Day 11 - Car to Jaipur

This morning I shared a 4-hour lift with Rory & Katie from Bundi to Jaipur, we parted company and thought I’d spend the afternoon wandering the bazaars and back streets.

My white face in the tourist hot-spots of Delhi, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and then Udaipur naturally exposed me to a constant barrage of attention. The wedding interlude in a big hotel was not like that, which was a relief. Interesting that this afternoon’s visit to the Old City of Jaipur was also not like the earlier cities. This is Rajasthan’s administrative capital and its many occupants seemed predominantly wrapped up in their own affairs.

It is another frantically busy place, and the back-street vendors specialise in textiles, jewellery, shoes and stone carving. It was remarkable to see almost every textile store engaging with customers, their shop floors strewn in fabric of bright & vibrant colour. I think one of the wedding’s take-away memories will be the colour and beauty of the fabrics on display. Definitely not ‘off the peg’ and really quite striking; comparable to Royal robes I’ve seen in some palaces.

Walking Jaipur’s streets and even whilst being driven through the countryside, kites are clearly seen being flown. Nice to see. I do also love the architecture here; it is invariably tired, but photographically, it is so unique to here, stirring childhood memories of the cartoons of ‘Arabian Knights’ and ‘Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves’ (albeit not entirely set here!).

I have a table booked at a rooftop restaurant, might even step to ‘non-veg’ now that the wedding event is behind me!Read more