nowhere, and as seems to be the norm in India, surrounded by squalor. There were very few visitors there, and although we felt as if we had no choice but to take a guide, we were glad of it as otherwise, we wouldn't have had a clue. The carving in the marble and the fact that it was all hand done was pretty incredible.
Up until this point, Ali had done a pretty good job. But then, the 'selling' began. 'I'll take you to the Mughal City', he said 'and here you can find the stuff you find in the Pink City but for half the price'. He took us to a textile factory, where we were considering buying some gifts until we discovered that there was no bargaining - fixed prices. Then, as it turned out, Ali apparently has his own shop where everything is even cheaper - however, we managed to convince him that we were tired and fortunately, he heeded our request and brought us back.
And then, in keeping with our attempts at sticking within a budget, we headed to the beautiful Rambagh Palace and spent $80 on drinks and food.
(sigh) - You can take the boy and girl out of the finer things in life, but you can't take them out of the boy and girl.
