However that relief was to be short lived as my experience of India didn't change much. I missed a tour of the spice markets because the tuk tuk driver who told me he knew the way to my pick up point, took me five minutes down the road away from the other tuk tuks, and then decided he didn't know where it was after all and that I had to get out. He didn't charge me and luckily I knew my way back, which is at least something, but I missed my trip as I had to walk back to the hostel to try and get a taxi, by which time it was too late.
*Empty space where spice market pics would have been*
Having been let down I decided to get back out there and do something that wouldn't rely on anyone else, there must be some good people in this country right?! So off I went to get a suit and some shirts made in Connaught Square which was walking distance from my hostel. I managed to find it easily and checked out a number of tailors. There are lots of scams here too as I sadly found out. Some pretend that you're getting a bespoke suit but when you get into the detail it becomes apparent that they are just adjusting an off the rack number. Also there are others who will quote you a price and then say that the material isn't included, despite having discussed the inclusion of the material at length. That was a complete waste of time having trekked half way across town to use their services only to have to go back again to the tailor that actually offered the best deal.
I did however get a good tailor (I think) just off Connaught Square who created a two piece suit and two custom shirts to my designs, for around £90. Turns out that the tailor wasn't that great and didn't make any of the alterations I had asked for. It's really frustrating as it's another example of where I've agreed something and paid for it, only to have the person I'm dealing with not complete his side of the deal. There's just so little integrity, trust or honour in the way they do business here.
I then headed on my way to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort.
The Taj Mahal was amazing, it's massive! The detailed inlay of the marble was astonishing. I felt so small next to it, like I had been shrunken to the size of an action figure. Even thinking about how it was built is mind boggling. I can see why it's one of the seven wonders of the world. Agra Fort and other monuments were cool too, but after the Taj Mahal it was hard to be as amazed by them.
I'm not going to go into every scam I've come across in this country, because it would be an unending post, but I'm pretty sure that the hotel in Agra gave me food poisoning to try and make me stay there longer. I'd heard of this happening, but didn't believe it until now. It just sounded too far fetched and paranoid. I ate a pasta dish from the hotel and within moments felt the effects. Like how hard is it to cook pasta right?! When I was leaving they made this whole deal about me drinking coffee (which has a laxative effect) with them, but when it came they didn't even speak to me, they just made sure I drank it.
After taking a lot of drugs, I got my train to Jaipur. Again I had paid for a hostel to avoid staying in one of the hotels I'd been booked into by the con men I met at the beginning of my trip (see blog on Kashmir for details). It's a small amount, but it is totally worth it. The hostels have been better than the hotels for sure. By far my favourite of all the Indian hostels I visited was Moustache Jaipur. The staff are really helpful, there's local amenities, there are lots of great board games and the layout is bright, clean and colorful, plus they offer free drinking water which is heaven, or at least feels like it by the time I get here. It's also the first place I get to meet other travelers, which certainly helps lift my mood and stops me feeling as lonely. More over a lot of them had similar experiences to mine and this made me feel a little less victimized and paranoid. Normally I'm fine on my own, but after such a rough time it was nice to be making friends again and enjoying an evening on the rooftop. Seriously if you go to Jaipur you have to stay at Moustache.
In terms of sight seeing, I did a day at an elephant village which had been recommended to me, as I had heard horror stories from friends about ones in Thailand. Raju who works there obviously cares about the elephants and they are well looked after and they are all bread for the purpose not taken from the wild. The same way people breed horses back home. My elephant was called Rani, meaning queen and I rode her for a small stretch without a harness, which the staff told me was the hardest and something that not many people could do. I'm sure that was flattery though as it was quite easy. We also did some feeding and painting.
Afterward Raju took me to his mums house for a delicious lunch which I managed to eat some of despite feeling unwell, plus he showed me a few local sites. He offered to show me the Amber Fort, but as it was on my itinerary for the next day I politely declined. When he dropped me off I gave him the money and a good tip as he'd been so good. He didn't even count it, just put it straight into his pocket. I couldn't believe it, I had hoped he would see the tip and not push for more, but to not even check, that was really nice to see.
I also took a tour around the city, which after agreeing a price of 600 rupees, doubled in price because apparently the Amber Fort isn't included in the tour... One of if not the most famous attraction in Jaipur... Not included... Lots of shops where they tried (and failed) to sell me overpriced rubbish were on the tour though... I even had a "reading" from a supposed mystic at one of the jewelry stores which was hilarious, he started off thinking I was Australian... You don't need to be a f*cking mystic to see I'm from England! Then after a few more incorrect readings he said everything would work out for me, to which I almost said "how the f*ck would you know" and then he said there was a stone that would be good for me and you'll never guess but they actually sold jewellery that had it in... He was clearly right everything was working out for me... Jack ass!
In terms of sight seeing, the Amber Fort is immense and very impressive. In the bright sun it almost glows. You could spend your entire day there and not see it all.
There's a garden (Janta Matra?) with structures and instruments to track the stars and specific constellations which was fascinating. I didn't really understand it all, but it was still very impressive.
The rest of the monuments were a little underwhelming to be honest, though I did get to feed monkeys at the sun temple, where I was also given a bindi. I would have enjoyed that more if it wasn't for the priests wife continually pestering me for gifts and donations after I had already given a donation. Plus she told me there were no monkeys at the temple because they were all sleeping and took a bag of nuts I had brought for them off me. I then walked down the hill to see a ton of very active monkeys.... Luckily I had bought two bags of nuts. It was really annoying to know that not even in a temple are you safe from local people trying to get one over on you.
After Jaipur came Jodhpur. My food poisoning was at that 'hey you don't need to have any energy' stage and doing anything at all meant breaking out in a cold sweat and having to take a little breather, but I wasn't going to be defeated. Off I went to the main fort and planned to head onto the blue colony. The fort was amazing, much in the style of the other forts, but much more ornate. The ticket price included an audio guide which gave me a good reason to stop and hold onto something every time I felt wiped out. I was sure I was going to faint, but I was OK in the end. The museum sections and the beautiful architecture were worth it. I particularly liked the melee weapons section.
Looking down on the city from the top of the fort I expected to see a wash of blue... Sadly not. There were a higher than average number of blue buildings, but they were dotted around. From my understanding of te audio guide this is because the caste that paints their houses blue lives in amongst other castes. The whole caste system sounds terrible to me, but that's the culture and I'm not here to judge. This also shattered my illusion of waking down streets cloaked in blue as far as the eye could see. Given that I was exhausted and the sun was mercilessly hot at 4pm I decided not to go down. It's a shame as I've seen some great photos, but they were obviously taken in just the right place at just the right angle.
Then on to Jaisalmer to sleep in the desert under the stars!... Originally I had planned to forgo this as my food poisoning was still pretty bad. However after a day spent speaking to a bunch of good friends, my spirits lifted and my stomach felt a lot better too, so I decided to go and sleep under the stars. This was a turning point in my trip. I met a bunch of people, talked about East Asian philosophy and met a new canine friend in the form of Khuta, which just means dog in Hindi. He made me realize that when I get a dog I want to call it Buddy if it's a boy and Kibeth if it's a girl.
It was a fun trip, the stars were impressive at about 1am as I was slipping in and out of a rather high consciousness. Sadly, because the desert is very small, the sunrise was nothing on the one I saw in the Saharah Desert.
After a really comfortable two hour camel ride back and an hour in a car, I found some time to go to the fort, which is still inhabited. I feel that this could have been my experience of India as a whole if it hadn't been for the people I met, which is a really sad thing as I have really enjoyed Jaisalmer.
Then I got on a 17 hour train back to Delhi to pick up my suit. That was less fun.
And that was it. I feel like I've done a lot in India and that hopefully as I leave India that the worse is behind me. Next stop Sri Lanka where my mum is going to show me the undiscovered half of my heritage. Plus after that a week in the Maldives with a good friend. Sounds good to me!
I have to point out that this is my experience and I'm sure there must be a lot of people in India who act with honour, honesty, integrity, kindness, etc, I just didn't meet them. If you're reading this and are angry about the impression I am giving, I can only say that this is my impression based on what I found. If I had found better people I would have written a more complimentary blog. Don't break the mirror because you don't like what you see in it! That solves nothing.
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