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Yesterday (23 Jan) we arrived in Jaipur after a long 6 hour bus ride, where most of us slept. As soon as we arrived the diference to Delhi and Agra was huge. The roads still as crazy (almost) but it is such a colourful vibrant city. It is also known as the Pink City due to part of it being filled with pink buildings. Something which was done years ago to mark the arrival of English royalty (although i have already forgotten who!). We arrived at our hostel which is actually more lieka hotel and our nicest one yet! We even have balconies, there is a roof top patio where food is served and generally has a lovely feel to it.
After settling in and having lunch (baked bean and cheese toastie for me) we then headed to the city centre to explore the Pink City a bit. I took my first ever Tuk Tuk- and what an experience! They are basically 3 wheel mopeds with room for 3 to sit in the back, very ricketty and they drive them insanely, trust me, 17 year old chavs on mopeds in England have nothing on these guys!! After a few little screams and alot of nevous laughter we soon realised to trust the driver as they know their un written rules of the Indian roads. I seriously cannot explain to you what it is like, i took a video on my camera whilst traelling on it as its the only way i can show you at home who have not experience this before! Cars, Tuk Tuks, rickshaws, horses, bikes, camels, and not to mention the hundreds of people just walking straight uot into traffice to cross.
We saw a big famous pink building where the royal women would sit behind tiny windows and watch the street entertainment below so the common people could not see them. We walked down the streets and saw the huge amount of silver and gold chops, jewellery is huge here, and so pretty. We visited a tradiional sweet shop, something Jaipur is known for, and it is nothing like sweet shops at home. They don't use any egg so the cakes are different and the sweets are very strange, no chocolate in sight! But obviously popular with the locals. Street vendors sell all sorts, including warm milk topped with saffron. Again we got constant stares but they seem friendly and intrigued mostly. I saw my first Hindu temple, it was just before 6pm which is one of their praying times so men started arriving and it was interesting to see the process. As we left and walked down the street when it hit 6pm a man singing in the Hindu language filled the city, this happens at evey prayer time throughout the day and if people don't head to a temple to pray in they do it on the street. Again, fascinating to see. As we were leaving the city i saw 2 women sat on the pavement dressed in their beautiful red and gold saris chatting and laughing- it just shows wherever you are in the world women will always have a good old gossip and giggle! It is very noticeable how few women ae out on the street to compared to the thousands of men.
It is now Tue 24 Jan and i am writing these 3 blogs because i am ill and have not gone out on the trip today . I was ill throughout the night and all day today, i've missed going to the Amber Fort, shopping and Monkey Palace. However i feel a little better now and hopefully will be able to go to the cinema tonight to see a Bollywood film. It must be the food but i have eaten the same as Claire since being here, and she seems fine. There is another girl who has been quite ill, i guess it just affects different people at different times. But i must say that this is the first time in YEARS that i have been sick and alcohol is not to blame! In fact, to your surprise i will probably be off alcohol until we reach Goa at the end of the 2 week tour, i would call it a detox if it wasn't for all the Indian food- i am seriously struggling. Our hotel serves chips though, and i have noticed the McDonalds, Dominos and KFC in the city... however i will try to avoid these and keep trying the local stuff.
Tomorrow we head to Pushkar, a very strict city, i just hope i can handle the journey there!
Love, as always to my family xxx
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