Tilen the tuk-tuk driver

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Jaipur view from an old watch tower

Came late. Got really lost this time. We were doing circles in the city because

  1. they have a 6 lane road converted to one way,
  2. no one knew where our hotel was. Every person we asked said “straight and then right!”.

We arrived at Anuraag Villa with rickshaw escort. Of course the first thing he said stepping our of the tuk-tuk: ‘tomorrow i pick you up for sightseeing day with rickshaw!’. They always find something wrong with your choice of transport “motorbike no good,drive to fast; bus is to many people; other rickshaw no know the best place for quality and cheap prices…”

The only english speaking person there was the receptionist Om, but most of the staff was delightful. He’s a straight up honest guy who helped us with a lot of things. He made me realize one of those simple but effective practices: For the truth, ask the receptionist-he’s the only one there who’s not being payed by you (if he’s not getting provision from carpet/bedding/jewel sale like the rickshaws do).

The plan was to first check out the Pink City (fancy name for old city center), Amber fort and Water palace and then procede to Pushkar ASAP. In the morning our plan evaporated instantly when we saw a pond of oil under the bike. Tilen went investigating and I gathered information. Om?!

Oil leaked from the air filer tube. Wait. Oil in the air filter? How the hell did it get there? It turns out it should be there, but is shouldn’t leak. Don’t ask me why. :)  Got the bike to the Royal Enfield Korner (at the Ajmeri Gate) with Om’s help. I just remembered-he gave us 1/2 litter of oil and didn’t charge anything for it. Om’s the man! :)

So we fixed the bike – full oil change + air filter + oil filter cleaning and… Oh,look… We’ve busted the rear bearing. Damn indian roads! So + beaing + break rubbers + work = 2200 Rp. They said the oil’s expensive. We still feel cheated – no recommendation for you Mr. R.E.Korner. Oh, and it’s written Corner, not Korner.

Sightseeing

A crazy Tuk-tuk driver that was singing Justin Bieber

Pink city- nothing special. Just an old square city wall that’s full of shops. On the way back, Tilen got to drive an auto-rickshaw. That was exciting though it didn’t last long because Tilen drove the front wheel into a hole almost immediately and the driver got scared. :)

The pigeons in front are fun to play with

Inside look of the Palace entrance Amber Fort.

Amber fort (16km north of Jaipur) – a majestic fort that’s worth the ticket (200Rp or 100Rp for student.I’m glad I got the ISIC card). Almost all parts of the fort are open for visitors so you can walk through narrow corridors and get lost easily. It’s fun, but you need at least an hour in it and maybe a guide just that you don’t miss the big rooms in somewhere in the middle. What? Yes,yes… We’ve missed them. *ashamed*

Psittacula krameri - one of those wanted a photoshooting with Tilen

Another thing that irritated me is that we couldn’t get one of those great looking pictures that you find with Google search. They’re taken from an impossible angle and you just cant get to the same point in the fort. Maybe a helicopter? Maybe they were taken from an neighbouring hill.

Water palace is a nice sight. But that’s all. You cant go in, only access is by boat. So you stand on the edge of the lake,trying to get an average photo in the best sunset light possible. With at least 5 other people trying to do the same.

Anuraag Villa
In order to visit the sights we had to stay one more night in Jaipur. The hotel is the nicest we’ve stayed so far, and most expensive too(790Rp/night). But don’t get me wrong: it’s worth every penny. It’s ultra clean and nicely decorated. And again the first place where they change bed sheets daily.

Om, our very good friend at Anuraag Vila

Because we’ve checked out before, the cheapest rooms were now already taken. So we got a better, bigger room with a (generous) discount. I guess it’s part of India’s diversity – you get cheated a lot but one in a while you stumble upon a person that makes you feel safe and comfortable like at home.

Om, thank you for helping us. Your friendliness is the highlight of our memory of Jaipur.

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