Day 16: Jaipur
Trip Start
Sep 21, 2006
1
17
228
Trip End
Jun 01, 2007
As we board the crowded bus for Jaipur, Graham in our group gets suspicious of a man rubbing close to him. His wallet is snatched. The thief is confronted and drops the wallet. Binu drags him off the bus. There's no time to take him to the police (where he would only have to pay a bribe, probably). He gets away with a back slap. It's a timely reminder for us to remain vigilant.
Following this drama, the ride is uneventful and over relatively quickly. We reach Jaipur by lunchtime. It's a large, hectic city, like Delhi, but without quite as much squalor in the centre. New townhouse and shopping-centre developments, billboards proclaiming Clean, Green Jaipur are never far from piles of plastic, rotting fruit and, in one case, entrails, though.
Our hotel's large lawn is perfect for lounging with a novel (or, in my case, India: A History). Above fly eagles, parrots and mynars. A peacock, too, struts out from the bushes.
This evening the group bribe the staff to allows us to imbibe smuggled-in vodka and wine to the small hours, huddled round a mosquito coil.
Following this drama, the ride is uneventful and over relatively quickly. We reach Jaipur by lunchtime. It's a large, hectic city, like Delhi, but without quite as much squalor in the centre. New townhouse and shopping-centre developments, billboards proclaiming Clean, Green Jaipur are never far from piles of plastic, rotting fruit and, in one case, entrails, though.
Our hotel's large lawn is perfect for lounging with a novel (or, in my case, India: A History). Above fly eagles, parrots and mynars. A peacock, too, struts out from the bushes.
This evening the group bribe the staff to allows us to imbibe smuggled-in vodka and wine to the small hours, huddled round a mosquito coil.

