Sunday, January 11, 2015

An Indian Adventure: Jaipur // Bharatpur // Agra

12/12/2014 [Jaipur]
I woke up feeling pretty yucky and fluey this morning - I'm not sure whether I'm actually getting sick though, or whether it's just the pollution of a big city getting to me. Hopefully it's just my sinuses protesting about the pollution!
We took a local public transport bus to Amber Fort today. Amber is actually the next town over from Jaipur, and is where the royal family of the region used to live and the main town of the area, until the population outgrew the space and Jaipur was subsequently created.The Amber Fort complex was huge and we didn't have a guide, so I got very lost inside! There were great views of the mountains and beautiful gardens and temples from some of the higher windows, and lots of little maze-like corridors to explore.
We then jumped back onto another local bus, back towards Jaipur. Some of us went to check out Jantar Mantar, which is an observatory built by Jai Singh in 1728. I almost didn't go to the observatory, but I'm really glad I did - it absolutely blew my mind, looking at these bizarre sculptures and wondering how they came up with these ideas and concepts so many centuries ago... and these instruments are still accurate to this day!
A group of us then headed off in search of boiled eggs, but after searching the streets for several kilometers we still hadn't had any luck, so another girl and I broke off from the group and went to a local sweets shop instead. We ate our sweets as we wandered around the streets and alleyways as we like to do, taking the sights and sounds and smells of this city. We then found a little Indian coffee house which appeared to be full of locals, so we stopped for a coffee and ended up staying for several hours, just chatting. I really enjoy conversation with this girl - there is very little small talk, and lots of meaningful conversation. Eventually we headed back out into the craziness of the main street, and found an amazing little  bookshop where we both spent quite a long time browsing through the eclectic collection of books... I may have 'accidentally' bought yet another book... oops!
We realised that it's a Friday today (it's so easy to lose track of days while you're traveling!), so we all decided to head out for dinner and drinks together. We headed to a bar called the Blackout Lounge, where they had happy hour two-for-one cocktails and really yummy food, as well as a great view over the city. We definitely made the most of happy hour, and had lots of fun and laughs over dinner... but I have a feeling we may pay for this tomorrow morning!

13/12/2014 [Jaipur - Bharatpur]
We had another early start and another crazy tuk-tuk driver today - I almost felt like we were in a real-life game of Mario Kart, as our tuk-tuk driver was clearly racing the other drivers and had no qualms about driving straight towards oncoming traffic and careening around corners at high speed! We had a four hour bus ride to our next destination, and found it amusing that one of the 'special features' of the bus was advertised as 'dust free'. It was a very cold and miserable morning, blanketed in grey fog which stuck around for the entire day.
There is nothing much to do in Bharatpur, other than a tour of the local bird sanctuary. I'm not a huge fan of birds (except flamingos of course!), so I crawled into the super comfy bed and snuggled up under the warm doona, as I was feeling pretty awful with my cold - turns out it wasn't just the pollution, unfortunately.
After reading and napping for a few hours, I ventured downstairs to the single room where we proceeded to squeeze nine of us into a queen sized be to watch Aladdin. It was an awesome and relaxing afternoon, and even though we didn't leave the hotel it was nice to just chill out and take it easy for a while. The hotel staff lit a bonfire later in the evening, so we migrated out there for a while before having dinner and heading to bed. It was a pretty uneventful day, but I guess it was a good chance to rest up before we head to Agra tomorrow!

14/12/2014 {Bharatpur - Agra]
We had a fairly short bus trip tp Agra this morning - only an hour and a half, which seemed to fly by after some of our longer journeys lately! Before heading to our hostel, we stopped at the Red Fort which was amazing. Our group leader is an incredible story teller, and he explained the history of the fort and what different sections were used for. I enjoy wandering around these places and letting my imagination run wild, thinking about the stories these buildings must have seen played out over the years. We also stopped at yet another textiles warehouse, which I'm getting tired of - mostly because it makes me feel awkward and almost obliged to buy something. This place was WAY out of my price range though, so I couldn't even be guilted into buying a handmade rug, even though they were very beautiful.
We eventually made it to our hotel - I'm in the single room again because I'm still feeling pretty crappy and don't want to make anyone else sick. My room is actually quite amusing - at first glance, it looks like any other hotel room in India... pretty basic, questionable cleanliness and a tiny bathroom. But when you turn around, someone has got a bit artistic and sponge-painted an entire wall with gold paint and glitter!
This afternoon was arguably the highlight of my trip so far... we spent several hours at the Taj Mahal and it was breathtakingly beautiful, despite the yucky grey day. It was yet another surreal moment for me, standing before the Taj Mahal in all its majestic beauty. There were thousands and thousands of other tourists there, which wasn't really an issue until we decided to have a look at the inner sanctum, which has replica tombs placed directly above where the real tombs would be located underground. It was absolutely awful in there! They let hundreds of people in at once, so everyone is jammed into a small dark room with a single bare lightbulb suspended way up above. It's like being in a pitch black moshpit, without the music; everyone is pushing and shoving and jostling, trying to catch a glimpse of the tombs. All I saw was the sweaty back of an Indian man's tshirt... the perils of being rather short! I came pretty close to having a panic attack in there because I was feeling so crowded and claustrophobic, but thankfully the guards opened the door and let us all back out into the open air before I lost it. So I definitely would never repeat that experience - but to be honest, even if someone had warned me about what it would be like in there, I still would have gone in anyway... some things you just need to learn the hard way. At least I can now say that I've been inside the Taj Mahal!
I am becoming increasingly tired and frustrated with the constant bombardment of attention... the sneaky photos, the not-so-sneaky photos, the filming, the uninvited touching, and the total lack of personal space and privacy. I don't like being a spectacle and I generally shy away from the spotlight in these kind of situations, so I do get overwhelmed and frustrated sometimes. I try to remind myself that I am a guest in this country though, and it's not something to take to heart.

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