Tantrum

I managed to get a government bus to Jaipur from Agra.
I thought I'd struck luck when one of the hotel owners managed to organise "excellent accomodation and free pick up" upon arrival.

I was bitterly dissapointed when I arrived at the hotel Jai Maa Palace, and had 30 minutes of Mohammed - the pick up man - show me his references from other travellers saying stuff like: "Mohammed, you were such a great guide for Jaipur.....Wow, we had the best time... bla bla bla."

The penny dropped. Sucker.

I was too sick to care. I had lost my voice completely and just needed sleep. I passed out at 8pm and woke up at about 8 feeling better.

Feeling better didn't last long. The night I checked in I was told that there was hot water in my room. Because I was sick, I was really pissed off when I waited 30 minutes only to find that the water was freezing cold. I performed a little and was told that there would be hot water the next day.

Jaipur is a city. It is a crazy city.
Everyone wants to sell you something, show you something, or "talk" to you. I had an incident in the old town where a man asked me to talk to him because he wanted to learn more about the Western World. I was more than happy to sit on the sidewalk chatting. But was so sad when he dragged me into a shop - "just looking, looking is free" after we had been chatting for about 30 minutes.
You cannot escape the haggle.

To be honest, I didn't do much exploring around Jaipur. I missed all the "sights" as I was feeling too fluey.

BUT the tables turned!

After a day of walking through the old city I decided to pop into the Pearl Palace Hotel. The hotel I originally wanted to stay in but was told it was full (which it wasn't - I was lied to by the guy who wanted me at his mate's hotel!).

The Pearl Palace hotel is a piece of heaven amidst the chaotic, noisy, polluted city of Jaipur. Run by Mr Singh and his family, it really is a palace. They have carefully selected Indian artefacts and have decorated their hotel so tastefully. Each nook and cranny bears a new surprise, and in fact just walking around gave me new eyes on the stuff I have been seeing piled into heaps in the shops. Some of the stuff here is quite magnificent and so unusual.

The top of the hotel has these interesting wrought iron chairs scattered around a rooftop restaurant. In the evening they light little fires to warm up the customers. It looks amazing.

It was at that rooftop restaurant that I met Ross and Angie - a really cool American couple who had recently been married (4 months ago). They are on a 10 month trip around the world! Both had city jobs - finance - and they decided to throw it in to spend the first year of their marriage together, travelling. Amazing.
They were so lovely, we spent the entire evening talking about ...everything.

I left feeling so much better and positve.

Again, the contrasts you experience in this country are incredible. Not only in terms of what you see - a policeman beating a rickshaw driver on one side of the road, and a man giving food to a beggar on the other - but also in terms of your emotions.

I have been irate in one moment and so happy the next.