Jaipur

After a bone crunching 5 hour drive, we arrived in Jaipur very tired, indeed, so we begged off our 5 hour Jaipur city tour that was planned for Mon, til Tue, and "took rest". We're getting to appreciate the Indian idea of "taking rest". We got out for a walk and met 3 men who talked to us about the pollution given off by private buses, but NOT by the gov't owned buses. They seemed quite proud of of their gov't's progress and glad also to use their English. Being Mon. the mall we'd set out for was closed. Seems Sun. is a big sales day, so shopkeepers take Mon off. It was the same in Pune. We watched a movie on TV and a lot of Animal Planet, since most of TV is in languages other than Eng. We feel handicapped, knowing only one language.

In the evening we got out again about 5pm. and walked a different direction. I was still in need of hair spray and/or gel, and there it was- a small beauty shop!!! Surely they have hairspray. I was met at the door by 3 ladies. I stated my need. They were very cooperative and very helpful, but were not understanding. One, the youngest, knew a little Eng. It got to be really funny, with me pointing and gesturing, and them trying to figure out what I wanted. Gents are not allowed in a beauty shop, so PC was outside talking to a man in Eng. The owner went to the door and told him what she was offering me: shampoo, blow-dry, gel and combed up into a knot. He translated and then explained "They'll wash, gel and fix your hair so it wont move, like me". He smiled widely, and I was sure this was a compliment. How much? 500Rs - too much - OK 400Rs - too much - OK 350 Rs - 325 says I boldly. They all laughed that I was bargaining. The girl who spoke Eng had already told me the cost was 200Rs, so I didn't feel badly at bargaining them down a bit. By the time of blow-drying all 5 beauticians had done part of my hair. I think they'd never seen or felt such fine and stringy hair as mine. We all laughed a lot. The next night I want for a pedicure - more fun, lots of questions. These ladies didn't ask my age as most Indians do. They asked "how many children? what are their ages? you don't look old enough to have children in their 50's". Then I told them my age, of course, but I thought they were quite clever in getting ME to answer their unasked question. I didn't get hair spray or gel from them, as what they had was all they had to work with. The shop was 10' x 15', with 1 shampoo bowl and 2 chairs and a place to lie prone for facial or massage. And did I mention there were 5 of them!!!

Wed. we did the Jaipur city tour that included the massive Amer Fort, located on the prominent hill with a very sturdy wall, encompassing maybe 100 football fields. There is a long walk to the fort from the road. Some made their way there by elaborately draped elephants with colorful drawings on their hides. As they arrived at the "welcome" plaza there were 2 huge drums (that were not tuned to any specific tone and 1 trumpeter, all who played loudly (and continuisously) as the elephants with their "important" guests arrived, as in centuries before. There were many elephants, so when they delivered one "load" they trekked down for another. Having already ridden an elephant, we chose to go as far as possible by car - which was almost as close as the elephants came.

Inside I had to keep reminding myself that this was a fort, for it looked like a palace. Indeed, the parts that were on display were the beautiful quarters for the women, the bathing areas (complete with solar water heater) and a garden on the top floor with trees and pools and a swing that was approached only by wading in the ankle deep rain water, harvested in the monsoon season. There were many inclines and few steps; the reason being, when the queen or wives of the Raj got dressed in their best gowns they weighed about 40 lbs because of all the gold and precious stones sewn into and onto it. A chair with wheels was devised to accommodate the lady and her dress to the royal perch assigned her. The king sat on his special place on an adjecent wall. The other ladies were present, but behind a marble "screen" with holes cut so they could see out, but no one could see them. These seats were on a balcony level with with "stage" on the 1st floor, but with no stair to connect the two. There they would be entertained by dancers, musicians, magicians, singers and poetry/history tellers, to mention but a few.

Of interest was the first camode in the area, for the king's use only. It resembled the plushly overstuffed leather office chairs with arms. It had a flushing system that had to be hand filled, and most important, it had a removable portion in the center to make it utilitarian. Some things never change - there was a book holder in easy reach of this contraption!!!

Next day we went to the Hindu Temple where we were told by a 40ish, nice looking man in orange and speaking perfect Eng, explained what was going on, how we could help keep the temple in good repair with a small donation and blessed us, wishing for us a long and healthy life AND painting saffron colored paste on our foreheads. There were many people praying and reading from a small book, all out loud and not by any means in unison. The result was a low hum that sounded very much in place there.

The City Palace was over and above anything I'd ever seen in sheer beauty and craftmanship. I'll have to let the pictures talk for me on this one.

Our driver, Tarun, found PC a barbershop where I found a can or hairspray for 700Rs (that's $14). I declined. He showed me the price tag - he'd paid 13Rs for it. I think he needs to find another supplier. They did a great Job on PC's hair - there were 2 barbers and one worked a while and the other finished up. It was a very nice hair cut. Then Tarun took us to a "big" grocery store - which is big here, but nothing like as big as I go to at home. All the same, it was big to us. We got fruit and cheese, bread and crackers, and strawberry icecream which We had for my birthday luncheon - well, there was no freezer and we HAD to eat it all.