24/03/19 Today we left the volunteering house. The crew came to say goodbye and it was our last chance to thank them for how they took good care of us, and congratulate them for the amazing work they do at the animal sanctuaries.
After 6h of driving we reached Jaipur. We chilled for a few hours and got ready for a nice dinner at Farzi Café, a great fusion restaurant. I had the most spicy food so far in India (the best cottage cheese and spicy raita buns), I was warned by the waiter when I ordered, but it was so delicious and so well presented I thought the potential stomach ache would all be worth it ?. They use some molecular cuisine techniques for the wow effect and served the butter chicken in a red London phone booth, as it is where it originates from apparently.
There was a bit of live music as well and we convinced our guide with her beautiful voice to sing a little with the lady at the microphone. We enjoyed the dance floor before heading back to the hotel for the night. It is really nice to have a good group dynamic, we all get along well so every day is really pleasant, despite the age gap between us, some in their early 20’s and others in their late 60’s.
25/03/19 A full day of Jaipur visit today. We start with the wind palace from the outside, a 5 level building with no basement structure. The king who built it was a well educated guy who built this for the girls from the age of 8, separated from their parents to receive privileged education. Not only queens but any other girl who might become a princess of other kingdoms would come here.
It is called wind palace thanks to all the small windows and the way they are positioned, in a way that when the strong wind blows, it flows well through like a maze without the risk of the building collapsing.
Next we stopped by the city palace, built in 1777 by a smart guy who spoke 16 languages. He was a mathematician, good architect and built this palace as the house of queens, where not only queens but all the beautiful women around the king could were staying. There are multiple museum rooms where we could see things like polo equipment, a polo ball used by the women so they could play at night, away from men (metal ball in which the ladies would put a candle), clothes worn by the successive kings, scarves, hats (i.e turbans that were required for anyone who is entering the palace), tunics worn by queens. There was this king who created a drug and tried it on himself, with the side effect that he put on a lot (a lot) of weight. Some of his clothes were on display, you would not believe they belonged to a normal human being.
There is an armoury section where we saw all the weapons used in time of war. Guns, knifes poisoned rings and everything in between.
On our way to the Jal Mahal palace, we saw a snake charmer but nobody gave him any money. After learning how the charmers treat their pets, none of us wanted to encourage him.
We also spotted an elephant with a rider on his back walking in the hectic traffic. No need to mention that we also felt really bad about it after spending time with the rescued ones at the sanctuary.
We had lunch at a restaurant on the road and even though our leftovers were given to the beggars outside, they still asked for money instead.
The driver took us to Jaipur fort, from where we had a beautiful view on the entire city. It was really hot up there. There were monkeys running around and a giant stepwell that is used by the students when they want to get drunk.
In the afternoon we stopped for an hour at the markets where I bought some gem stones at a shop our guide recommended to us. I was hoping to buy a sapphire but the ones they had at the shop were too dark for my taste so I asked what other blue stones they had. They showed me nice and clear ones that were pretty cheap. I doubted they were sapphires but decided to buy 2 little ones. I asked if I could get a certificate for them and they said yes. I gave them my money but they did not want to give me change straight away, as I asked for aqua coloured stones too, which they didn’t have on site so they called a friend who was on his way to bring some. They didn’t understand much of English so our guide had to translate everything and helped me with the conversation, which made me really uncomfortable. I asked for the origin of the stones I purchased and the seller was very confusing. He didn’t really know and kept saying that India does not have mines anymore. That is comes from overseas. I didn’t care much where it was from, I just wanted to know, and I was hoping to get a certificate first to attest that I am not scammed and second in case customs question what I cary in my suitcase. After telling me that the stones were from Sri Lanka then Africa he said the stones should be inspected by someone to have a certificate delivered. So I gave up on the certificate, and asked for a receipt at least, so I would have their details on it, which they accepted. They made it so hard and didn’t seem to have much respect for me in that shop that I didn’t want to buy anymore. Becky who was there with us too was looking for something in particular which they did’t have either. But their ‘friend on the way’ seemed to have it but Becky was not sure to buy either, they also asked for a higher price, then were happy to let it go for half price which was still too high for her. We felt both so uncomfortable we just wanted to leave. I ended up buying the ones I liked because it was not a lot of money (though I am unsure what the stones are ?) but after spending almost 45 minutes there we hoped to see a bit of the market. But it was overwhelming out there, sellers trying to get you inside there shops every 5 meter, make you sit down and offering tea. I felt so pushed and didn’t have much time left (10 minutes to look at some clothes) I gave up and decided I will check more of them in Delhi when we get back, as all the regions have different styles and I seem to like more the clothes in Delhi shops anyway.
On the way back we stopped by a liquor shop to buy some for the desert night, and we had to hide the bottles as the hotel we are staying has a no alcohol policy and does not allow non vegetarian food inside.
For dinner Lexa took us to a place where some scenes of the Marigold Hotel movie have been filmed. It is called Bar Palladio, beautifully decorated with a nice terrace outside, a nice bar and an Italian à la carte menu. I had mushroom gnocchis which reminded me of the ones I shared with Flo a Sunday afternoon in Sydney a long time ago.
