Rachna was shocked the previous night to hear about how badly we were getting ripped off, the only thing she could genuinely confirm for us was the quality and price we paid for my saree’s, thank god!
We set off at around 11am, leaving Tom at the hostel. A later start than planned, my stomach has a way of disagreeing with early starts & Indian food, but thankfully seemed to settle down quickly with no intervention.
My first lesson for today was how to bargain for a tuk tuk. Being from Indian and having visited Jaipur before, Rachna was more aware of the general costings and distance we would be traveling. With this knowledge & her own experience she drove a hard bargain, refusing 3 tuk tuks until finally finding the one that would take us to a local market at her price.
Unfortunately the local market would be closed down due to a Muslim celebration called Eid, symbolising the end of Ramadan. I had noticed before this the presence of police & the army walking through the streets, a measure taken to diffuse and tensions between Hindu and Muslim people on this day of celebration.
We hopped into another tuk tuk headed into the centre of Jaipur and another market next to an iconic landmark for Jaipur called the Hawamahal. Rachna was shocked we hadn’t seen this yesterday in our sight seeing & was determined I should see it today to complete my Jaipur experience.
Built in 1799 AD by the Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, the Hawamahal, or also known as the palace of winds is a sight of architectural splendour overlooking on of the main streets. The palace is in honour of lord Krishna & is shaped like the crown that adorns Lord Krishna’s head. It is 5 stories high and full of intricately carved and strategically placed windows and corridors, you instantly realise why it is called the palace of wind. Each level has its own name and story, the real treat is the city view offered from the top of the building as well as the view from the front of the building.
I was very grateful that Rachna has shown me this.
The day passed by rather quickly with my successful purchases from 3 markets being 2 dresses, 1 a traditional Rajasthani print, a pair of traditional pointed leather shoes, souvenirs and some traditional Rajasthani puppets. Rachna is a fierce lady & I learnt a lot about shopping, bartering & realised how badly we must have been getting ripped off. Rachna explained even an Indian shopping with a westerner will not get the best deals in comparison to an Indian shopping by themselves.
At the third market we stopped for some cold lemonade that an Indian lady was hand making. I was confused by Rachna questioning me about how I like my lemonade, my reply must have been confusing for her when I simply replied “cold”. My lemonade was cold, as well as sour, sweet, refreshing and shockingly spicy! The first mouthful was rather unexpected & I couldn’t help but screw my face up in shock! Of course lemonade in India would be spicy. I was able to finish & enjoy the rest of my drink with no more uncontrolled facial expressions.
We returned to the hostel just after 2pm, which was enough time for a nap before going out at 3pm with our tuk tuk driver.
3pm arrived and our tuk tuk driver wasn’t where we had agreed to meet him, we waited another 10 minutes before leaving a message with the hostel reception & going to get something to eat. I had started to experience some stomach pains again which I thought was hunger pains. We decided to try some western food & avoid spice for a day or so, heading to a local pizza hut for pizza & pasta! A delicious meal with no regrets. Unfortunately though not the cure for my stomach pains which continued & intensified.
When we arrived back at the hostel just before 4pm the tuk tuk driver was waiting for us. He had received the message from reception about our abscense which also insisted that he not wait around for us. He was being rather argumentative, contradicting his original story by lying to us & stating that he had been waiting since 2.40pm and complainng about lack of business. With my stomach pains & his behaviour the previous day & now arguing with us, despite our generous tip, I decided that I didn’t want to go out this evening or give him anymore business. Tom backed me up & we firmly declined all of his offers for that night and the next day.
We retired to the hostel’s roof top balcony for some cold drink’s, Tom drinking beer of course while I drank water or juice & watched the sun set. After the sun set we ordered some houka, simple grilled sandwiches & were joined by Rachna. We spent a good hour or so chatting about school life and the traditional vs slow changing progressive upbringing of some Indian Children. All of a sudden I was seized by an overwhelming wave of nausea that had me running to the upstairs bathroom. The visit to the bathroom would not provide me with any relief and I would have to retire to the dorm room and sleep, which was disturbed multiple times that night by my bodies need to vomit or diarrhoea.
Tom's night proved to be a lot nicer by his admirable gut immunity & easy ability to make friends anywhere in the world and drink beers in abundance. It was not long after midnight before he would join me in the dorm.
- Alli
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