Jaipur

We got to Jaipur on an overnight train from Jaisalmer which must have arrived at around 5am. Our hotel room wasn't ready until 10.30 but we were able to sleep on the sofas in the common room. Compared to previous accommodation, Hotel Pearl Palace seemed like luxury. The room was nicely decorated, clean and actually had windows.

On our first afternoon we did a bit of sightseeing, visiting the Jantar Mantal observatory, the lake palace and the Hawa Mahal. That night we decided we wanted to find a bar because we hadn't seen one in any of the cities we'd previously visited. On the way we stopped in McDonalds and I braved a McChicken Sandwich and Jane, a Filet o Fish. Whilst we were eating an Indian man sat down on the table next to us and started making small talk. He then asked if he could join us, which we reluctantly agreed to. Really we just wanted to savour the taste of our first meat meal in almost three weeks! He introduced himself as Isma and reached out to shake our hands saying "Sorry, I have no fingers." Eventually we made out excuses and left. Unfortunately, our rickshaw driver, Jay, took us to a different bar because the one we'd intended on going to was really expensive. When we were there, who should walk in but Isma. We ended up going to a couple of other bars with him and his cousin. He was very friendly and stuff but he just seemed over the top - laughing too much at jokes, etc. Basically we would have had a better evening had he not been there dominating the conversation. They invited us to a club but we declined and said we were tired.

On our second day in Jaipur, we did some more sightseeing - the Amber Fort, a Jain temple, Bollywood gardens and the Monkey temple. The monkey temple was situated at the top of a large hill which we had to climb. You could buy peanuts before going up to feed the monkeys. The monkeys were fine, but on the way done we were chased by a ramaging goat which sent us into a proper panic and ended up with us jumping up onto a wall! We escaped unscathed fortunately. On one of our rickshaw journeys, who should drive past but Isma again!! Jay, our rickshaw driver, asked if we should stop to which we both replied 'no!', but it was too late and Isma was already coming over and asking why we hadn't been to see him for breakfast and did we want to go to a party with him tonight? We mumbled some excuses about being tired and snuck off to Dominos pizza for tea.

On our thirds day we went to McDonalds for lunch again, all the time praying that Isma wasn't going to materialise. Then suddenly Jane said "Oh no! Rhiannon, guess who's just come out of the toilet!" He blatantly saw the look of dismay on my face as he walked over, which I changed (not quickly enough) to a look of 'oh what a lovely surprise!' He said he thought maybe he'd done something wrong because we didn't meet up with him, saying "You guys can trust me, can't you?" - which made us even more distrustful! Luckily, after fobbing him off with yet more excuses he left McDonalds without even buying anything, which made us think that his sole purpse for visiting was to see if we were there!! Thankfully, that was the last we saw of him!

Afterwards our rickshaw driver, Jay, and his friend Sonny came to the zoo with us. At every tourist attraction, we have to pay about five times more than the Indians which Jay said was a 'white skin tax.' Bizarrely in the zoo there were enclosures of stuffed animals like tigers, leopards and so on. Fortunately there were some real animals too, like a white tiger.

After the zoo, Sonny took us to his family's house (not really his family, but like his family). They gathered round and made us feel very welcome, giving us cups of very very sweet chai. Two of the girls had studied henna painting at summer school so they did one on mine and Jane's hands, despite me whispering to Jane that I really didn't want another one because I'd only just got rid of the one we got in Alwar two weeks before. After this we were taken to the uncle's gem shop to look throught piles and piles of rubies. We thought we were about to be roped into a gem scam which I'd read so much about online! However, it seemed that it was all above board and the uncle gave us a ruby each as a parting gift!

That evening, Jay and Sonny came with us to a sunset point above the city. Sonny, who talked like a teenage boy despite being 24, loved telling anecdotes. My favourite one began with "Once I was felt up by a very beautiful ladyboy" and ended, after a rather descriptive interlogue, with "It was a great experience, I'm very lucky."

After that we went to a bar and chatted with our new Indian friends. It was interesting to hear about their views on arranged marriages and both of them said that they had had the opportunity but hadn't seen the photos of any girls they liked. It was sad to hear them say that neither of them believed in love. I can't help but think that if people were allowed to fall in love before they married then they wouldn't view marriage simply as a convenient loveless bonding between two families. It's sad to think that a marriage may be arranged for them with a girl that's not their type so they will never know what's it's like to be in love - no wonder they don't believe it's possible. Lavk in Alwar had said that he fell in love with his wife after their marriage, but I kind of view that as learning to love someone, which isn't the same.

At some point during this conversation, a random guy spat at Jane because she refused to give him a kiss!! We couldn't believe that someone could do that and we all ran outside yelling at them. After Jane had had her say and made him apologise, we were leaving. Then the man had the audacity to grab my arm and say "Go on - one kiss"! I pushed him away and told him where to go! Jay and Sonny had to lead us away because we were so angry! Haha It's funny to look back on now, but we can't believe that someone would spit at us. It really is the lowest insult!

After Jaipur we got a flight to Goa. Jane had been joking that Jay was her 'Indian husband', which I think he didn't take quite as lightly as her. But it meant we got a free lift to the airport, even if we did have to stop so Jane could meet Jay's dad on the way! Lol