Day 9 – From Jaipur to Agra

We’re on a sleeper train! Except we boarded at 6am and we’re disembarking at 10am. Our chair class tickets got changed to sleeper cars. While initially terrifying, now that we’re all settled the general consensus is that they’re not bad… save for Dan, who got stuck on a top bunk and isn’t too thrilled about it.

Unlike sleeper cars in Europe that are usually a separate room with four bunks, these aren’t divided off from the others. The side bunks are three high (I’m in the middle), and then there are two more on the opposite side of the aisle, for a total of eight bunks per section. The bunks and provided blankets aren’t exactly clean, but they give you fresh sheets so it’s not bad.

We’re on our way to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal! We’re departing Jaipur. Jaipur is different from Delhi in a few ways: the auto-rickshaws seat three (comfortably – we piled six people into one, plus the driver, after a tire blew on one of them), whereas in Delhi they only seat two (again, comfortably – there aren’t any hard-and-fast rules about anything here); people aren’t taking pictures of me here like they were in Delhi, although the stares haven’t decreased; and the merchants are way more aggressive.

The only way to get the message through to someone is to not even acknowledge they exist, which is difficult when they walk in front of you, waving Indian puppets in your face, or stop their rickshaw in front of you as you’re trying to cross the street. “No!” means “Yes I’d love to buy that!” “I have no money” means “I’m lying, of course I have money and I’d love to buy that!” and “No, we’re walking” means “Yes, I’d love to get in your rickshaw, but I want you to follow me down this alley just for fun!”

It’s hard seeing the beggars, especially the children. Three year old girls taught to pull on your pantleg and beg, and they’re just filthy. It’s heartbreaking because they probably will never amount to anything. Unless they turn out to be absolutely gorgeous and Prince Charming swoops in to rescue them from a life of poverty, they’ll probably have daughters of their own doing exactly the same in ten years. If the government of India wanted to help its people, its best bet would be to start with free birth control for everyone.

On the flip side, not everyone is relegated to a life of extreme poverty if they set their mind to it. Born without legs? No problem, you can pedal your rickshaw with your hands!

On the morning train to Jaipur two days ago, Dinesh gave us the rundown on where to shop for what. Jaipur is for jewelry and art, Agra is for leather, and Varanasi is for silks and saris. So what did I do with my free time in Jaipur? Why, scoured the markets for the perfect silver jewelry, of course!

On Saturday, after our train got into Jaipur, we headed to our adorable hotel. A courtyard in the back and a garden and yard in the front, it was a little slice of sanctuary in an otherwise chaotic city. And it was finally warm enough to strip down to t-shirts!

After we got settled, we ventured out to the City Palace. The best part was the weapons gallery, where I got bored of the audio tour and ended up with a personal tour guide. The coolest ones all were combo-weapons, like a knife that fires a bullet after you stab someone, or canes with guns built into them. Tons of them were encrusted with rubies and emeralds and were for ceremonial use only.

After lunch at the City Palace, we headed into the markets to shop. Wandering through the lengths of shops and stopping at most of the jewelry stores, I found the most amazing necklace and bracelet. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen, which is exactly what I wanted. If I’m going to bother packing/shipping something home, I need the reaction to it to be “WOW! Where did you get that?!” That’s what this necklace and bracelet is. Coin-size irregular discs of hammered silver, strung two wide on the bracelet and five wide at the widest point of the necklace. I love it! I left it on Sunday to think about it overnight.

On Monday, we went to the Amber Fort, which is a giant labyrinth of courtyards and hallways and staircases. About halfway through the tour, I stopped to put my watch in my backpack as Julian and a couple of others stopped to take a picture. When I turned around they were gone, and I had no idea where they went. The part that I got left behind at had no fewer than ten different ways to go, so I stayed put hoping they’d realize I was gone and come back and get me.

After waiting for over 25 minutes, I became concerned that they might not realize at all that I was missing. I headed to the entrance to wait for them, because at least I could see them when they left. We were a long way from the hotel, the name and address of which I wasn’t even sure of anyway. After over 50 minutes of being lost, I finally heard Michael, Steen and Louise shouting at me from a courtyard.

What had happened is that shortly after I got left behind, the group split up to take pictures, and were supposed to meet back in one spot after 15 minutes. Before they dispersed, Dinesh asked if everyone was there and someone said yes. He should have been doing a headcount, or Shauna should have checked for me, as we’d been buddied-up previously.

Regardless, I was soon found and that’s all that matters. Dinesh said in four years that’s never happened, and he’s been really good about doing headcounts since. With 14 people, it’s easy to think that everyone is there.

After the Amber fort, we headed back to the markets, and I went back to negotiate a deal on the necklace and bracelet, and I bartered the not-completely-unreasonable starting price of Rs 17000 down to Rs 10380. Still a small fortune – and by India’s standards, more than three months’ wages for a bellboy in a hotel – but I knew if I left without it I’d regret it forever.

After that, Dinesh took Julian and I to shop for bangles. There are lots for sale in the markets and they’re cheap (both in price and in quality), but these were special shops with high-quality bangles. Imagine a room filled with shelves filled with stacks of bangles that are completely made of rhinestones. These are probably the shops that brides-to-be shop at. I went with two solid-rhinestone bracelets, and two that are clear and brown rhinestones in a really pretty pattern. Love them!

In a different shop, you could buy skinny bangles at Rs 35 for 12, which is insanely good bang for your buck. I bought ten sets of 12, all different colours, and the total was less than $10. The wide bangles are called kada (plural kade), and the skinny bangles are chudi (chudiya).

Now I have to mail stuff home, because I had absolutely no room in my backpack for souvenirs. Life is hard!

After stopping for lunch at the Rainbow Cafe (whose postal address actually includes “Near Post Office”), and then back to the hotel, we ventured back into town to head to the Raj Mandir theatre to see a Bollywood film.

The theatre only has one screen and the movie playing that night was 3 Idiots. The stars are all Bollywood royalty, and the movie’s been a huge success. It’s three hours long with an intermission, and the language is “Hinglish” (Hindi + English). While hard to follow at times, I was luckily seated next to Dinesh, who kept me afloat of the storyline and jokes.

While we were lining up outside, we learned that the huge group of girls waiting near us had traveled 700kms to see the movie. They were so cute, and if you waved they’d all wave back.

Post-movie, we went to McDonald’s. Since Hindus don’t eat beef, nearly the entire menu was chicken, including the Majaraja Mac (India’s alternative to the Big Mac). Not super impressed with it but oh well; the patties were gross and not really very chicken-y. The fries tasted exactly the same as at home, which is almost kind of eerie. They also give you an option for “Shake Shake Fries,” which is a paper bag that you dump your fries and a seasoning packet into, resulting in spicy fries. Not bad, but I think I like the original better.

Then we headed back to the hotel to get to bed for today’s early start.