Its our last weekend in India so we decided to go Jaipur. We were told that it would be a 4-5 hour journey and we planned to go shopping in the markets in the afternoon. So we arranged to get going earlyish 9am. It was an interesting journey quite slow at times, sections of 2 lane expressway with one lane going each way and the other two lanes with no traffic. In the end it took 7.5 hours (with an hour break for lunch). It was incredibly hot and the buses air conditioning was struggling consequently we were struggling as well. Temperatures were mid 30's during the day and not much cooler at night.
Our hotel was quite new and very nice. The local tour operator came and met us and tried to sell us all sorts of additional stuff which we did not want and wanted to get separate transport to take us to a market he recommended. In the end we told him NO go away and we got our driver to take us to a market. After 1.5 hours in stifling heat (7pm at night) we had had some success. Then Pete decided to shout the kids a Tuk Tuk ride. In the end Meren, Pete, Sean and Nicola went for a blat around the block in the Tuk Tuk. It was enjoyed very much by all.
Then it was back to the hotel and some much needed rest before our last big day in India.
Sunday started with check out from the hotel by 8am and a couple of stops before a visit to the Amber fort.
We saw the City Palace and had an up close experience with Cobra snakes.
The visit to the Amber Fort started with an Elephant ride. Quite cool fun. They don't go that fast but the motion is reasonably smooth so not uncomfortable. Only two people per elephant and each elephant only does 4 trips in a day.
Then we took a Jeep ride up a steep path to the Amber fort and had a guided tour of the Fort/Palace. It was really amazing just how sophisticated their architecture was and how well thought through the construction was. Truly impressive. There were a few women in traditional clothes for photo's (10 rupee for a photo (30cents NZ).
It was incredibly hot and we were really feeling it. So we decided to call it quits on the rest of the tours. We dropped off our guide and asked the driver to start back to Delhi. All went really well for the first half of the journey and we stopped for lunch at the same place we tried on the way down to Jaipur. On the restart we were flying along till we hit a major traffic jam. We were stuck in the traffic for at least 1.5 hours. We saw two truck that had overturned and that seemed to contribute to it. For about 10km We had opposing traffic on our side of the road and the same on the other side of the road. It was a really snarl up.
Eventually we made it to the airport at 7pm and the flight does not leave until 23:25. However we were not allow into the airport because James could not locate the e-tickets (Indian security they are called e tickets for a reason). After 20 minutes some paper was found in James bag that was to be checked in which satisfied the security guard. First hurdle overcome ! Then we found the flight check in did not open for 30 minutes. Its the normal travel experience rush and wait, rush and wait.
The Duty Free shops in the airport are offering 20% discount to Commonwealth Games medalists. I asked whether the parent of a medalist counted, doesn't seem like it does. The flight to Singapore went fairly smoothly but we were all a mess in need of a shower and clean up. So it was up to the Star Alliance lounge.
At this point James then set out to Terminal 2 and a flight to Bali for a conference. The rest of the party were off on a site seeing bus trip in Singapore.
Thoroughly enjoyed it all James - many thanks for sharing your India experience. Sean and Nicki look fab up on top of the elephant.
ReplyDeleteHave a safe flight home.
Cheers lorraine