India: Solo in Jaipur

Biking down the road while carrying a ladder. Sure!

Random old temple or building a block off the main road.
Amazing architecture could be found in any old building

I'm skipping the celebration of Holi in my chronological India posts right now, which was one of the best days of the trip. But I'm waiting for photos of it, and the photos are really going to beat any explanation I have.

So, after Holi, the rest of the crew from the U.S. headed home. And the next morning, I began my solo journey. Adam made sure I got to the train station in time for my 6 a.m. train. And when we arrived, we saw "CANCELLED" on the screen. Adam said he'd never had a train canceled before. Yikes! Luckily, he was there so he helped me get to a travel agency nearby and book a decent bus to reach my destination, Jaipur.

He also ferried me to where my bus would arrive and waited until it came and I got on. What a start to my solo trip! I was glad he was around to help me navigate.

While we were waiting for the bus, we met a young couple from Brazil. They were traveling to Jaipur and then Pushkar (the same as me). So, we chatted for a bit. They were spending four weeks traveling around India. When we reached Jaipur, the three of us took an autorickshaw to my hotel. (I had a reservation; they didn't. They figured they'd check out my place, and they ended up getting a room there, too.) The room was simple, but nice. (By this point, I wasn't very picky.) And there was a nice patio area for guests and the restaurant outside my door.

Worshiping in a Shiva temple.

Jaipur is in the state of Rajasthan, a desert state in India. Jaipur is a bustling, touristy city with lots of bazaars in its Old City. I walked around street after street of shops. Luckily, I knew I couldn't buy much because anything I bought there, I had to carry with me while I traveled alone for the next five days. As I was wandering around the Old City, I met two 20-something guys. The first lesson in traveling alone in a foreign place (via guidebooks, common sense, etc.) is to not follow random strangers. Yet, I did. They said they'd show me some of the sights. Initially, I declined as this is often a ploy to make money, so I thought they would tell me at the end that I owed them 500 Rs. or something.

They assured me that wasn't the case and they just liked to meet foreign tourists and show them their cool city. Let me state that I was very, very cautious here. It was daylight, and I knew where I was. And I was in a very populated and bustling area. So, I agreed to go with them to see a couple temples. We first visited a small Shiva temple. Men were just getting off work and were stopping by to worship. They sat in a circle playing songs and praying, and they let me join them for a bit.

Next we went to a large temple, Govind Dev Ji. It was crammed full of worshipers coming at the end of their workday. I couldn't believe how many people were there, all praying and singing and some dancing. It was an amazing experience, and I wouldn't have gone into the temple on my own because I would have been afraid of doing the wrong thing or offending someone. But everyone was very welcoming.

A rather poor photo of the Govind Dev Ji temple. It was hopping.