Again, I find myself sending you this next to the Embassy pool in New Delhi. Did not feel like going out to explore the local city at all. As matter of fact, this is one or two city that I rather stay somewhere 'comfortable' rather go out to a the dirty, crowded, hot, out of control (and many more) place. But staying in one place especially in a hotel room can drive you crazy for a 3-day weekend. So, I decided to adventure out and took an excursion tour of the city yesterday. I have been to the Taj Mahah before so Jaipur became my next destination.
The taxi guy came way too early than schedued. So, I kind of rush to get down to the lobby at 7 am yesterday. I was the only paid customer for him. With his tiny 4-door car, we started to roll out of Delhi way before most people awake.
4-5 hours was the amount of time it will take to get there. So, I basically just relax on the back and let him do the driving. We did not talk much since he couldn't speak much English, except for 'good morning', 'Jaipur ?". Driving in India is an experience. The road to Jaipur is a 2-lane highway that full of massive trucks. It probably the main transport way to get the goods to the subur of Delhi. The delivery trucks probably occupied 90% of this 2-lane highway. Needless to say, they move quite 'slow' on the highway. It did not take me long to find out that 'Horn Me' is the way to drive in India. My driver would horn the car(truck in this case) in front of us to let they know that I want to pass you so "move to the left". Everyone horning each others like bad execute orchestra. I swear, my driver must have use his horn at leat 100 times on our way to Jaipur and 100 more to come back. I am sure it could have never happen back in the US. People would have jump out or chase the car in for comfortation. The truck in front doesn't take 'offense' for the horning. They understand it is the way to drive. As matter of fact, most of the trucks have the words "Use Horn" on the back. Another weird things on the road are the usage of the variety of vehicles. I saw a tracktor-trailer pulling tons of hays on the back, a motocycle with the entire family bravely sitting on the back with mom holding tightly on her infant kid, a man leisurely biking.... The thing is that I used to this kind of scene since I saw it happened in Pakistan and other places also.
Anyway, enough of my brief story, Jaipur was a nice and colorful city to visit. Here are the picts,
City Palace - Nakkarkhana-ka-Darwaza, the imposing gateway of the City Palace
In their colorful traditional attire
Amer Palace - The fort, its ramparts & watchtowers, overlooking the Delhi-Jaipur highway. It is believed to have been the capital of the "Minas", the original inhabitants of Rajasthan.
Hawa Mahal - A Pandora's box of wonders, the enchanting Hawa Mahal, the palace of winds, tier upon tier of curved arch surmounting fairy casements with "jali", lattice work screens.
City Palace - Nakkarkhana-ka-Darwaza, the imposing gateway of the City Palace
You see how far I stayed away from the Cobra !!!Coming to India soon ????
1 comment:
Wow, great post regarding Delhi, Jaipur, and the many photos. It looks very colorful, beautiful -- not as crazy crowded as I thought. You are so well-traveled.
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