Jaipur-Delhi-Across Northern India-Darjeeling

Alright .... so a lot has happened since I last updated so I will try and be brief about it all.

Jaipur was a really fun town. The First night there Teresa and I got an insiders tour of Jaipur with a rickshaw driver named Shakir. He was 21 and spoke pretty good English (as well as Hindi, Rajastani, and French) and he knew a ton about Jaipur.





We first went up to the Monkey Temple or Temple of the Sun God which overlooked Jaipur. It was pretty amazing to finally be out of the hustle and bustle of the city streets and see how massive the City of Jaipur really is. The sun was setting and you could hear the sounds of 3 million people below us living their lives. Hindi music blaring, kids playing cricket, horns...of course there was lots and lots of horns. In addition to all the shrines and temples along the walk up to the monkey temple there was also a bit of wild life, lots of monkeys, cows, dogs, rats and even a Cobra that a guy was charming out of a basket.







After the Monkey temple we headed to the Water Palace which was glowing a magnificent pink color by this time in the evening. We only stopped here for a few minutes to take a few photos and then Shakir took us to a factory where they hand sew floor rugs. Now this is a crazy time consuming process. We got to see all the different steps, from where they were sewn, to where the where trimmed and melted from behind. Very interesting to see all the hard work that goes into making one of those rugs that costs so much back home. Of course at the end they did try and sell one to us, and at a very good price (probably 1/6 of what you'd pay in the U.S.) but we have no use for a rug of that size at the moment. We also got to see some beautiful Saris and Shawls from the textile plant up stairs but we didn't bother purchasing any of those either.

Then Shakir took us to the "real" Jaipur as he called it. We went to the market where no tourist really goes. And this was the place to be that night. Thousand of people crowded the street, by foot, by rickshaw, by bike. People everywhere. There were Dead animals hanging from booths, animals in cages or tied down ready to be slaughtered, fresh food piled high, incense burning, Hindi music blaring, horns honking. This place was really alive. Full of color and smells. It was fund just experiencing that for a while.


The next day we did some more "touristy" things. We started by visiting some amazing marble tombs of some of the Kings of Jaipur. They were each ornately carved by hand and they were massive.


Then it was onto the Amber Fort, probably the most touristy place yet. There was about a 15 minute walk up to the fort where buses were unloading tourists who were immediately being surrounded by touts...and the amazing thing is these tourists were actually buying the crap that they were having shoved in their faces. I guess that's what happens when you're stuck on a bus all the time... no real choice as where to shop.

Anyways, Teresa and I spent a long time wandering around this massive fort. There are endless hallways and door ways to go through and we managed to see most of the fort and make our way out with out a guide.

After the fort Shakir took us to a little locals only place for some lunch. It's amazing that no matter where you are in India that people are so welcoming and willing to help (for the most part). Without a clue to what we were ordering we had some food suggested for us and we agreed. It was some of the best food thus far but after lunch I started feeling a little ill so Teresa and I decided to go back and take a lil nap in the Hotel.

This is where things started to take an ugly turn. Within an hr or so I had a raging fever and it continued for the next couple of days along with a sore throat, runny nose, and a cough that I still have today... We ended up having to miss our train as I was going on my 3rd day with a high fever and I wanted to see a doctor. Luckily we were able to stay in our hotel for 1 more night and that day I got some much needed antibiotics and some more rest.

That day we also spent frantically trying to book other train tickets since we were now stuck in Jaipur with no hotel for the next day. The Internet at the hotel was being really fickle and despite numerous attempts we were unable to book a train to anywhere.

The next day we woke up checked out of the hotel and walked down to the train station hoping for the best. We were in luck! Some how we managed to book a train for that day to Delhi and then from Delhi to New jalpaiguri(which is near Darjeeling) the next day.

We arrived back in Delhi at Midnight and went to 5 different hotels till we finally found one with an open room. It had to be one of the worst places to stay in Delhi. Small dank rooms, hadn't been cleaned in years.. People sleeping on the floor...funky smells and noises coming from everywhere... It was just plain gross. Luckily we only had to stay for a couple hours until we went to catch our train so we slept very lightly and uncomfortably for that night.

The next day our train left from the Old Delhi Station, and turns out our train had been delayed for 6 hours. Good thing we arrived at 5am! There are absolutely no white people at the Old Delhi station and spent the whole morning getting stars and comments etc.

Luckily we met a really nice guy from Manali who helped reassure us that we were indeed waiting on the correct platform(it had changed 4 times earlier that morning) and with some luck and some pushing we finally made it onto our train, which was to be our home for then next 37hrs. Teresa and I both had the top bunks in our berth and it was nice to kind of have our own space...but the grumpy old men underneath us never sat up long enough to allow us to sit down there and enjoy the view very much...

So after 37 hrs on the train we arrived in New jalpaiguri at 11:45pm and found a hotel to sleep in for the night. This hotel was clean and close to the train station but had one peculiar thing about it...if BLARED weird Hindi chants and bells and drums from megaphones on top of its roof all night long. Somehow we managed to sleep though the night and caught a car up to Darjeeling in the morning.

The drive up here, although very beautiful, was kind of a scary one. lots of cliffs and narrows sections where I swear we were either going off the side or into an on coming truck.

We made and and found a nice little hotel for 7 dollars a night and we are off to do some exploring. Just thought I'd give a quick update! (yes pictures soon I promise!!)