Part Three-The End
Tourists on Speed

Photos to be posted around 8/6 or later

We spent Thursday night and all of Friday in Delhi. We were traveling from Delhi to Agra to Jaipur and back to Delhi from Saturday through Monday. These three cities form a perfect triangle and a very good trip through northern India. We also found ourselves in three different states: Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

In this area of India I saw more donkeys, goats, cows, camels and mules than anywhere we have been. There are few cars here. Camels are big in Rajasthan where they have camel auctions. The men here wear large turbans, often a gorgeous deep red color. The women’s saris are almost neon with hot pink and saffron being the most popular colors. As we travel through the three states going from Delhi to Agra to Jaipur, we observed what I call abject poverty. People living with nothing more than a thatch roof over their heads, some had a simple cot for a bed and that was about it. We frequently saw small children 3-5 years old (I would guess) with only a shirt on: no trousers, no underpants, nothing. We saw children seven years old up working as vendors or delivering goods. We saw women and children and occasionally men trying to pull wood off tree stumps for their cooking fires. There were so many people carrying huge loads on their heads: animal feed (grasses), water in beautiful terra cotta vessels, and foraged wood. One of my favorite sights was a poor farmer with a lovely tall cow that had silver ornaments sewn onto cloth and hanging on the cows face. We saw people herding goats, cows, sheep.

The landscape at times was very brown but highlighted with women in brilliantly colored saris, a sight we never got tired of. The road from Agra to Jaipur was a nightmare with potholes the size of the car. We, along with many others traveling this highway, had a flat. But our driver had six years experience and changed the tire within a few minutes. An hour later we stooped to get the tire repaired since the spare was ‘not much of a tire’ according to Ron. A tire repair shop is a thatch roof with three or four guys hanging out. One man repaired the tire by first removing the inner tube using no power equipment. Imagine that sports fans. And when was the last time you had a tire with an inner tube? He roughed up the surface with a rasp, hand sewed on a patch and then used a piece of hot metal and a vice to meld the patch to the tire. He had a gas-powered motor for the air compressor. There were no tires to buy so if your tire was badly damaged and you had no spare you’d be up a creek. I couldn’t take my eyes off this process. The cost for this service is normally 15 rupees (30 cents) but we had a difficult patch so it was 30 rupees (60 cents). Once again India reminds me of how different our worlds are. I think of the women pulling pieces of wood off a stump so they can then walk back to their ‘homes’ and cook dinner. It’s just not like going into the kitchen and turning a knob.

There were people all along the road, squatting by the edge of the road, waiting, I assume for a bus or the other major form of transportation: a small vehicle such as a trishaw or van that rides down the highway picking up riders as they go. They get dropped off at the next town or wherever they are traveling to on that highway. There were buses with 5-20 men on top with luggage holding on. When you saw how many were inside the bus, you envied those on top although they were getting fried by the sun. Due to the heat, people will take advantage of any shade they can find so it is not unusual to see a man lying under a truck or people sitting under a sign that casts a shadow and provides shade. We also saw brickyards, where brick were made and fired. When you passed through the villages there was frequently a barrier of six inch deep black mud between the road and the shops. It was pretty gross as the mud had all manner of debris and litter in it. Almost the entire trip we saw villages with one class: the very poor. There were no pretty homes, no middle class, no sewers and access to water at best was a hand pump that you walked to, filled your vessels that you then carried home.

We saw a mother carrying two children, one on each hip. I don’t believe I have ever seen a stroller of any type in India and rarely in SL. It is always a Westerner who has such an expensive piece of equipment.

On the way to Jaipur, we visited an ancient site, Fatephur Sikri. This city was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1570 until 1585 during the reign of Akbar. It is thought the city was abandoned due to a shortage of water but it is a city that is perfectly preserved from the height of the Mughal Empire. Akbar was a Muslim but was intrigued by religions and developed a new religion that attempted to synthesize the elements of all the major religions. Good luck! We had no fewer than four men approach us, start to tell us facts about the ruins and when we said we didn’t want a guide, each one said ‘I’m not a guide’ but then proceeded to tell us they could show us the place for a small fee. Huh? Once we made it perfectly clear we wanted to be left alone and had no intention of giving them a single rupee, they got the picture and left us alone.

On the road we saw numerous small processions of men carrying a pole across one shoulder with gifts tied at each end. They were wearing saffron colored clothes and proceeding to the temple to offer gifts to the gods.

Jaipur is surround on three sides by mountains and is quite picturesque. Once we got to Jaipur we checked into our heritage hotel. It was built in 1893 for a prince and about six years ago it was converted into a boutique hotel. Boy did we luck out! It was lovely with a huge bedroom, and a two-room bath. I took photos for you to see. The shower is a classic. We ate a quick lunch at 3:00 and headed out for a tour with a guide that was provided through our booking agent. First we went to an observatory that was built in 1728 by Jai Singh who had a passion for astronomy. He sent scholars abroad to study foreign observatories and then constructed this one in Jaipur, the largest of five he built. It was fascinating! There is a sundial that can tell time within 2 seconds of accuracy! This observatory looks like a series of sculptures but in reality each of the structures serves a specific purpose such as calculating eclipses, or measuring the positions of the stars. Next we went to the city palace. Within the palace were several museums. We visited the art and textiles museums. The textiles were amazing. Emperor’s wore dresses with 60 meters of fabric! Instead of saris, women wore shirts with meters and meters of fabric. Today you still see women wearing brightly colored, very full, ankle length skirts with metallic threads more often than saris. By this time I had a roaring headache and asked to cut the tour short. I was in bed by 5:00 and never made it to dinner. My dear husband put cold cloths on my forehead and rubbed my head and shoulders. I was unable to rise to the occasion so we skipped dinner that night. I was all better in the morning so we headed out for Delhi after breakfast.

The drive to Delhi was gorgeous. The landscape was very green between Jaipur and Delhi. We were quite surprised at the number of large trees, shrubs, green grasses by the road edge and the green fields, often planted with rice or food for animals. The poverty wasn’t as severe here and we saw some middle or upper class homes along the way. It is common to see men wearing villagers pants: dhoti. They are made by wrapping a length of white muslin around the waist and then pulling an end between the legs and tucking it into the waistband. Old fashion scales are still used here in the fresh markets as in SL. Indians love their horns. We were stopped at a tollbooth and the driver of the car behind us kept beeping his horn. It is amazing since we can’t go anywhere until the car in front of you passes through the barrier. We find this in SL also. You will be stopped at a red light and someone will beep his or her horn as though that will make the light change. DUH!

The road to Delhi was far superior to the road from Agra to Jaipur so we made better time and weren’t exhausted at the end of the trip. There is no such thing as a by pass here. The highway always goes through the village, slowing you down considerably. When you visit or live in a developing country you realize how few people have access to or the means to access dental care. Many people are missing teeth or need corrective work done. I saw a camel pulling a cement mixer, pretty funny when you think about it. Trucks have a sign on the back that usually reads ‘Use Horn Please’ meaning beep your horn and they will get out of your way. We saw a number that read ‘Use Dipper at Night’. We assume this means your brights/dimmer headlights. My favorite was ‘Use Deeper at Night’, something lost in translation. When you stop to use a restroom in this part of the world, there are usually attendants at the nicer restaurants, all of whom expect a tip, particularly from Westerners. On this day there was a child asleep on the floor. When I came out of the stall, a woman was there and let me know it was her son. Oy! One of our last experiences on the road was passing three large flocks of sheep and a herd of cows that were taking up one lane of the road, being tended by men wearing dhotis and large red turbans. What a great sight! I hope I captured it in film.

We saw so many photo worthy sights with no time to stop and click the picture. Remember we were tourists on speed. We got to Delhi in time to have lunch, do a little more shopping and head for the airport. We arrived home at midnight, weary but content to have had such a wonderful trip to incredible India!