The Pink City

Hello from Jaipur, also known as Pink City (Well actually if you wanna get technical, we’re in Agra now…I’m a little behind). Jaipur is split up into old city and new city and we have spent the last 2 days exploring and touring all around. When we got off the plane I immediately fell in love with this city. It is definitely crowded like Mumbai but not nearly as bad and it is beautiful. There is so much more greenery. But it is also hot hot hot here. The first thing we noticed is that there are a ton of cows here! Probably cause there is more room for them to wander but seriously, they are everywhere.

We stayed at a nice hotel that’s under intense security. A few years ago India had some terrorist activity that involved hotels so they enhanced the security. Every time we drive in the guard checks for bombs or whatever and once we walk in the doors we have to go through one of those security scanner walkways. When you walk in the hotel they have this awesome greeter dude with a sweet mustache and everyone does “Namaste” to you. Everyone.  All the time. So we’ve grown accustomed to doing it back. I love it. We sat down to check in and they put little red dots on our forehead as a “welcome” and gave us a damp towel to help us cool off. The service here is impeccable. Everywhere we go in India from the greeter, to the driver, to the waiters…they are so respectful and so on the ball. Amazing service. I don’t know if it’s because we’re American or what. Because we’re traveling with an Indian elder (Kirsten’s grandpa, Shyam), and Kirsten who looks pretty Indian, I’m kinda like the ugly duckling so they normally serve me last, speak to me last, etc. Which is totally fine, it’s just interesting.

Lets talk about our driver. His name is Kundan and WE LOVE HIM. Best driver we’ve had yet. He is so smiley and nice and respectful and his peppy little personality makes my day. He’ll be our driver for the rest of the time until we go to Chennai. He is like a driver tour guide. He took us to a Hindu temple that was absolutely beautiful. It was pouring rain and out of respect we had to take our shoes off and the temple was made of marble so it was some slippery business. It was so fun though. Normally I think sightseeing is kinda boring but so far, especially in Jaipur, it’s been really cool and interesting.

Kundan, our awesome driver. 

  We walked around the temple and took a ton of pictures and while we were taking pictures we saw these Indian guys who kept starring at us. This happens all the time though so we’re used to it and it’s actually pretty funny cause they never do anything, they just have no shame in starring. We would go to take a picture by the stairs, they would too. We would go take a picture on the side of the temple and they just happened to be there taking one too. Then we went inside the temple to watch people worship when…who sits like 5 feet away? You guessed it. Our future husbands. They kept glancing at us so naturally we knew they were creeping on us but we couldn’t understand their Hindi. When we left to go outside and take more pictures they were floating around once again and next thing we know, Kirsten’s grandpa called to us and told us to come over to him…and he was with our stalkers. Oh buddy. Long story short, out of respect they asked the elder if they could take pictures with us. We swore we saw them pay grandpa but he says they didn’t… So here’s a picture of Kirsten getting her picture taken with one of them:

We did some other sightseeing at a cool building with a lot of pigeons and at a sundial place but lets talk about what you’ve all been waiting for…WE RODE AN ELEPHANT!! We rode it up to this place called Amber Fort which is an old palace with a cool hall of mirrors. It was enjoyable and great that we can cross that off our bucket list of life but the whole time we were bugged by these guys that were trying to sell us their pens, elephants, handmade blankets, umbrellas, etc. No matter how many times you tell people no here, especially if you’re an American, they don’t leave you alone. They brought out the worst in us. So because of that the elephant ride wasn’t too memorable, but hey, the fact that we did it was very cool. Then we toured the fort with our also awesome tour guide. 

And WE SAW A SNAKE CHARMER. I felt like I was in Aladdin. He had us touch his snake and asked us to put it around our necks which we were way too afraid to do. His snakes name was Carlos. CARLOS. So we pet Carlos and it was scary.

On our way back we were going to ride a camel but found out it was illegal so we just took a picture on a camel. Guys. CAMELS ARE SCARY. Like not stable at all. We were clinging on for dear life when the camel lifted itself up once we got on. You know those moments when you prepare for death and you see your life flash before your eyes? Yeah. That was one of those moments. 

We also took a tour of a textile factory (it was like one room) where everything is dyed by hand and the dyes are made from vegetables. We also saw rug makers and learned that it takes 6 months to make one rug. Then we went in their shop. Oh boy. We didn’t leave for like 3 hours. We’ve been saving up though because everyone said the place to buy saree’s, salwar’s, scarfs, etc. is in Jaipur. So this was our time. The workers at the store were extremely hospitable and they took pictures and put them on their wall of all the people who come in from different countries. While Kirsten was fulfilling her life dream and getting fitted for a saree, I was bonding with my homeboy, Shyam the saree shop worker. He was a nice young Indian man who clearly wanted me to mother his children. We bonded for like an hour while he asked me about America and helped me pick out some awesome textiles. If I bring him back to American mom and dad, make sure you welcome him with open arms. Hahahaha kidding, kidding.

Our future Indian hubby Shyam is on the far left. He's small sized, it's fine.

Now let me rant for just one line: I AM SO TIRED OF PEOPLE TRYING TO GET MONEY FROM ME. That is all.

Now I must end my blog and extend love and dedication to one of my most favorite things I have come across while journeying in India: Smiley Potatoes. They are literally smiling potatoes. Potatoes shaped like smiley faces. I will eat them all day every day.