May 24 – Leaving Agra, and dinner in Jaipur

Sorry for the delay on uploading my second day! The hotel where I am staying in Bangalore has been without Internet for nearly three days… and it’s hard to upload pictures from work, it’s just too busy! That said, here we go:

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I woke up after a night of deep sleep and showered, and felt extremely refreshed! After a day like yesterday, I was really looking forward to my second day of sightseeing. I was careful, even in the shower, to avoid water getting into my mouth. I’d been warned in this part of India that the waster wasn’t safe, though in a hotel as nice as the one I was staying in… I imagine it wasn’t entirely necessary!

 

I realized at the end of my last blog post I did miss one portion where we stopped in a store near the Taj Mahal, and once again when trying to buy souvenirs my bank card was flagged for fraud. It was the fifth such time in India that this had occurred, and a call to the bank from the hotel took care of it at a quite a cost! In the store I had ended up using most of my cash to buy the items I was purchasing, and needed to visit an ATM to get tip money for the guide today. The hotel was able to save me, though, and we were able use the card to withdraw enough to cover tips that day.

 

I ate breakfast at the hotel, and they actually had nice, pan-seared sausages! Most sausages here appear to be boiled, and are not crispy on the outside at all. It was a nice break from the foot at the hotel in Bangalore. Today would include a visit to Fatehpur Sikri, the so named “Ghost Capitol”, a bird sanctuary, traveling to Jaipur, a dinner that has been specially reserved by my travel agent at a local attraction, and going to sleep in a new hotel again. I’m glad I fit everything in my backpack for this part of the trip… it makes it easy to check in and check out!

 

We start by heading to Fatehpur Sikri, a city that was built in the 1500’s by emperor Akbar to serve as the capitol of his empire. It didn’t take long, however, for them to abandon the site. There hare been many assumptions as to why, but the generally accepted reason is that there were not enough water sources to support it after it was built.

 

 

The architecture here was very interesting to me, it seemed to be a mix of a few different styles, but all very heavy and thick. There was intricate detail on the wall and ceilings, as well as painted rooms and walls that had faded over time (but been restored for view in certain parts)

 

 

A building for Akbar to roam around a central point while his advisers stood along the walls

 

A bit of the paint, restored to show how it would have looked

 

A closer look at the entryway

I had the same guide as yesterday, and as we walked around he explained that Akbar had invested heavily in fortune telling, and even built an alcove specifically for his personal fortune teller to come and divine his future. The gardens here were complementary to the buildings, and while the exteriors were simple it seemed a theme that forced you to appreciate the size and weight of the accents that were present, and it was a fun sight to see.

 

 

 

At this site, a bed was erected in marble that sat feet off the ground on pillars and was made thick to buffer against noise. It was a joke to the tour guide, though I wonder how true that was. Many of the places I visited on the trip had harems, men keeping hundreds of women for company at night depending on their preference of the day or week. This city was no exception, though to his credit Akbar did create a “girls’ school” where those in the city were allowed to come and learn… however this focused mostly on things that were expected of women at the time and not on any real social agenda. The guide made many references to the girls’ school though, it was funny! Every time it went out of sight, and back into sight, he would say “there is the school for girls, over there.”, as though he had forgotten it the last time it came into view.

 

 

 

We wrapped up the tour somewhat quickly here, and said goodbye to the guide shortly after. He had been a great guide and was very informative! I did feel a bit like the tour was rushed here, the guide actually attempted to skip a building before I said “can we go in her?” and he was somewhat forced to take me into the “queen’s palace” for a quick look around. In his defense, there wasn’t much in there, but I was surprised he hadn’t offered me the opportunity! On the way out the back side though, we did walk past a worship area that would have held statues to the Gods when it was new, and I took yet another architecture picture.

 

 

 

We pulled into the bird sanctuary after a few miles down the road toward Jaipur. We were heading into the Indian state of Rajasthan, known for its agricultural areas and being, in general, even hotter than Agra. The bird sanctuary was no exception, and in nearly 115 degree heat we took a horse cart to gander (ha!) at a wide variety of different birds. Following the monsoon season, the guide would tell me, there would be so many birds in the sanctuary that you wouldn’t be able to see the lakes, even though most of the ground would be flooded at the time. Once the monsoons came, there would be thousands of birds.

 

The only problem that we had today was that the monsoons begin in a few weeks, and go on for a month or two, and with birds there aren’t a lot of early arrivals who want to stay through a few months of rain. I think we did see about forty different types of birds and some groups of eight to twenty birds of the same type! It was very pretty, and also very hot.

 

 

 

After getting into a part of the sanctuary that did still have some good standing water, I was very glad I had remembered my bug spray that morning, and as we avoided mosquitoes, we got out of the horse carriage, and went for a walk. After around a mile or perhaps two, I realized I might be in trouble. We started heading back, and my mouth went dry and I could tell I was very low on water. I hadn’t thought to bring water with me because I had thought we would be on the horse cart! The guide suggested another route to hike, and I cut the trip short by asking if we could head back so that I could get some water. I was eyeing the water that they had brought for the horse… and seriously considering if it was worse to pass out from heat exhaustion or to chance the concerns that may come from drinking from the solar-powered well they had filled the bottle from (it seemed like a better and better idea to drink it as we headed back!)

 

 

It turns out they have more than just birds!

 

 

One of the birds we saw, though I’ll admit I wasn’t much on remembering their names…

 

 

All of that said, though, I did make it back just find and didn’t have to chance either. Throughout the drive towards Jaipur (and lunch along the way) I drank two liters of water, and still felt thirsty when we got to the hotel that evening. It might have been the beer a lunch that helped with that, however, I had my mind set on something refreshing after all of that! Lunch was a quick meal of beer and garlic naan. I have an obsession with naan (which is an Indian bread much like a tortilla but more delicious in every way), and given the option I’ll eat it over just about anything else here (or at least dip it in anything else served!). Luckily, dipping naan in all sorts of sauces comes with the territory, though I’m the only person I’ve seen enjoying naan all by itself! I’m sure it happens, though… it’s too delicious not to.

 

 

This part is a bit out of order, however I didn’t want to interject into the flow above… on the way to lunch as we headed down the road to Jaipur, we turned onto another private highway that went from Agra to Jaipur. In this case, though, railroad tracks crossed it about a mile past our lunch stop, and construction had closed the road. My driver just ignored the police, went around the barricade they had made about a mile before the lunch stop, and then said we would just head back and take a side road after.

 

The side road ended up being a nearly three hour detour through local roads, and it was quite a sight to see. I thought I had seen some “real India” in Bangalore, but it was nice to get into the farmland of the agricultural districts and much smaller towns!

 

To some degree, it was all very much the same as what we drove by on the highway, but I noted that I really appreciate how colorful the sari can be. The sari is a type of dress worn here by women and is essentially one big wrap that is put together into clothing when worn (well, okay, not ever piece is part of the wrap… it is three total pieces of cloth). They come in brilliant colors, and the women here in the rural parts of India will sew their own from fabrics they either buy or print themselves with ink. It’s quite a process to see (I would see it later in Jaipur), and the end result is very nice. I caught a few of them along the way.

 

This is not a sari, actually, but I liked the dynamic!

 

 

Waiting at a train crossing… more bright colors!

 

 

 

In the end, we traveled through a few small villages, and every time we got back to the road we were again told the road was still closed, and we had to route around the closure in the smaller villages, stopping to ask for directions and being sent this way, and that way, by the locals. It was neat to see the town, capture a few shots like the below one, and eventually wind our way to Jaipur while seeing and capturing a larger portion of Indian life. Many of the pictures ended up blurry, including this one which looked amazing on the small camera screen. I thought I had captured quite a moment, and I may try to pursue making it not so blurry once I have time, I think this would have been a perfect shot.

 

 

Once we did get to Jaipur, I was surprised to see that the “Pink City” was somewhat orange overall. I meant to ask about this, but before I knew it we were are the hotel (which was the same branch as the last one and very similar in all accommodations) and I was getting out. I had about forty-five minutes before dinner, and I laid down and drank even more water. After a quick freshening up, I grabbed my camera, and headed out to Chokhi Dhani.

 

 

Chokhi Dhani is a resort and hotel that also servers dinner and, in retrospect, reminds me of a Renaissance Festival in the United States. There are shops to buy things, live shows like local dancing, a magic show, a fire breather, a puppet show, and some displays of theater. There are posed figures carved out of wood and painted that depict scenes from “a great war” that took place here (I never did find out which one!), and on top of all of that offers dinner service. The introduction in my itinerary said the following:

 

“You can experience the whole Rajasthan here, being a part of it & having fun, makes the experience more enjoyable & delightful.”

 

To say the least, this was an experience! This sentence made me a bit hesitant, and before we got there I had asked my driver what I was in for. He told me that I would enjoy it, and that everyone sat on the floor, and each got a big plate of food. He said most tourists didn’t go there, and in the past when he’d dropped people off they came back in about fifteen minutes after getting some pictures because they didn’t want to stay too long. I resolved myself immediately to doing better than these unknown people… I was told once at a job that I needed to “be comfortable being uncomfortable” in order to do well there (an IT job!), and I excelled then… I could do the same here!.

 

Well, uncomfortable was a good description, but everything started out very well. Right in the door, a guide caught me and walked me around. He explained all the different parts of the place, where to find dinner, where the attractions were, walked me through the enclosed caves (Think Casa Bonita, if you’re from Colorado) and eventually we parted ways when it was time for my dinner (you sign up for a specific time slot).

 

I headed to the dining room, where instead of the floor I had been given premium accommodation thanks to my travel agency, and got to sit at a table. I received a plate with naan, and ten bowls that appeared to be different malsala dishes, as well as some sauces I’d never seen before. They proceeded to come out and pour honey and sugar on a bowl in the middle of the plate. I received a bottle of water, and a glass full of milk.

 

I figured the milk must be to cut the heat from the dish, and took an expectant sip to see if it was just milk, I wasn’t sure! It’s a good thing I started small… it tasted very odd and after asking I found out it was a full glass of buttermilk! Nothing I would normally drink, for sure! Still, those on the far side of the room seemed to enjoy it, and as they dug in I picked up my naan and aimed it at the middle bowl.

 

“Nooooo!” the server who was walking by said, and reached to stop my hand in mid-dip. I looked at him, confused, and he pointed to three of the ten bowls.

 

“Yes, yes, yes.” he said, and then indicated the rest of the bowls. “No.”

 

Okay, got it. I was not to dip in any but these three. I did so, and soon was out of naan. The food really was fantastic. It would have helped a bit on the comfort side, though, if the server hadn’t decided I needed a guide while eating. He stood and watched me eat every single bite. When I was out of naan, they brought more, and after I had eaten that I had to refuse additional naan. I wasn’t sure now if I was full of naan or some shame at needing to have a watchful eye while I tried to experience the local cuisine!

 

Once the naan was finished, I though I was done, but we still had a few bowls left! Without too much of a delay, I was brought more food, this time a small piece of bread resembling naan, but much sweeter. This time I understood, the middle bowl was dessert. The only problem was that I was already getting full! I still have no idea what it was, but I enjoyed the dessert dish, and the man pointed to three additional bowls which all contained some variation of sweet and a bit of spice. All were good, and even though I was full I thought to ask for more, but decided they would guide me.

 

The server looked expectantly at me, and I pointed to the four (or so) remaining bowls with a question. He shook his head yes. I picked up the spoon, and started to dip into one of the bowls, and he again approached me. I stopped, and he stopped.

 

“With the spoon?” I asked, and he shook his head no.

 

“With naan?” I asked, and he shook his head no.

 

“Fingers?” I asked, and wiggled a few fingers, and he shook his head no again.

 

I waited about another ten minutes, and no additional things to dip came. I pointed again at my food, and he disappeared into the kitchen to get me a small bit of very sweet, sugary ice cream.

 

I pointed at a bowl, then at the ice cream. Again he shook his head, no. Perhaps somehow I had missed my change with those bowls. They weren’t soupy enough to drink… so I was extremely confused.

 

A few moments later, he stepped closer and said “done?”

 

I said I was, having no idea what should have been done with the remaining bowls, and he cleared the table and mostly untouched buttermilk. I smiled and thanked him, tipped well, and grabbed my camera for a few pictures outside still having very little clue about what happened at dinner.

 

I did get some great, albeit blurry pictures. Being in the dark both at dinner (metaphorically) and in Chokhi Dhani (literally), made me realize I need to work on my camera focus abilities. I typically use manual focus only in the daylight, and at night my camera attempts to shine a bright light to ensure proper focus before taking a photograph. I didn’t want to be “that guy”, so I decided I’d take a few shots while rolling the focus and one had to come close! I wasn’t that far off really. Thank goodness for digital storage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a few pictures, I realized I’d been there nearly two hours, and it was time to go. I thought about going through the maze… but I was about three feet taller than the walls (It did say “FUN FOR ADULTS” on the side, but I don’t think they meant someone as tall as me!). I headed out, found my driver down the road a way (parking was crazy there), and he dropped me back at my hotel. At one point along the drive, we were stopped by a wedding procession that spilled into the street with horses that were roped together, blocking traffic. While we waited (and everyone honked), he said I’d stayed the longest time in the restaurant at Chokhi Dhani of all the tourists he’d dropped off, and asked if I had dinner. I laughed and told him I had, tried to share the story… but there was too much lost in translation. I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought about the entire experience, though!

 

 

 

Two days down, and my trip has felt fantastic. It’s been way too hot, but I’ve had some amazing experiences and I can’t wait for my final day in Jaipur to unfold. I notice right away that I still have no cell service, but oh well… I’ll have to catch up with everyone once I’m back in Bangalore!